Luke Sophinos

boring industries you can contemplate, but there's so much opportunity for still today in 2024 to not go build the shiny, sexy thing with limitless market size and hone in and focus on one industry, one type of business and build software tailored for them. and build really great businesses that are enduring strong retention.

You know, they don't necessarily have the growth rate that the VC guys want to see in most cases, but you can build great businesses in these settings. So I'm obviously bullish on it. I've dedicated my career to it and that's what I do.

You know, they don't necessarily have the growth rate that the VC guys want to see in most cases, but you can build great businesses in these settings. So I'm obviously bullish on it. I've dedicated my career to it and that's what I do.

You know, they don't necessarily have the growth rate that the VC guys want to see in most cases, but you can build great businesses in these settings. So I'm obviously bullish on it. I've dedicated my career to it and that's what I do.

Yeah, so let's start on... how to dive in and actually start one of these things. And so I think it's much more of a, I think vertical SaaS is much more of a science than an art.

Yeah, so let's start on... how to dive in and actually start one of these things. And so I think it's much more of a, I think vertical SaaS is much more of a science than an art.

Yeah, so let's start on... how to dive in and actually start one of these things. And so I think it's much more of a, I think vertical SaaS is much more of a science than an art.

I think people believe starting a software business is this artistic thing where you gotta come up with some crazy big idea and you gotta hold it close to the vest and you can't tell anybody about it and you gotta raise millions and millions of dollars. I think it's a very like mathematical scientific approach in vertical software.

I think people believe starting a software business is this artistic thing where you gotta come up with some crazy big idea and you gotta hold it close to the vest and you can't tell anybody about it and you gotta raise millions and millions of dollars. I think it's a very like mathematical scientific approach in vertical software.

I think people believe starting a software business is this artistic thing where you gotta come up with some crazy big idea and you gotta hold it close to the vest and you can't tell anybody about it and you gotta raise millions and millions of dollars. I think it's a very like mathematical scientific approach in vertical software.

And so I'd love to just walk everybody kind of through how I how I think about that as a place to start. And that'll lead well into wedge products. And we can give examples of wedge products and, you know, how to actually get in the door at some of these businesses. How does that sound? That sounds perfect. Let's rip it. Let's rip it. I like it. Jam session, baby. All right.

And so I'd love to just walk everybody kind of through how I how I think about that as a place to start. And that'll lead well into wedge products. And we can give examples of wedge products and, you know, how to actually get in the door at some of these businesses. How does that sound? That sounds perfect. Let's rip it. Let's rip it. I like it. Jam session, baby. All right.

And so I'd love to just walk everybody kind of through how I how I think about that as a place to start. And that'll lead well into wedge products. And we can give examples of wedge products and, you know, how to actually get in the door at some of these businesses. How does that sound? That sounds perfect. Let's rip it. Let's rip it. I like it. Jam session, baby. All right.

I'm going to share my screen. I'll talk through this for those that are listening, but I've got a bunch of stuff kind of outlined in my quote unquote Bible here. So let me pull this up. All right. So the first thing that you're going to see here is you're And again, back to science. So I'm a big believer in picking a industry and not an idea. So you don't come up with an idea at all.

I'm going to share my screen. I'll talk through this for those that are listening, but I've got a bunch of stuff kind of outlined in my quote unquote Bible here. So let me pull this up. All right. So the first thing that you're going to see here is you're And again, back to science. So I'm a big believer in picking a industry and not an idea. So you don't come up with an idea at all.

I'm going to share my screen. I'll talk through this for those that are listening, but I've got a bunch of stuff kind of outlined in my quote unquote Bible here. So let me pull this up. All right. So the first thing that you're going to see here is you're And again, back to science. So I'm a big believer in picking a industry and not an idea. So you don't come up with an idea at all.

That's not the first step. That's not even the 10th step. So you have to focus on an industry. And there's certain characteristics that make an industry a really good opportunity for vertical SaaS, right? So I have this checklist. We'll go through all the checklists. But the first thing I like honing in on is like, all right, How do I know what industries are out there?

That's not the first step. That's not even the 10th step. So you have to focus on an industry. And there's certain characteristics that make an industry a really good opportunity for vertical SaaS, right? So I have this checklist. We'll go through all the checklists. But the first thing I like honing in on is like, all right, How do I know what industries are out there?

That's not the first step. That's not even the 10th step. So you have to focus on an industry. And there's certain characteristics that make an industry a really good opportunity for vertical SaaS, right? So I have this checklist. We'll go through all the checklists. But the first thing I like honing in on is like, all right, How do I know what industries are out there?

Well, there's a bunch of great resources. I've mapped out over a thousand industries and I map them out on a couple of key things. The first one is how big they are, right? So what are the companies in those end industries actually do from a revenue standpoint? So you can see the biggest industry in the US right now is general medical and surgical hospitals.