In episode 736, join Rob Walling as he answers some later-stage listener questions in another solo adventure. He discusses common pitfalls in delegation, transitioning from one-time transactions to SaaS models, and when it makes sense to target multiple ICPs. Rob also warns about the limited impact that social media marketing can have on growing your SaaS tool. Episode Sponsor: Are you drowning in challenging tech decisions? You should check out today’s sponsor, Techstack.  Unlike typical staffing agencies, these folks are startup specialists with over a decade of experience in startup software development. Techstack can help your startup build an MVP that's designed for explosive growth, rapidly expand your team for new features, or optimize your existing codebase for peak performance. Whether you're launching, scaling up, or fine-tuning, they've got the expertise to supercharge your tech. One of Techstack’s clients was recently featured on Inc. Magazine's Fast Growth Companies list, and they attributed part of their 375% growth to their partnership. Here's an exclusive offer for "Startups For the Rest of Us" listeners: Get a 10% discount on your first month of development with Techstack. And if you're one of the first 10 listeners to get in touch, you'll also receive a free, in-depth tech assessment and expert consultation – a $3,000 value – in your choice of critical areas like architecture, infrastructure, development process or project management. This could be the game-changer your startup needs. Don't let tech challenges slow you down. Check out https://www.tech-stack.com/startups  to discover how Techstack can turbocharge your growth. Topics we cover:  2:17 – What to delegate on the path to $10k MRR 6:43 – Be wary of social media marketing masquerading as productivity 10:31 – DIY vs. hiring a growth agency for B2B SaaS marketing 15:22 – Not every business should be a subscription business 22:00 – Defining, targeting, and selling to different ICPs Links from the Show:  Get Tickets for MicroConf US 2025, New Orleans The SaaS Launchpad TinySeed The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Founding Sales by Peter Kazanjy Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review:

In episode 735, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he categorizes the different levels of SaaS platform risk. He introduces a framework with three key factors: Replacement, Customer Concentration, and Lead Flow. Rob then defines eight levels of risk according to these factors and other vulnerabilities such as relying on open source – a hot topic with recent news about WordPress, WP Engine, and Automattic.  Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  2:32 – Are replacements available for this platform? 4:56 – How concentrated are your customers on this platform? 5:31 – What is your lead or customer flow? 8:54 – Level 1: almost no platform risk 10:04 – Level 2: reliant on a commoditized platform 11:49 – Level 3: using large cloud providers like AWS 15:33 – Level 4: deeply tied to open source software like WordPress 18:11 – Level 5: high switching costs, but replacements exist like in no-code 20:00 – Level 6: 100% lead flow risk 21:44 – Level 7: a friendly app ecosystem 23:24 – Level 8: aggressive platforms, few replacements, customer concentration Links from the Show:  Get Tickets for MicroConf US 2025, New Orleans TinySeed Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Ask a Question on SFTROU How to find and validate business ideas from 75+ SaaS Marketplaces If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 734, Rob Walling interviews Ian Landsman, founder of HelpSpot, about his 20-year bootstrapper journey. They discuss Ian's transition from on-prem software to SaaS, the challenges and benefits of each, and the early days of building the business. They wrap up by discussing the potential impact of AI on the customer service industry.  Topics we cover:  1:11 – Ian, the OG bootstrapper 2:22 – Benefits of on-prem software in 2024 5:46 – Slow, steady, profitable growth through the years 9:20 – Embracing a risky start 14:11 – Getting early awareness 18:52 – Transitioning to SaaS 26:37 – Laravel raises $57M 28:59 – AI impact on customer service Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Ian Landsman (@ianlandsman) | X HelpSpot (@helpspot) | X HelpSpot Podscan Accel invests $57M into Laravel Products & Open-Source Framework Mostly Technical If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 733, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers several topics. In this episode he differentiates between good and bad distractions, weaknesses versus blind spots, and shares personal experiences of struggle. He concludes with actionable advice – uncover the blind spots, then launch, iterate, and take feedback. Topics we cover:  2:09 – Not all distractions are bad 5:42 – The worst distractions masquerade as productivity 9:48 – Weaknesses versus blind spots 16:41 – Everybody struggles  24:40 – Launch, iterate, and take feedback Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz Why Startup Founders Should Stop Reading Business Books by Rob Walling Traction by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares Episode 725 | SEO in the Age of AI, Freemium, When Brand Becomes Important, and More Advanced Listener Questions (with Ruben Gamez) Launch. A Startup Documentary. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 732, Rob Walling interviews Jeff, a mostly anonymous and retired founder, about his mostly bootstrapped business and subsequent exits. Jeff shares how he started the company in 2003 and how he persevered in the early, lonely years to achieve traction in the business. They also discuss finding fulfillment after a huge, life-changing exit. Topics we cover:  2:17 – Jeff, the retired SaaS founder you haven’t heard of 3:32 – Refreshing the bank balance after multiple exits 5:26 – ARR multiples across several exits 8:11 – “Accidentally” SaaS, growing the business in the early days 11:35 – Getting through the toughest moments in the journey 16:31 – Why did the business work? 20:14 – “Short term generous, long term greedy” 24:32 – Staying busy after an exit 32:09 – Giving back to founders Links from the Show:  Purchase The SaaS Launchpad before September 30th to get access to a live Q&A with Rob TinySeed Retired Founder (@RetiredFounder) | X Contact Retired Founder Beyond The Finish Line If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 732, Rob Walling interviews Jeff, a mostly anonymous and retired founder, about his mostly bootstrapped business and subsequent exits. Jeff shares how he started the company in 2003 and how he persevered in the early, lonely years to achieve traction in the business. They also discuss finding fulfillment after a huge, life-changing exit. Topics we cover:  2:17 – Jeff, the retired SaaS founder you haven’t heard of 3:32 – Refreshing the bank balance after multiple exits 5:26 – ARR multiples across several exits 8:11 – “Accidentally” SaaS, growing the business in the early days 11:35 – Getting through the toughest moments in the journey 16:31 – Why did the business work? 20:14 – “Short term generous, long term greedy” 24:32 – Staying busy after an exit 32:09 – Giving back to founders Links from the Show:  Purchase The SaaS Launchpad before September 30th to get access to a live Q&A with Rob TinySeed Retired Founder (@RetiredFounder) | X Contact Retired Founder Beyond The Finish Line If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 731, join Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer as they tackle some more advanced listener questions. They discuss delegation and giving up areas of control as a founder, including examples from their time together at Drip. Derrick describes how he approaches partnering with other SaaS businesses and why planning a full quarter ahead doesn’t work for many bootstrapped founders. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  1:17 – Delegating as a perfectionist 7:19 – Learning to hire those that are better than you in some domains 14:50 – Risk vs. certainty 19:01 – Finding specialized marketing roles vs. a generalist 24:04 – Managing partnerships with other SaaS products 31:17 – Reaching out about partnerships 32:46 – Quarterly planning for your SaaS 34:20 – Planning in smaller time blocks 40:58 – Quizzing developers’ on their knowledge Links from the Show:  Purchase The SaaS Launchpad TinySeed The SaaS Playbook MicroConf YouTube Channel Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X SavvyCal Finding Fulfillment by Jason Cohen Shape Up If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 731, join Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer as they tackle some more advanced listener questions. They discuss delegation and giving up areas of control as a founder, including examples from their time together at Drip. Derrick describes how he approaches partnering with other SaaS businesses and why planning a full quarter ahead doesn’t work for many bootstrapped founders. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  1:17 – Delegating as a perfectionist 7:19 – Learning to hire those that are better than you in some domains 14:50 – Risk vs. certainty 19:01 – Finding specialized marketing roles vs. a generalist 24:04 – Managing partnerships with other SaaS products 31:17 – Reaching out about partnerships 32:46 – Quarterly planning for your SaaS 34:20 – Planning in smaller time blocks 40:58 – Quizzing developers’ on their knowledge Links from the Show:  Purchase The SaaS Launchpad TinySeed The SaaS Playbook MicroConf YouTube Channel Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X SavvyCal Finding Fulfillment by Jason Cohen Shape Up If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 730, Craig Hewitt turns the table and interviews Rob Walling about releasing The SaaS Launchpad course. Craig, founder of Castos, asks Rob about the course's purpose and structure, which founders that it’s designed for, and why he made a course as opposed to a new book, or a YouTube series. They also discuss the pricing strategy, hosting platforms, accountability, community, and more. If you’re trying to take your SaaS from zero to one, purchase The SaaS Launchpad before September 30th to get access to a live Q&A with Rob. Topics we cover:  2:00 – Why a course? 4:35 – Who is it for? 9:37 – Breaking down the pricing behind the course 14:32 – Choosing a platform to host the course 17:47 – Enabling action from those who enroll 27:33 – Course topics that help founders get early traction 30:26 – The biggest problems early-stage founders face Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | X Castos The Rouge Startups podcast Craig’s YouTube Channel Episode 606 | The Podcasting Landscape, Keeping Your Saw Sharpened, and Scaling Your Team with Craig Hewitt The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect MicroConf Mastermind Matching The MicroConf YouTube channel TinySeed Episode 726 | Selling 29,000 Copies, Information vs. Motivation, and Making Your First Level Last (A Rob Solo Adventure) Circle.so Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | X Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X Ross Hudgens (@RossHudgens) | X Episode 628 | The 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework If you have questions about starting or scaling a softwa

