# Micro-SaaS Launcher - Detailed Guide

> This file contains the detailed procedure and reference material extracted from `SKILL.md` for focused loading. The root skill defines activation, examples, safety constraints, and limitations.

Numbers, timelines, pricing ranges, churn thresholds and channel impact rankings below are illustrative planning hypotheses, not verified market benchmarks. Validate actual willingness to pay, acquisition costs, support load and provider plan limits before committing money or promises. Competitor presence is evidence of alternatives, not proof of demand for this product.

Planning does not authorize real charges, ads, publication, outreach, analytics installation or audience uploads. Use only approved audiences/channels and actual offer terms. Preserve authentication, authorization, data protection, accessibility and recovery in an MVP; speed is not a reason to omit them.

## Capabilities

- Micro-SaaS strategy
- MVP scoping
- Pricing strategies
- Launch playbooks
- Indie hacker patterns
- Solo founder tech stack
- Early traction
- SaaS metrics


## Patterns

### Idea Validation

Validating before building

**When to use**: When starting a micro-SaaS


## Idea Validation

### The Validation Framework
| Question | How to Answer |
|----------|---------------|
| Problem exists? | Talk to 5+ potential users |
| People pay? | Pre-sell or find competitors |
| You can build? | Can MVP ship in 2 weeks? |
| You can reach them? | Distribution channel exists? |

### Quick Validation Methods
1. **Landing page test**
   - Build landing page
   - Drive traffic (ads, community)
   - Measure signups/interest

2. **Pre-sale**
   - Sell before building
   - "Join waitlist for 50% off"
   - If no sales, pivot

3. **Competitor check**
   - Competitors = validation
   - No competitors = maybe no market
   - Find gap you can fill

### Red Flags
- "Everyone needs this" (too broad)
- No clear buyer (who pays?)
- Requires marketplace dynamics
- Needs massive scale to work

### Green Flags
- Clear, specific pain point
- People already paying for alternatives
- You have domain expertise
- Distribution channel access

### MVP Speed Run

Ship MVP in 2 weeks

**When to use**: When building first version


## MVP Speed Run

### The Stack (Solo-Founder Optimized)
| Component | Choice | Why |
|-----------|--------|-----|
| Frontend | Next.js | Full-stack, Vercel deploy |
| Backend | Next.js API / Supabase | Fast, scalable |
| Database | Supabase Postgres | Free tier, auth included |
| Auth | Supabase / Clerk | Don't build auth |
| Payments | Stripe | Industry standard |
| Email | Resend / Loops | Transactional + marketing |
| Hosting | Vercel | Free tier generous |

### Week 1: Core
```
Day 1-2: Auth + basic UI
Day 3-4: Core feature (one thing)
Day 5-6: Stripe integration
Day 7: Polish and bug fixes
```

### Week 2: Launch Ready
```
Day 1-2: Landing page
Day 3: Email flows (welcome, etc.)
Day 4: Legal (privacy, terms)
Day 5: Final testing
Day 6-7: Soft launch
```

### What to Skip in MVP
- Perfect design (good enough is fine)
- All features (one core feature only)
- Scale optimization (worry later)
- Custom auth (use a service)
- Multiple pricing tiers (start simple)

### Pricing Strategy

Pricing your micro-SaaS

**When to use**: When setting prices


## Pricing Strategy

### Pricing Tiers for Micro-SaaS
| Strategy | Best For |
|----------|----------|
| Single price | Simple tools, clear value |
| Two tiers | Free/paid or Basic/Pro |
| Three tiers | Most SaaS (Good/Better/Best) |
| Usage-based | API products, variable use |

### Starting Price Framework
```
What's the alternative cost? (Competitor or manual work)
Your price = 20-50% of alternative cost

Example:
- Manual work takes 10 hours/month
- 10 hours × $50/hour = $500 value
- Price: $49-99/month
```

