If I were starting a software company today in 2026 with no product, no team, and no developers, I would not start by hiring engineers.
That’s the fastest way to go broke. I know because I’ve done it.
Back in 2015, I had ideas. I had hunches. I thought, “This will work.” So I hired developers. I spent real money. We built for months. And only after building did we find out whether people actually wanted the thing. That was normal back then. It was how most software businesses started.
But in 2026, that approach is completely unnecessary.
Today, I would build a SaaS business very differently. I would use AI, webinars, and validation before I ever worried about writing a single line of code. And by the end of this, you’ll know exactly how I would validate an idea, sell it before it’s fully built, and scale it without turning development into a bottleneck.
Let’s walk through it step by step.
Step 1: Start with a problem you actually understand
The first thing I would do is start with a problem I’m already living with. Something real. Something I understand deeply.
When I built EasyWebinar, it came from my own frustration. I was selling with webinars, and they worked. But I didn’t want to go live every single time. I wanted to scale the experience so people could get the same impact even when I wasn’t in the room.
So I built what I needed. That became EasyWebinar.
But here’s the honest part. There was luck involved. I assumed that my problem was also other people’s problem. And sometimes that assumption works… and sometimes it doesn’t.
If I were starting again today, I would still start with a real problem. But I wouldn’t assume anything. I would validate it first.
Step 2: Validate with a webinar, not code
This is where most people get it wrong. They think validation means sending surveys, quietly building an MVP, or asking a few friends what they think. If I were starting from scratch, I would validate the idea with a webinar first. Because a webinar lets you do three things at the same time.
- It lets you explain the problem clearly.
- It lets you see if people actually care about that problem.
- And it lets you see if they’re willing to pay for a solution.
If people register, show up, stay engaged, and ask good questions, you’re onto something. If they don’t, you just saved yourself months of development and a lot of money.
Webinars aren’t just selling tools. They’re validation tools. When you’re live, you hear objections in real time. You see where people get confused. You notice which parts light them up and which parts fall flat. You learn while you’re selling. That feedback is gold.
Step 3: Use AI as a thinking partner
Once I know the problem is real, then I would bring AI into the process. Not as a coder yet. As a thinking partner.
I would literally sit down and say to AI, “Here’s the problem. Here’s how people are trying to solve it today. Based on what I’ve seen in my webinar and the questions people are asking, what would a simple solution look like?”
And I wouldn’t stop there. I would take the recording of the webinar. I would upload the transcript. I would copy the chat responses. I would feed all of that into AI and say, “Analyze this. Where are the patterns? What do people really care about? What are they confused about? What are they willing to pay for?”
AI is incredible at spotting blind spots and patterns you might miss. But here’s the key. AI doesn’t replace you. You’re still the expert. AI just helps you think more clearly and move faster. You’re not guessing anymore. You’re synthesizing real feedback.
Step 4: Build a simple MVP without a dev team
This is where 2026 is completely different from 2015.
Today, you can use no-code tools, vibe coding platforms, and AI-assisted builders to create something real without hiring a full development team.
And here’s the mindset shift. The product doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to work. The goal isn’t beauty. It’s value. You build something simple that solves the core problem. Then you put it in front of real people. You sell access to it. You improve it as you go.
You’re building and validating at the same time. That alone can save you tens of thousands of dollars because you’re not gambling on an idea. You’re iterating in the open with paying users.
Step 5: Bring in developers later, not first
Developers still matter. Of course they do. But they come later in the process. Once you know people want the product. Once revenue is coming in, once you understand the workflows and the edge cases. That’s when you bring developers in to scale the backend and build proper infrastructure.
Now you’re making a focused investment instead of a blind gamble. That’s a completely different emotional and financial position to be in. You’re not hoping the product works. You already know it does.
Step 6: Don’t sell software alone, sell the outcome
Another mistake people make is trying to sell software by itself. If I were starting from scratch today, I would package the software with training and services. I would include onboarding. Implementation help. Education. Maybe even community. Now you’re not selling a tool. You’re selling an outcome.
And in the early days, I would probably offer this as an annual flagship package at a strong value price. You’re rewarding early adopters and creating momentum at the same time. That gives you cash flow and proof of concept.
Step 7: Scale with a series of webinars
Once the product is validated and the backend is solid, webinars come back to the table in a big way. I would run a series of webinars all around the core problem the software solves.
By this point, you’ve already done a lot of this work through validation. You’ve talked about the problem. You’ve handled objections. You’ve refined your messaging.
So running a weekly webinar becomes natural. People find you because they’re searching for solutions. They see your webinar. They register. They learn. They see how you think. They understand why you built the solution the way you did.
And slowly, you go from ten customers to twenty to fifty to a hundred. You’re not chasing. You’re inviting the right people into a conversation.
That’s how EasyWebinar was built. And that’s exactly how I would do it again today.
If you are going to take one thing from this, just remember to start with a problem, and validate with a webinar before you build.
Use AI to think clearly, not to blindly generate. Build simple before you build big.
That’s how you avoid burning money. That’s how you avoid burnout. And that’s how you build something people actually want.
If you’re ready to validate ideas, sell intelligently, and scale without turning into a full-time salesperson and part-time developer, that’s exactly why I built EasyWebinar. It keeps the human experience front and center while automation quietly handles the rest.
And if this kind of thinking resonates with you, join me inside The Sales Experience community. That’s where we go deeper into this stuff. We talk about prompts that actually work. We talk about how to use vibe coding tools wisely so you don’t end up with something half-built. And we pressure test ideas together before money gets burned.
We’re building real businesses, not experiments.
If this helped, stick around. There’s a lot more where this came from. Subscribe to my Youtube Channel for more such videos.
