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SaaS: What are some solid ways for a SaaS startup to narrow down the market and estimate its size and the opportunity for acquiring paying customers?
DI
DI
Donald Irion, Entrepreneur, business developer and B2C marketer answered:

Build a PowerPoint presentation that describes a) your company and vision b) the problem your product solves or the opportunity it creates for the customer, c) a description of your product including pictures of a non-functional prototype d) the fee you plan to charge and additional / optional services you will provide and finally e) summarize the benefits / ROI for the customer. Should be about 20 minutes or so. When you schedule introductory meetings, leave an additional 20 minutes after your presentation for feedback and discussion. Present your deck to a few prospects, refining/improving after each meeting. After a few meetings, you'll have a much better idea of the size of your opportunity and, equally important, launch timing and/or sales cycle. Instead of a beta followed by X% of the market will yield Y revenue, build a two or three year launch plan that says you will add X customers the 1st month, Y the 2nd, etc. That will give you a better understanding of cash flow and the timing for adding product development, sales and marketing resources. Good luck. I'm available if you need help.

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