In episode 730, Craig Hewitt turns the table and interviews Rob Walling about releasing The SaaS Launchpad course. Craig, founder of Castos, asks Rob about the course's purpose and structure, which founders that it’s designed for, and why he made a course as opposed to a new book, or a YouTube series. They also discuss the pricing strategy, hosting platforms, accountability, community, and more. If you’re trying to take your SaaS from zero to one, purchase The SaaS Launchpad before September 30th to get access to a live Q&A with Rob. Topics we cover:  2:00 – Why a course? 4:35 – Who is it for? 9:37 – Breaking down the pricing behind the course 14:32 – Choosing a platform to host the course 17:47 – Enabling action from those who enroll 27:33 – Course topics that help founders get early traction 30:26 – The biggest problems early-stage founders face Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | X Castos The Rouge Startups podcast Craig’s YouTube Channel Episode 606 | The Podcasting Landscape, Keeping Your Saw Sharpened, and Scaling Your Team with Craig Hewitt The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect MicroConf Mastermind Matching The MicroConf YouTube channel TinySeed Episode 726 | Selling 29,000 Copies, Information vs. Motivation, and Making Your First Level Last (A Rob Solo Adventure) Circle.so Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | X Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X Ross Hudgens (@RossHudgens) | X Episode 628 | The 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework If you have questions about starting or scaling a software busines...

In episode 729, join Rob Walling as he shares insights from the 170+ SaaS investments he’s made through his B2B SaaS accelerator, TinySeed. Key patterns include the survivability of SaaS, the lucrative value of these companies, and commonalities across the ones that grow the fastest. To see even more patterns that didn’t make this episode, be sure to check out the MicroConf YouTube channel. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  2:24 – Survivability of B2B SaaS in TinySeed 4:09 – SaaS is extremely valuable 8:26 – Vertical and orthogonal SaaS face fewer headwinds  12:36 – A supermajority of TinySeed companies want a big exit 15:51 – TinySeed founder count aligns with the broader MicroConf ecosystem 17:04 – Ruined cap tables have prevented deals 19:35 – A quarter of TinySeed companies raise subsequent fundraising 21:17 – Common advisory topics: pricing, plateaus, cofounders, funding, selling Links from the Show:  Apply for TinySeed Invest in TinySeed MicroConf YouTube: 6 Lessons From My Most Successful Investments (B2B SaaS) Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics Episode 728 | Bootstrapping Gymdesk to a More Than $32.5M Exit State of Independent SaaS Report If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iT

In episode 729, join Rob Walling as he shares insights from the 170+ SaaS investments he’s made through his B2B SaaS accelerator, TinySeed. Key patterns include the survivability of SaaS, the lucrative value of these companies, and commonalities across the ones that grow the fastest. To see even more patterns that didn’t make this episode, be sure to check out the MicroConf YouTube channel. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  2:24 – Survivability of B2B SaaS in TinySeed 4:09 – SaaS is extremely valuable 8:26 – Vertical and orthogonal SaaS face fewer headwinds  12:36 – A supermajority of TinySeed companies want a big exit 15:51 – TinySeed founder count aligns with the broader MicroConf ecosystem 17:04 – Ruined cap tables have prevented deals 19:35 – A quarter of TinySeed companies raise subsequent fundraising 21:17 – Common advisory topics: pricing, plateaus, cofounders, funding, selling Links from the Show:  Apply for TinySeed Invest in TinySeed MicroConf YouTube: 6 Lessons From My Most Successful Investments (B2B SaaS) Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics Episode 728 | Bootstrapping Gymdesk to a More Than $32.5M Exit State of Independent SaaS Report If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes |

