Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Identify the problem and build in public
2–4 weeks
Identify the specific, narrow problem your micro-SaaS will solve and begin building in public. Micro-SaaS is defined by a specific constraint: the entire product should be buildable by 1–2 people, serve a clearly bounded audience, and charge a recurring subscription. The 'build in public' requirement exists because the feedback loop before launch is the most valuable phase of a micro-SaaS: people who are interested in the problem will comment, pre-register, or challenge your assumptions — which is better signal than private development. Building in public means publishing at least one update about the product (on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, an indie-maker community, or a newsletter) before the product ships.
Proof required
Share a written description of the problem you are solving: the specific audience (not 'small businesses' but 'solo email marketing consultants who use Mailchimp but don't have time to A/B test their own campaigns'), the specific friction they experience, and why existing solutions don't solve it. Share a link to or screenshot of at least one public build update you have published — a tweet, a post on IndieHackers, a LinkedIn post, or a newsletter update.
What gets checked
- The audience is specific enough that a stranger could name whether they are in it.
- The friction is named precisely — 'they don't have time to X' is weaker than 'they can't do X without Y, which takes Z hours, and the cost of that time exceeds the cost they're willing to pay for a tool'.
- At least one public build update is shared — the link or screenshot must be from a real public post.
Common mistakes
- Audience is too broad: 'productivity tool for professionals' — micro-SaaS requires brutal narrowing of the audience.
- No public build update — private building without public signal means no feedback loop before launch.
- Problem description is 'this would be convenient' rather than 'this is genuinely painful' — micro-SaaS succeeds on pain, not convenience.
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- The audience must be specific — ask 'if you saw 100 people walking down the street, how many would be your target customer?' If the answer is 'most of them', the audience is too broad.
- The public build update must be real — request the link; a screenshot of a private document does not count as 'build in public'.
- The problem must be genuinely painful, not merely convenient — ask 'what does your target customer do today to solve this problem?' The existing workaround's friction is the best proxy for how painful the problem is.
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Ship the product — 10 paying customers
4–10 weeks
Ship the micro-SaaS and reach 10 paying customers. 'Paying' is the operative word: 10 free users is product validation; 10 paying users is business validation. The price point does not need to be the final price — an early-bird $10/month that you plan to raise to $29/month is fine — but money must change hands. The 10-customer milestone is the proof that the problem is real enough that people will pay to have it solved.
Proof required
Share a payment processor screenshot showing 10 or more active subscriptions (Stripe, Paddle, Gumroad, or equivalent — showing recurring active subscribers, not one-time purchases). Share a link to the live product (it must be publicly accessible). Write one sentence on where your first 10 customers came from: what channel, what action you took to find them.
What gets checked
- 10 active subscriptions shown in a payment processor — not 10 signups, not 10 free users.
- Product URL is live and publicly accessible.
- Customer acquisition channel is named specifically — 'we posted on IndieHackers and got 8 of the 10 from that one post' is specific; 'word of mouth' is not.
Common mistakes
- 10 free users presented as the milestone — free users validate that the product works; paying users validate that the problem is worth solving.
- Product is not live — a screenshot of a demo or a Figma prototype is not a shipped product.
- Customer channel is 'personal network' without specifics — this is fine as a first channel, but should name the specific relationships and how they converted.
Resources
Foundationstart here
What a verifier looks for
- The payment processor screenshot must show active recurring subscriptions — check the status column, not just the count.
- The product URL must be live — attempt to access it during the review.
- The acquisition channel should be specific enough that it is reproducible — 'I emailed 20 people from the IndieHackers community and 3 converted' is reproducible; 'people just found it' is not.
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Reach $500 MRR — describe the churn rate and next growth lever
6–14 weeks
Reach $500 in Monthly Recurring Revenue. $500 MRR from 10+ paying customers is the proof that the micro-SaaS is a viable small business rather than a successful experiment. The final reflection asks for the churn rate and the next growth lever — because $500 MRR reached by churning and replacing customers is categorically different from $500 MRR reached by retention, and the difference defines whether this is a business or a leaky bucket.
Proof required
Share a payment processor screenshot showing $500+ in monthly recurring revenue. State your current monthly churn rate (what percentage of paying customers cancel each month). Write 100 words on the next growth lever you plan to pull — the specific action that you believe will move MRR from $500 to $2K.
What gets checked
- $500+ MRR in a payment processor screenshot.
- Churn rate is stated specifically — '0 cancellations in 3 months' is acceptable; 'low churn' is not.
- Next growth lever is specific — not 'grow the audience' but 'submit to 5 niche communities in the target audience segment and track conversion from each'.
Common mistakes
- Churn rate absent — the sustainability of $500 MRR depends entirely on whether customers stay.
- Next growth lever is generic: 'improve marketing' or 'get more customers' is not a growth lever.
- Revenue is from non-recurring sources (one-time add-ons, consulting) — MRR requires recurring subscriptions.
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Churn rate must be stated — ask for the number of customers who cancelled in the last 3 months divided by the starting customer count.
- The next growth lever must be specific enough that you could evaluate in 4 weeks whether it worked — 'post in 5 communities' is evaluable; 'increase visibility' is not.
- Compare the M2 ($10 customers) and M3 ($500 MRR) screenshots — they should be consistent: 10 customers at an average of $50/month is $500 MRR; the numbers should add up.
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