The portfolio experiment

Can one person repeatedly take focused software products from zero to meaningful recurring revenue (and operate them well) by reusing systems without losing focus, or going insane?

I guess we're about to find out. The above is the thesis I'm building Small Software Co. around. It's my umbrella 'company' or Hold Co. that ties them all together and gives me an outlet to talk about the systems behind it all.

Will it work? God knows. Probably not.
In fact, to get a SaaS product to meaningful revenue ($1k MRR or more) doesn't work for 95% or more of SaaS businesses (actual numbers are very hard to get by). Doing it repeatedly, while keeping every product healthy, makes the odds considerably worse. Luckily for you and me, I've never been a fan of the easy path, so this ought to be an entertaining journey.

There is a case for these odds of success increasing, and it's got a lot to do with AI. Frontier models have dramatically reduced the time and cost for an experienced builder to go from idea to a well-executed produt. The hard part, however, has always been distribution and I've had my fair share of run-ins with this problem in the past. AI can also not decide what people need, what deserves attention or how a product should be positioned. It cannot make good product decisions on our behalf.

The portfolio

Why build multiple products instead of taking one focused shot at the target?

In a word: excitement.
I’m more energized by moving between different problems, customers, and stages of work. I don’t enjoy directing all my attention toward one product indefinitely, even though I understand the implications (and the potentially greater returns that kind of focus could bring). Every additional product divides my attention. It also makes it easier to mistake building for meaningful progress. That tension is part of the experiment.

The scoreboard

To avoid the endless-building trap, I created what you’re reading: Small Software Co.

I’ll document my systems, experiments, and lessons, and see which of them carry from one product to another. I’ll measure the portfolio by more than revenue and customer count. I’ll also track the time, support burden, and acquisition channels required to keep each product healthy. A product that earns money but consumes all my attention isn’t necessarily working. I’ll share what happens as it happens: products that grow, products that plateau, experiments that fail, and things I eventually pause or shut down.

If that sounds useful, there's an RSS feed.

Once you free your mind about the concept of a company and what it means to build a company "the right way" you can do whatever you want.