In episode 728, Rob Walling interviews Eran Galperin, founder of Gymdesk, about his incredible exit. Eran shares his journey of transforming Gymdesk from "Martial Arts on Rails" into a successful gym management software company. He discusses how they succeeded in a competitive market, the role of TinySeed in their growth, and how feelings of burnout eventually led to a majority buyout for the company. Topics we cover:  2:02 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment 5:13 – How the investment will be used 6:38 – Eran’s projects before Gymdesk 9:21 – Sticking with one idea long enough to see success 12:45 – Entering a competitive market 16:37 – Rapid growth as a marketing leader 20:54 – Dealing with burnout and entertaining an acquisition 26:45 – Handling a stressful sales process 32:19 – The future of Gymdesk Links from the Show:  Apply for TinySeed Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics Gymdesk.com Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X Eran Galperin | LinkedIn Eran’s Website Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Explained: How It Works Discretion Capital If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 728, Rob Walling interviews Eran Galperin, founder of Gymdesk, about his incredible exit. Eran shares his journey of transforming Gymdesk from "Martial Arts on Rails" into a successful gym management software company. He discusses how they succeeded in a competitive market, the role of TinySeed in their growth, and how feelings of burnout eventually led to a majority buyout for the company. Topics we cover:  2:02 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment 5:13 – How the investment will be used 6:38 – Eran’s projects before Gymdesk 9:21 – Sticking with one idea long enough to see success 12:45 – Entering a competitive market 16:37 – Rapid growth as a marketing leader 20:54 – Dealing with burnout and entertaining an acquisition 26:45 – Handling a stressful sales process 32:19 – The future of Gymdesk Links from the Show:  Apply for TinySeed Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics Gymdesk.com Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X Eran Galperin | LinkedIn Eran’s Website Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Explained: How It Works Discretion Capital If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 727, Rob Walling is joined by Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset to give their hot takes on some recent news. First they celebrate Gymdesk’s recent funding and evaluate what that means for TinySeed companies. Then, they weigh in on bootstrapper hiring, grappling with new challenges as MRR grows, and how to really move the needle in your business. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.&nbsp; For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”&nbsp; Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.&nbsp; To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:19 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment 9:06 – Is it getting easier for bootstrappers to hire? 12:22 – Facing different challenges as MRR grows    19:37 – Identifying what really moves the needle 23:56 – Listen to those who have built businesses before you Links from the Show:&nbsp; Subscribe to the Startups For the Rest of Us Email List TinySeed The SaaS Playbook Discretion Capital Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X TinySeed (@tinyseedfund) | X Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth <a href="https://a.co/d/cjVSvZ4" target="

In episode 727, Rob Walling is joined by Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset to give their hot takes on some recent news. First they celebrate Gymdesk’s recent funding and evaluate what that means for TinySeed companies. Then, they weigh in on bootstrapper hiring, grappling with new challenges as MRR grows, and how to really move the needle in your business. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  2:19 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment 9:06 – Is it getting easier for bootstrappers to hire? 12:22 – Facing different challenges as MRR grows    19:37 – Identifying what really moves the needle 23:56 – Listen to those who have built businesses before you Links from the Show:  Subscribe to the Startups For the Rest of Us Email List TinySeed The SaaS Playbook Discretion Capital Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X TinySeed (@tinyseedfund) | X Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth

In episode 726, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers several topics. In this episode he reveals the sales details around “The SaaS Playbook” by sharing the volume and sales channel data. He explores the importance of motivation over mere access to information, particularly for developers, with the introduction of AI. Rob also previews several exciting projects to be released in the near future. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:49 – The SaaS Playbook sales channel breakdown 8:20 – Learnings from the book launch 9:51 – Upcoming books and courses 12:07 – ”Teach them how to run fast, better” 16:04 – Access to information vs. motivation 19:40 – Creating your onboarding last Links from the Show:&nbsp; Discretion Capital Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Episode 707 | Once.com, Open Source to FT Income, and More (Hot Take Tuesday) TinySeed The SaaS Playbook The SaaS Launchpad video course Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Netflix’s Sprint John Romero (@romero) | X Masters of Doom by David Kushner Doom Guy by John Romero If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 726, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers several topics. In this episode he reveals the sales details around “The SaaS Playbook” by sharing the volume and sales channel data. He explores the importance of motivation over mere access to information, particularly for developers, with the introduction of AI. Rob also previews several exciting projects to be released in the near future. Topics we cover:  2:49 – The SaaS Playbook sales channel breakdown 8:20 – Learnings from the book launch 9:51 – Upcoming books and courses 12:07 – ”Teach them how to run fast, better” 16:04 – Access to information vs. motivation 19:40 – Creating your onboarding last Links from the Show:  Discretion Capital Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Episode 707 | Once.com, Open Source to FT Income, and More (Hot Take Tuesday) TinySeed The SaaS Playbook The SaaS Launchpad video course Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Netflix’s Sprint John Romero (@romero) | X Masters of Doom by David Kushner Doom Guy by John Romero If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 725, join Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez as they answer several more advanced listener questions. They discuss the challenges of pursuing freemium as a bootstrapper and make a suggestion that might surprise you. Rob and Ruben also talk about why building your business as a SaaS founder is usually the best way to build your brand indirectly. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.&nbsp; For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”&nbsp; Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.&nbsp; To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:31 – Considering a freemium plan as a bootstrapper 9:52 – Freemium, but without the intent to convert free users 12:24 – Raising prices as an alternative to starting a freemium plan 18:32 – When to start caring about your “brand” 25:10 – Investing directly in branding 31:00 – Revisiting your marketing funnels 34:08 – AI’s impact on SEO 38:20 – Google’s search results are already changing Links from the Show:&nbsp; Get notified about The SaaS LaunchPad Ask a Question on SFTROU Email a Question on SFTROU MicroConf TinySeed The SaaS Playbook Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X SignWell Episode 724 | Managing Managers, Breaking Through Plateaus, Thoughts on EOS, and More Later-Stage Listener Questions Episode 717 | Bootstrapping to $1.3M ARR and 300,000 Free Users Val Sopi (@valsopi) | X Blogstatic <a href="

In episode 725, join Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez as they answer several more advanced listener questions. They discuss the challenges of pursuing freemium as a bootstrapper and make a suggestion that might surprise you. Rob and Ruben also talk about why building your business as a SaaS founder is usually the best way to build your brand indirectly. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  2:31 – Considering a freemium plan as a bootstrapper 9:52 – Freemium, but without the intent to convert free users 12:24 – Raising prices as an alternative to starting a freemium plan 18:32 – When to start caring about your “brand” 25:10 – Investing directly in branding 31:00 – Revisiting your marketing funnels 34:08 – AI’s impact on SEO 38:20 – Google’s search results are already changing Links from the Show:  Get notified about The SaaS LaunchPad Ask a Question on SFTROU Email a Question on SFTROU MicroConf TinySeed The SaaS Playbook Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X SignWell Episode 724 | Managing Managers, Breaking Through Plateaus, Thoughts on EOS, and More Later-Stage Listener Questions Episode 717 | Bootstrapping to $1.3M ARR and 300,000 Free Users Val Sopi (@valsopi) | X Blogstatic

