State of Independent SaaS [pdf]
Some surprises for me -<p>1. Why is VC funding so down the rank compared to self funding, friends and family, angels and even debt? Is it probably because VC funding expects a >100x exit and most SaaS probably can't deliver that? Or are SaaS founders turning away from VC for ideological reasons (like want to enjoy the process instead of rushing to justify a valuation?)<p>2. 50%+ people pursued ideas which were not their own itch to scratch.<p>3. 30%+ didn't validate before building. 20%+ just asked their audience. Effectively, 50%+ just jumped into it without doing any significant and rigorous testing. Probably because the cost of entry and failure is too low?<p>4. 74% don't require a CC to start a trial. (Either infra costs are very low or competition is intense?)<p>5. 80% don't offer a forever free plan.<p>6. Most founders don't know their website visitor to trial conversion rates.<p>7. "Asking for a credit card before a free trial has
almost no correlation with revenue growth."