Jon C. Phillips

Building a SaaS is basically one long decision tree: • come up with the idea • sanity-check if anyone actually needs it • name it (then rename it three times) • buy the domain • design a logo at 2am • scope the MVP • cut half of it • pick a stack • second-guess that stack • set up your repo, branches, CI • design the database • build the first models • set up auth • debug auth • add OAuth because fuck it • realize your data model’s wrong • refactor everything • pick a rich text editor • hate all of them equally • design the dashboard • add 2FA (and lock yourself out of course) • integrate payments • add yearly plans • handle upgrades, downgrades, and proration math • write onboarding emails • design success, warning, and error toasts • design empty states • build an async queue • handle time zones (ugh…) • setup background jobs • forget to handle retries • add logging • fix logging • add metrics • fix metrics • add a feature flag system • create docs • write transactional emails • design error pages • implement rate limiting (probably too late) • build a settings page • make a changelog • update the roadmap (maybe) • add dark mode • break production • fix it, add monitoring • refactor the UI again because it looks dated already • add analytics, events, metadata • write privacy policy and terms • ship • immediately find a bug That’s the real roadmap. And you’re doing all this while trying to figure out distribution.