Rob Walling

There's what we could name, how many skills, right? A lot. Different departments, customer success, customer service. Those are important, but they're certainly less important to going from zero to one with a SaaS company. And so I gave it some thought and I picked the four most important skills based on my criteria and how I see people succeeding and I put them in order.

There's what we could name, how many skills, right? A lot. Different departments, customer success, customer service. Those are important, but they're certainly less important to going from zero to one with a SaaS company. And so I gave it some thought and I picked the four most important skills based on my criteria and how I see people succeeding and I put them in order.

The number one is marketing or sales, right? And I say marketing or sales because if you have a low touch funnel and folks are mostly self-service, then it's marketing because you need to drive a lot of traffic and you need to build an incredible funnel and retention and all that stuff. And if you are selling a high price product, obviously you need to know sales.

The number one is marketing or sales, right? And I say marketing or sales because if you have a low touch funnel and folks are mostly self-service, then it's marketing because you need to drive a lot of traffic and you need to build an incredible funnel and retention and all that stuff. And if you are selling a high price product, obviously you need to know sales.

And have I seen people with almost no product skill, very little engineering skill, build successful SaaS companies purely based on their marketing or sales acumen? I have. Now, is the product usually pretty shitty and quite buggy and they eventually lock up and have a tough time shipping features? Usually, in most cases, yes.

And have I seen people with almost no product skill, very little engineering skill, build successful SaaS companies purely based on their marketing or sales acumen? I have. Now, is the product usually pretty shitty and quite buggy and they eventually lock up and have a tough time shipping features? Usually, in most cases, yes.

Unless they find an engineering co-founder who really keeps the quality of that code base up, it usually in the long run is a detriment. But can they get to 5, 10, 15 million, 20 million ARR, mostly bootstrapped, just with marketing and sales? Yes, absolutely. I've seen it over and over and over. I could give examples. So marketing and sales, by far. the number one.

Unless they find an engineering co-founder who really keeps the quality of that code base up, it usually in the long run is a detriment. But can they get to 5, 10, 15 million, 20 million ARR, mostly bootstrapped, just with marketing and sales? Yes, absolutely. I've seen it over and over and over. I could give examples. So marketing and sales, by far. the number one.

And look, I was saying this back in 2010 with Start Small, Stay Small, where I have this line of market comes first, then marketing, then aesthetics, and then functionality. I think I put a distant fourth, which I'm not sure I would actually agree with that still. Things were a little different back then. Did I put aesthetics fourth? I don't even remember. It doesn't matter. I put market first.

And look, I was saying this back in 2010 with Start Small, Stay Small, where I have this line of market comes first, then marketing, then aesthetics, and then functionality. I think I put a distant fourth, which I'm not sure I would actually agree with that still. Things were a little different back then. Did I put aesthetics fourth? I don't even remember. It doesn't matter. I put market first.

Product class, market first. That was a refrain that I used to have to say a lot when I was speaking at engineering events trying to educate developers on how to launch products. So marketing and sales, number one. I'm going to be controversial here, and I'm not going to put engineering number two. I'm going to put product as number two. Product is... That sense of what should I build?

Product class, market first. That was a refrain that I used to have to say a lot when I was speaking at engineering events trying to educate developers on how to launch products. So marketing and sales, number one. I'm going to be controversial here, and I'm not going to put engineering number two. I'm going to put product as number two. Product is... That sense of what should I build?

Not just what market should I enter? What vertical should I attack? But specifically, what should we put in this product? How should it look? How should it interact? How should it operate? Because product understanding, much like I talked with Brendan Fortune here, what was it, four or five episodes ago? Product understanding is not something everyone has.

Not just what market should I enter? What vertical should I attack? But specifically, what should we put in this product? How should it look? How should it interact? How should it operate? Because product understanding, much like I talked with Brendan Fortune here, what was it, four or five episodes ago? Product understanding is not something everyone has.

And it's critical to building something people want and are willing to pay for. And just because you can write code does not mean you know how to build product. This is a big mistake I see non-technical founders make where they say, I need a SaaS product, so I'm going to hire an engineer and they're going to go build the product. And I'm like, okay, do you know what they should build?

And it's critical to building something people want and are willing to pay for. And just because you can write code does not mean you know how to build product. This is a big mistake I see non-technical founders make where they say, I need a SaaS product, so I'm going to hire an engineer and they're going to go build the product. And I'm like, okay, do you know what they should build?

And oftentimes it's like, well, no, but they know how to build it. And I was like, but do you know what they should build? And then the other thing is, do you know how they should build it? Meaning, do you know what the screens should look like? Do you know what each individual page should do? Do you know where this checkbox should go and what not to build? Do you know what to leave out?

And oftentimes it's like, well, no, but they know how to build it. And I was like, but do you know what they should build? And then the other thing is, do you know how they should build it? Meaning, do you know what the screens should look like? Do you know what each individual page should do? Do you know where this checkbox should go and what not to build? Do you know what to leave out?

There's so much product thinking that has to go in this early stage that I think as engineers, we just think, oh, I'm just going to write code. I've been building apps for this credit card company or for this bank or for this municipal government for years, so I know how to build a product. And you don't. You know how to write code and you know how to write software, but

There's so much product thinking that has to go in this early stage that I think as engineers, we just think, oh, I'm just going to write code. I've been building apps for this credit card company or for this bank or for this municipal government for years, so I know how to build a product. And you don't. You know how to write code and you know how to write software, but