Episode 828 | Am I Building a SaaS?, Serving Both B2C and B2B, Pricing, and More Listener Questions (Rob Solo)

43 snips

Apr 14, 2026

They debate what truly counts as SaaS and why streaming services do not qualify. They explore serving solopreneurs and enterprises at once using a dual-funnel approach. They discuss layering B2B features onto a B2C product and practical enterprise sales tradeoffs. They cover pricing a mission-driven app and how US healthcare costs affect startup runway.

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INSIGHT

SaaS Is Subscription Software That Provides The Value

SaaS is subscription software where the software provides the bulk of the value.
Rob Walling excludes content businesses like Netflix because their value is content, not the software delivering it.

ANECDOTE

Netflix Example Shows Content Is Not SaaS

Rob uses Netflix's DVD-mailing origin to show Netflix isn't SaaS because its value was content, not software.
If value could be delivered on a hard drive, you're selling content-as-a-service, not SaaS.

INSIGHT

APIs And Mobile Apps Can Be SaaS Too

SaaS can include API-only products and mobile-only apps if software delivers most value and it's subscription-based.
Rob disagrees with ChatGPT's UI and multi-tenant requirements as strict must-haves.

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Is your product actually a SaaS?

In this episode, Rob Walling tackles listener questions about what really qualifies as SaaS (and where he disagrees with ChatGPT), how to serve both solopreneurs and enterprise customers with a dual funnel strategy, layering a B2B offering on top of a B2C product, pricing a mission-driven app without gatekeeping access, and the impact of healthcare costs on startup runway.

Want to get your question answered? Drop it here.

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Topics we cover:

(3:09) – What qualifies as a SaaS business?
(5:15) – Why Netflix and Spotify are not SaaS
(8:11) – Where Rob disagrees with ChatGPT on SaaS
(12:21) – Serving solopreneurs and enterprise simultaneously
(15:13) – The power of the dual funnel strategy
(17:02) – Navigating the enterprise sales process
(22:20) – Layering B2B features onto a B2C product
(28:52) – Pricing a mission-driven job search app
(35:57) – Healthcare costs and startup runway in the US

Links from the show:

MicroConf Masterminds – Applications close April 17th
MicroConf’s Masterminds Guide
Newscatcher
HelpSpot
TinySeed
Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

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