Some SaaS Products Are Bigger Than They Look
Source: Dev.to
The Problem: Prematurely Killing SaaS Products
I keep seeing SaaS founders kill products way too early—not because the product was bad, but because they didn’t know what to do with it.
The pattern is always similar:
- There are users, sometimes a lot of them.
- People sign up, use one or two features, and then disappear from the story because the founder is focused on something else.
- Revenue is low or zero, so the assumption becomes “this isn’t working”.
But usage doesn’t lie the way revenue can.
Why Usage Matters
If people are finding a tool on their own and using it without hand‑holding, that already puts it ahead of most ideas that never get past a landing page. The mistake is treating that as a dead end instead of a starting point.
Misreading the User
Another common issue is founders guessing who the user is instead of checking. The product gets described as “for teams”, “for individuals”, or “for startups” because that sounds reasonable. When you actually look at who’s using it, you often find:
- IT people
- Ops people
- Someone in legal who just needs something that doesn’t break
These users don’t talk loudly. They don’t tweet. They don’t care about roadmaps. They just need the thing to exist when they need it, which often leads to the product being underpriced.
The “Simple = Cheap” Fallacy
There’s also a belief that if a SaaS looks simple, it must be worth very little. Yet a lot of software that companies rely on is boring on the surface. It:
- Saves history
- Keeps records
- Ensures something can be found later
No one is excited about it until it’s gone.
The Rebuild Reflex
When founders finally realize the product’s hidden value, they usually think the solution is to rebuild—new UI, more features, bigger vision. In most cases that’s unnecessary. The product already does the job; the issue is that no one ever clearly defined what that job is.
What Founders Should Do
- Investigate usage – Use tools like Figuring out why people keep using it without talking about it.
- Identify the real user – Look at actual usage data instead of assumptions.
- Ask a simple question: Who would actually be irritated if this stopped working tomorrow?
- Pause before dropping – If the answer points to a critical user, consider iterating rather than abandoning.
Conclusion
Sometimes the product isn’t weak; it’s just misunderstood. If you have a SaaS that feels too small or not very exciting, pause before dropping it. Understanding the silent, essential users can reveal a product’s true value.