At Being Guided, we help startups and professional services firms to create a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) venture on the foundation of the Salesforce Lightning Platform. We blend the Salesforce technology with two other things to drive success: Design Thinking; and AI.

Why Salesforce?

This is 'living in the fur of a big animal'.

Simply put, by designing and developing new SaaS apps on Salesforce Lightning Platform, the professional services firm or startrup avoids reinventing wheels, which is what happens when you adopt the 'full stack' approach to software design and development.

Going it alone with full stack development will lead to disaster. In order to meet the stringent security requirements of enterprise and public sector organisations (such as the UK NHS, for example) the true cost of achieving (and maintaining) such security compliance is a killer.

Hence, don't reinvent the wheel - engage with Salesforce.

As illustrated above working with Salesforce becomes a Buy v. Build decision. Buy the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) layers. Build the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) layer that's unique to your branware-to-software transformation.

Salesforce Lightning Platform is a readily available PaaS and IaaS combination - with the IaaS layer running on Amazon Web Services in named geographic regions to meet exacting data residency requirements. The IaaS layer runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS) managed by Salesforce.

Do not reinvent the PaaS wheel by pursuing 'full stack' development. The costs are deceptively high - especially to achieve high-levels of certified cybersecurity. Do not be exposed to the financial risks of buying the IaaS layer directly AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure).

The 'elastic' usage pricing model of these IaaS layers are notoriously difficult to predict with 'full stack' developments of the PaaS and SaaS layers, as your related customer acquisition and revenues grow. With Salesforce you simply pay a fixed fee, calculated as Per User Per Month.

The Role of AI

It would be a statement out of the 'University of the Bleedin' Obvious' to say Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a truly transformative technology. So, saying anything about AI can be rapidly seen as outdated, as the innovation from big tech and some startups.

In the context of selecting Salesforce for a startup venture, Ai may be viewed as two categories of technology: Embedded AI; and, Overlay AI. We see a co-existence between these two types of AI, as explained further below.

Embedded AI
For Salesforce Embedded AI was launched at Dreamforce 2024 as an extension of its technology, under the Agentforce brand. It is an AI Agent technology designed to work within the 'guardrails' of data inside Salesforce. As the Atlas Reasoning Engine becomes available in early-2025, Agentforce will go on an exponential journey of innovation and become a significant part of the Salesforce tech. Subject to availability in October 2024, we expect to be creating Agentforce Agents before year-end 2025. There will also be more clarity soon in relation to Usage Pricing Model for Agentforce Agents.

Overlay AI
For Salesforce Overlay AI there are a growing number of AI Agents developed independently of Salesforce, but act as a Connected Copilot. For our brainware-to-software transformations we are working with ChatGPT as the developer's digital assistant that accelerates Salesforce Integrations with third-party apps, generating Apex code and Lightning Web Components (LWC). At Being Guided we are currently creating a solution for the UK National Health Service (NHS), where Supercog is accelerating Integration between Salesforce and Electronic Health Records (EHR).

Usage Pricing Model: Agentforce
As a fast-moving market with much hype, embracing AI and building with the Embedded AI from Salesforce - Agentforce - requires further clarification of a new Usage Pricing Model, measured in quantity of 'Conversations'. This will need to be added to the existing Per User Per Annum Pricing Model for Salesforce Lightning Platform.

Business Value Pricing Model: ChatGPT
With ChatGPT Overlay AI we have complete control of a Business Value Pricing Model added to the existing Per User Per Annum Pricing Model for Salesforce Lightning Platform. This is entirrely based on Value Engineering Discovery at the beginning of a brainware-to-software transformation, as expanded upon below.
 

Design Thinking

We enable you to take a startup app innovation journey through a series of Design Thinking Workshops. and Value Engineering Discovery sessions.

The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and Stanford University (the d.school) enabled Design Thinking as a multi-stage method for innovation and Mutual Value Discovery between buyers and sellers. As you will see below, this is a very easy to understand, common sense approach.

The Stanford d.school method provides 7 stages—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, Iterate and Implement. This offers a structured yet flexible framework to better understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and for us at Being Guided, rapidly create No-Code Platform digital innovations.

Stage 01. Empathize

Purpose: Understanding the users and their needs.

Application in Digital Innovation: In-depth user research, such as interviews, surveys, and observation, provides insights into user behaviours, needs, and motivations. This is crucial to ensure that the solution developed genuinely addresses real problems.

Stage 02. Define

Purpose: Clearly articulating the problem to be solved.

Application in Digital Innovation: After gathering user insights, define the core problem in a user-centred manner. This stage is about synthesising observations and articulating the problem in a way that guides the development of No-Code Platform digital solutions.

Stage 03. Ideate

Purpose: Generating a range of creative ideas to solve the defined problem.

Application in Digital Innovation: This phase involves brainstorming and exploring a wide array of potential solutions, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking. It's essential for digital innovation as it embraces creativity and leads to the discovery of unique and effective digital solutions.

Stage 04. Prototype

Purpose: Turning ideas into tangible products.

