How to find PROFITABLE Saas ideas for Vibe coding

This playbook gives you a proven system for finding a SaaS idea that is practically guaranteed to sell, before you ever write a line of code.

It's designed to save you from the founder’s cardinal sin: spending months building a product nobody wants, only to launch to the sound of crickets.

I’ve used these exact principles to build a software company that has generated over $10m in revenue by mastering the process of validating market demand first.

We'll start with why hyper-specificity is your secret weapon, then dive into five methods for finding validated ideas, and end with a scorecard to help you pick the winner.

The Power of Specificity: Why Niching Down is Your Superpower

Most first-time founders fail because they try to be everything to everyone. They build a general tool for a broad market, and as a result, they resonate with no one.

Let's be honest: when you're starting out, you are not good enough to be a generalist. Specificity is your superpower. It builds trust, makes marketing 100x easier, and allows you to charge a premium because you are the perfect solution, not just a generic one.

Imagine you own a Shopify store that sells health supplements. Which SaaS tool would you rather buy to run your ads?

• Option 1 (Broad): "A marketing automation platform for entrepreneurs."

• Option 2 (Niche): "A Facebook ads management tool for business owners."

• Option 3 (Nicher): "A Facebook ads management tool for eCommerce brands."

• Option 4 (Nicher Still): "A Facebook ads management tool for eCommerce brands in the health niche."

• Option 5 (Hyper-Specific): "A Facebook ads management tool for Shopify health brands that helps you navigate ad-ban issues and solves iOS tracking problems."

You would pick Option 5 every single time. Why? Because it speaks directly to your specific, painful problems. You instantly trust that they understand your world. This is the mindset you need for your SaaS idea.

The "Niche Down" Hall of Fame

This isn't a new concept. The most successful SaaS companies started by being the hyper-specific solution for a niche audience before they went broad.

Dominate one, tiny niche first. Become the undisputed best solution for that one specific person. Once you win there, you can earn the right to go broader.

The “Boring” Idea Framework: Your Fastest Path to Revenue

Your first SaaS idea should be boring. It should be so simple and obvious that you almost dismiss it.

Why? Because “boring” problems are often the most painful and widespread. People will gladly pay for a tool that saves them time, reduces frustration, or helps them make more money. They won’t pay for your complex, revolutionary vision until you’ve earned their trust.

Your idea must fit this framework:

• It solves one specific problem for one specific person. (e.g., A tool for Etsy sellers to calculate shipping costs, not a new e-commerce platform).

• It’s a “painkiller,” not a “vitamin.” It solves an urgent, frustrating problem, not a nice-to-have want.

• It can be built and launched quickly. This allows you to validate the idea with real users before investing significant time and money.

5 Proven Methods for Finding Your SaaS Idea

Here are five battle-tested methods for finding SaaS ideas that are already pre-validated by the market.

Method 1: The Complaining Method (Listen for Pain)

Where there is complaining, there is opportunity. Your job is to become an expert at finding and documenting these complaints.

Where to Look:

• Reddit: This is a goldmine. Look for subreddits where your target audience hangs out. Examples:

  • For freelancers: r/freelance, r/Upwork

  • For startups: r/startups, r/smallbusiness, r/Entrepreneur

  • For marketers: r/marketing, r/PPC

• Twitter/X: Use the advanced search function to look for phrases like “I hate how,” “is there a tool for,” or “my biggest challenge is” within specific communities.

• Product Hunt: Don’t just look at the top products. Read the comments. What features are people requesting? What are the complaints about the existing solutions?

Generate 5 high-quality micro-SaaS ideas sourced directly from real user complaints. Use the complaint described below as the single source of truth. Each idea must solve one clear pain point with a maximum of 3 essential features. These ideas must be practical, simple, and fast to build as an MVP.

Reddit complaint to analyze:
[Paste the recurring Reddit complaint, thread summary, or exact quotes]

Before producing the final ideas, verify internally that:
- Each idea directly addresses the specific Reddit complaint (no generic ideas allowed)
- The problem, audience, and outcome are clearly reflected in the idea
- The feature set is minimal, actionable, and tied to the pain
- No idea includes unnecessary complexity or unrelated functionality

Refine any idea that feels vague, broad, or not tightly aligned with the Reddit complaint.
Output only the strongest final 5 micro-SaaS ideas.

Method 2: The “Steal Like a Builder” Method (Niche Down)

Almost every successful SaaS company started by taking a broad idea and making it better for a specific niche.

How to Apply This:

1. Pick a successful, well-known SaaS product (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion).

2. Identify a specific group of users who might find that product too complex or expensive (e.g., solo freelancers, small non-profits, students).

3. Brainstorm a simplified version of the product that is tailored to the needs of that specific niche.

Generate 5 niche-specific micro-SaaS ideas by narrowing a large, well-known SaaS product into a tightly focused solution for a single audience. Each idea should remove all unnecessary complexity and retain only the 2–3 features that this niche needs most.

Base SaaS product to niche down:
[Name of large SaaS]

Target audience:
[Specific niche]

Before presenting the final ideas, ensure internally that:
- Each idea speaks directly to the chosen niche and its workflow
- No idea attempts to rebuild the entire platform
- Each idea is simple, targeted, and realistic to build quickly
- The connection between the original product and the niche version is clear and logical

Refine weak or generic ideas, then output only the strongest 5 niche-specific concepts.

