Dev Bill (Meister Bill) - Product Briefing¶
📋 See also: Business Model Canvas for complete 9-block business model including pricing, revenue streams, and unit economics.
Executive Summary¶
Dev Bill is an invoicing SaaS for IT freelancers and small IT companies in the US. Core mission: eliminate tax complexity through automatic calculations and integrated payment tracking.
Target: Break-even with 100 paying customers ($5-10k MRR) within 60-90 days.
1. Goal & Positioning¶
Primary Objective¶
Fastest path from work completed to payment received—removing tax complexity as the #1 barrier for IT freelancers.
Target Market¶
- Primary: 3-5 million IT freelancers in the US
- Secondary: 2.3-2.8 million small IT businesses (<5 employees)
- TAM: $2.45-9.79 billion
Key Pain Points¶
- Tax complexity: 71% struggle with quarterly filings and 15.3% self-employment tax
- Late payments: 71% affected, avg 21-day delays, $2,500+ overdue
- Time waste: 6 hours/week on non-billable admin
- Professional credibility: Amateur invoices undermine trust
Unique Value Proposition¶
"Invoice like a pro. Get paid faster. Never worry about taxes."
Tax automation is our moat—competitors require tax knowledge, we eliminate it.
Differentiation¶
| Competitor | Our Advantage |
|---|---|
| QuickBooks | Simpler, IT-specific, no accounting degree needed |
| FreshBooks | Better tax automation, dev workflow integration |
| Wave | Premium features, better support, specialized |
| Bonsai | Laser-focused on invoicing + tax, no bloat |
2. Launch Strategy (90 Days) → May 1, 2026¶
Phase 1: Pre-Launch (Weeks 1-2)¶
- Deploy landing page with Founder's Deal ($19/mo lifetime)
- Reddit posts in r/freelance, r/webdev
- Direct outreach: 100 IT freelancers on Upwork
- Goal: 500 waitlist signups, 50 discovery calls
Phase 2: MVP Development (Weeks 3-10)¶
- Core features: invoicing, tax calc, Stripe payments, client management
- Validation gate: 10 beta users paying $19/month
Phase 3: Public Launch (Weeks 11-12)¶
- ProductHunt, HackerNews, paid ads ($3k budget)
- Goal: 100 paying customers
See Launch Strategy for brand expansion timeline (Yoga-Bill, Photo-Bill, etc.).
3. Pricing Strategy¶
| Tier | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Founders Deal | $19/mo (lifetime) | Unlimited invoices, Git-connect, PDF, PayLink |
| Starter | $29/mo | Core invoicing, customer management |
| Pro | $39/mo | + recurring, calendar, API, priority support |
| Business | $69/mo | + multiple brands, team features |
See Business Model Canvas for complete pricing including: - Team pack pricing (3/5/10 seats) - 18 feature add-ons ($5-20/mo) - Unit economics (CAC, LTV, break-even analysis)
4. MVP Core Features¶
Must-Have (Launch)¶
- Invoicing - Templates, line items, PDF, email, status tracking
- Tax Automation - Federal/state tax calc, quarterly estimates
- Payment Integration - Stripe Checkout, PayPal, auto status updates
- Client Management - Profiles, payment history, recurring schedules
- Payment Reminders - Auto-reminders at +3, +7, +14 days
See Features Catalogue for complete feature list including post-MVP items.
5. Marketing & Acquisition¶
Channels (Prioritized)¶
| Tier | Channel | Budget | Expected CAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reddit Ads | $1,000/mo | $150-200 |
| 1 | Google Search | $2,000/mo | $200-300 |
| 1 | Direct Outreach | $500/mo | $50-100 |
| 2 | Content/SEO | Organic | - |
| 2 | Partnerships | Rev share 20% | - |
See Business Model Canvas for complete channel breakdown and customer relationships.
6. Technical Stack¶
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Frontend | Nuxt 3 (Vue.js) |
| Backend | Supabase (Postgres + Auth) |
| Payments | Stripe Checkout + PayPal |
| Brevo | |
| Hosting | Fly.io |
| Mobile | Ionic + Capacitor |
See Tech Stack and Project Structure for details.
7. Financial Projections¶
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| ARPU | $35/month (avg) |
| CAC | $200 (target: $150) |
| LTV | $630 (18-month retention) |
| LTV:CAC | 3.15:1 |
| Break-even | 100 customers @ $35 = $3,500 MRR |
See Business Model Canvas for complete cost structure and Brand Projection for multi-brand revenue forecasts.
8. Risk Mitigation¶
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax logic errors | Medium | High | CPA review, legal insurance |
| Low conversion | Medium | High | Founders Deal, free tier |
| Competitive response | Low | Medium | Speed to market, tax automation moat |
9. What NOT to Do (Until $10k MRR)¶
- ❌ Full accounting features (AP/AR, P&L)
- ❌ Payroll integration
- ❌ Multi-language support
- ❌ Custom integrations (focus on Stripe, PayPal, GitHub)
- ❌ Advanced analytics dashboards
10. Next Actions (48 Hours)¶
- Deploy landing page with Founder's Deal CTA
- Post in 3 Reddit communities
- Book 10 discovery calls via Calendly
Success metric: 100 waitlist signups in 7 days = GREEN LIGHT for MVP development.
Appendices¶
Target Persona: "Dev Dan"¶
- 32-year-old full-stack developer
- Freelances 20 hrs/week ($80/hr = $6,400/mo)
- Hates accounting, missed quarterly deadlines
- Uses GitHub, Stripe, Notion
- Willing to pay $50/mo for tool that "just works"
Legal Checklist¶
- [ ] Terms of Service + Privacy Policy
- [ ] CPA review of tax logic
- [ ] PCI DSS compliance (via Stripe)
- [ ] Delaware LLC registration
- [ ] $1M professional liability insurance
See Price Ladder for pricing optimization strategy.