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Dimensions
Dimensions Explained
Left Hook's business is building apps and tools for SaaS companies that leverage and distribute their API to drive customer retention, revenue growth, or both.
We build, manage, and support a range of Integration Opportunities for our SaaS clients. To help them evaluate which Opportunities make the most sense for their integration strategy, we research and quantify several useful dimensions for each, as seen below.
Bookmark this page, as we're constantly updating our knowledgebase regarding these Opportunities, and adding new Opportunities weekly.
Have questions about any particular dimension? Click on each title bar's question mark to read more, or chat with us anytime.
Market
Opportunity
Customer Base Explained
"Customer Base" is the total number paying customers or users for .
Many of these companies do not widely share their user or revenue numbers; hence the possible listing here of "Unknown."
However, if a number appears in this field, that means Left Hook has verified it through a reputable, trusted source, to include SEC filings, podcast interviews, press releases, or other statements by company leaders.
Business Size Served Explained
"Business Size" represents typical revenue of each Opportunity's paying customers or users.
Left Hook attempts to determine the "target audience" for each Integration Opportunity through a reputable, trusted source, to include SEC filings, podcast interviews, press releases, or other statements by company leaders.
However, we also judge target audience by their service's price point and other product characteristics, as well as how they market.
Co-Marketing Options Explained
"Co-Marketing Options" describes the different marketing channels that each Opportunity offers its partners who publish an app or connector on their platform/marketplace.
A useful example is Zapier, which requires extensive co-marketing from any/all its listed Public Apps. Gaining exposure to Zapier's nearly 3 million users is often a consideration for companies exploring a Public App. New Zapier Public Apps receiving extensive mentions via Zapier's social media and email channels.
Left Hook Notes on Marketing Dimensions
Our thoughts and observations. Questions? Chat with us.
User
Experience
Interface Options Explained
Many of the Opportunities listed on our directory offer multiple ways for a SaaS to offer their functionality to your users.
We classify three different approaches to user experience:
Internal UI: Your users can use some or all of another app's functionality inside your SaaS's app.
Example: Your SaaS offers a small business-focused sales CRM. If they enable this integration, your user can see the status (Paid or Unpaid) of a customer's Quickbooks Online invoice from inside your CRM's UI.
Target App's UI: Your users can access some or all of your app's functionality outside your UI, and inside another app's UI.
Example: Your CRM has an email list for new customers who just paid their first invoice. If they enable this integration, your users can mark an invoice as paid in Quickbooks, and automatically add that customer to the right email list.
Third Party UI: Many of our Integration Opportunities are platforms that require your end user to access a third party tool to build workflows or to map data. Your customer/end user will necessarily have to log into a third system to use it.
Note that some of our Integration Opportunities offer multiple UI options, and this field will reflect this by including any/all UI options available to SaaS partners.
Capabilities Explained
Our listed Integration Opportunities offer three different approaches to integration:
Point-to-Point: The integration tool is limited to helping your end user move data or manage workflow directly between your app and another paired app; often a simple user experience.
Point-to-Many: The integration tool can move data or facilitate workflow between your app and many different apps; your end user can build several different integrations from the same UI.
Multi-Step Workflows: Your end user can build a sequence of different events into a chained multi-step workflow, often with conditional logic to determine branch sequences. Your SaaS may be the triggering event that kicks off the chain, or could simply be one step in the middle.
Note that these options are not mutually exclusive; any/all options are listed in this field.
User Experience Notes Explained
Our thoughts and observations. Questions? Chat with us.
Developer
Details
Hosting Explained
We classify three different hosting environments for any/all code required to power this Integration Opportunity:
Internal: You can host code on your own internal servers; you are responsible for the security of the hosting environment.
Target App: Code is handled by the Integration Opportunity; you must build your app on their platform, and keep your code on their servers.
Custom: You can host your code on a third party server environment like AWS or Heroku. Left Hook often builds and maintains custom code on third-party servers.
Example: Because we build most of our client work in the MERN stack, we often use Heroku or AWS Lamba to host code. Your SaaS may be built on Ruby, PHP, or Microsoft's dotNet; it's unlikely you'll be able to run our custom code on your servers.
These options above are not exclusive, and we've included any/all options that apply to this Integration Opportunity.
Cost to Publish Explained
Some Integration Opportunities will charge SaaS companies to appear in their marketplace or connector library. This is not the typical model, but some important exceptions require classification.
If there is any ongoing costs for your SaaS to engage with , we'll detail it here.
Backend Difficulty Explained
To help you gauge the relative difficulty of publishing an app/connector on a marketplace or platform, we offer these three relative classifications:
Easy
Medium
Challenging
These are mutually exclusive options determined by our development team. Look for helpful explanation in the Notes field below.
Frontend Difficulty Explained
To help you gauge the relative difficulty of developing a User Interface to facilitate this Integration Opportunity, we offer these three relative classifications:
Easy
Medium
Challenging
These are mutually exclusive options determined by our development team. Look for helpful explanation in the Notes field below.
Left Hook Notes on Marketing Dimensions
Our thoughts and observations. Questions? Chat with us.