I came across a post on Reddit that really stuck with me. You can read the original discussion here.
It’s about a founder who raised money, spent over $300,000 on building a “perfect” healthcare SaaS app… and still couldn’t get a single doctor to use it. A tough story, but one worth sharing because the lesson is important for all of us building SaaS products.
👉 The reason behind this failure is explained at the end, so stick with me.
The Dream
Two years ago, the founder raised a seed round to build a patient management app for primary care doctors. The vision was ambitious to create a modern solution that could integrate with EHR systems, help doctors save time, and improve patient care.
They hired a boutique development shop, invested heavily in design and compliance, and after 18 months they had what seemed like the perfect product.
The Technically Perfect Trap
The app worked flawlessly:
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Clean UI
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HIPAA compliant
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Integrated with major systems
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Zero bugs
The dev team was proud — and rightfully so. From a technical perspective, the app was a masterpiece. But here’s the harsh truth: technical perfection doesn’t matter if nobody wants to use your product.
The Painful Feedback
The team demoed the app to more than 50 practices. Almost every response sounded the same:
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“Too many clicks.”
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“Doesn’t fit our workflow.”
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“We already have something that works.”
It wasn’t about features or compliance. It was about fit. Doctors didn’t see the value in changing their habits for a tool that felt heavier than their current systems.
The Contrast: Ugly but Useful
Meanwhile, other apps in the same space — some with rough UIs and clunky designs — were seeing massive adoption. Why?
Because they solved one pain point really well. Not ten, not twenty. Just one thing that mattered enough to make doctors switch.
That’s when the founder realized: they had built the product they wanted to build, not the product their users actually needed.
The Real Lesson
The story highlights something every SaaS builder needs to remember:
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SaaS isn’t about elegance in code.
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It isn’t about compliance checklists.
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It isn’t even about a polished interface.
It’s about fitting into real workflows. The best SaaS tools are often the simplest, the least glamorous — but they make someone’s daily life easier.
The Reason for the Failure
So why did this $300k project fail?
Because the team focused on technical superiority instead of user experience. They assumed what doctors wanted, instead of asking and testing early. By the time they launched, they had a polished product that solved nobody’s biggest pain point.
👉 The founder summed it up perfectly: “We built the app WE wanted, not what doctors actually needed.”
Takeaway
If you’re building SaaS, let this be your reminder: talk to your users early, watch how they actually work, and solve the smallest but most painful problems first.
Because in SaaS, usefulness always beats perfection.
