SaaS Launch Planner

Purpose

Transform validated ideas into concrete, executable plans for building SaaS products in 3-4 weeks. Ensures subscription-first design, prevents scope creep, and prioritizes shipping fast to validate with paying customers.

Core Principles

• Ship Fast, Validate with Paying Users - 3-4 weeks to working product that users can pay for

• Subscription-First Mindset - SaaS = recurring revenue, build for retention not just acquisition

• No Feature Creep - Only core loop features in MVP, "nice to have" goes post-MVP

• Next.js + Supabase + Stripe Optimized - Use proven stack's strengths, don't reinvent

• Revenue-Focused Building - Every feature must answer "Who will pay?" and "What problem does this solve?"

Planning Workflow

Phase 1: Problem & Market Definition

Required Information:

• Problem: One sentence describing what problem you're solving

• Current Solution: How people solve this today (and why it sucks)

• Willingness to Pay: Evidence people would pay for better solution

• Target Customer: Precise description with pain level (1-10) and budget

• Market Size: >10k potential customers minimum

Validation Checklist:

• Talked to 10+ potential customers

• They currently pay for similar solutions

• This is a painkiller (must-have) not vitamin (nice-to-have)

• You can reach customers within budget

• Market size is large enough

Phase 2: Pricing Strategy Selection

Decision Tree:

IF product requires teams → Per-Seat Pricing ($X/user/month) ELSE IF usage varies greatly → Usage-Based Pricing ($base + $per-use) ELSE IF clear feature differentiation → Tiered Pricing (Starter/Pro/Enterprise) ELSE IF need viral growth → Freemium (free + paid)

MVP Recommendation: Tiered Pricing (2-3 tiers maximum)

Standard MVP Pricing:

• Starter: $29/month - Core features, single user, email support

• Pro: $79/month - All features, multiple users, priority support

• Enterprise: Custom - Post-MVP

Trial Strategy:

• Recommended: 14-day free trial (no credit card required)

• Alternative: 7-day trial (credit card required)

• Goal: 10-15% trial-to-paid conversion

See references/PRICING_STRATEGIES.md for complete pricing models and optimization tactics.

Phase 3: Core User Loop Definition

Template:

Discovery & Signup:

1. User lands on landing page → Sees value proposition
2. User starts free trial → Creates account
3. User completes onboarding → First value within 5 minutes

Core Value Loop: 4. User [action 1] → System [response 1] 5. User [action 2] → System [response 2] → Value Delivered: [What user achieves]

Subscription Conversion: 7. Trial ending reminder → Upgrade prompt 8. User adds payment → Stripe Checkout 9. Subscription activated → Full access granted 10. User continues using → Retention tracked

Success Metrics:

• Activation: 60%+ users complete key action within 24h
• Conversion: 10-15% trial users become paying
• Retention: 85%+ paid users stay active monthly

Phase 4: MVP Scope Definition

Must Have Criteria:

• ✅ Essential for core functionality

• ✅ Users can't get value without it

• ✅ Can be implemented in 3-5 days

• ✅ No complex 3rd party integrations

• ✅ Directly impacts conversion or retention

SaaS-Specific Must Haves:

• User authentication (email + social login)

• Basic subscription management

• Stripe payment integration

• Core feature set (2-3 main features only)

• User dashboard

• Basic settings page

Post-MVP Features (Not Now):

• Advanced analytics

• Team collaboration

• Mobile apps

• API access

• Integrations (Zapier, Slack)

• Custom branding

• Advanced automation

Anti-Feature-Creep Rules:

• One-Sentence Test: If you can't explain why this feature is essential in one sentence, it doesn't go in MVP

• Manual Alternative Test: If this can be done manually for first 100 users, defer it

• Value-Per-Day Test: Does value added justify X days of development before having paying customers?

Phase 5: Technical Architecture

Fixed Tech Stack:

• Frontend: Next.js 15 (App Router), TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui

• Backend: Next.js API Routes, Supabase (PostgreSQL)

• Auth: Supabase Auth (email + OAuth)

• Payments: Stripe Checkout + Billing + Webhooks

• Email: Resend or SendGrid

• Hosting: Vercel + Supabase

Database Tables (Standard):

profiles -- User profiles (extends auth.users) customers -- Stripe customer mapping subscriptions -- Subscription status & plan info [feature_tables] -- Your core feature data

Key API Routes:

POST /api/stripe/create-checkout-session -- Start subscription POST /api/stripe/customer-portal -- Manage subscription POST /api/webhooks/stripe -- Handle Stripe events GET/POST/PUT/DELETE /api/[resource] -- Core features

See references/TECHNICAL_ARCHITECTURE.md for complete schemas, app structure, and Stripe integration code.

Phase 6: Development Roadmap

Week 1: Foundation + Core Feature

• Days 1-2: Project setup + Authentication

• Days 3-5: Core feature implementation (1-2 key features)

• Weekend: Testing + polish

Week 2: Payments + Subscription

• Days 1-2: Stripe integration (checkout + webhooks)

• Days 3-4: Subscription management + billing page

• Day 5: Essential features (settings, emails)

• Weekend: End-to-end testing

Week 3: Polish + Launch

• Days 1-2: Landing page + pricing page

• Days 3-4: Final polish (onboarding, error handling, empty states)

• Day 5: Deploy + monitor + 🚀 LAUNCH

Week 4: Validation + Iteration (Optional)

• Get first users, gather feedback, monitor metrics, quick bug fixes

Output Format - PRD Template

When user requests complete planning, generate PRD using structure from references/PRD_TEMPLATE.md.

