On January 2, 2020, after nearly a decade of work, I sold my software business (SaaS). In hindsight, I wish I would have...

Spent less time overthinking. Not every decision is worth a conversation. Action cures fear.

Spent less time worrying about metrics. Analytics tools are never perfectly accurate. Establish a baseline and don't obsess over the numbers.

Spent less time trying shiny tools. There is no such thing as a perfect stack. Don't optimize for future problems.

Spent less time on major releases. Working without shipping is demoralizing. Work in shorter cycles. Make smaller bets. It's okay if the codebase isn't perfect—it never will be.

Spent more time enjoying the wins. Slow down. Be grateful for the stage you're in. The next milestone won't make you happy.

Spent more time connecting with customers. Some of my fondest memories were getting to know our customers and visiting them in person.

Spent more time on help docs. We could have prevented a lot of support tickets by doing this.

Spent more time on content and strategy. Chatting with @JHTScherck sooner about this would have been smart.

Spent time documenting the journey. I wish I had a way to replay things we were thinking about and experienced. Founder journey podcasts like @artofproductpod and @buildyoursaas are fantastic for this.

Experimented more with plans and pricing. Charging more isn't always the answer. But a small price or plan changes can make a big impact.

Hired a great customer support representative sooner. Brooke, you're the best, and I miss you.

Not bought business cards. Duh.

Not hired an agency to do "link building." Gosh, this was dumb. I hate getting these emails. Why on earth did I pay for someone to send them to other people?

Here's the behind the scenes story of selling my SaaS. https://jonhainstock.com/saas/selling