Exactly this. I've wanted to build a software company/SaaS for 20+ years but only managed to get any traction once because I got my first customer. Back in 2006 or 2007 I started an app hosting company "on the side" because there were no companies hosting FogBugz (bug tracker). I managed to get one customer and that motivated me to keep going. I had a customer ask if I hosted another application called HelpSpot (helpdesk software) and I obliged. Within 7-8 months I had more than 100 customers. It was not a ton of revenue or profit, but I kept at it until I got tired of my servers being hacked seemingly every week - HelpSpot was a PHP based application and back then PHP had more security holes than swiss cheese.
My "claim to fame" was that I hosted HelpSpot for an up-and-coming little startup named Twitter. Anyway, long story short...I am living proof that without customers it's difficult for the typical person to keep working on something to completion.
Exactly this. I've wanted to build a software company/SaaS for 20+ years but only managed to get any traction once because I got my first customer. Back in 2006 or 2007 I started an app hosting company "on the side" because there were no companies hosting FogBugz (bug tracker). I managed to get one customer and that motivated me to keep going. I had a customer ask if I hosted another application called HelpSpot (helpdesk software) and I obliged. Within 7-8 months I had more than 100 customers. It was not a ton of revenue or profit, but I kept at it until I got tired of my servers being hacked seemingly every week - HelpSpot was a PHP based application and back then PHP had more security holes than swiss cheese.
My "claim to fame" was that I hosted HelpSpot for an up-and-coming little startup named Twitter. Anyway, long story short...I am living proof that without customers it's difficult for the typical person to keep working on something to completion.