This Blog Post is excerpt from the Podcast done with TST Technology on how to grow SaaS
Introduction
We are sharing something that most SaaS founders learn only after burning years of time, money, and confidence.
If you’re a founder trying to scale a SaaS product or planning to move from services to SaaS, the episode is not about hacks or overnight success. It’s about how real products actually grow.
In this episode of Build Mode On with TST Technology, we sit down with Vishal Rewari, a product growth specialist who has worked with 80+ service companies and influenced products that have generated $350M+ in value.
The conversation dives deep into SaaS growth realities from market selection and naming psychology to data systems, pricing, AI, and trust.
This episode is especially valuable for:
Watch the full episodes here: Watch on YouTube
One of the most uncomfortable but practical insights discussed in this episode is that selling SaaS to the Indian market can be harder during the early validation stage, based on Vishal’s experience.
Not because the market lacks intelligence, but because payment behavior, expectations, and ROI cycles make early validation difficult.
Early-stage startups are not Jio or Ambani. They need:
That’s why Vishal advises targeting the US, Europe, or Australia for the first 10 customers.
A compelling and memorable product name is a foundational aspect of successful SaaS marketing. Naming isn’t just about creativity; it’s a strategic exercise grounded in psychology and marketing science.
The ideal product name is:
For example, the product “Wooffer” was named with multiple psychological factors in mind: it sounds like a dog’s bark (a guardian) and also relates to sound enhancement (improving backend processes). This dual significance helped create an emotional connection and trust among users.
When naming your MVP (Minimum Viable Product), test the name with your target audience by observing their reactions and recall ability. Avoid lengthy or complicated names that dilute brand recognition.
Many successful SaaS founders don’t start with a product. They begin with services for good reason.
Before jumping into building software, understanding why a service-based model works and how to transition correctly can save founders years of wasted effort and capital.
For early-stage founders, services offer a powerful foundation before committing to full-scale product development.
Key Advantages of a Service-First Approach
1. Immediate Cash Flow
Services generate revenue from day one. This cash flow can:
2. Deep Domain Understanding
Working closely with clients exposes:
3. Organic Intellectual Property Creation
Over time, service businesses naturally develop:
These assets often become the core IP behind future SaaS products. Many global firms, such as Accenture, Deloitte, and Infosys, have followed this exact path, building scalable products by first solving problems through services.
Strategic takeaway: Services let founders play to their strengths while learning the market with real money on the line.
Starting with services doesn’t mean you lack ambition for SaaS. It means you’re choosing leverage over assumptions.
Modern buyers don’t care about:
They care about:
This mindset shift has created a new category often called “Service as a Software” where customers pay for results, not software access.
Many founders understand the theory but fail during execution.
Common mistakes include:
The problem isn’t the idea. It’s careless execution.
To successfully transition from services to SaaS, two rules are non-negotiable.
Build products where your expertise already exists.
Don’t chase new fields just because they look profitable. Go deep into what you know. That works better than trying something new.
Your first 5–10 customers should not be strangers.
Start with:
These early users:
“You cannot improve what you cannot measure.”
From day one, every SaaS product must track three critical data points:
Most startups fail not because of a lack of users but because of poor data systems.
Without these, decision-making becomes guesswork.
Return on Investment (ROI) remains the ultimate metric to justify every dollar spent on product development, marketing, or user engagement. However, many startups struggle to accurately measure ROI because systems for tracking campaign effectiveness may be missing or improperly configured.
They track too many irrelevant metrics, leading to analysis paralysis.
Underestimating the effort required to implement robust analytics.
The solution lies in focusing on key revenue-driving flows, having measurable KPIs, and continuously optimizing based on data. A clear understanding of ROI allows companies to pivot quickly, invest in high-impact areas, and avoid wastage.
AI should not replace thinking. It should accelerate insight.
Vishal introduces the Criticality–Complexity Framework:
AI dashboards that allow natural-language questions are powerful, but judgment remains human.
Everything comes back to one truth: Business is about trust.
Users decide in seconds:
Trust is built through:
Without belief, no SaaS survives, no matter how good the code is.
Conclusion
This post delivers something rare: clarity without hype. From choosing the right market and naming your product correctly to building data systems, pricing intelligently, and earning trust, Vishal Rewari’s insights offer a real SaaS growth blueprint.
If you’d like to apply these principles to your own SaaS or product journey, you can schedule a free consultation call with our team. We’d also love to hear from you.
See you soon with more real stories from real entrepreneurs.
Most SaaS startups fail not because of poor products, but due to weak market validation, incorrect pricing, lack of trust, poor data systems, and building features instead of outcomes users are willing to pay for.
Product naming is extremely important. A strong SaaS name should be easy to remember, clearly suggest value, and build trust. Poor naming can reduce recall, credibility, and conversion even if the product is good.
Trust is built through clear demos, transparent pricing, strong partnerships, honest communication, and solving one core problem exceptionally well.
Transition when you identify a repeatable, high-leverage problem that appears across of your service clients. If the problem requires custom solutions each time, it's not ready for productisation. The right moment is when you can see a pattern, a specific bottleneck, workflow, or decision-making process that could be standardised into software.
Starting with services provides immediate cash flow, deep domain knowledge, and real customer insights. These advantages reduce risk and help founders build products that solve validated problems.
International markets such as the US and Europe often have higher willingness to pay, shorter ROI cycles, and more mature software buyers, making early validation easier for new SaaS products.
Data is critical. Without proper attribution, behavioral tracking, and retention metrics, founders make decisions based on assumptions rather than reality, leading to poor scaling outcomes.
Most SaaS founders scale successfully by starting with services, validating real customer problems, generating early cash flow, and then productizing proven workflows instead of building software based on assumptions.