Timeless Lessons For Founders

Newsletter #23: The SaaS Principles That Never Change – Timeless Lessons for Founders

READ Time: 7 minutes

Trends come and go. The hottest tools, tactics, and hacks flood your feed today only to be replaced by the next shiny object tomorrow. But here’s the thing: the core principles of building a successful SaaS business haven’t changed—and won’t change.

Whether you’re just starting out or scaling past $10M ARR, there are timeless lessons that every SaaS founder can rely on. These principles don’t just guide your decisions—they keep you focused when the noise gets overwhelming.

Today, I’m sharing five SaaS principles that stand the test of time. These aren’t tactics or shortcuts. They’re philosophies you can build a business—and a legacy—on.

1. Solve a Painful Problem

This is the starting point of every successful SaaS business: Find a problem worth solving.

Why It’s Timeless:

Customers pay for solutions to their problems, not for your ideas. If your product doesn’t address a pain point, it doesn’t matter how beautiful or innovative it is—it won’t succeed.

How to Apply It:

• Start with your audience, not your product. Talk to potential customers and ask about their biggest challenges.
• Validate your idea by ensuring it’s a “must-have,” not just a “nice-to-have.”

Example:

Calendly exploded in popularity because it solved a simple yet painful problem: the back-and-forth of scheduling meetings. By focusing on this niche pain point, it became indispensable for millions of users.

Timeless Lesson: Start with a deep understanding of your customer’s pain and let that drive your product.

2. Retention Beats Acquisition

It’s tempting to pour all your energy into acquiring new customers. But acquisition is expensive, and if you’re churning customers faster than you can replace them, growth is impossible.

Why It’s Timeless:

Retention fuels sustainable growth. It’s the foundation of expansion revenue, referrals, and long-term profitability.

How to Apply It:

• Focus on delivering value early and often to prevent churn.
• Build a seamless onboarding experience that helps users achieve their first “aha moment.”
• Track and improve Net Revenue Retention (NRR)—a key indicator of product-market fit.

Example:

Slack retains customers by driving engagement. Their focus on collaboration features and user-friendly design ensures teams rely on Slack daily, leading to high retention and natural upsells.

Timeless Lesson: Happy customers stay, grow, and bring others with them.

3. Charge What You’re Worth

Many SaaS founders underprice their product out of fear: fear of scaring away customers, fear of competition, or fear of rejection. But great SaaS companies don’t compete on price—they compete on value.

Why It’s Timeless:

Pricing reflects perceived value. If you charge too little, you signal to customers that your product isn’t worth much.

How to Apply It:

• Use value-based pricing. Charge based on the outcome your product delivers, not the number of features it has.
• Experiment with tiered pricing to capture more value from power users.
• Review your pricing annually and adjust based on market trends and customer feedback.

Example:

Basecamp famously doubled its pricing overnight, going from $49 to $99/month. Instead of losing customers, they grew revenue and attracted higher-quality leads who were serious about using the product.

Timeless Lesson: Don’t sell yourself short. Price for the value you deliver, not what feels safe.

4. Iterate Relentlessly

The SaaS business is never “done.” What works today might not work tomorrow. The best companies thrive by staying curious, adapting, and constantly improving their products and processes.

Why It’s Timeless:

Customer needs evolve. Technology evolves. If your product doesn’t evolve too, you risk falling behind.

How to Apply It:

• Build a feedback loop with your customers through surveys, interviews, and in-app prompts.
• Use data to identify what’s working and what isn’t—then make changes quickly.
• Treat your roadmap as a living document. Prioritize based on user impact, not internal assumptions.

Example:

Ahrefs continuously improves its SEO toolset by listening to users and releasing updates that directly address their needs. This iterative approach has made Ahrefs a go-to resource for marketers.

Timeless Lesson: Stay humble, stay curious, and never stop improving.

5. Build for People, Not Metrics

It’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics: sign-ups, page views, or social media followers. But metrics don’t build relationships—people do.

Why It’s Timeless:

SaaS is fundamentally about solving problems for people. When you put people at the center of your decisions, you build trust, loyalty, and a product that stands out.

How to Apply It:

• Prioritize customer feedback over internal assumptions.
• Focus on long-term relationships, not short-term wins.
• Treat your team as a core part of your business’s success—happy teams build better products.

Example:

HubSpot’s “customer-first” philosophy has driven their success. They’ve built tools and educational content to help customers grow their businesses, creating a loyal user base and a strong brand.

Timeless Lesson: Metrics tell a story, but people drive results.

Closing Thoughts

The tools, tactics, and algorithms will keep changing—but these principles won’t. If you focus on solving real problems, retaining your customers, charging fairly, iterating relentlessly, and putting people first, you’ll build a SaaS business that thrives in any market.

Here’s your challenge: Which of these principles are you already living by? Which one needs more attention in your business?

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