The double edge sword of a SaaS startup

"Working from anywhere" and "having to work everywhere."

A SaaS is infinitely scalable and allows you to work anywhere, even with minimum hardware. Be ready to answer support requests everywhere, though.

Working from anywhere

The source code of my startup has changed multiple times over the years. My physical assets stayed the same — only a laptop — so early on, I realised I could work anywhere.

As my revenue was well below the poverty line in the early days, I went to South East Asia to stretch my salary and savings. South East Asia is cheap, has fantastic weather, and allows visa runs — the ability to go to neighbouring countries to renew a tourist visa within a few hours.

My first stop was Chiang Mai for its relative safety, legendary hospitality, tasty food and affordability. Buzzing cafés welcome digital nomads, and fantastic massages in a women's prison are available if your bed is as hard as a church's pew. 

My room cost $10/night, and a healthy filling meal out was $4-$5; my living costs were around $500/month — hard to beat coming from Australia.

I spent nearly a year growing my startup in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand and enjoyed the excellent work-life balance of a digital nomad. 

The downsides of a digital nomad life exist, but any sedentary¹ person would label them as first-world problems.

Eating out becomes repetitive, relationships are shallow, and cheap accommodations come with derelict kitchens, so homemade meals are challenging. 

The only real issue with South East Asia is food poisoning. To lower the risks, I followed the advice: boil it, fry it, peel it or forget it.

But the lightness of my life, metaphorically and literally, made me feel like the happiest man in the world. All my belongings could fit in one duffle bag, and I had no debts or dependents. Pointing at a map to decide where to go next and leaving at a moment's notice made me truly understand the definition of freedom. 

I also became a SaaS philosopher during these nomadic times. "When the revenue of my SaaS reaches the price of my laptop, I will achieve greatness", I repeated myself — Confucius would have been proud. 

Move over Confucius, you have competition!

Having to work everywhere

In 2018, I decided to spend a few more years as a digital nomad to celebrate my mid-life crisis and fortieth birthday. My revenue was reasonable, so I could afford to work from Spain. 

One morning, while working in a sun-drenched café in Barcelona, I felt a nascent pain on my right flank. I labelled it as random, one that would disappear in minutes, and ignored it. I drank some water and went to the toilet, hoping my diagnosis was correct.

Within an hour, I resorted to going home as the ache had passed the discomfort threshold. It felt like a blade poking into one of my organs, and the only way to manage it was to straighten my right leg extensively. I started to worry and caught a taxi to the emergency department of a nearby hospital.

An MRI confirmed a severe kidney infection. According to the doctor, I could have died if I had come a day later, and he prescribed intravenous antibiotics and a 48-hour hospital stay. 

After the first treatment, the pain had gone, and I resumed answering support requests. Over the years, I have developed the habit of taking my laptop if I leave my house for more than one hour. I received urgent queries or sustained cyber attacks during doctor's appointments, motorbike services, or day trips to the country, so I learned my lesson.

When I woke up the following day, I discovered critical software issues following a recent major update, and the level of my laptop battery wasn't sufficient to fix them. I hadn't taken my charger, thinking my stay at the hospital would only be a few hours.

When the doctor arrived, I convinced him to let me leave the hospital, using the imaginary arrival of my mother on the same day. He reluctantly agreed, under the condition that I drink at least three litres of water daily and come to the hospital at 10 AM every morning to receive a dose of intravenous antibiotics. I nodded in acceptance, left the hospital with relief, and caught the metro home to fix the issues.

Within a few days, my kidneys healed, and I went to Greece for the summer.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It was too close for my liking, though

Since 2013, I have worked in many countries, and the sense of independence I experienced is incomparable. Choosing where and when to work is a luxury few people experience. However, it comes at a cost. I have never been able to disconnect fully, even during health emergencies.

But this constant mild anxiety is the perfect driver to improve my startup through excellent customer support and adding requested features, ensuring I will keep enjoying the incredible feeling of freedom.

1. The opposite of nomadic