In my last newsletter, I pointed out several ways to find solutions to problems. Following my own advise, I now have a document of 150 ideas. I think it’s fair to say that I will not have enough time on this planet to develop all of them. Hence why I will be sharing them occasionally.
What I saw this week
I was listening to Arvid Kahl’s podcast on my daily walk. Specifically, his episode titled “Don’t Fall for the Follower Count Trap”.
Arvid mentions that over-optimizing just for your follower count to increase in any social media you focus on could become counterproductive. Your follower count number doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of said followers.
A disengaged audience is frankly no audience at all. This is why buying followers, 99% of the time, bots, is throwing money away. They won’t interact with you. They won’t bounce ideas off you. They will never convert.
Instead, prioritize building meaningful relationships with your audience by valuing the quality of each connection over the quantity.
This means measuring unmeasurable factors like the perceived desire for reciprocation between you and your audience, the size of the opportunity surface that relationships create, and the quality of relationships built over time.
Arvid also mentions Immanuel Kant’s formula of humanity, which I must admit I had never heard of! In summary, Kant makes a case that treating individuals merely as a means or using them is often morally wrong, although not always.
This ethical concept has been debated by philosophers, with Kant suggesting that it is an absolute moral constraint. However, it is challenging to identify precise conditions for treating persons merely as means, and this idea clashes with everyday understanding.
Nevertheless, I have seen it firsthand: When you treat people politely and freely give them resources (e.g knowledge, time, etc.), you receive positive reciprocation and establish meaningful relationships.
Ultimately, while treating persons merely as means may be difficult to define, it is clear that treating others with respect, kindness, and genuine interest is a crucial aspect of building strong, ethical relationships. Offline and Online.
SaaS Trends
I’ve been looking closely at Wavve for the last few weeks. I honestly think they are doing something revolutionary and on the same path that Canva was.
Wavve turns your audio clips from your podcast into shareable video highlights so you can share them on social media. As a podcast creator, I’ve been trying to figure out an efficient way for my future episodes to distribute them and repurpose chunks of them for growth. And Wavve allows you to do just that. Plus, they have what every single one of us loves: Zapier automation.
Featured Maker of the week
Every time I send this newsletter I try to feature one of the fantastic people I come across and their products. 99% of them are solo makers trying to break into the world of SaaS. I fully support each and every one of them.
This week’s featured Maker is @DutchEngIishman and his product Linksupply.io.
Linksupply.io is a tool that simplifies the request for quotation (RFQ) process in logistics, helping shippers and suppliers build stronger relationships.
With Linksupply, shippers can automate their logistics tender, find the right logistics service provider, and create shipments according to their specific needs.
It also offers a powerful analytics dashboard to help shippers and suppliers track their performance and improve their logistics operations.
The dashboard provides real-time data on various metrics, including response rates, average quotation amounts, and time-to-respond. It also generates detailed reports that can be customized according to specific parameters and exported in various formats.
With these analytics tools, users can gain valuable insights into their logistics processes and make informed decisions to optimize their operations and improve their bottom line.
I have a favour to ask.
I’m currently distributing a survey to as many SaaS makers and entrepreneurs as possible.
If so, could you spare 5 minutes to answer the following survey?
The anonymized survey results will be made public via my newsletter, blog, and podcast. Hopefully said results will help you understand how others tackled specific roadblocks.
Here’s the survey’s URL: https://airtable.com/shrNpYY6b6kym8ly4
PS: The last question is an invitation to be a guest on my podcast. My podcast is about interviews of early SaaS makers and general SaaS insights.