In episode 724, join Rob Walling as he takes on some later-stage listener questions in another solo adventure. He provides several tips for managing managers, how to break through MRR plateaus, and how to think about SaaS versus agency work. Rob also offers his take on how he would talk about his product at conferences, without overselling it. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:48 – Three tips for managing other managers 8:42 – Schedule “skip level” meetings 9:50 – Attending a conference without overselling 15:00 – Breaking out of the $20k-$30k MRR plateau 19:57 – How to keep your self-serve SaaS from becoming an agency 23:58 – Scaling management through company growth Links from the Show:&nbsp; Get tickets for MicroConf Europe in Dubrovnik, Croatia (before August 15th) TinySeed Christopher Gimmer (@cgimmer) | X Episode 480 | Stairstepping Your Way to SaaS with Christopher Gimmer Seeking Scale If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 724, join Rob Walling as he takes on some later-stage listener questions in another solo adventure. He provides several tips for managing managers, how to break through MRR plateaus, and how to think about SaaS versus agency work. Rob also offers his take on how he would talk about his product at conferences, without overselling it. Topics we cover:  3:48 – Three tips for managing other managers 8:42 – Schedule “skip level” meetings 9:50 – Attending a conference without overselling 15:00 – Breaking out of the $20k-$30k MRR plateau 19:57 – How to keep your self-serve SaaS from becoming an agency 23:58 – Scaling management through company growth Links from the Show:  Get tickets for MicroConf Europe in Dubrovnik, Croatia (before August 15th) TinySeed Christopher Gimmer (@cgimmer) | X Episode 480 | Stairstepping Your Way to SaaS with Christopher Gimmer Seeking Scale If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 723, Rob Walling interviews Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author, about the significance of effective communication for founders. They discuss practical advice on recognizing different types of conversations, techniques for understanding and transitioning conversations, and how to quickly move past small talk in a conference setting. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.&nbsp; For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”&nbsp; Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.&nbsp; To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:42 – What’s a “super communicator?” 4:35 – Getting better at being a great communicator 8:10 – Identifying the types of conversations you are having 11:31 – Transitioning between different types of conversations 16:51 – Advice for introverts engaging in deep conversations with new people 22:01 – How to quickly improve small talk 27:22 – Non-verbal communication has slightly different rules Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect Charles Duhigg (@cduhigg) | X Charles Duhigg’s website Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny et. al If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 723, Rob Walling interviews Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author, about the significance of effective communication for founders. They discuss practical advice on recognizing different types of conversations, techniques for understanding and transitioning conversations, and how to quickly move past small talk in a conference setting. Episode Sponsor: Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.  For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too. Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”  Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.  To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.  Topics we cover:  2:42 – What’s a “super communicator?” 4:35 – Getting better at being a great communicator 8:10 – Identifying the types of conversations you are having 11:31 – Transitioning between different types of conversations 16:51 – Advice for introverts engaging in deep conversations with new people 22:01 – How to quickly improve small talk 27:22 – Non-verbal communication has slightly different rules Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Charles Duhigg (@cduhigg) | X Charles Duhigg’s website Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny et. al If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 722, Rob Walling interviews James Mooring, co-founder of Astalty, a SaaS serving Australia's NDIS market. James reveals how they bootstrapped from zero to seven figures in just 18 months and then they explore the strategic decisions, clever pricing, and deep industry knowledge that propelled Astalty's remarkable growth, proving their success was far more than just a lucky break. Episode Sponsor: If you need help hiring great talent from Latin America and the Philippines, but don’t want to pay ongoing recruitment fees, check out Outwork Staffing. Outwork Staffing can help you hire customer support, virtual assistants, developers - or whoever you need! You pay a one-time hiring fee after they find your ideal candidate, and that’s it-&nbsp; there’s no additional costs, even if your new hire stays for years. If your new hire doesn’t work out, Outwork Staffing will find you a replacement, free of charge within the first 6 months of their employment. They also provide coaching to help you find, manage, and grow your global team efficiently. Visit outworkstaffing.com/startups to book a call and get $500 off your first placement by mentioning Startups For the Rest of Us. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:44 –&nbsp;NDIS software for providers of disability care 4:23 – Astalty’s rapid growth 6:34 –&nbsp;Finding success with a strong co-founder pairing 8:39 –&nbsp;Deciding to tailor the Astalty MVP 12:25 –&nbsp;Building a free Chrome extension, smart or lucky? 17:18 – Launching a paid plan and nailing the pricing 21:57 – Explosive word of mouth growth 25:19 –&nbsp;Selling at in-person events and in Facebook groups 31:02 – A clever way of raising prices 35:00 – Learning from fast iteration Links from the Show:&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook TinySeed James Mooring | LinkedIn Astalty How Ben Chestnut Bootstrapped Mailchimp to a $12 Billion Exit Question &amp; Answer with Jason Fried, Co-Founder, Basecamp – MicroConf Growth 2019 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 722, Rob Walling interviews James Mooring, co-founder of Astalty, a SaaS serving Australia's NDIS market. James reveals how they bootstrapped from zero to seven figures in just 18 months and then they explore the strategic decisions, clever pricing, and deep industry knowledge that propelled Astalty's remarkable growth, proving their success was far more than just a lucky break. Episode Sponsor: If you need help hiring great talent from Latin America and the Philippines, but don’t want to pay ongoing recruitment fees, check out Outwork Staffing. Outwork Staffing can help you hire customer support, virtual assistants, developers - or whoever you need! You pay a one-time hiring fee after they find your ideal candidate, and that’s it-  there’s no additional costs, even if your new hire stays for years. If your new hire doesn’t work out, Outwork Staffing will find you a replacement, free of charge within the first 6 months of their employment. They also provide coaching to help you find, manage, and grow your global team efficiently. Visit outworkstaffing.com/startups to book a call and get $500 off your first placement by mentioning Startups For the Rest of Us. Topics we cover:  2:44 – NDIS software for providers of disability care 4:23 – Astalty’s rapid growth 6:34 – Finding success with a strong co-founder pairing 8:39 – Deciding to tailor the Astalty MVP 12:25 – Building a free Chrome extension, smart or lucky? 17:18 – Launching a paid plan and nailing the pricing 21:57 – Explosive word of mouth growth 25:19 – Selling at in-person events and in Facebook groups 31:02 – A clever way of raising prices 35:00 – Learning from fast iteration Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook TinySeed James Mooring | LinkedIn Astalty How Ben Chestnut Bootstrapped Mailchimp to a $12 Billion Exit Question &amp; Answer with Jason Fried, Co-Founder, Basecamp – MicroConf Growth 2019 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 721, Rob Walling and Asia Orangio analyze the results of MicroConf’s 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report. They share their key takeaways including the impact of business models on growth, requiring credit cards for free trials, and how the number of founders affects performance. Additionally, they delve into growth by target markets and the data behind bootstrapped SaaS companies taking funding. To get your copy of the full report, head to stateofindiesaas.com. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:03 – The State of Independent SaaS Report 7:36 – Requiring a credit card upfront 10:27 – Three founders perform best 14:31 – Free trials and credit cards 19:11 – Average growth by target market 22:46 – Plans for outside funding 25:10 – Credit cards, trials, and churn  32:10 – Advertising channels that are working Links from the Show:&nbsp; Download the State of Independent SaaS Report Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel TinySeed Rob Walling (@RobWalling) | X Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) | X DemandMaven If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 721, Rob Walling and Asia Orangio analyze the results of MicroConf’s 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report. They share their key takeaways including the impact of business models on growth, requiring credit cards for free trials, and how the number of founders affects performance. Additionally, they delve into growth by target markets and the data behind bootstrapped SaaS companies taking funding. To get your copy of the full report, head to stateofindiesaas.com. Topics we cover:  2:03 – The State of Independent SaaS Report 7:36 – Requiring a credit card upfront 10:27 – Three founders perform best 14:31 – Free trials and credit cards 19:11 – Average growth by target market 22:46 – Plans for outside funding 25:10 – Credit cards, trials, and churn  32:10 – Advertising channels that are working Links from the Show:  Download the State of Independent SaaS Report Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel TinySeed Rob Walling (@RobWalling) | X Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) | X DemandMaven If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 720, Rob Walling is joined by Craig Hewitt to discuss the intricacies of prioritization in both business and in life. In addition to running Castos, Craig has started coaching founders in sales and marketing, and describes how he strives to focus on the right things. They talk about buying back their time, creating family-focused time, and share their solo podcasting experience after previously having co-hosts. Episode Sponsor: If you need help hiring great talent from Latin America and the Philippines, but don’t want to pay ongoing recruitment fees, check out Outwork Staffing. Outwork Staffing can help you hire customer support, virtual assistants, developers - or whoever you need! You pay a one-time hiring fee after they find your ideal candidate, and that’s it-&nbsp; there’s no additional costs, even if your new hire stays for years. If your new hire doesn’t work out, Outwork Staffing will find you a replacement, free of charge within the first 6 months of their employment. They also provide coaching to help you find, manage, and grow your global team efficiently. Visit outworkstaffing.com/startups to book a call and get $500 off your first placement by mentioning Startups For the Rest of Us. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:34 – Prioritizing marketing growth and work-life balance outside of work 7:07 – Buying back your time and optimizing for convenience 10:08 – Identifying the right things to work on with coaches and masterminds 19:42 – Making fewer, bigger decisions as a founder 22:01 – Making intentional family-focused time 30:03 – How Craig started his coaching 36:11 – Podcasting with co-hosts vs. podcasting solo Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect TinySeed Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | X Castos Rogue Startups Craig’s Founder Insights Newsletter 718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer) Episode 644 | Buying Back Your Time with Dan Martell Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Zirtual Buying The Future by Craig Hewitt The MicroConf YouTube Channel <a href="https://a.co/d/6qeoMhk" target="_blank" rel="norefer

