Comments on Bwooce's Log: SaaS and trust: a NZ experience

Thanks Martin, I've written a followup post here. ...

2007-11-14T21:04:25.397+13:00

Thanks Martin, I've written a followup post here.

Best of luck to you, it sounds like you've had a difficult time.

Hi I’m a Director and one of the Founders of 1plac...

2007-11-13T22:03:16.359+13:00

Hi

I’m a Director and one of the Founders of 1place and have been reading the blogs on your experience with 1place.

You are right there was a parting of the ways of the shareholders and
for obvious reasons I can’t elaborate too much or explain my position.

However it did cause the website and the email system to go down for
the month which I want to unreservedly apologise for .

What I can say now is that we have new backers who are helping the company move forward and I will be elaborating on
these further on the website once these have been finalised

To address some of your legitimate concerns we will be adding to the
website very soon

1. Information up on who is behind the company.

2. Adding Functionality to enable you to export ALL your data to your computer or accountant whenever you require- (this will be
within the next month)

3. We have already changed our invoicing layout to better cater for service and product type of businesses based on user feedback

4. Further enhancements based on accountants input of what they
need for year end

I fully understand if you do not wish to use 1place again however I would appreciate any further feedback you have on how we can make 1place better for other users

Regards

Martin Bing

In my case, I'd be happy to grow to a size where t...

2007-10-26T19:29:39.423+13:00

In my case, I'd be happy to grow to a size where the service pays for itself, and for a bit of time supporting and extending it.

But I don't necessarily disagree with your points.

Jason you are correct. PlanHQ is a good example of...

2007-10-26T07:04:34.788+13:00

Jason you are correct. PlanHQ is a good example of one that I'm doing that is on a relatively small spend.

But many high value spaces are about speed, especially when you want to make an impact against the incumbents.

And you need to look at what what happens if you make traction. As a small private company you may end up getting brought so you only grow so big.

If you want a grow really big - then in most cases you will require the resources to do it properly.

Nothing wrong with 1Place but I think it points to what I'm talking about so is an interesting indicator.

Rod, I'm not entirely convinced -all- SaaS models ...

2007-10-25T10:57:15.401+13:00

Rod, I'm not entirely convinced -all- SaaS models require significant funding.

What about starting small and lightweight, obviously with less features to start with, but growing with your userbase? Costs are low because you don't have the expectation of a thumping great number of users to start with. The biggest issue is funding for marketing, but I'm hoping word-of-mouth will offset some of that cost with my own attempt at SaaS.
There are plenty of examples of web applications out there (that come close to the definition of SaaS) which were started on a shoestring and grew from there.

With respect,
Jason
(domyinvoice.com)

When it comes to making decisions about your busin...

2007-10-24T23:37:21.010+13:00

When it comes to making decisions about your business it is important that you do some due diligence.

Shame really - it seemed like a good idea in principle.

I had a similar sinking feeling this afternoon when a client's website that I have hosted in the US went offline for no reason. Back now - but there is nothing quite like the thought you've been had to act as a wake up.

I'm sad to hear this too. When we looked at SaaS ...

2007-10-24T22:23:07.825+13:00

I'm sad to hear this too.

When we looked at SaaS we realized quickly that SaaS models require significant funding. Not just for dev but for all the other things you need to build a complete business. You also need to fund the revenue ramp which is not just the delayed revenue from monthly fees, but having enough gas in the tank to educate the market and take the time to build trust, history and change behavior. That takes time so requires even more funding.

This is why we went down the funding path that we did. SaaS is a great space but it does require capital.

Happy to talk to any of the 1place people if they want to make contact.

Rod - Xero