I keep meeting hardware founders who've decided their product is now "as a service."
Press them on why and the answer is almost always the same: SaaS companies get better valuations, and they want in.
That's not a strategy. That's envy dressed up as a business model.
Calling yourself HaaS doesn't make you a SaaS company. It just hides the fact that you're running a hardware company with an awkward payment plan — and you'll pay for it in working capital, gross margin, and customer trust.
SaaS valuations are high because the underlying business has four attributes at once: very high gross margin, low and easily scalable distribution cost, high LTV, and the ability to improve the product without rolling a truck.
Hardware-as-a-service loses on three of those four. Stickiness is the only one it can win on, and that alone won't close the valuation gap.
There are real HaaS businesses. Rolls-Royce sells thrust by the hour because airlines don't want engine maintenance risk. HP sells printing as a service because customers don't want to manage ink. Some robotics companies sell outcomes because the customer can't operate the gear themselves.
Those are the right reasons.
"I want a higher valuation" isn't on that list.
If you're drawn to HaaS because your customers genuinely can't operate the technology, build the model around that reality. If you're drawn to it because recurring revenue trades at a premium, stop.
Build a hardware-enabled SaaS company instead. Charge for the hardware honestly. Earn your multiple on the software layer where it's actually warranted.
That's the job.