Ask HN: Success anxiety – Would you scale your SaaS if you could?
I've been running a successful SaaS company for the last 15 years.
It is successful in the sense that it generates semi-passive annuity income, which is growing steadily ahead of inflation, and whose profits allow me to enjoy a comfortable living with my family, with little risk and no need for added staff.
That being said, I have also repeatedly turned down opportunities to grow my operation, because despite the potential to scale significantly, I struggle with fear of success.
Can any of you relate to this success anxiety?
It's not that I'm scared of growing my team. On the contrary, I enjoy working with others, and I don't shy away from leadership and responsibility in my volunteer work.
It's more that I don't know whether what I have now is as good as it gets in terms of work/life balance and job satisfaction, and I worry that if I go for it and scale, and then later regret it, I won't be able to go back to the way things were – especially if I’ve hired a sizeable staff complement in the process.
I should add that scaling to a big exit sale isn't something on my radar either. As ridiculous as this might sound, I'm not in this for the money. I derive great pleasure from building long-term relationships, and enjoy the day-to-day lifestyle I've built around the running of my business. I hope to do this into my old age.
Simply put, I'm finding the decision of whether to scale or not is a tough and somewhat lonely one.
So if you are a SaaS founder who once faced this same decision - whether to take the risk and scale, or whether to quietly maintain the status quo - could you please share your experience with us?
And if you chose to scale, do you perhaps have any advice on which mental model(s) I can adopt to help me navigate this decision?
And if you could go back, would you do it again?
Thanks :-)