Consumer, SaaS, or Enterprise?

Early founders often ask whether the classifications of startups (consumer, SaaS, or Enterprise) matter a ton in terms of what kind of startup they should try to start. Is there a such thing as "founder market fit" when it comes to these stages? Unless you're an ex-Oracle sales manager founding a company, probably not. 

It's backwards to rely on the consumer/SaaS/Enterprise distinction early on because that's tactics, only after you've picked a problem to solve. In a nutshell:

  • Consumer — lots of people (tens of millions or more) have the problem, and the problem is medium to severe
  • SaaS — fewer people (hundreds of thousands or more)  have the problem, but the problem is severe
  • Enterprise — a few people (as few as dozens) have the problem, but the problem is extremely severe

Start with what problem to solve, and then choose your tactical approach given what you know about that problem. That'll help you get to where you want to be, and let you optimize for solving a real thing that you actually want to do. 

Finding good startup ideas is hard enough. You don't want to complicate it by setting constraints at the wrong level of a if you can help it.