Required PRD Sections:

• Executive Summary

• Problem & Solution

• Business Model (with pricing tiers)

• Core User Journey

• Success Metrics

• MVP Scope (Must Have vs Post-MVP)

• Technical Architecture

• Development Roadmap (week-by-week)

• Marketing & Launch Plan

• Risk Assessment

• Success Criteria

Questions to Ask Before Building

Product Questions:

• Who will pay for this? (specific customer segment)

• What ONE problem does this solve? (single, clear problem)

• How do we measure success? (specific metrics)

• Why would they pay monthly? (ongoing value proposition)

• What's the alternative? (current solution)

• Why switch to us? (key differentiator)

Pricing Questions:

• What can customers afford? (price range research)

• What are competitors charging? (competitive analysis)

• What's our cost per user? (CAC, hosting, support)

• How will we handle trials? (credit card required or not)

Scope Questions:

• What can be manual initially? (MVP shortcuts)

• What features can wait? (post-MVP backlog)

• Where's the biggest risk? (technical unknowns)

• What's the critical path? (must-have sequence)

Common SaaS Mistakes to Avoid

Top 10 Mistakes:

• ❌ Building too many features → ✅ Focus on ONE thing

• ❌ Complex pricing (5+ tiers) → ✅ 2-3 clear tiers

• ❌ Ignoring churn → ✅ Build retention features day 1

• ❌ Over-engineering → ✅ Use Next.js + Supabase (proven stack)

• ❌ Building in isolation → ✅ Share progress, get feedback

• ❌ Poor trial strategy → ✅ Email sequence + onboarding

• ❌ Not testing payments → ✅ Test all Stripe scenarios

• ❌ Ignoring failed payments → ✅ Dunning emails + retry logic

• ❌ No onboarding → ✅ 3-step onboarding flow

• ❌ Underpricing → ✅ Match market rates ($29+ minimum)

See references/COMMON_MISTAKES.md for detailed explanations and solutions.

Usage Examples

Basic Request

I want to build a SaaS project management tool for freelancers.

Use saas-launch-planner to create complete PRD with:

• Pricing strategy
• Technical architecture
• 3-week roadmap

Detailed Request

Use saas-launch-planner:

SaaS Idea: AI-powered invoice generator for freelancers Target: Freelancers earning $50k-$150k annually Pricing: Tiered (Basic/Pro) Key Differentiator: AI auto-fills invoice details from past data

Create complete plan including:

• PRD with subscription model
• Next.js + Supabase + Stripe architecture
• Week-by-week development roadmap
• Claude Code starter prompt

Update Existing Plan

We completed Week 1 of the SaaS roadmap.

Use saas-launch-planner to:

• Review progress
• Adjust Week 2 plan based on learnings
• Re-prioritize features if needed

Claude Code Integration

When generating PRD, include optimized Claude Code starter prompt:

Claude Code Starter Prompt

Create Next.js 15 SaaS application with subscription billing:

Project: [Name] Core Value: [One sentence]

Tech Stack:

• Next.js 15 (App Router) + TypeScript

• Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui

• Supabase (Auth + Database)

• Stripe (Checkout + Billing + Webhooks)

Core Features:

• [Feature 1 with acceptance criteria]

• [Feature 2 with acceptance criteria]

• Stripe subscription integration

• User dashboard

• Subscription management

Pricing:

• Starter: $29/month - [features]

• Pro: $79/month - [features]

• 14-day free trial (no credit card)

Database Schema: [SQL from technical architecture]

Stripe Integration:

• Create checkout session for subscription

• Handle webhooks (subscription created/updated/deleted)

• Customer Portal for self-service

• Trial countdown in UI

• Access control based on plan

Start with project setup and authentication flow.

Integration with Other Skills

Recommended Workflow:

• idea-validator-pro → Validate market demand

• saas-launch-planner (this skill) → Create complete PRD

• Claude Code → Build the product

• Ship in 3-4 weeks 🚀

Key Success Metrics

Week 1 (MVP Launch):

• 50+ trial signups

• 10+ activated users

• 3+ paying customers

Month 1:

• 200+ trial signups

• 15+ paying customers ($1,000+ MRR)

• 10%+ trial-to-paid conversion

Month 3:

• 600+ trial signups

• 40+ paying customers ($3,000+ MRR)

• 12%+ trial-to-paid conversion

• <8% monthly churn

Critical Reminders

DO ✅:

• Start with pricing model first (it influences architecture)

• Talk to customers about pricing before building

• Keep pricing simple (2-3 tiers max)

• Set up Stripe webhooks early

• Test payment flows thoroughly (success + failure)

• Implement trial countdown prominently

• Monitor trial-to-paid conversion obsessively

• Track churn reasons

DON'T ❌:

• Build 5+ pricing tiers

• Defer billing integration

• Forget to test webhook failures

• Ignore trial expiration edge cases

• Make cancellation hard

• Ignore failed payments

• Hardcode pricing (use Stripe products)

• Skip webhook verification

💡 Key Insight: SaaS success = Build fast, charge early, retain relentlessly. Every decision should optimize for one of these three goals.

🎯 Goal: Not a perfect product, but a profitable one. Not every feature, but the right features. Not someday, but within 3-4 weeks.

🚀 Remember: Your first 10 paying customers teach you more than 1000 hours of planning. Ship, learn, iterate.