Realistic v1 ships in 30–60 days for a focused vertical SaaS. The remaining 6–12 months is spent on distribution, onboarding and customer success — those are bigger problems than the build.
Build time follows the 80/20 rule: 80% of value is in 20% of features. Realistic timelines: (1) Focused vertical SaaS v1: 30–60 days solo. (2) Multi-feature horizontal SaaS v1: 60–120 days. (3) AI-native SaaS v1: 30 days. (4) Marketplace v1: 60–90 days. Cuts: ship one core feature; ugly UI is OK; manual ops behind the scenes; charge from day 1.
Ship 30 (Pieter Levels) builds a new SaaS every 30 days
Linear shipped a focused MVP in 90 days
Tally MVP shipped in weeks, used Bubble first
One feature, ugly UI, manual fulfillment behind the scenes, charge from day 1.
Scope creep, perfectionism, building for hypothetical users, premature optimization.
What is product-market fit?
Product-market fit (PMF) is when your product satisfies strong market demand—customers desperately w...
How much money do I need to start a SaaS?
Under $1,000 to ship a paid v1 in 2026. Stack: Next.js + Supabase + Vercel ($0 free tiers), Stripe (...
Can I build a SaaS without coding?
Yes. Bubble + Stripe + Make/Zapier covers 80% of SaaS use cases. Many no-code SaaS hit $5K–$10K MRR ...
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