### Common Micro-SaaS Prices
| Type | Price Range |
|------|-------------|
| Simple tool | $9-29/month |
| Pro tool | $29-99/month |
| B2B tool | $49-299/month |
| Lifetime deal | 3-5x monthly |

### Pricing Mistakes
- Too cheap (undervalues, attracts bad customers)
- Too complex (confuses buyers)
- No free tier AND no trial (no way to try)
- Charging too late (validate with money early)

### Launch Playbook

Launch strategies that work

**When to use**: When ready to launch


## Launch Playbook

### Pre-Launch (2 weeks before)
1. Build email list (landing page)
2. Engage in communities (give value first)
3. Create launch assets (demo, screenshots)
4. Line up beta testers

### Launch Day Channels
| Channel | Effort | Impact |
|---------|--------|--------|
| Product Hunt | Medium | High |
| Hacker News | Low | Variable |
| Reddit | Medium | Medium |
| Twitter/X | Low | Medium |
| Indie Hackers | Low | Medium |
| Email list | Low | High |

### Product Hunt Launch
```
- Launch 12:01 AM PST Tuesday-Thursday
- Have maker comment ready
- Invite relevant people to view and discuss voluntarily; do not coordinate or incentivize votes
- Respond to every comment
- Don't ask for upvotes directly
```

### Post-Launch
- Follow up with every signup
- Ask for feedback constantly
- Fix critical bugs immediately
- Start SEO/content for long-term
- Don't stop marketing after launch day


## Sharp Edges

### Great product, no way to reach customers

Severity: HIGH

Situation: Built product, can't get users

Symptoms:
- Zero organic traffic
- Relying only on launches
- No email list
- No content strategy

Why this breaks:
Built first, marketing second.
No existing audience.
No SEO, no ads, no community.
"If you build it, they will come" is false.

Recommended fix:


## Distribution First

### Before Building, Answer:
- Where do my customers hang out?
- Can I reach them for free?
- Do I have an existing audience?
- Is SEO viable for this?

### Distribution Channels
| Channel | Time to Results | Cost |
|---------|-----------------|------|
| SEO | 6-12 months | Low |
| Content marketing | 3-6 months | Low |
| Paid ads | Immediate | High |
| Community | 1-3 months | Low |
| Product Hunt | One day | Free |
| Partnerships | 1-2 months | Free |

### Build Distribution Into Product
```
- "Powered by [Your Product]" badge
- Invite/referral features
- Public profiles/pages (SEO)
- Shareable results/reports
- Integration marketplace listings
```

### If Stuck
1. Start content marketing NOW
2. Be active in communities (give value)
3. Partner with complementary products
4. Consider paid acquisition

### Building for market that can't/won't pay

Severity: HIGH

Situation: Lots of interest, no conversions

Symptoms:
- Lots of signups, no upgrades
- Love it, but can't afford
- Only works with freemium
- Comparisons to free alternatives

Why this breaks:
Targeting consumers vs business.
Targeting broke demographics.
Free alternatives are good enough.
Not solving urgent problem.

Recommended fix:


## Market Selection

### B2B vs B2C
| Factor | B2B | B2C |
|--------|-----|-----|
| Price tolerance | $50-500+/mo | $5-20/mo |
| Acquisition cost | Higher | Lower |
| Churn | Lower | Higher |
| Support needs | Higher | Lower |
| Solo-founder friendly | Yes | Harder |

### Good Markets for Micro-SaaS
- Small businesses
- Freelancers/agencies
- Developers
- Creators with revenue
- Professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc.)

### Red Flag Markets
- Students
- Startups with no funding
- Mass consumers
- Markets with free alternatives

### Pivot Signals
- High interest, zero payments
- Users love it but won't pay
- Competition is all free
- Target market has no budget

### New signups leaving as fast as they come

Severity: HIGH

Situation: MRR plateaued despite new customers

Symptoms:
- MRR not growing despite signups
- Users cancel after first month
- Low feature usage
- High trial abandonment

Why this breaks:
Product doesn't deliver value.
Onboarding is broken.
Wrong customers signing up.
Missing key features.