In episode 720, Rob Walling is joined by Craig Hewitt to discuss the intricacies of prioritization in both business and in life. In addition to running Castos, Craig has started coaching founders in sales and marketing, and describes how he strives to focus on the right things. They talk about buying back their time, creating family-focused time, and share their solo podcasting experience after previously having co-hosts. Episode Sponsor: If you need help hiring great talent from Latin America and the Philippines, but don’t want to pay ongoing recruitment fees, check out Outwork Staffing. Outwork Staffing can help you hire customer support, virtual assistants, developers - or whoever you need! You pay a one-time hiring fee after they find your ideal candidate, and that’s it-  there’s no additional costs, even if your new hire stays for years. If your new hire doesn’t work out, Outwork Staffing will find you a replacement, free of charge within the first 6 months of their employment. They also provide coaching to help you find, manage, and grow your global team efficiently. Visit outworkstaffing.com/startups to book a call and get $500 off your first placement by mentioning Startups For the Rest of Us. Topics we cover:  3:34 – Prioritizing marketing growth and work-life balance outside of work 7:07 – Buying back your time and optimizing for convenience 10:08 – Identifying the right things to work on with coaches and masterminds 19:42 – Making fewer, bigger decisions as a founder 22:01 – Making intentional family-focused time 30:03 – How Craig started his coaching 36:11 – Podcasting with co-hosts vs. podcasting solo Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect TinySeed Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | X Castos Rogue Startups Craig’s Founder Insights Newsletter 718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer) Episode 644 | Buying Back Your Time with Dan Martell Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Zirtual Buying The Future by Craig Hewitt The MicroConf YouTube Channel W...

n episode 719, join Rob Walling as he embarks on another solo adventure, tackling listener questions. He discusses how to test pricing, addresses the pitfalls of one-time payments vs. SaaS, and he reflects on “building something for everyone.” He wraps up with advice on making better recommendations. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.&nbsp; They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 0:58 –&nbsp;Testing different prices for your product 8:12 – One-time or lifetime payments&nbsp; 15:02 – Horizontal products, building something for everyone 21:43 –&nbsp;Making descriptive recommendations Links from the Show:&nbsp; 718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer) TinySeed Building &amp; Scaling Products: Lessons Learned from Four Years and 8,000 Customers – Des Traynor Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Sid Meier's Memoir! by Sid Meier&nbsp; Masters of Doom by David Kushner Doom Guy by John Romero The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startups-for-the-rest-of-us/id366931951" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noop

In episode 719, join Rob Walling as he embarks on another solo adventure, tackling listener questions. He discusses how to test pricing, addresses the pitfalls of one-time payments vs. SaaS, and he reflects on “building something for everyone.” He wraps up with advice on making better recommendations. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  0:58 – Testing different prices for your product 8:12 – One-time or lifetime payments  15:02 – Horizontal products, building something for everyone 21:43 – Making descriptive recommendations Links from the Show:  718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer) TinySeed Building &amp; Scaling Products: Lessons Learned from Four Years and 8,000 Customers – Des Traynor Shoe Dog by Phil Knight Sid Meier's Memoir! by Sid Meier  Masters of Doom by David Kushner Doom Guy by John Romero The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes |

In episode 718, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer tackle listener questions about giving up on ideas, competing in crowded markets, and developing painful features. They also chat about SavvyCal’s recent design refresh, finding founder-market fit, and whether Derrick has retired from podcasting. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:59 –&nbsp;Which feature felt harder and took longer than imagined? 9:14 –&nbsp;When is time to give up on a SaaS idea and move on? 17:51 – Finding customers in crowded markets with large incumbents 23:32 – Has Derrick officially retired from podcasting? 25:57 – Handling competitors that are copying differentiating product features 28:48 – Evaluating SavvyCal’s refreshed design 31:10 – Considering vertical vs. horizontal SaaS for SavvyCal 34:05 –&nbsp;Why did Derrick decide to pursue the idea for SavvyCal? 40:19 – Finding “founder-fit” Links from the Show:&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling TinySeed Derrick Remier (​​@derrickreimer) | X SavvyCal Group scheduling mode The Build In Public Podcast The Art of Product Podcast 8 B2B Marketing Strategies That Got My Startup to $10 Million (and 1 that FAILED) Finding My Next Bootstrapped Business Idea If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cove

In episode 718, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer tackle listener questions about giving up on ideas, competing in crowded markets, and developing painful features. They also chat about SavvyCal’s recent design refresh, finding founder-market fit, and whether Derrick has retired from podcasting. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  3:59 – Which feature felt harder and took longer than imagined? 9:14 – When is time to give up on a SaaS idea and move on? 17:51 – Finding customers in crowded markets with large incumbents 23:32 – Has Derrick officially retired from podcasting? 25:57 – Handling competitors that are copying differentiating product features 28:48 – Evaluating SavvyCal’s refreshed design 31:10 – Considering vertical vs. horizontal SaaS for SavvyCal 34:05 – Why did Derrick decide to pursue the idea for SavvyCal? 40:19 – Finding “founder-fit” Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling TinySeed Derrick Remier (​​@derrickreimer) | X SavvyCal Group scheduling mode The Build In Public Podcast The Art of Product Podcast 8 B2B Marketing Strategies That Got My Startup to $10 Million (and 1 that FAILED) Finding My Next Bootstrapped Business Idea If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 717, Rob Walling interviews Marie Martin, co-founder of Tally. They discuss the company’s journey to $1.3M ARR and the unusual pricing strategy that got them there. Marie details how they keep their support volume low, how they differentiate Tally from other form builders, and how they grew to over 300,000 free users. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:22 – Where Tally is today 3:53 – Keeping customer support volume low 7:12 – Differentiating Tally from other form builders 10:55 – The ingredients needed to make “free” work 18:31 – ”Shrinking a Market” 24:27 – Growing to 300,000+ free users 26:47 – Dealing with bad actors 29:37 – Applying the learnings from Tally’s success Links from the Show:&nbsp; Tickets for MicroConf Europe | Oct 6 - 8, 2024, Dubrovnik, Croatia Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024 Marie Martens (@MarieMartens) | X Tally  No-Code France TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | G

