Posted / Publication: Indie Hackers
Day & Date: Wednesday, August 7, 2025
Author Line (exact words): Sonu Goswami SaaS content writer | B2B Specialist
Article Title : How Indie Hackers Can Overcome the SaaS Cold Start Problem
Article Length: 5 min read (641 words)
Article Category: SaaS / Startup Growth / Indie Hackers / Product Strategy
Article Excerpt / Description : Early-stage SaaS products often fail to gain momentum due to the cold start problem — users need others to create value before joining. Learn the 5 stages and proven strategies, from partnerships to invite-only launches, to solve it.
If you’re building a SaaS product, you've likely faced this frustrating wall: you launch, but no one sticks around. Users visit briefly, then leave. You have a solid product, but no momentum. This is the cold start problem.
Andrew Chen’s book The Cold Start Problem explains why early SaaS products struggle — they need a critical mass of users interacting to create value. Without that network effect, your product’s value stays invisible.
This isn’t just a product or marketing problem. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation: “Users need others to create value, but nobody joins without value.”
The 5 Stages of Solving the Cold Start
The Cold Start: Focus on your Atomic Network — the smallest group where your product is useful. For example, Slack started with individual teams, not entire companies.
Tipping Point: Once that network works, expand carefully. Think local before going global.
Escape Velocity: Growth happens when acquisition (users bring users), engagement (value grows), and economics (revenue improves) all kick in.
Hitting the Ceiling: Growth may stall due to spam, churn, or poor user experience. Here, network quality beats quantity.
The Moat: At scale, your network becomes your biggest competitive advantage. Features can be copied, but your connected users can’t.