The five phases of launching a SaaS

Validate the idea BEFORE writing code

2-4 weeks

A landing page plus a waitlist. 100 emails is a positive signal. Zero emails means pivot.

A minimal MVP (genuinely minimal)

4-8 weeks

One core feature. No admin, no settings, no multi-tenancy. The strict minimum that solves THE problem.

First beta customers (free)

2-4 weeks

10-20 users. Intensive feedback, fast iterations. This is where you actually learn.

Pricing and payments

1-2 weeks

Stripe. Three plans at most. Start high — you can always come down.

Public launch

1 week

Product Hunt, Hacker News, LinkedIn. A well-prepared announcement can generate six months of traction.

The recommended technical stack

This is the stack we use at BTB for SaaS products. It optimises development speed without sacrificing scalability.

Frontend→Next.js + TypeScript + Tailwind + shadcn/ui

Maximum productivity, SEO out of the box, components ready to use.

Backend→NestJS + Prisma + PostgreSQL

Solid architecture, strong typing, a modern ORM. Scales without a rewrite.

Auth→Auth0, Clerk or NextAuth

Never reinvent auth. Magic links beat passwords.

Payments→Stripe (Billing + Customer Portal)

The industry standard. Reliable webhooks, and the Customer Portal is free.

Email→Resend or Postmark

Transactional mail that lands in the inbox rather than in spam.

Analytics→PostHog or Mixpanel

Custom events, funnels, cohorts. Essential for understanding your users.

Hosting→Vercel (frontend) + Railway/Render (backend)

Automatic deployment, transparent scaling, predictable cost.

A realistic budget

Phase	DIY	With an agency
MVP	€0 (your time)	€15,000 - €40,000
Infrastructure (first year)	€200 - €500/month	Included, or €200-500/month
Marketing	€500 - €2,000/month	Same
Ongoing development	Your time	€3,000 - €10,000/month

Mistakes to avoid

✗ Building for six months without showing anyone
✗ Adding features instead of talking to customers
✗ Underestimating acquisition — marketing, not code, is the real challenge
✗ Pricing too low from the start
✗ No metrics from day one
✗ Building an admin panel before you have any customers

How we support SaaS founders

At Beyond The Brackets we work with SaaS founders from idea through to launch:

Auditing and validating the idea
Defining the MVP — the real one, not the feature-creep version
Full-stack development (Next.js + NestJS)
Stripe integration (subscriptions, customer portal)
Deployment and DevOps
Post-launch support

How to build a SaaS from scratch in 2026