In episode 717, Rob Walling interviews Marie Martin, co-founder of Tally. They discuss the company’s journey to $1.3M ARR and the unusual pricing strategy that got them there. Marie details how they keep their support volume low, how they differentiate Tally from other form builders, and how they grew to over 300,000 free users. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:22 – Where Tally is today 3:53 – Keeping customer support volume low 7:12 – Differentiating Tally from other form builders 10:55 – The ingredients needed to make “free” work 18:31 – ”Shrinking a Market” 24:27 – Growing to 300,000+ free users 26:47 – Dealing with bad actors 29:37 – Applying the learnings from Tally’s success Links from the Show:  Tickets for MicroConf Europe | Oct 6 - 8, 2024, Dubrovnik, Croatia Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024 Marie Martens (@MarieMartens) | X Tally  No-Code France TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google&lt;...

In episode 716, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He shares how he would position against incumbents, when to change an H1, and how choosing a tech stack affects your business valuation. Rob also weighs whether to skip a “Step 1” or “Step 2” business and start directly with a standalone SaaS in the Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:07 – How directly should I position my product against incumbents? 8:25 – Making and testing changes to your H1 12:22 – Identifying and qualifying niches based on traffic 18:07 – Should I skip a “Step 1” or “Step 2” business to start a SaaS? 20:16 – How a tech stack affects valuations 27:29 – Differentiating between B2B and B2C Links from the Show:&nbsp; Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024 Ask a Question on SFTROU Episode 673 | Lifetime Plans vs Subscriptions, Testing an Idea With a Landing Page, and More Listener Questions Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Similarweb Vertical SaaS vs Horizontal SaaS - Which is More Profitable? If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please <a href="https://ww

In episode 716, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He shares how he would position against incumbents, when to change an H1, and how choosing a tech stack affects your business valuation. Rob also weighs whether to skip a “Step 1” or “Step 2” business and start directly with a standalone SaaS in the Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  4:07 – How directly should I position my product against incumbents? 8:25 – Making and testing changes to your H1 12:22 – Identifying and qualifying niches based on traffic 18:07 – Should I skip a “Step 1” or “Step 2” business to start a SaaS? 20:16 – How a tech stack affects valuations 27:29 – Differentiating between B2B and B2C Links from the Show:  Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024 Ask a Question on SFTROU Episode 673 | Lifetime Plans vs Subscriptions, Testing an Idea With a Landing Page, and More Listener Questions Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Similarweb Vertical SaaS vs Horizontal SaaS - Which is More Profitable? If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 715, Rob Walling is joined by Dr. Sherry Walling to discuss a variety of topics. They chat about two recent and meaningful interactions made possible by the Internet, the motivations behind organizing and performing a circus show, and they chat about upcoming launches on the horizon –&nbsp;new books and courses for SaaS founders. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.&nbsp; They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:00 – Examples of thoughtful, nuanced Internet interactions 8:12 – Impacting people you otherwise couldn’t online 15:12 – Dr. Sherry Walling’s circus show motivation 21:53 – The psychology of business exits 25:27 – Commonalities across founders considering exits 31:11 – Speaking to the whole lifecycle of a SaaS business Links from the Show:&nbsp; Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024 Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Sherry Walling (@dr.sherrywalling) | Instagram TinySeed Discretion Capital Before The Exit by Dan Andrews Episode 532 | The Art of Selling Your Business with John Warrillow The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together by Sherry Walling, PhD and Rob Walling Enter your email at Robwalling.com Sign up for the Zen Founder newsletter If y

In episode 715, Rob Walling is joined by Dr. Sherry Walling to discuss a variety of topics. They chat about two recent and meaningful interactions made possible by the Internet, the motivations behind organizing and performing a circus show, and they chat about upcoming launches on the horizon – new books and courses for SaaS founders. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  4:00 – Examples of thoughtful, nuanced Internet interactions 8:12 – Impacting people you otherwise couldn’t online 15:12 – Dr. Sherry Walling’s circus show motivation 21:53 – The psychology of business exits 25:27 – Commonalities across founders considering exits 31:11 – Speaking to the whole lifecycle of a SaaS business Links from the Show:  Apply for MicroConf Masterminds before June 12th 2024 Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Sherry Walling (@dr.sherrywalling) | Instagram TinySeed Discretion Capital Before The Exit by Dan Andrews Episode 532 | The Art of Selling Your Business with John Warrillow The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together by Sherry Walling, PhD and Rob Walling Enter your email at Robwalling.com Sign up for the Zen Founder newsletter If you have questions ab...

In episode 714, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He talks about what to expect when acquiring a competitor and how he might integrate their business. Rob also covers navigating HIPAA compliance as a bootstrapper, how to find a developer co-founder, and he explores the concept of Total Reachable Market (TRM). Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  3:45 – How to navigate acquiring a competitor 6:34 – How to transition the newly acquired customers into your product 9:58 – HIPAA compliance for a bootstrapped MVP 13:07 – Total Addressable Market (TAM) vs. Total Reachable Market (TRM) 19:01 – How do I find a developer co-founder? 28:03 – Can I find data on SaaS app store spending? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Mastermind Program TinySeed MicroConf Connect The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 714, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He talks about what to expect when acquiring a competitor and how he might integrate their business. Rob also covers navigating HIPAA compliance as a bootstrapper, how to find a developer co-founder, and he explores the concept of Total Reachable Market (TRM). Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  3:45 – How to navigate acquiring a competitor 6:34 – How to transition the newly acquired customers into your product 9:58 – HIPAA compliance for a bootstrapped MVP 13:07 – Total Addressable Market (TAM) vs. Total Reachable Market (TRM) 19:01 – How do I find a developer co-founder? 28:03 – Can I find data on SaaS app store spending? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Mastermind Program TinySeed MicroConf Connect The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 713, Rob Walling is joined by Arvid Kahl to share their experience from MicroConf US 2024 in Atlanta. They each discuss their top 5 moments, ranging from Dr. Sherry Walling’s talk on motivation to Ben Chestnut’s chat with Rob onstage. They agree that there’s nothing quite like being in the room with everyone and soaking in all the interactions outside of the official talks.&nbsp; If you missed the event and had some MicroConf FOMO, make sure to sign up for our email list to be notified when the tickets for our next event go on sale.!&nbsp; Click here to watch Rob’s Fireside Chat with Ben Chestnut! Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.&nbsp; They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:05 –&nbsp;Key takeaways from MicroConf 2024 3:45 – Dr. Sherry Walling’s talk on motivation 7:02 – Stephen Steer’s sales scripts talk 9:25 – Live valuation of a business by Quiet Light Brokerage 12:23 – Micro excursions that allow founders to connect with one another 14:09 –&nbsp;The hallway track outside of the venue 15:53 –&nbsp;”Nothing beats being in a room” 19:22 – Lack of hierarchy among founders 22:38 – Lianna Patch’s copywriting swipe file 23:50 – Ben Chestnut is just like one of us 29:50 – Don’t get stuck with MicroConf FOMO Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Europe | Dubrovnik &nbsp;- October 6 - 8, 2024 MicroConf US 2025 Waiting List Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) | X The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together by Sherry Walling, PhD and Rob Walling Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X <a href="https://a.c