Recommended fix:


## Fixing Churn

### Understand Why
```
1. Email churned users (personal, not automated)
2. Look at last active date
3. Check onboarding completion
4. Survey at cancellation
```

### Churn Benchmarks
| Churn Rate | Assessment |
|------------|------------|
| < 3% monthly | Excellent |
| 3-5% monthly | Good |
| 5-7% monthly | Needs work |
| > 7% monthly | Critical |

### Quick Fixes
- Improve onboarding (first 7 days critical)
- Add "aha moment" trigger emails
- Check if right users signing up
- Add missing must-have features
- Increase prices (filters serious users)

### Onboarding Checklist
```
[ ] Clear first action after signup
[ ] Value delivered in first session
[ ] Email sequence for first 7 days
[ ] Check-in at day 3 if inactive
[ ] Success metric defined and tracked
```

### Pricing page confuses potential customers

Severity: MEDIUM

Situation: Visitors leave pricing page without action

Symptoms:
- High pricing page bounce
- Which plan should I choose?
- Feature comparison requests
- Long time to purchase decision

Why this breaks:
Too many tiers.
Unclear what's included.
Feature matrix confusing.
No clear recommendation.

Recommended fix:


## Simple Pricing

### Ideal Structure
```
Free tier (optional): Limited but useful
Paid tier: Everything most need ($X/mo)
Enterprise (optional): Custom pricing
```

### If Multiple Tiers
- Maximum 3 tiers
- Clear differentiation
- Highlight recommended tier
- Annual discount (20-30%)

### Good Pricing Page
| Element | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| Clear prices | No calculator needed |
| Feature list | What's included |
| Recommended badge | Guide decision |
| FAQ | Handle objections |
| Guarantee | Reduce risk |

### Testing
- A/B test prices
- Try removing a tier
- Ask customers what's confusing
- Check pricing page bounce rate


## Validation Checks

### No Payment Integration

Severity: HIGH

Message: No payment integration - can't collect revenue.

Fix action: Integrate Stripe or Lemon Squeezy for payments

### No User Authentication

Severity: HIGH

Message: No proper authentication system.

Fix action: Use Supabase Auth, Clerk, or Auth0 - don't build auth yourself

### No User Onboarding

Severity: MEDIUM

Message: No user onboarding - will hurt activation.

Fix action: Add welcome flow, first-action prompt, and onboarding emails

### No Product Analytics

Severity: MEDIUM

Message: No product analytics - flying blind.

Fix action: Add Posthog, Mixpanel, or simple event tracking

### Missing Legal Pages

Severity: MEDIUM

Message: Missing legal pages - required for payments.

Fix action: Prepare jurisdiction-aware drafts from actual practices for qualified review; templates do not implement legal compliance


## Collaboration

### Delegation Triggers

- landing page|conversion|pricing page -> landing-page-design (SaaS landing page)
- stripe|payments|subscription -> stripe (Payment integration)
- SEO|content|organic -> seo (Organic growth)
- backend|API|database -> backend (Backend development)
- email|newsletter|drip -> email (Email marketing)

### Weekend SaaS Launch

Skills: micro-saas-launcher, supabase-backend, nextjs-app-router, stripe

Workflow:

```
1. Validate idea (1 day)
2. Set up Supabase + Next.js
3. Build core feature
4. Add Stripe payments
5. Create landing page
6. Launch to communities
```

### Content-Led SaaS

Skills: micro-saas-launcher, seo, content-strategy, landing-page-design

Workflow:

```
1. Research keywords
2. Build MVP with SEO in mind
3. Create content around problem
4. Launch product
5. Grow organically
```


## Related Skills

Works well with: `landing-page-design`, `backend`, `stripe`, `seo`