Curated for your stage · Updated June 2026The short list of MicroConf resources for pre-revenue or idea-stage founders
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MicroConf exists because bootstrapping a SaaS without the right people around you is brutally lonely and unnecessarily slow. Here's everything in our network that can help you grow and find peers before you have paying customers.
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countries reachedstart here · the flagship courseThe SaaS Launchpad: The ultimate course for launching your SaaS
If you've never launched a SaaS before, the biggest problem isn't motivation. It's that you don't know what to do first, second, or third. You read a blog post that tells you to talk to customers, then another that tells you to just ship the MVP, then a third that tells you to validate before you write any code. They all sound right. None of them tell you how.
The SaaS Launchpad is the course the Rob wished existed when he started. 28 video lessons, 9+ hours, walking you through the three phases of getting a SaaS off the ground:
1.
2.
3.
Figuring out if your idea is any good — before you write a line of code.
Building the smallest possible version of it that's worth paying for.
Actually launching to real people who pay you real money.
$299
or three payments of $115
28 video lessons
9+ hours of instruction
3 phases, start to finish
With additional guest instructors:
Derrick Reimer · MVPs
Ruben Gamez · early SEO
Craig Hewitt · first sales
Lianna Patch · landing page copy
Jason Buckingham
Ross Hudgens
30 day money back guaranteeRead · rob Walling's books Rob Walling co-founded MicroConf and TinySeed, and before that he bootstrapped and sold his own SaaS (Drip.com, you might have heard of it!). He's written the books he wishes he'd had when he was starting out.
The questions you're working through now (whether this idea is worth committing to, how to know if anyone will pay, where your first customers come from) are the ones he's written about from experience. Start with these two:
The same person who built MicroConf wrote the playbooks
Rob Walling The full guide to bootstrapping a SaaS, covering pricing, positioning, hiring, marketing channels and more. The early chapters are the most relevant when you're getting started, covering finding an idea worth building, validating demand, and landing your first customers.
Rob Walling Not launched yet? This is the one Rob wrote for the earliest stage, covering how to pick an idea, validate it before you build, and get your first customers without a big audience or budget. The decisions you make now set up everything that follows.
listen · Startups for the rest of us Advice and information aimed at your level from the longest-running bootstrapped SaaS podcast.
Rob Walling, MicroConf’s co-founder, has hosted Startups For The Rest Of Us since 2010.
If you haven't launched yet, your biggest risk isn't failing, it's spending months building something nobody wants. Choosing an idea worth your time, figuring out whether anyone will actually pay, and finding your first handful of customers before you've written much code will make everything else get easier.
Selected episodes of SFTROU we think you should listen to:
How to Find Your Early Customer Profile (ECP)
with Maja Voje, author of Go to Market Strategist · May 2025 · 30:15
The 2/20/200 Validation Framework
Rob Walling · March 2026 · 31:47
How to Launch a Million Dollar Business (with Noah Kagan)
with Noah Kagan, CEO of AppSumo · Jan 2024 · 44:41
Hosted by Rob Walling since 2010
→ 15M+ downloads.
→ 800+ episodes.
watch · MicroConf + robwalling YouTubeLive conference talks and interviews to help you go from idea to launch
@MicroConf
Our newer channel posting recordings from recent events. At your stage, the most useful ones are the advanced tracks, scaling-stage talks, and founder interviews.
@RobWalling
Rob's personal channel. Skews earlier-stage tactical, but his deep-dives on pricing, hiring, and exit-stage thinking apply at any scale.
Every MicroConf talk we've recorded is on YouTube, plus interviews and content from Rob's channel. These three are where we'd send a founder at your stage first:
find your peers · microconf private communityNetwork and problem-solve with current bootstrapped and indie founders
Every MicroConf conference recording, private Connect-only events, local meetups, and a multi-topic forum. All hosted on Circle.
The questions you're working through (when to take outside capital, how to structure a leadership comp plan, whether to entertain that acquisition conversation, when to push for a price increase that might cost you 10% of your customers) are questions most founders never get to ask, and the peers who can answer them are rare.
MicroConf Connect is our private community of bootstrapped SaaS founders with over 40 members operating at $1M ARR and above. All applications are hand-vetted by the MicroConf team.
$49
/month, or $499/year
“I’ve gotten more actionable advice in Connect than I ever expected — it’s like having a mastermind group on demand.”
— Josh, SaaS founder & Launchpad alum
Come together · MicroConf flagship conferences2.5 days in-person with bootstrapped and indie founders across the spectrum
MicroConf events are intentionally small, limited to a few hundred bootstrapped founders, no enterprise sales reps, no VCs hunting for deals. At your stage, that room is the fastest way to learn: more than half are first-timers, so you won't be the only one just starting out, and plenty are founders years ahead who began exactly where you are and will happily tell you what they'd do differently.
upcoming:
September 21-23, 2026MicroConf Europe 2026: Reykjavik, Iceland
Exit Data · State of indie SaaS reportWhat does running a real bootstrapped business actually look like?
Every few years, we survey hundreds of bootstrapped founders about revenue, team size, churn, and what's working. At your stage, the State of Indie SaaS reports answer the questions you can't ask anywhere else; particularly around exits.
20%
of bootstrapped SaaS exits happen at $1M–$3M ARR. Only 11% wait until $7M+.
2024 State of Indie SaaS, p.60 — Run rate prior to company being sold
29%
of bootstrapped SaaS acquirers are other companies. Only 10% are funds; 21% are individuals.
2024 State of Indie SaaS, p.59 — Entity that purchases previous company
60%
of exits price at 1x–3x forward-looking ARR. 7x+ multiples are the exception, not the rule.
2024 State of Indie SaaS, p.61 — Previous company exit multiple
37%
of founders sold with teams of just 2–5 employees. Only 10% had 51+ at exit.
2024 State of Indie SaaS, p.62 — Previous company number of employees
Exit figures pull from the 21% of respondents who have sold a company, not the $1M+ ARR cohort specifically. Data collected late 2023; refresh when the next report is released.
Already in the network?
Many founders at your stage are already in Connect, in a mastermind, or in SaaS Institute. If that's you, this is the page to bookmark for everything else.
Want to see our other pages for other revenue levels? Choose below:
Pre-revenue
(you are here)($0-833 MRR)($833-8,333 MRR)($8,333-83,333 MRR)($833-8,333 MRR)