Combatting Spaghetti Features in SaaS Product Strategy

Your startup embarked on Product-Led strategy with good intentions with a small set of motivated people in the room. As time goes by, the minimalist ideas and frictionless design ideas would somehow get cornered and the product starts bloating. The bloating could be because of two reasons, 1) we are improving the existing features or 2) introducing new features. Here you will learn how to combat spaghetti features in SaaS by trying new things and measuring how well they succeed. While it might be the same effort to introduce or improve a feature, the former has a ripple effect on the product.

So, why is introducing NEW features a problem at all?  Let’s imagine that the rate of new feature introduction is more than that of improving the exciting features. This is typically the same with most startups. In time, the product has several NEW features that sales can talk about but the biggest concern from customers would be that the features don’t work together, or there is no depth in the features. By definition, when the rate of new feature introduction is higher, product designers and engineers are less likely to think through all the scenarios and how the other modules or use cases work together. The result is two-fold with confused sales and frustrated customers. Combine this with the how companies practice agile methodologies and frequent releases, and this problem soon becomes quite complex.

This is not to say, that the individual features are not useful. They are all master pieces on their own, but they do not fit together or even if they fit they are less than ideal to work with.

Let us see some of the reasons why this would happen. As silly as they sound, it is true that we give way to our behavioral comfort zone and yield to external pressures.

In addition, introducing more New features has a side effect on internal and external organizations.

• Educating Inside sales, Field Sales and Consulting organizations on the NEW features is costly and time taking.
• With the frequent releases (weekly, monthly, quarterly, ....), the marketing team has to catch-up with all NEW and have to create all new material to create awareness.
• Multiple New features without thinking through leads to dead code and/or duplicate code across modules.
• Customers have a hard time catching up with all NEW features that you are releasing. In the enterprise scenario, user education and training is a pain.
• Dissatisfied and non-referenceable customers from the confused and frustrating user experience. 

But how can we avoid getting into the NEW feature spiral? Answer the below questions together with Dev, Sales, Marketing.

• Why do we need this NEW feature for this release?
• What is the (development + sales + marketing ) cost of this NEW feature ?
• Can we finish this NEW feature for this release? Can it be released partially?
• What is the interaction with other modules in the system? Can this interaction be achieved in this released?
• If we don’t do this NEW feature, what other current features can be improved?
• Does this NEW feature guarantee revenue generation from multiple customers? Or is this a cool feature that analysts will rate us high on?

Make no mistake, we are not suggesting to avoid new features but to weigh in the benefits carefully and understand the priorities. Sometimes new features may be cool but can’t be introduced at the expense of starving the existing features.

If you are a startup, we would love to hear how your startup prioritizes the product. Send us a message at hello@product10x.com.

About the Author: Suresh Madhuvarsu is a serial entrepreneur and investor. He is the Managing Partner of Product10x Accelerator, a SaaS accelerator that helps founders build and launch successful startups. He is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Salestable, a purpose-built sales readiness platform for SMBs.

Suresh has over 20 years of experience in the technology/SaaS industry. He is a 4x founder with 2 exits. He is also an active angel investor and mentor to early-stage startups. Suresh is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses. He believes that technology can be used to solve real-world problems and improve people's lives.

About Product10x: Product10x is a SaaS accelerator that helps founders build and launch successful startups. The accelerator is run by experienced operating partners who have "been there and done that." Product10x provides founders with mentorship, advisory, and access to a network of investors and partners. The accelerator focuses on Product Led Growth (PLG), Sales readiness, and Fundraise readiness, helping founders all the way from product to go-to-market.