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Makers Alumni Masterclass

Minimum Hook Product

How to tell if you’re working on something worth building

Santiago Sáenz Ariza

Makers Alumni Masterclass

Minimum Hook Product

How to tell if you’re working on something worth building

Santiago Sáenz Ariza

About me

Santiago Sáenz Ariza

25 · Bogotá & Los Angeles

NowFounder & Managing Partner @ Ferrix Ventures
AlsoCRO @ NanoFreeze (bio-nanotech)
BeforeChief of Staff @ Share Ventures (LA)
FoundedAgua for Devs — 280+ users at Microsoft, MeLi, Asana
EducationBusiness Admin @ Universidad de los Andes

Your turn

Introduce yourself

01Who are you?
02What do you want to be in the future?
03What is a problem you’re trying to solve?
04What’s your initial idea on how to do it?
05Who are you working with?

Agenda

  1. 01Why build products & be an entrepreneur?
  2. 02Debunking the MVP
  3. 03Introducing the Minimum Hook Product
  4. 04What your first product needs
  5. 05The world of builder-users
  6. 06How to test & scale

01

Why build products & be an entrepreneur?

02

Debunking the MVP

The “Minimum Viable Product” taught us to ship fast.
But it never told us what makes people stay.

03

Minimum Hook Product

The smallest version of your product that solves a real problem so well that people stick with it — and can't build a replacement themselves.

04

What your first product needs

01

It solves part of a real problem

You don’t need to solve everything. But the slice you tackle should be a genuine pain point that people feel.

02

You can iterate, edit & scale it

Your first product is a starting point, not the destination. Build something you can keep improving without starting over.

03

Your clients can wait for it

If people are willing to wait for your product to get better, you’re solving something worth solving.

05

The world of builder-users

There are so many tools to create software that power users have stopped consuming apps and started building their own.

Not only SaaS is tech anymore. Everyone is tech.

So focus on…

01

Solving a problem people actually have

Or at least starting to solve it. The problem has to be real and felt.

02

Making them stick with it

“Stick” means two things: they don’t try another alternative, and they don’t build one themselves.

06

How to test & scale

The stack that lets you move fast, iterate, and grow when ready.

Claude Code

Build and iterate on your product with AI

Supabase

Backend, auth & database — ship in hours

AWS

Scale when you need to, not before

Vercel / Netlify

Deploy instantly, test with real users

Focus on features, roadmap, and what makes your users stay — not infrastructure.

Products are only worth building if they solve a problem or desire of people.

Not because it's cool. Not because you want to.
Because someone needs it.

The key is retention — a product good enough that people want to try it, and are willing to wait for it to get better.

Makers Alumni Masterclass

Minimum Hook Product

How to tell if you’re working on something worth building

Santiago Sáenz Ariza

s.saenzariza@outlook.com

linkedin.com/in/santiagosaenzariza