Application in Digital Innovation: Prototyping involves developing scaled-down versions of the product or its specific features. Prototyping is crucial for visualising how No-Code Platform digital solutions work and for gathering feedback before full-scale Implementation at stage 07.

Stage 05. Test

Purpose: Gathering feedback and refining the prototype.

Application in Digital Innovation: Testing includes formal Test Automation plus user trials and feedback collection on the No-Code Platform Prototype. This helps in understanding the user experience, identifying issues, and validating the effectiveness of digitisation.

Stage 6. Iterate

Purpose: Try, This, Try That (T4) - fail fast, be brave!

Application in Digital Innovation: Iterating takes you back through any other previous stages and ensures that a mindset of continuous improvement is adopted and where moving fast does not mean breaking things, but every stakeholder fully engaged.

Stage 7. Implement

Purpose: Finalising the No-Code Platform and launching it.

Application in Digital Innovation: The final stage involves finalising the design based on testing feedback, completing the development, and launching the digital solution. This phase ensures that the digital innovation is polished, user-tested, and ready for everyday use.

Value Engineering

To price the SaaS app as Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) - e.g. as per User per Annum - we apply Value Engineering to determine value over price and calculate the cost for end-customers not purchasing in timely manner.

As with any new technology, for our early adopters of a new SaaS solution we must enable the services firm creating a new SaaS venture to answer a simple question:

What is the cost of NOT buying the SaaS app?

Firstly, let's look at the Return On Investment (ROI) Model - a general formula:

ROI = (Cost of Investment / Net Profit​)×100%

To adapt this formula for an As-Is vs. To-Be comparison, consider:

Net Profit: This will be the difference in profits between the Future State (To-Be) and the Current State (As-Is).

Cost of Investment: This is the cost incurred to move from the Current State (As-Is) to the Future State (To-Be).

Given the above considerations, the formula becomes:

ROI = (ProfitTo−Be​ − ProfitAs−Is​​ / Cost of Transition) × 100%

Where:

Profit To-Be = Profit or (benefit) in Future State
Profit As-Is = Profit (or benefit) in Current State
Cost of Transition = Cost to move from As-Is to To-Be

Note: If you're measuring benefits other than strict monetary profits, such as time saved or other intangible benefits, ensure you can convert these benefits into a monetary value for this to be valid.

To calculate the Return On Investment (ROI) from Digital Innovation with the specified inputs, we can formulate several equations. Let's define the variables first:

BVAs-Is = Current State (As-Is) Business Value generated per annum without Digital Innovation.
BVTo-Be = Future State (To-Be) Business Value generated per annum after investing in Digital Innovation.

CDI = Cost of Digital Innovation as a Recurring Annual Subscription.
ROI = Return on Investment as a ratio relative to the Cost of Digital Innovation.
CoD = Cost of Delay per day when not investing in Digital Innovation.
CoDN = Cost of Doing Nothing per day when not investing in Digital Innovation.
CoDday = Cost of Delay per day when not investing in Digital Innovation.
CoDNday = Cost of Doing Nothing per day when not investing in Digital Innovation.

Calculating ROI from Digital Innovation:
Net_Gain - BVTo-Be - BVAs-Is

Calculating ROI:
ROI - Net_Gain - CDI / CDI
The ROI is expressed as a ratio. Multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

Cost of Delay (CoD):
This represents the loss per day by delaying digital innovation. Assume the delay starts from the beginning of the year and goes on for d days:
CoD = BVTo-Be - BV As-Is (d x CoDday) - CDI / CDI

Cost of Doing Nothing (CoDN):
This is the loss per day for not implementing the innovation. Similarly, for d days:
CoDN = BVAs-Is - (d x CoDNday) - CDI / CDI

4D Process

Our 4D Process has two initial phases: Discover and Design. These stages combine the 7 stages of Design Thinking with Value Engineering, to determine a solid Statement of Work (SoW) for the subsequent phases of Develop and Deliver, as illustrated with pricing examples above.

Discover
Objective: Uncover and map the firm's core competencies, unique methodologies, and client needs.
Activities:
Conduct Design Thinking Workshops and Value Engineering Discovery with key stakeholders to identify areas ripe for brainware-to-software.
Analyse existing processes to determine efficiency gaps and opportunities for enhancement.
Gather client feedback to understand pain points and desired outcomes.
Create a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution on Salesforce where value may be defended over price and where the selection of either a Salesforce ISVforce or OEM Partner engagement - see below.

Design
Objective: Blueprint the Salesforce-powered SaaS applications that will encapsulate your firm's expertise. This is the realisation of brainware-to-software.
Activities:
Employ Design Thinking principles and Value Engineering outcomes to foster creativity and user-centric design.
Develop an App Objects, Fields and Flows using the Salesforce Lightning Platform.
Iterate designs based on stakeholder feedback to refine functionality and user experience.

Develop
Objective: Build robust, scalable, and secure Salesforce-powered SaaS applications that reflect your firm's brainware.
Activities:
Utilise the Salesforce Lightning Platform for rapid development and deployment, as either an ISVforce or OEM Partner with Salesforce - see below.
Integrate the AI Copilot to enhance functionality, automate tasks, and provide intelligent insights.
Implement best practices in software development to ensure reliability, security, and compliance.

