Micro-SaaS: The Architect’s King Asset

The Holy Grail of the AES (Autonomous Economic System) is SaaS (Software as a Service).

Selling a software subscription. Recurring revenue. Predictable. Accumulating month after month.

A customer who pays $29/month for 2 years = $696 in revenue for a single acquisition.

Multiply by hundreds or thousands of customers.

It’s the most valued asset in the digital world.

Before, launching a SaaS required:

• A team of developers (expensive)
• Months of development (slow)
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars (risky)

With the AEP and AI that codes, the Architect can now launch Micro-SaaS solo.

---

What is a Micro-SaaS?

Definition

A Micro-SaaS is simple software:

• Micro: Solves ONE specific problem
• SaaS: Sold by subscription (recurring)
• Solo-friendly: Manageable by one person alone

Examples of Successful Micro-SaaS

Carrd (~$3M/year, 1 person)

• Problem: Creating simple landing pages
• Solution: Minimalist editor
• Price: $19/year

Plausible (~$1M/year, 2 people)

• Problem: Privacy-respecting analytics
• Solution: Lightweight alternative to Google Analytics
• Price: $9/month

Buttondown (~$500K/year, 1 person)

• Problem: Simple newsletter for developers
• Solution: Markdown + sending
• Price: $9/month

Bannerbear (~$1M/year, 1 person)

• Problem: Generating images automatically
• Solution: Image generation API
• Price: $49/month

Common Characteristics

• Very specific problem
• Simple but well-executed solution
• Accessible price
• Niche audience
• Little support needed

---

Why Micro-SaaS is the King Asset

Advantage 1: Recurring Revenue

Content business:

• Each month, you start from zero
• You must generate new traffic
• Revenue is unpredictable

Micro-SaaS:

• Customers pay month after month
• Customer “stock” accumulates
• Revenue is predictable and growing

Advantage 2: Maximum Valuation

SaaS sell at the highest multiples in the market:

Asset Type	Sale Multiple
Content site	30-40x monthly
E-commerce	25-35x monthly
Agency	20-30x monthly
SaaS	40-60x monthly

A Micro-SaaS at $10,000/month sells for $400,000 - $600,000.

Advantage 3: Lasting Customer Relationship

A content site has anonymous visitors. An e-commerce has occasional buyers.

A SaaS has users.

These users:

• Return every day/week
• Give feedback
• Become ambassadors
• Have high switching costs

Advantage 4: Natural Moat

Once a customer uses your SaaS daily:

• Their data is in your system
• Their habits are formed
• Switching cost is high

It’s a natural moat (defensive ditch) against competition.

---

AI That Codes: The Game-Changer

Before AI

Launching a SaaS required:

• 6-12 months of development
• $50-200K budget
• A technical team
• Massive risk of poor execution

Accessible only to “real” developers or well-funded.

With AI That Codes

Launching a Micro-SaaS requires:

• 2-4 weeks of development
• $500-2000 budget
• Well-constructed prompts
• Limited risk

Accessible to any Architect with a clear vision.

How It Works

The Architect uses Claude, GPT-4, or specialized tools (Cursor, Bolt.new, Replit):

1. Describe the product: “I want a tool that generates restaurant menus from a list of ingredients”

2. AI generates the code: Front-end, back-end, database

3. Iterate: “Add PDF export functionality”, “Change the style to be more modern”

4. Deploy: Vercel, Railway, or other no-ops platform

5. Connect Stripe: The AEP handles payments

---

Concrete Example: Creating a Micro-SaaS in 2 Weeks

Week 1: Design and MVP

Day 1-2: Idea validation

• Identify a specific problem in a niche
• Verify no perfect existing solution
• Estimate market size (100-10000 potential customers)

Day 3-5: Development with AI

• Describe the product in detail to AI
• Generate base code
• Iterate on core features

Day 6-7: Integrations

• Connect Stripe for payments
• Configure authentication
• Deploy a beta version

Week 2: Launch and First Customers

Day 8-9: Landing page

• Create a sales page (with the AEP)
• Write the copy
• Configure pricing plans

Day 10-11: Soft launch

• Share in niche communities
• Contact 10-20 potential users
• Collect first feedback

Day 12-14: Iteration

• Fix reported bugs
• Add requested features
• Improve onboarding

Result

After 2 weeks:

• Functional product
• First users (free or paid)
• Real feedback
• Base to iterate on

Total cost: ~$1000 (tools + time) Total time: ~60-80 hours

---

Case Study: Vegan Menu Generator

Let’s walk through a complete example.

