Building Is Easy, Being Seen Is Everything: SaaS Distribution Crisis

Read time: 5 minutes.

Welcome to the 157th edition of The Growth Elements Newsletter. Every Monday and sometimes on Thursday, I write an essay on growth metrics & experiments and business case studies.

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A founder messaged me yesterday: "I built my SaaS in 3 months using Claude and Cursor. Six months later, I have 12 users. What am I missing?"

This is the new SaaS reality. LLMs have democratized building. They've made distribution the only moat that matters.

[1] Building Revolution

LLMs have flipped the development game:

• 84% of developers now use AI coding tools

• Average development time reduced by 30-50% using AI assistance

• No-code platforms integrated with LLMs let non-technical founders build functional MVPs

• What took 6 months and $100K now takes 6 weeks and $10K

But here's the trap:
If everyone can build faster, everyone is building. Market is flooded with similar solutions competing for the same eyeballs.

[2] Distribution Drought

Traditional channels are broken:

• SEO traffic down 40% as buyers start with AI

• CAC payback periods stretched from 21 months to 57 months for median SaaS

• LinkedIn ads cost 60% more than 2023, with 25% lower conversion rates

• Cold email hit rates dropped to sub-2% due to spam saturation

Trust shift:

• 46% of developers actively distrust AI tool outputs

• B2B buyers trust peer recommendations over vendor content by 3:1

• Community-driven validation carries more weight than traditional marketing

[3] What Winners Are Doing Differently

Building in public and community-first:

• Founders documenting their journey authentically, not just milestones

• Creating value before asking for anything, education, tools, insights

• Engaging in niche communities where their ICP congregates

Precision distribution over spray-and-pray:

• Hyper-targeted outbound to specific verticals or use cases

• Personal relationships and referrals over mass marketing

• Face-to-face interactions at industry events and meetups

AI-enhanced, not AI-replaced:

• Using AI to personalise outreach at scale while keeping human oversight

• AI for research and qualification, humans for relationship building

• Embedded LLMs for better product experience, not just marketing gimmicks

[3] Operator Playbook

Audit your distribution reality:

• What percentage of your pipeline comes from referrals vs paid acquisition?

• How many prospects have heard of you before first contact?

• Where does your ICP actually spend time learning and making decisions?

Build distribution into your product:

• Viral mechanics that encourage sharing

• Integration partnerships that create mutual value

• User-generated content that drives organic discovery

• Community features that turn customers into advocates

Focus on retention and expansion:

• Easier to grow existing customers than acquire new ones

• Word-of-mouth from happy customers beats any marketing campaign

• Customer success stories carry more weight than product demos

Bottom Line:

LLMs have commoditised building. Distribution is the new competitive advantage.

Question isn't "Can you build it?" anymore. It's "Will anyone care?"

Stop optimising for development speed. Start optimising for attention and trust.

In 2025, your distribution strategy is your business strategy. Everything else is just table stakes.

That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I always appreciate you reading.

Thanks,
Chintankumar Maisuria