7 Growth Lessons From 700 Bootstrapped SaaS Founders

A lot of “SaaS benchmarks” are quietly useless for a US startup that’s trying to grow without VC. They assume big ad budgets, aggressive hiring, and a funding runway that covers mistakes for 18 months.

The 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report is different because it’s based on ~700 statistically significant responses from indie and mostly-bootstrapped SaaS founders in the MicroConf, TinySeed, and Startups For the Rest of Us ecosystem. It’s not perfect (no survey is), but it’s one of the clearest snapshots we have of how real founders are growing sustainably.

Below are seven takeaways that matter if you’re building in the “US Startup Marketing Without VC” lane: cash-efficient acquisition, clearer positioning, and growth systems that don’t depend on investor money.

If you want the full dataset and slides, the report is available at stateofindiesaas.com.

1) The “best” trial model depends on what you optimize for

If you’re bootstrapping, you don’t just need growth—you need the kind of growth that stays profitable.

The report compares three common signup models:

• Freemium / free plan
• Free trial with credit card required (opt-out)
• Free trial with no credit card required (opt-in)

Here’s the headline result founders should remember:

Credit card required tends to correlate with higher month-over-month growth, but no-credit-card trials correlate with higher lifetime value (LTV).

From the episode discussion of the report’s chart:

• MoM growth (average):
  • Free plan: ~10.5%
  • Free trial + credit card required: ~14%
  • Free trial + no credit card required: ~7.6%
• Churn (average):
  • Free plan: ~11%
  • CC required: ~5.5%
  • No CC required: ~6.3%
• LTV (average):
  • Free plan: ~$3.0K
  • CC required: ~$3.6K
  • No CC required: ~$6.5K

What I’d do with this as a bootstrapped founder

Pick the model based on your current constraint:

• If you’re early and drowning in “unqualified” signups, require a credit card to force focus.
• If you already know your ICP and need more pipeline, remove the credit card and qualify after signup.
• If you’re considering freemium, assume it’s a separate business model, not a pricing page tweak. Freemium works when you have:
  • high top-of-funnel volume
  • clear upgrade triggers
  • strong in-product conversion design
  • the patience to carry free users operationally

A blunt but practical stance: freemium is usually a bad default for bootstrapped B2B SaaS. If you can’t explain the upgrade path in one sentence, don’t do it.

2) The credit-card-required “default” is losing ground

One underrated insight: asking for a credit card upfront is trending downward again.

Across survey years discussed in the episode, the “credit card required for trial” share moved:

• 2020: 73%
• 2021: 78%
• 2022: 78%
• 2024: 71%

That’s not a collapse, but it’s meaningful. It suggests more independent SaaS companies are deciding that:

• qualification shouldn’t happen at the signup form
• a trial should behave more like a pipeline-builder than a paywall

A practical compromise that works well without VC

If you’re nervous about “tire-kickers,” don’t make the credit card the gate. Make activation the gate.

Examples:

• Limit the trial to one key workflow (e.g., “1 published report” or “1 integration”).
• Require a specific setup step (e.g., connect Stripe, import CSV, install script).
• Offer a longer trial with check-ins for qualified accounts and a shorter one for everyone else.

That’s bootstrapped marketing in a nutshell: use product friction strategically, not randomly.

3) Three founders outperform one or two (and four+ underperform)

Most people assume more founders = more coordination drag. The data suggests a more nuanced story.

In the report discussion:

• Solo founders show solid median and average growth.
• Two founders show a slight “diminishing return” effect.
• Three founders (trios) show ~2–3× higher average MoM growth than solos/duos.
• Four or more founders show a significant drop.

This doesn’t mean “go find two co-founders.” It means something more useful:

When a company can cover three critical functions early, growth gets easier.

For a bootstrapped SaaS, those functions are usually:

1. Product/engineering
2. Marketing/growth
3. Sales/customer success/ops

The no-VC takeaway

If you’re solo, don’t romanticize staying solo. You don’t need three founders—but you do need three function owners, even if two are fractional:

• a part-time marketer or positioning consultant
• a part-time support lead
• a contractor who ships reliably

Bootstrapped growth improves when “everything” isn’t stuck in one person’s head.