In episode 713, Rob Walling is joined by Arvid Kahl to share their experience from MicroConf US 2024 in Atlanta. They each discuss their top 5 moments, ranging from Dr. Sherry Walling’s talk on motivation to Ben Chestnut’s chat with Rob onstage. They agree that there’s nothing quite like being in the room with everyone and soaking in all the interactions outside of the official talks.  If you missed the event and had some MicroConf FOMO, make sure to sign up for our email list to be notified when the tickets for our next event go on sale.!  Click here to watch Rob’s Fireside Chat with Ben Chestnut! Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:05 – Key takeaways from MicroConf 2024 3:45 – Dr. Sherry Walling’s talk on motivation 7:02 – Stephen Steer’s sales scripts talk 9:25 – Live valuation of a business by Quiet Light Brokerage 12:23 – Micro excursions that allow founders to connect with one another 14:09 – The hallway track outside of the venue 15:53 – ”Nothing beats being in a room” 19:22 – Lack of hierarchy among founders 22:38 – Lianna Patch’s copywriting swipe file 23:50 – Ben Chestnut is just like one of us 29:50 – Don’t get stuck with MicroConf FOMO Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe | Dubrovnik  - October 6 - 8, 2024 MicroConf US 2025 Waiting List Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) | X The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together by Sherry Walling, PhD and Rob Walling Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X

In episode 712, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure. He starts by revisiting past predictions and provides an update on how he successfully staved off full burnout. Rob then gives updates on this podcast, the progress of TinySeed and MicroConf, and teases two new books that he’s working on. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:21 –&nbsp;Revisiting past predictions and reporting back on burnout 2:45 –&nbsp;Revisiting predictions for SaaS bootstrappers in 2024 5:29 – Twitter changes hands in 2024? 6:29 – Reducing travel to quell burnout on the horizon 11:45 –&nbsp;State of Startups For the Rest of Us&nbsp; 14:40 –&nbsp;TinySeed invested in over 170+ companies 17:54 – First annual TinyFest 18:42 –&nbsp;TinySeed Tales Season 5 19:50 – The SaaS Playbook and my next two books Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect TinySeed The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024 Vertical SaaS vs Horizontal SaaS - Which is More Profitable? State of Independent SaaS MicroConf Mastermind Program TinyFest Unwrapped: Inside Our First-Ever Founder Conference and Retreat in Cancun <a href="https://tinyseed

In episode 712, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure. He starts by revisiting past predictions and provides an update on how he successfully staved off full burnout. Rob then gives updates on this podcast, the progress of TinySeed and MicroConf, and teases two new books that he’s working on. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  1:21 – Revisiting past predictions and reporting back on burnout 2:45 – Revisiting predictions for SaaS bootstrappers in 2024 5:29 – Twitter changes hands in 2024? 6:29 – Reducing travel to quell burnout on the horizon 11:45 – State of Startups For the Rest of Us  14:40 – TinySeed invested in over 170+ companies 17:54 – First annual TinyFest 18:42 – TinySeed Tales Season 5 19:50 – The SaaS Playbook and my next two books Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect TinySeed The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024 Vertical SaaS vs Horizontal SaaS - Which is More Profitable? State of Independent SaaS MicroConf Mastermind Program TinyFest Unwrapped: Inside Our First-Ever Founder Conference and Retreat in Cancun

In episode 711, join Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez as they answer listener questions. They chat about finding early customers without an audience, how to approach horizontal vs. vertical product spinoffs, and some considerations for No Code development. They also discuss the challenges of serving prosumer SaaS, the importance of understanding customer segments for pricing strategies, and the dual funnel approach for catering to different customer tiers. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.&nbsp; They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:00 – Strategies for finding your first users when you don’t have an audience 10:42 – Positioning yourself to compete well against others 12:25 – Jumping into SEO before having a product 18:42 – Exporting No Code projects 24:15 – Choosing between a vertical or horizontal product spinoff 33:55 – Building a B2P, “business to prosumer” product 42:53 –&nbsp;How to make lower pricing tiers work outside of B2B Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect Ruben Gamez (@@earthlingworks) | X SignWell TinySeed Bubble MicroConf YouTube channel State of Independent SaaS Episode 216 | How a Single Founder Launched a 7-Figure SaaS App (with Nate Grahek) Sticky&nbsp; <a href="https://castos.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noo

In episode 711, join Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez as they answer listener questions. They chat about finding early customers without an audience, how to approach horizontal vs. vertical product spinoffs, and some considerations for No Code development. They also discuss the challenges of serving prosumer SaaS, the importance of understanding customer segments for pricing strategies, and the dual funnel approach for catering to different customer tiers. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:00 – Strategies for finding your first users when you don’t have an audience 10:42 – Positioning yourself to compete well against others 12:25 – Jumping into SEO before having a product 18:42 – Exporting No Code projects 24:15 – Choosing between a vertical or horizontal product spinoff 33:55 – Building a B2P, “business to prosumer” product 42:53 – How to make lower pricing tiers work outside of B2B Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Ruben Gamez (@@earthlingworks) | X SignWell TinySeed Bubble MicroConf YouTube channel State of Independent SaaS Episode 216 | How a Single Founder Launched a 7-Figure SaaS App (with Nate Grahek) Sticky  Castos...

In episode 710, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers whether you need a burning passion to be successful in entrepreneurship, and how that relates to developing a product alongside a day job. Rob also discusses competing against VC-backed companies, learning to code in the age of AI, and how much risk lies in IP theft when building your SaaS. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:00 – Reacting to needing a burning desire for entrepreneurship 5:20 – Maintaining a day job to enable space for entrepreneurial pursuits 8:52 – Balancing build speed vs. scalability with your tech stack 10:30 – The April Fools Episode 12:55 –&nbsp;Competing against VC-backed companies in a “hot” space 18:34 – Is learning to code dead? 27:33 – Risk in SaaS of IP theft Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect Episode 704 | Landing Pages, Buying a SaaS, the Right Tech Stack, and More Listener Questions Episode 706.5 | Rethinking My Most Common Advice The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling TinySeed Episode 688 | Growing Boot.dev From $6k to $110k in Monthly Revenue in 15 Months Ask a Question on SFTROU

In episode 710, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers whether you need a burning passion to be successful in entrepreneurship, and how that relates to developing a product alongside a day job. Rob also discusses competing against VC-backed companies, learning to code in the age of AI, and how much risk lies in IP theft when building your SaaS. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  3:00 – Reacting to needing a burning desire for entrepreneurship 5:20 – Maintaining a day job to enable space for entrepreneurial pursuits 8:52 – Balancing build speed vs. scalability with your tech stack 10:30 – The April Fools Episode 12:55 – Competing against VC-backed companies in a “hot” space 18:34 – Is learning to code dead? 27:33 – Risk in SaaS of IP theft Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Episode 704 | Landing Pages, Buying a SaaS, the Right Tech Stack, and More Listener Questions Episode 706.5 | Rethinking My Most Common Advice The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling TinySeed Episode 688 | Growing Boot.dev From $6k to $110k in Monthly Revenue in 15 Months Ask a Question on SFTROU If you have questions about st...