Method 3: The Automation Method (Find the Workarounds)

Platforms like Zapier, Make, and n8n are treasure troves of validated ideas. People use these tools to create complex workarounds for problems that don’t have a dedicated solution. Each one of those workarounds is a potential SaaS product.

How to Apply This:

1. Browse the workflow libraries on these platforms.

2. Look for popular, multi-step automations that solve a specific business problem.

3. Ask yourself: “Could I turn this 10-step automation into a simple, one-click SaaS product?”

Convert the automation described below into 3–5 micro-SaaS product ideas. Each idea must replace the entire multi-step automation with a clean, simple product containing no more than 3 essential features.

Automation workflow to convert:
[Describe the Zapier/Make/n8n workflow and what it accomplishes]

Before producing ideas, check internally:
- Each idea fully eliminates the need for Zapier/Make/n8n
- The product is significantly simpler than the workflow it replaces
- All features map directly to the root problem the automation solves
- Each idea is feasible as a fast MVP with no unnecessary complexity

Refine any idea that feels abstract, overloaded, or too dependent on external automation tools.
Output only the final set of the strongest ideas.

Method 4: The “Blue Ocean” Method (Find the Boring Markets)

While everyone else is building another AI-powered note-taking app, you can find massive opportunities in “boring” or overlooked industries.

Examples of Boring Markets:

• Landscaping businesses

• Local plumbing companies

• Independent insurance agents

• Small accounting firms

These businesses have real, painful problems and are often underserved by modern software. They need simple tools for scheduling, invoicing, client management, and more.

Identify 5 painful, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks in the industry described below. Then create one micro-SaaS idea per task, with each idea containing no more than 3 essential features that directly remove that specific pain.

Industry to analyze:
[Insert a “boring” or traditional industry]

Before writing the final output, validate internally that:
- The tasks are real, specific, and represent daily or weekly frustrations
- The SaaS ideas are simple enough for a non-technical business owner to adopt
- Each feature directly solves the corresponding pain without extra steps
- No idea is generic or applicable to “everyone”—it must fit the chosen industry

Replace and refine any weak tasks or solutions before delivering the final list of 5.

Method 5: The “Unbundling” Method (Deconstruct the Giants)

Large SaaS platforms like HubSpot or ClickUp are actually bundles of many smaller products. Each one of those features could be a standalone micro-SaaS.

How to Apply This:

1. Go to the “Features” page of a large SaaS product.

2. Look at the list of things it does (e.g., email marketing, social media scheduling, CRM, invoicing).

3. Pick one feature and imagine it as its own focused, simple product.

Generate 3–5 micro-SaaS ideas by unbundling the single feature described below from a large SaaS platform and rebuilding it as a focused solution for a defined niche. Each idea must include only the essential functionality required by that niche.

Large SaaS platform:
[Name]

Feature to unbundle:
[Specific feature]

Target niche:
[Audience]

Before finalizing, verify internally that:
- Each idea is clearly derived from the unbundled feature (not a copy of the full SaaS)
- The niche’s workflow and pain points are directly reflected in the idea
- Each idea is narrow enough to build quickly as a minimal SaaS product
- All features are essential and tied to the niche’s version of the original feature

Refine all ideas that seem broad, generic, or not strongly linked to the original feature.
Output only the strongest 3–5 ideas.

The Idea Validation Scorecard

Before you move on, run your best idea through this simple scorecard. Pay special attention to the final category, Distribution: it’s the one most founders get wrong, and the most critical.

An idea with a score of 20 or higher is a strong contender.

Evaluate the SaaS idea described below using the 5 criteria of the idea validation scorecard: Pain Level, Market Size, Willingness to Pay, Simplicity, and Distribution. Score each category from 1–5 with a specific explanation, compute the total score, and give a clear verdict on whether to pursue, test, pivot, or discard the idea.

SaaS idea:
[Describe the idea in 3–6 sentences]

Before providing the final evaluation, check internally that:
- Each score is justified with reasoning tied directly to the idea and its market
- The verdict is clear, actionable, and not vague
- Distribution risk is explicitly highlighted if the distribution score is low
- No part of the evaluation is generic or templated

Refine unclear or surface-level reasoning, then output only the improved and final evaluation.

Pro Tip: The Distribution-First Mindset

A great idea with a high score is a fantastic start, but it's worthless if you have no way to reach the people who need it. This is where most founders fail. They build in secret for months and then launch to crickets.

The winning strategy is to start your distribution on Day 1, even before you start building. How? By creating content around the problem you've just validated. This builds an audience that is ready and waiting for your solution.

This is a process I personally automate with MarketingBlocks.ai. It acts as an AI content engine, creating and distributing valuable content about the problem space, which attracts my ideal customers.

By the time the product is ready, there’s already an audience waiting for it. This single shift in mindset from build-then-sell to sell-then-build is the most powerful advantage you can have.

Conclusion: From Idea to Blueprint

You now have a system for finding and validating SaaS ideas that have a high probability of success. You’ve moved beyond just having an idea and have started thinking like a founder who is focused on solving real problems.

Once you have your validated idea and have started your distribution, it’s time to build.

To see how this idea phase fits into the bigger picture, I’ve created a complete, step-by-step playbook on how to go from idea to a live product in one weekend: How to Build a SaaS Business in 1 Weekend Using AI.