SaaS or Software as a Service is one of the fastest-growing verticals in the digital tech industry. SaaS allows users and providers to connect with one another via cloud computing, offering easy installation and accessibility. Some of the most common examples of SaaS that you’ve probably used include emails, calendars, Microsoft Office tools, etc.
Why is SaaS gaining importance?
With simple functionality and innovative options, SaaS has quickly become the preferred way for digital businesses to offer services. Traditional software required tedious installation and upkeep, something SaaS does away with due to its on-demand and cloud-based nature.
In fact, due to cloud computing, businesses can use innovative software created anywhere in the world. It’s easy to work with a distributed team since SaaS applications allow you to access app data without boundaries. When it comes to offering different devices and connectivity options, your SaaS provider has already taken care of it, allowing your workforce to use it without any issues. Most SaaS solutions also offer excellent security, protecting your data so that you aren’t exposed to mobile computing threats.
If you’re curious about all things SaaS, start by checking out our list of entrepreneurs, SaaS experts, and product leaders you can follow to increase your understanding of this budding vertical.
1. Neil Patel
If you run any digital business, you’ve probably heard the name Neil Patel mentioned during marketing meetings. One of the world’s most popular digital marketing gurus, Neil Patel owns Ubersuggest, a SaaS product that helps digital marketers with SEO, Google Analytics, competitor research, and more.
Patel is also the co-founder of several very successful companies, including Crazy Egg (an online platform for website analytics including heat maps, scroll maps, and more) and KISS metrics (targeted towards the growth of SaaS and ecommerce companies). He has been recognized as one of the world’s Top 25 marketers (Forbes), listed among the Top 100 Entrepreneurs Under 30 by President Barack Obama, and added to the Top 100 Entrepreneurs under 35 by the United Nations.
If you’d like to learn from him, you can check out his blog, sign up for his newsletter, and listen to his daily podcast with Eric Siu, Marketing School. He’s also the NYT best-selling author of Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum.
2. Hiten Shah
Co-owners of KISS metrics and Crazy Egg with Neil Patel, Hiten Shah is another well-known name in the SaaS and digital marketing industry. Married to Neil Patel’s sister, Hiten Shah has established himself as a SaaS and digital marketing expert and entrepreneur with his companies, one of which is self-funded, the other, venture-backed.
His work as a consultant has seen him advise and work with over 500 startups, offering him unique insight into what makes a SaaS company successful. He shares this insight on his blog as well as in his newsletter, SaaS weekly. He also has a podcast called The Startup Chat with Steli Efti, consultant to startups and businesses in Silicon Valley.
3. Dharmesh Shah
Dharmesh Shah is the founder and CTO of Hubspot, a SaaS solution for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. A successful investor, entrepreneur, and product creator, Shah has invested in over 60 companies.
He has co-authored Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs with Brian Halligan, his Hubspot co-founder. With more than 70,000 clients in 120 countries, Hubspot is expected to report over $800 million in revenue in 2021.
Shah has founded OnStartups.com, a top-ranking blog and community with more than 700,000 members. The Hubspot Culture Code, published by Shah in 2013, has over 5.5 million views on SlideShare. He has also been named in Inc. Founders 40 and does many talks on startups, inbound marketing, company culture, and more.
We could add many other names to this list, which would be overwhelming for a beginner to SaaS culture and solutions. Instead, to stay up to date with the community, check out our blog, which offers great tips and tricks, especially for website designers and developers.
Don’t forget to check out ruttl, our visual feedback and collaboration tool — a SaaS solution for design review. Built by designers and developers, we’re excited to revamp the clunky and frustrating process of reviewing website designs to make it faster, smoother, and better.
P.S. For all those budding SaaS entrepreneurs and product creators out there, you need to try Brutask — the perfect task management tool for your small team.