4) Your target market strongly predicts your growth rate

The report shows a simple truth that founders still ignore: who you sell to changes the physics of growth.

Average month-over-month growth by target market in the discussion:

• Enterprise: ~26%
• Mid-market: high teens to low 20s (in the same top tier)
• SMB: ~12%
• Consumers: ~5%
• Government: ~1.75%
• “Other” (often unfocused): even negative on average

A contrarian stance: enterprise can be more bootstrap-friendly than people think

Founders often avoid enterprise because they picture a 12-month sales cycle and endless procurement.

But for independent SaaS, “enterprise” can also mean:

• fewer customers to hit meaningful revenue
• higher ACV (average contract value)
• more stable retention if you solve a painful workflow

The hard part is positioning and proof. The payoff is you don’t need VC to buy growth—you can sell your way into it.

5) Fewer founders plan to raise funding—and that’s rational in 2026

The report asked: “Do you plan to seek outside funding within the next 12 months?”

• 2022 report cycle: ~30%
• 2024 report cycle: ~23.5%

This lines up with the post-2022 reality: funding is harder, terms are less founder-friendly, and more founders are choosing durability.

How this changes marketing without VC

If you’re not planning to raise, you need a marketing system that:

• produces pipeline even during slow months
• compounds over time (content, partnerships, community)
• doesn’t require you to “win the auction” on ads

Which brings us to channels.

6) Paid acquisition is still Google-first—but “Other” is quietly huge

When founders were asked to select up to three advertising channels that most increased revenue, the top answers were:

1. Google Ads (AdWords): ~65%
2. Meta (Facebook/Instagram): ~30%
3. Other (varied)
4. LinkedIn

The temptation is to read this as “just run Google Ads.” That’s not what it says.

What it really says:

• High-intent search remains the most reliable paid channel for SaaS.
• Many founders find meaningful results outside the big three—enough that “Other” competes with LinkedIn.

What “Other” usually means for bootstrapped SaaS

In practice, “Other” often includes:

• podcast sponsorships
• niche newsletters
• industry communities and job boards
• partner marketplaces
• affiliate/referral deals
• small events or meetups

These channels are hard to benchmark, which is exactly why they’re underrated.

If you’re building a US startup without VC, “boring distribution” wins: niche audiences, trusted placements, and repeatable partnerships.

7) The report itself is a blueprint: community data beats generic benchmarks

One of the most useful meta-lessons is why this dataset matters.

Most SaaS reports blend together:

• venture-backed companies
• product-led giants
• teams with 20-person marketing orgs

That produces advice like: “Just spend more to grow.”

The State of Independent SaaS Report is valuable because it anchors your decisions in a peer group that looks like you: founders optimizing for profitability, time, and sustainable growth.

How to use benchmarks without getting trapped by them

Benchmarks should narrow your options, not replace thinking. Here’s a simple way to apply the report:

1. Pick one metric you’re trying to improve (trial conversion, churn, ACV, MoM growth).
2. Pick one structural lever (trial model, target market, acquisition channel).
3. Run a 30–45 day test with a single clear success metric.

Bootstrapped marketing is a series of controlled bets. The report helps you place smarter bets.

What to do next (if you’re growing without VC)

If you’re stuck, don’t “optimize everything.” Pick the one constraint that’s actually blocking growth:

• Not enough demand: publish ICP-specific content, run Google Ads on bottom-of-funnel terms, and build partnerships.
• Plenty of leads, weak conversion: rework onboarding, trial model, activation events, and sales follow-up.
• Revenue isn’t compounding: raise pricing, move upmarket, or narrow positioning until your win rate improves.

The reality? Independent SaaS growth is simpler than people make it. It’s about choosing a model you can execute consistently—month after month—without needing a cash infusion to survive your own experiments.

If you want the full report and charts, grab it at stateofindiesaas.com. Then ask yourself: Which change would most improve your next 90 days—trial model, target market, or acquisition channel? That’s usually where the compounding starts.