Rob Walling - Stop Building Stuff Nobody Wants

Software entrepreneur, author, and investor Rob Walling joined me on Ditching Hourly to explain why faster software development does not remove the need to validate a software product idea before building it.We talked about the future of SaaS in the age of AI, the 2-20-200 validation framework, customer conversations, finding ideas, turning client work into a product, starting marketing early, choosing an ideal customer profile, competitive research, and the advantages of vertical vs orthogonal vs horizontal product positioning.00:00 - Meet Rob Walling01:28 - Idea to Traction02:45 - Who Builds SaaS Now?05:18 - SaaS in the Age of AI09:23 - Validate Before You Build16:29 - Better Customer Conversations17:47 - Finding and Choosing Ideas20:46 - Turning Client Work into SaaS26:24 - Market from Day One28:53 - Find and Refine Your ICP32:09 - Competitive Research and Positioning35:48 - The DNA of a Great SaaS Business38:26 - Vertical, Horizontal, and Orthogonal SaaSRob Walling is a software entrepreneur, author, and investor. He hosts Startups for the Rest of Us, a podcast he said has run for 16 years, and co-founded TinySeed, where he invests in SaaS bootstrappers. He started Drip in 2012 and sold it in 2016. Idea to Traction is his sixth book and revisits the early stages of software entrepreneurship. Learn more and pre-order the book at Idea to Traction. ----Before you go!The next time someone asks you for your hourly rate, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on over to valuepricingbootcamp.com to sign up for my free value pricing email course.Hope to see you there!