Ash RoySep 18, 2015 4:27:18 PM2 min read

044. Hiten Shah — Cofounder of Kissmetrics — How To Assess If The Software As A Service (SAAS) Business Model Is Right For You

Hiten Shah — Cofounder of Kissmetrics — How To Assess If The Software As A Service (SAAS) Business Model Is Right For You

Hiten Shah is an expert in SAAS – also known as software as a service, content and growth hacking. He’s the co-founder of kissmetrics.com and crazy egg which allows you analyze the behaviour of your visitors on your websites through heat maps based on visitor clicks. He’s worked with high-profile clients and has been known about his excellent in the growth hacking area. He’s also got a weekly newsletter called SAAS weekly where he shares relevant content for anyone who’s interested in SAAS as a business. His blog is called hitenism.com I’ve had the honour of speaking with his co-founder at KISSmetrics on the first episode that was Neil Patel.

<a href='/hiten-shah/'>Hiten Shah</a> Image

Resources Mentioned:

Books Mentioned:

Episodes mentioned

Key points (with timestamps)

2:33 – Ash introduces Hiten Shah, co-founder of kissmetrics.
3:24 – Hiten Shah talks about his entrepreneurial journey and how he arrived at the SAAS model.
5:22 – The recurring income/subscription aspect of SAAS businesses.
6:43 – Microsoft 365 and the Adobe licensed SAAS model
7:32 – How does an entrepreneur evaluate SAAS as a business model for their business?
8:44 – A good framework to think about whether or not SAAS is a good solution for a business
10:06 – Hiten’s take on Facebook as a free SAAS product
12:10 – IBM’s tiny microchip – Comparable to the size of DNA and implications on SAAS!
13:36 – Moore’s law is already broken.
14:59 – Hiten’s interview with Leo Babauta about his dad – an anesthetist with an entrepreneurial mindset
15:30 – Biggest challenges in getting started with software as a service and what’s worked best with overcoming them
17:50 – It pays to solve the problem without software first and then automate it with software. But make sure you can solve the problem first.
19:37 – How to use customer development to gauge the problems they’re facing and how they can solve them – a step by step guide
21:36 – Ash talks about Ryan Levesque‘s ‘Ask Methodology’.
22:29 – Ash asks about quick wins that the listeners can take if they want to get started with SAAS.
25:55 – “Is the software solving a legitimate problem?”
26:28 – Software is just a tool (to execute on a solution).
26:52 – Ash asks about what books had the biggest impact to Hiten.
28:21 – How to get in contact with Hiten

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Ash Roy

Ash Roy has spent over 15 years working in the corporate world as a financial and strategic analyst and advisor to large multinational banks and telecommunications companies. He suffered through a CPA in 1997 and completed it despite not liking it at all because he believed it was a valuable skill to have. He sacrificed his personality in the process. In 2004 he finished his MBA (Masters In Business Administration) from the Australian Graduate School of Management and loved it! He scored a distinction (average) and got his personality back too!