Ask HN: Why isn't there a Saas-for-Saas?

by gbrits on 4/12/2017, 6:44 PM with 3 comments

I know this question has come up at least once in the past (can't find it now), but afaik without a clear answer.

So let me ask again: why isn't there a Saas-for-saas that takes away most of the common technical chores for getting a Saas in the air, and instead allows you to focus on getting your Saas-specific code out?

Setting up a Saas and getting it out there as a MVP, not to even mention a production ready version, requires a lot of similar effort between Saas'. I.e.:

- user/tenant management. Oauth + email/password, 2-factor, mail/sms flows for reset, etc. - plan/package management + RBAC / access control + rate limiting and/or overcharges on pay-per-use basis - connection to payment provider(s). Say Stripe + Paypal for pretty good coverage. Needs to cover correct VAT handling - exposed self-service userprofile / saas-preferences / payment options / billing statements / 'currently accrued this month' statement, etc. - might be API only. Community will take it from there with canned Gui templates using bootstrap, etc. - ...

Auth0 for instance tackles the user-management space pretty nicely, and it might make sense for this Saas-for-Saas to optionally outsource that part to them for all the extra stuff they provide (LDAP, etc). However, just as an example using multiple users under 1 tenant-account is not straightforward.

So why is it that such a Saas-for-Saas doesn't exist? Do startups hesitate to outsource this core-functionality? Do they just wing it, and later pull their hair out when realising that doing it properly takes far more time than anticipated? Or is selling to the startup-crowd just really tough?

Lastly to note: It doesn't have to be a Saas per-se. Could just as well be open-source code with a commercial license or something. It would have to run entirely separate from my own saas-code, but that's perfectly doable. I'd pay could money for this.

Anyone?

  • by ezekg on 4/12/2017, 6:54 PM

    I remember seeing MVPaaS[0] posted here awhile back which is kind of what you're saying (right?), but then again, I'm really not sure why it's needed. The things you listed are the easy part of creating a product. Integrating Stripe is relatively painless, especially if you've done it before, and so is integrating something like Auth0.

    And besides, there are a few more products like this such as RailsKit[1] and Spark[2] that help you get your SaaS idea off the ground quickly.

    But again, those things are usually the quick and easy part, thanks to companies like Stripe. Building the valuable software and then selling it is the hard part.

    [0]: https://mvpaas.com/ [1]: https://railskits.com/saas/ [2]: https://spark.laravel.com/

  • by borplk on 4/13/2017, 3:41 PM

    The scope of such a project is way too large.

    You'd have to become everything to everyone.