mariano martene 🧉

@marianomartene.com

ɢʀᴏᴡᴛʜ » building saas in public + helping founders scale with growth engines. ++ co-founder at https://iterate.so 🗞️ bite-sized case studies + resources to grow your SaaS: https://saas-hq.com/subscribe/ 🧉 thoughts: https://marianomartene.com

i just added a #buildinpublic section to my newsletter SaaS-HQ.com at the end of each issue, i’ll share: ➝ key metrics from the previous edition ➝ a 3-bullet update on what i’m working on the newsletter is all about growing SaaS, so tracking its own growth just makes sense.

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We put pricing on our landing page from day one. Smart move or mistake? Early on, we priced at ~$150 to land our first customers. Later, we 10x’d it for a high-value offer. ✅ Qualifies leads ✅ Allows PLG ❌ Scares off leads ❌ Prevents talking Do you publish pricing upfront? #saas #buildinpublic

newsletters are still the best marketing channel in 2025 every time I send out my newsletter, I see a 50% open rate. with 1k subs, that’s 500 people I’m actively engaging and building relationships. compare that to organic reach: – Fb: ~2.2% – Ig: ~4% – Lin: ~7% also, low effort initiative

next iteration: Doubling down on what’s working 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 → make a landing page & mvp 😅 @diselo.xyz → 10x prices 💸 → target 500 leads in 2 weeks (🍒👌cherrypicked) → talk & deliver value to early customers last sprint of the year! #buildinpublic #indiehackers #saas

mariano martene 🧉@marianomartene.com · 2y ago

Sell first, build later - no waitlist - no landing page - no MVP With nothing but a mockup, email, and a call, we offered our solution 1/10 cheaper, but 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 on payment. Emails Sent: 71 Replies: 13 Sales: $347 Real validation? Getting paid. #buildinpublic #indiehackers #saas

Stripe screenshot displaying a financial report titled “Reports overview” against an orange background. It features a “4W” view selected in blue, showcasing a graph of “Gross volume” which details earnings of €322.62 from 15 Nov to today, with notable spikes in transactions. The graph reflects a 100% growth from €0.00, indicating successful early sales following a strategy of selling before building. This highlights the real-time financial validation of new strategies, emphasizing the practical outcomes of early customer payments.

𝘛𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. — 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘡𝘩𝘰𝘶 First, define the problem Next, explore how you can solve it Then, list the resources you’ll need After that, decide how you want the user to feel Finally, play with tools and iterate with your user #saas #buildinpublic

The right AI tool makes everything easier. The wrong one? makes everything harder. We’ve tested the AI CodeGen tools that will speed your product building. In this article we’ll walk you through everything you need to check, so you’ll never say you don't know your tools. #buildinpublic #ai #saas

AI CodeGen Tools: Faster Iteration for SaaS Products

AI isn’t a magic wand — it’s a toolkit. Discover how the right tools can accelerate your saas product’s success

iterate.so

Surround yourself with compounders Compounders build systems, relationships, and knowledge that grow exponentially over time. Are the people around you building for long term, or sprinting in circles? Code, content, distribution—what will keep growing even when you stop? #saas #buildinpublic

Distribution > Product A great product without a distribution system is a waste. Slack is great, but Microsoft Teams won by leveraging their ecosystem. Great founders focus on both: building a great product and a system to distribute it. This chart is your reminder. #SaaS #BuildInPublic

Microsoft Teams users growth versus Slack

I created a Starter Pack with the coolest of the coolest Indie Makers! ✨ Please repost for more visibility and feel free to comment if you want to be added. go.bsky.app/ENuBar1

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how much of your revenue comes from the top 10% of signups? if you're early-stage SaaS, I bet is +80%. So why are you focused on activating 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦? the game changes when you 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 on activating the 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝟣𝟢%. so...go and double down on your high-value users. #buildinpublic #saas #growth

At their beginning... 🏠 Airbnb wrote a script to automatically post each new listing to Craigslist, bringing them loads of free qualified renters. 💸 PayPal wrote a script to message eBay sellers, pretending to be buyers, to ask if they would accept payments via PayPal. 1/5 #growth #startups #saas