The objective for a B2B SaaS company at the Seed stage is to develop and prove product/market fit. To do this, the founders must:
- hire the right team,
- build the right product, and
- win the right customers.
Customers, product & team. That’s it.
But it’s not a linear process. Not six months of hiring followed by six months of building followed by six months of selling. If only startup life were that simple.
Rather it’s an iterative process.
You sell something transformative. You build something amazing. You hire someone great. All in one, messy, iterative flow.
And yes, it is messy. And unpredictable. But it doesn’t have to be complete chaos. And in fact, the most successful founders have a clear plan. Even if they end up iterating a lot.
The building blocks
What are the foundational building blocks? How do you know you are on track? And how do you make sure you have enough runway to get there?
At the early stages, you need four simple tools. You need:
- a sales playbook,
- a roadmap,
- an org chart, and
- a budget that ties hiring, sales and R&D spend together.
Make sure you have all of those. Map them out. Track them. Update them. And use them to force you to think through difficult decisions and tradeoffs.
Aren’t plans obsolete the moment you make them? Yes and no. Your plans will change. For sure. But thinking through them helps you make the tough and the right decisions.
Because plan beats no plan.
Every single time.