Deliver
Objective: Launch and scale the SaaS apps, ensuring seamless adoption and continuous improvement.
Activities:
Develop comprehensive training programs and support materials for users.
Implement go-to-market strategies to promote the Salesforce-powered SaaS offerings to existing and new clients via an ISVforce or OEM Partner engagement with Salesforce - see below.
Monitor performance metrics and user feedback to drive enhancements and feature updates.

Engaging with Salesforce

At Being Guided we introduce knowledge-intensive professional services firms to Salesforce early in and Design Thinking and Value Engineering engagements, to ensure that the right Partnership model is taken for each phase towards monetising new SaaS apps.

There are two types of Salesforce Partner: ISVforce; and, OEM.

ISVForce: ISV Partners build and enhance Salesforce functionality, aiming for AppExchange listings. This is typically priced by Salesforce at 15% of the SaaS app List Price, calculated on a Pricing Model of Per User Per Annum Subscription Fees. So, in practice, you, as the ISVforce Partner, sign a contract directly with the end-customer, who inturn signs a direct contract for Salesforce licences, with the same Pricing Model.
 
OEM: Partners create packages for both Salesforce and non-Salesforce customers, including embedded licences. Here you, as the OEM Partner, typically pay 25% of the combination of your SaaS app and the appropriate Salesforce technology (e.g. Salesforce Lightning Platform. This is known as a Percent Net Revenue (PNR) calculation. Example: your end-customer pays £400 per User per Annum in Annual Subscription Fees and you, in turn pay Salesforce the PNR Fees of 25%, equalting to £100 Per User Per Annum.

The monetising of Salesforce-powered SaaS apps as either an ISVforce or OEM Partner is accomplished via the AppExchange store. Prior to launch, each Salesforce-powered SaaS app must pass a rigorous Security Review, which we help to run smoothly.

The AppExchange Security Review tests the security posture of your solution, including how well it protects customer data. The Security Review helps you and us identify security vulnerabilities that a hacker, malware, or other threat can exploit.

To distribute Managed Packages, Salesforce Platform API solutions on AppExchange, they must pass this Security Review. During this process, Salesforce tests your solution with threat-modeling profiles that are based on the most common Web vulnerabilities. The tests attempt to penetrate the defenses programmed in your solution. Their goal is to extract or modify data that they don’t have permission to access, just as security threats attempt to do.

Here’s a small sampling of the common security threats that Salesforce test for:

SOQL and SQL injection.
Cross-site scripting.
Non-secure authentication and access-control protocols.
Vulnerabilities specific to the Salesforce platform, such as record-sharing violations.

Startup Checklist

Here is my Startup Checklist. These are questions I have gathered from the many founders and investors engaged with high-value tech firms that I have worked with over the past four decades in the information technology and plastics industries. 

Strategic Intent

Are you building an investment vehicle or lifestyle company?

What is your exit strategy?

Proof of Claims

Do you have one or more early adopter customers?

Can your early adopter customer(s) validate a Return On Investment (ROI) Model for your solution?

Problem Being Solved

What problem are you solving?

Why are you best placed to solve this problem?

Ability to Execute

Is your ability to execute feasible for an unknown small start-up?

Tangible or Intangible Assets

What are your tangible or intangible assets and how do they offset risk for investors?

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

How are you going to effectively compete with established organisations and other challengers?

Return on Investment

What is the clear path, timeline and the return for the investors?

Do you have any early adopters, and if so, who are they?

Can you survive on monetising early adopter customers?

When does the company become profitable?

What size will the cash burnrate be until profitability?

What are the quantifiable grants available and when?

Culture and Values

Who are the co-founders of the business and why?

How many hours per week will the co-founders put in to the business?

How will the company conserve cash and get all of its associates to think like owners?

What compensation packages does the company intend to offer co-founders?

Are the incentives of key executives, co-founders and investors aligned?

What essential elements define the company’s culture?

Risk Mitigation

What can go wrong and how will you survive it?

What alternatives are available to the company if a major risk materialises?

Which of these risks could be fatal to the business?

What alliances could help the company mitigate risks?

Sales and Marketing

Do you have an experienced sales and marketing player in your leadership team?

Are you investing in sales coaching?

Summary

In this blog post, I have set-out how we at Being Guided can help you to avoid the cost and risks of full stack development in creating a startup venture with a new SaaS app. But you will want to answer a key question:

• What will it cost to deliver an initial Minimum Viable Product?

A typical entry level Engagement to 'release 1.0', comprising:

• Design Thinking Workshops: 4 x 2-hour interactive Google Meet sessions.
• Value Engineering Discovery: 4 x 2-hour interactive Google Meet sessions.
• Salesforce App Development: Fixed-Price Engagement for a Minimum Viable Product.

Typically, as show in the example above, this could be in the range of £40,000-50,000.

Everything we do at Being Guided in these engagements comes with the certainty and clarity of a fixed-price, fixed-time outcome. Let's schedule a Meet to explore this further.