The Identified Opportunity

Problem: Vegan restaurants struggle to create attractive and coherent menus.

Audience: ~50,000 vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Europe and North America.

Existing solutions: Generic templates, not adapted to vegan.

Gap: No tool specifically designed for vegan restaurants.

The Product

Name: VeganMenuPro

Core feature:

• User enters available ingredients
• AI generates coherent dish suggestions
• Tool creates a stylish PDF menu

Secondary features:

• Automatic allergen calculation
• Multi-language translation
• Seasonal templates
• Social media integration

The Pricing

Plan	Price	Features
Starter	$9/month	5 menus/month, basic templates
Pro	$29/month	Unlimited, all templates, multi-language
Restaurant	$79/month	Multi-location, API, priority support

The Projections

Conservative hypotheses:

• 0.5% of accessible market (250 restaurants)
• Distribution: 60% Starter, 30% Pro, 10% Restaurant
• Churn: 5%/month

Revenue at 12 months:

• 150 x $9 = $1,350
• 75 x $29 = $2,175
• 25 x $79 = $1,975
• Total: $5,500/month

Potential valuation: $5,500 x 50 = $275,000

For an initial investment of ~$1000 and a few weeks of work.

---

Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Too Many Features

“Feature creep” kills Micro-SaaS.

You’re not Salesforce. You solve ONE problem.

Rule: If a feature isn’t requested by 5+ users, don’t build it.

Mistake 2: Market Too Broad

“A productivity tool for everyone” = you’re competing with Microsoft, Google, Notion…

“A recipe management tool for food bloggers using WordPress” = you have a defensible niche market.

Rule: Niche down until it almost hurts.

Mistake 3: Underestimating Support

Even a Micro-SaaS generates support:

• Onboarding questions
• Bug reports
• Feature requests
• Billing

Rule: Automate support as much as possible (FAQ, AI chatbot, documentation).

Mistake 4: Price Too Low

Beginning Architects tend to undervalue their product.

A price too low:

• Attracts low-value customers
• Doesn’t cover support costs
• Devalues your positioning

Rule: Start at a price that seems “too expensive”, then adjust if needed.

Mistake 5: Neglecting Distribution

A great product without distribution = zero customers.

Rule: Spend 50% of your time on distribution, not just the product.

---

The Micro-SaaS Ecosystem

The Portfolio Strategy

An advanced Architect doesn’t launch ONE Micro-SaaS.

They launch several, in parallel or sequentially:

Micro-SaaS A: $2,000/month (mature, minimal maintenance) Micro-SaaS B: $1,000/month (growth) Micro-SaaS C: $300/month (launch)

Total: $3,300/month in recurring revenue

The Synergy

Micro-SaaS can reinforce each other:

• Cross-promotion between products
• Shared data
• Pricing bundles
• Same reusable technical base

The Selective Exit

You can sell certain Micro-SaaS while keeping others.

Sell the one that:

• Has reached its plateau
• No longer interests you
• Has a nice valuation

Keep the one that:

• Continues to grow
• Excites you
• Has untapped potential

---

Conclusion

Micro-SaaS is the Architect’s king asset for a simple reason:

Recurring revenue + Maximum valuation + Accessibility via AI = Perfect opportunity

Before, creating software was reserved for developers. Now, AI democratizes development.

The AEP is your software factory.

You’re no longer limited by technology. You’re limited only by your imagination and your ability to identify problems to solve.

Don’t build content. Build products.

Micro-SaaS is the ultimate form of the AES.

Launch yours.