How I Built and Launched a SaaS Platform for Creators and Got 5000 Signups in the First Month with Limited Budget

Starting from Scratch

When I left SWVL, I joined Shooty, an early-stage startup with no product vision and a small tech team. The shift—from a structured product environment to a blank slate—forced me to build everything from the ground up.

The first challenge: what are we building?
The second: who do we need to build it?

Establishing a Product Vision

Shooty aimed to simplify content creation for digital creators. I narrowed the product vision to three pillars:

• Intuitive Workspaces – A clean, flexible interface for managing creative projects.
• Collaborative Tools – Real-time communication and asset sharing.
• Quality Control – Built-in review and approval workflows.

This became the product north star.

Product Discovery: Leveraging a Strategic Advantage

Shooty was born from Shapes Defined Photography, a premium e-commerce studio. This gave me direct access to our future customers—content creators and photographers.

My Process

• Stakeholder Interviews – To surface pain points and existing tool gaps.
• User Surveys – To prioritize feature development.
• Contextual Inquiry – To observe workflows and friction points.
• Competitive Analysis – To understand table stakes and whitespace.
• Persona Creation – To anchor development decisions around user archetypes.

Frameworks Used

• Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) – To map needs based on outcomes.
• Empathy Maps – To visualize motivation and friction.
• Lean Canvas – To test assumptions across value prop, channels, and cost structures.

Validating the Solution

We moved fast but methodically.

• Prototyping – For quick visual feedback.
• Usability Testing – To test interaction assumptions.
• Beta Testing – With high-context users from Shapes Defined.

Each iteration validated the core hypothesis: creative workflows are fragmented, and there’s a gap between asset creation and review.

Building a Lean, Global Team

We didn’t raise a large round. Every rupee mattered.

• We aimed to hire 8 engineers.
• We shipped v1 with 4—cutting tech costs by 50%.
• We hired globally, using strict filters for quality and alignment.
• Cultural fit, autonomy, and velocity were non-negotiables.

Result: a lean team, shipping fast and in sync.

Development and Execution

We adopted agile to stay responsive.
A major win: a workflow engine tailored for high-volume photo shoots.
It increased processing throughput by 30%.

Go-To-Market Strategy

There was no marketing team, no big budget.

What I did:

• Personally researched, shortlisted, and pitched agencies.
• Used criteria like: past performance, domain familiarity, alignment with our GTM velocity.

Channels Used:

• Social media groups (targeted outreach).
• Micro-influencers (niche credibility, low CAC).
• Referral incentives (product-led growth loops).

The Launch

The beta went live.

• We launched with a tight GTM plan.
• Secured 5000 signups in the first month.
• All with limited paid spend and no VC splash.

The results proved our hypothesis and unlocked a strong word-of-mouth loop.

Challenges

• Limited resources.
• Technical infrastructure built from scratch.
• High user expectations from creators familiar with polished tools.

But each challenge refined our execution muscle.

Conclusion

What Shooty taught me:

• A sharp product vision matters more than a big team.
• Close user proximity reduces waste.
• Clear focus and structured discovery cut through ambiguity.

We didn’t just launch a SaaS product—we proved it’s possible to go from 0 to thousands of users with lean ops and first-principles thinking.