u/Embarrassed_Way6530

I'm a solo developer starting a consumer web app. I'm still in the very early build phase, and I want to avoid the classic mistake of launching to silence.

I have maybe 5 hours a week to spend on audience building, no ad budget, and I'm comfortable writing but not on camera. Here's what I'm trying to figure out:

1. If you built an audience before launch, what was the single channel that moved the needle, and what was a time sink that didn't?
2. Waitlist page vs. build-in-public posts vs. community participation: which would you prioritize with limited time?
3. How do you stop a pre-launch audience from being just "other indie hackers" who'll never be customers?
4. Roughly how big did your list or following need to be before launch for it to matter?

Would love real numbers or "here's what I'd do differently" stories more than general frameworks. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm a solo, student founder building a SaaS product on a tight budget. I'm at the stage where I've narrowed down a few possible brand names, and I'm trying to figure out the right order and process for securing the name before I launch. I'd really appreciate hearing how you handled it.

Where I am right now:

• I have a short list of candidate names.
• I've done a basic web search and app store search for conflicts, but nothing formal yet.
• I haven't bought a domain or filed anything.
• I'm based in korea, and I plan to serve users globally.

My questions:

1. Order of operations: Did you buy the domain first, run a trademark search first, or file the trademark first? Looking back, what would you do differently?
2. Conflict checks: How did you vet a name beyond a Google search? Did you do the trademark search yourself, or pay an attorney? What did you wish you'd checked?
3. Where and when to file: Did you file only in your home country first, or in the US/EU too? Did you wait until you had traction, or file before launch?
4. Costs: Roughly what did the domain and trademark each cost you, and what hidden costs surprised you (attorney fees, renewals, office actions)?
5. Domain hurdles: What if the .com was taken? Did you go with another TLD, add a prefix or suffix, or buy it from the owner? How did that negotiation go?
6. Things that went wrong: Any horror stories (domain squatters, a conflict found after launch, a rejected application) and how you solved them?
7. Tools or services: Any registrars, search tools, or low-cost filing services you'd recommend or avoid for a bootstrapped founder?

I understand this isn't legal advice. I'm just trying to learn from people who've been through it so I can avoid common mistakes.

Hi everyone,

I'm a solo founder (student, 1-person team) currently building a B2B micro-SaaS.
I'm at the stage where I need to structure my product roadmap and operational plan more intentionally, but I'm finding it challenging to balance feature development, customer validation, marketing, and infrastructure costs with limited time and capital.

I'd love to learn from those who have shipped and scaled a SaaS product, especially as a solo founder or small team:

1. Roadmap Planning:

• How do you structure your product roadmap (e.g., quarterly OKRs, monthly sprints, feature prioritization frameworks)?
• Do you separate "product roadmap" and "operational roadmap" (e.g., customer support, monitoring, billing, compliance)? If so, how do you keep them aligned?
• What tools or templates do you use (Notion, Linear, spreadsheet, etc.)?

2. Biggest Roadblocks You Faced:

• What were the top 2-3 unexpected challenges you encountered post-launch (technical, operational, or customer-related)?
• Examples: churn spikes, infrastructure costs exploding, support overload, feature scope creep, etc.

3. How You Solved Them:

• What specific actions or systems did you put in place to overcome these roadblocks?
• Did you pivot your pricing, narrow your ICP, automate certain workflows, or change your development cadence?

4. Advice for Solo Founders:

• If you could go back to your early days, what's the one thing you'd do differently in roadmap planning or operations?
• Any "non-obvious" lessons that took you months to figure out?

I'm especially interested in hearing from founders in the B2B / developer tools / API infrastructure space, but all perspectives are welcome.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences — this community has been incredibly helpful for my journey!

I’m a solo developer working on a SaaS, and I’ve reached the point where I need a decent demo/promo video.

The problem is that making software and making a good-looking video feel like two completely different skills.

I could spend hours learning video editing, pay someone to make it, or try to build something using tools like Figma, Screen Studio, Remotion, CapCut, or AI video generators.

So I’m curious what other solo founders are actually doing.

If you’re running a small/micro SaaS:

1. How do you make your demo videos?
Screen recording / Figma / AI / animation / editing software / freelancer / something else?

2. What does your workflow look like from start to finish?

3. How long does one video take you?

4. How much does it cost?

5. Where do you distribute it?
Landing page / Product Hunt / Reddit / X / YouTube / Shorts / TikTok / LinkedIn / ads / elsewhere?

6. Most importantly: did it actually bring users?

Even rough numbers would be really useful:

“Made a 30 sec video → posted on X → 5k views → 30 visits → 3 signups”

or

“Spent 8 hours making it → got basically nothing.”

I am currently developing a SaaS product on my own. However, I often see projects involving co-founders in various communities. While I haven't felt the need for a co-founder so far, I am curious about the reasons why others choose to partner up.

- Is the co-founder simply a friend who shares similar ideas and goals?
- Or do you bring on a co-founder to fill gaps in areas where you lack expertise?

Hi! I'm building a small tool that catches webhook payload changes (missing fields, type changes) before they break your integration silently. I'm looking for 3-5 developers who currently receive webhooks from Stripe/Shopify/GitHub to test with a few real payload samples (manually, no signup needed). Would you be open to sharing a sanitized sample or a quick chat about pain points you've had?