SFN158: Jeff Wenberg on Building His First SaaS
Jeff Wenberg is the founder of Smart Video Metrics and an alumni of The Foundation. Jeff started a voiceover and video business right after being let go from his job. He grew tired of the inconsistent income of that business so in 2015, he joined The Foundation.
In this interview, Jeff tells us how he came up with the idea for Smart Video Metrics, how much time and money he invested in his solution, and his takeaways from his experience so far.
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In This Interview I asked:
4:28 - How did you know that there was an opportunity to solve a problem?
6:35 - What problem were you experiencing that you wanted to go out there and solve?
7:57 - Why is it important to be able to track this [video conversion data]?
9:43 - Why did you feel confident in breaking the rules of the pre-selling model?
13:04 - In retrospect, what are the things you would go back and change?
14:24 - How did you build [your solution]?
17:27 - How long was the process between hiring a developer and receiving the final product?
19:34 - With no pre-sales, how did you get your first customers?
22:12 - What specific lesson learn did you learn about Smart Video Metrics?
23:45 - How long after getting the software developed did it take to get that first sale?
26:28 - What are your goals for the next 3 months, and what are the highest leverage things for you to focus on to accomplish those goals?
28:09 - What was your biggest takeaway from the mistakes that you\u2019ve made so far?
28:36 - What do you think you\u2019ve exceptionally well [in this whole process]?
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SOLVING A PROBLEM - The #1 thing you need to start a business is a problem to solve (not experience or a track record).
- Jeff was originally working on a solution for freelancers, but when they became unresponsive during his outreach, he decided to scrap that idea and solve a problem he personally struggled with.
- Smart Video Metrics tells you if a person watching your video turns into a lead or customer. The problem that this solves is having the ability to track the life of a visitor without having to spend a ton of manpower. The alternative solution would be to use Google Analytics manually.
- Creating videos takes a lot of time and money investment so it\u2019s important track the return of investment (ROI). 75% of people investing in video creation only track their video views. If you\u2019re spending more on videos than they are making back, it\u2019s pointless.
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PRESELLING - Before you go out there and build a solution, you collect pre-sale dollars in advance to mitigate the risk of building something with your own money.
- Pre-selling is not just about the dollar amount that it\u2019s going to take to develop software. You are able to get users to tell you exactly what features they need and don\u2019t need.
- Jeff had never worked with developers before. Counter-intuitively, he hired the most expensive developer who also had the most background in the particular type of software Jeff wanted to build - and received the finished product a month later.
- When hiring a developer you want the perfect mix of enthusiasm and price. Don't hire based on who will work for the least amount of pay. Also it\u2019s important that the developer is excited to work on the project, and it\u2019s your job to sell them on it.
- If you don\u2019t have pre-sales, focus on one-on-one conversations with potential customers in your market, and utilize free tools until you\u2019ve fully developed your positioning.
- Having only two hours a day to work on Smart Video Metrics, Jeff only focused on tasks that resulted in the the most impact. He only wished he would have been more patient and tried to pre-sell his solution.
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Show Notes:\xa0