Loading...
Answers
MenuIs it better to white label an existing SAAS in development or develop my own?
I've had this idea for a chatbot for a specific industry vertical and I met someone who has developed the same but has problem selling and getting it to market (my expertise). In chatting, I find he is stuck in his ways, and want HIS biz to be front and center, whereas I want to create a white label and promote my brand. Is it better to develop my own or find a way to make it work with this person?
Answers
I have had at least half a dozen clients ask me this and build analysis for them around this specific topic in the last year alone. The answer largely depends on the circumstances (funding, time to market required, reliability of the platform provider etc). But it is a dilemma that many founders (particularly non-technical founders) face.
But in general I like being the master of your own destiny and keeping your tech stack fully in your control (that's not to say using open source tools isn't a useful way to still achieve that goal though.) I would say this: even if you are going to white label at the beginning, it is only a matter if when, not if, you will want to migrate in part or in whole away from this third party platform being the entirety of what you offer. In my experience these platforms typically offer too light or too expansive of a feature set and can be unreliable when it comes to things such as uptime, ticket responses etc. So generally I steer my clients away from it, or when necessary help them limit their exposure by creating a hybrid app that has elements you control merged with existing tools from the platform. the good news is that, in general terms, chatbots by and large are not tremendously complex (again, a few caveats aside) so building it with a software firm is certainly a plausible option to consider.
If you'd like to brainstorm or talk through specific parameters that could influence your plan one way or the other, or talk through how to roadmap potential issues that should be avoided (both contractually and feature-wise) feel free to reach out and we can schedule some time to dive in.
For a chatbot? The hard work as already been done by other companies. Just develop on top of a horizontal platform if you want to go after a specific industry vertical.
It really depends - If you want to get the business launched quickly and start bringing in revenue, then obviously you would want to use a white label to leverage that company's resources and infrastructure to minimize your company's initial overhead. However, if you want more control over the SAAS platform to allow innovation of services, then you would need to have your own platform setup. Also, White Label or custom SAAS platform is not always an either/or decision. You can start out with the white label platform to start growing your business and bringing in money while you develop your own custom SAAS platform. Once it's done you can then switch over to that platform and end your business relationship with the White Label Service Supplier.
Related Questions
-
What does it mean to 'grandfather you in' in the tech world?
It stands for allowing someone to continue doing or use something that is normally no longer permitted (due to changing regulations, internal rules etc.)OO
-
For every success story in Silicon Valley, how many are there that fail?
It all depends on what one decides to be a definition of a "success story." For some entrepreneurs, it might be getting acqui-hired, for some -- a $10M exit, for some -- a $200M exit, and for others -- an IPO. Based on the numbers I have anecdotally heard in conversations over the last decade or so, VCs fund about 1 in 350 ventures they see, and of all of these funded ventures, only about 1 in 10 become really successful (i.e. have a big exit or a successful IPO.) So you are looking at a 1 in 3500 chance of eventual venture success among all of the companies that try to get VC funding. (To put this number in perspective, US VCs invest in about 3000-3500 companies every year.) In addition, there might be a few others (say, maybe another 1-2 in every 10 companies that get VC investments) that get "decent" exits along the way, and hence could be categorized as somewhat successful depending on, again, how one chooses to define what qualifies as a "success story." Finally, there might also be companies that may never need or get around to seeking VC funding. One can, of course, find holes in the simplifying assumptions I have made here, but it doesn't really matter if that number instead is 1 in 1000 or 1 in 10000. The basic point being made here is just that the odds are heavily stacked against new ventures being successful. But that's also one of the distinguishing characteristics of entrepreneurs -- to go ahead and try to bring their idea to life despite the heavy odds. Sources of some of the numbers: http://www.nvca.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ven... https://www.pwcmoneytree.com/MTP... http://paulgraham.com/future.html Here are others' calculations of the odds that lead to a similar conclusion: 1.Dear Entrepreneurs: Here's How Bad Your Odds Of Success Are http://www.businessinsider.com/startup-odds-of-success-2013-5 2.Why 99.997% Of Entrepreneurs May Want To Postpone Or Avoid VC -- Even If You Can Get It http://www.forbes.com/sites/dileeprao/2013/07/29/why-99-997-of-entrepreneurs-may-want-to-postpone-or-avoid-vc-even-if-you-can-get-it/MB
-
What is the average series A funding round at pre revenue valuation for a enterprise start up w/cutting edge tech on verge of our first client.
With all respect to Dan, I'm not seeing anything like that. You said "pre-revenue." If it's pre-revenue and enterprise, you don't have anything proven yet. You would have to have an insanely interesting story with a group of founders and execs on board with ridiculous competitive advantage built in. I have seen a few of those companies. It's more like $3m-$5m pre. Now, post-revenue is different. I've seen enterprise plays with $500k-$1m revenue/yr, still very early (because in the enterprise space that's not a lot of customers yet), getting $8m-$15m post in an A-round. I do agree there's no "average." Finally, you will hit the Series A Crunch issue, which is that for every company like yours with "cutting edge tech" as-yet-unproven, there's 10 which also have cutting edge tech except they have customers, revenue, etc.. So in this case, it's not a matter of valuation, but a matter of getting funded at all!JC
-
What tools to use for mobile Prototyping ?
My 2 favourite are: - www.uxpin.com - www.flinto.com Flinto is by far my favorite for mobile. I also us www.balsamiq.com for anything wireframe. Sometimes I jump into Sketch http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/ for more high fidelity mockups using their Mirror feature http://www.bohemiancoding.com/sketch/mirror/ Hope that helps. P.S. There's a tonne of Mobile UX experts on Clarity, many $1/min - call them, you'll learn so much. my2cents.DM
-
how to start earning on clarity.fm
Most of the earnings come from the people you are in contact with. The platform is not that big at the moment but it can be earned. My recommendation is to create content on your private page web, facebook, instagram ... and leave a clarity link through your work. If you need extra help call me for 15 minutes.DB
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.