Do you think building a community is important for growing SaaS?

I think it really depends on your SaaS product market. If it's an Enterprise SaaS, inbound/outbound makes more sense. If it's a niche product or a micro-SaaS, community is very much needed. However, community building is really hard and in my opinion it makes sense to just outbound the first few users / early adopters of a niche SaaS, just to get the momentum going. After the initial user traction and feedback, community building makes much more sense to engage the users and get more into the product.

Consider the community to be your marketing channel. One that you own. You'd be gathering your target audience in one place. And you'd easily survey them on their pain points and run MVP tests until you meet PMF. The community can also give your SaaS a viral growth loop. Also, communities can be bought! Well, more like media, but still. SaaS acquiring media business is trending. What's your product? Maybe I can give you some specific tips on building a community.