In episode 709, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he shares his story of growing his personal wealth over the past few decades. Selling companies was the major driver of wealth, but he also explores the role of cryptocurrency, running profitable companies, and angel investing. Rob emphasizes the power of entrepreneurship in achieving financial freedom, while acknowledging there are ways to do so while keeping risk relatively low. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.&nbsp; They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:50 – A lesson on how to build wealth 4:31 – Entrepreneurship was our biggest tool 6:37 – Building, acquiring, then selling companies 10:45 – Building slowly while staying risk-averse 13:27 –&nbsp;Investing in riskier assets like cryptocurrency 19:39 – Running profitable companies 20:56 –&nbsp;Angel investing, and WP Engine 23:44 –&nbsp;Traditional, salaried employment 24:53 – Typical investments: stocks, bonds, REITs 27:36 –&nbsp;Real estate investing Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect Christopher Gimmer (@cgimmer) | X Christopher’s tweet Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling This Took 11 Years to Be An "Overnight Success" - SaaS Exit Strategy Zen Founder The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling WP Engine TinySeed Barbell Strategy Explained for Stock and Bond Investors If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode.

In episode 709, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he shares his story of growing his personal wealth over the past few decades. Selling companies was the major driver of wealth, but he also explores the role of cryptocurrency, running profitable companies, and angel investing. Rob emphasizes the power of entrepreneurship in achieving financial freedom, while acknowledging there are ways to do so while keeping risk relatively low. Episode Sponsor: We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project. Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io. The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours. Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages &amp; frameworks. Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee. Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results. Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io. As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:50 – A lesson on how to build wealth 4:31 – Entrepreneurship was our biggest tool 6:37 – Building, acquiring, then selling companies 10:45 – Building slowly while staying risk-averse 13:27 – Investing in riskier assets like cryptocurrency 19:39 – Running profitable companies 20:56 – Angel investing, and WP Engine 23:44 – Traditional, salaried employment 24:53 – Typical investments: stocks, bonds, REITs 27:36 – Real estate investing Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Christopher Gimmer (@cgimmer) | X Christopher’s tweet Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling This Took 11 Years to Be An "Overnight Success" - SaaS Exit Strategy Zen Founder The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling WP Engine TinySeed Barbell Strategy Explained for Stock and Bond Investors If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscr...

In episode 708, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer tackle listener questions about building development skills vs. business skills and strategies for entering competitive markets. They also chat about building on top of AI services, addressing the risks of platform dependency and the importance of managing infrastructure costs.&nbsp; Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you&rsquo;ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren&rsquo;t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn&rsquo;t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 02:38 - Should you build technical skills or business skills? 11:41- Entering a competitive market 21:14 - Building a valuable analytics dashboard tool 29:29 - When should a solo founder hire for marketing roles? 36:29 - The rare skillset of a full-stack marketer&nbsp; 38:18 - Implications of building on openAI and scaling infrastructure costs Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Rob Walling | X Derrick Reimer | X Derrick Reimer SavvyCal Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Devin AI If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you&rsquo;d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We&rsquo;d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 708, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer tackle listener questions about building development skills vs. business skills and strategies for entering competitive markets. They also chat about building on top of AI services, addressing the risks of platform dependency and the importance of managing infrastructure costs.  Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  02:38 - Should you build technical skills or business skills? 11:41- Entering a competitive market 21:14 - Building a valuable analytics dashboard tool 29:29 - When should a solo founder hire for marketing roles? 36:29 - The rare skillset of a full-stack marketer  38:18 - Implications of building on openAI and scaling infrastructure costs Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Rob Walling | X Derrick Reimer | X Derrick Reimer SavvyCal Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Devin AI If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 707, Rob Walling, alongside guests Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, give their hot takes on some recent news in the world of SaaS. They discuss Once.com’s launch, liquidation preference nuances in startup buyouts, with moving from open source to full time income and more.&nbsp; Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:18 - Once.com and the Implications of One-Time Software Sales 10:39 - Liquidation Preferences in Startup Acquisitions 21:59 - Turning an open source project into a business 24:32 - Book recommendations 30:30 - Is building a startup actually hard? 32:46 - Startups vs. lifestyle businesses Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Once.com Campfire Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Brad Feld Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss The Anomaly by Herv Le Tellier The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch TinySeed Einar Vollset (@EinarVollset) | X Tracy Osborn (@itsTracyMakes) | TikTok If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 707, Rob Walling, alongside guests Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, give their hot takes on some recent news in the world of SaaS. They discuss Once.com’s launch, liquidation preference nuances in startup buyouts, with moving from open source to full time income and more.  Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:18 - Once.com and the Implications of One-Time Software Sales 10:39 - Liquidation Preferences in Startup Acquisitions 21:59 - Turning an open source project into a business 24:32 - Book recommendations 30:30 - Is building a startup actually hard? 32:46 - Startups vs. lifestyle businesses Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Once.com Campfire Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Brad Feld Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss The Anomaly by Herv Le Tellier The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch TinySeed Einar Vollset (@EinarVollset) | X Tracy Osborn (@itsTracyMakes) | TikTok If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 706.5, join Rob Walling as he reconsiders some of his most common advice. He explores why lowering prices might make sense and discusses the benefits of a B2C business model. Rob also walks back his prior advice on bootstrapping two-sided marketplaces and launching multiple products to see what sticks.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:04 – What would happen if you lowered prices? 3:56 –&nbsp;Benefits of a B2C approach 7:05 –&nbsp;Two-sided marketplaces allow to reach two audiences 8:47 – Launch a bunch of products to see what sticks 10:52 – This episode was released April 1, 2024 Links from the Show:&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 706.5, join Rob Walling as he reconsiders some of his most common advice. He explores why lowering prices might make sense and discusses the benefits of a B2C business model. Rob also walks back his prior advice on bootstrapping two-sided marketplaces and launching multiple products to see what sticks.  Topics we cover:  1:04 – What would happen if you lowered prices? 3:56 – Benefits of a B2C approach 7:05 – Two-sided marketplaces allow to reach two audiences 8:47 – Launch a bunch of products to see what sticks 10:52 – This episode was released April 1, 2024 Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

MicroConf US in Atlanta is here in just a couple weeks, and this is your last call to buy tickets. We've sold more than 90% of the tickets, and we will sell this event out as we have for many years. The event is April 21st through the 23rd in Atlanta, Georgia at the amazing Starling Atlanta. There are going to be 200-ish of your closest bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped founder friends who are showing up to hear talks from folks like Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, Asia Orangio of DemandMaven. I'm giving a talk as well, and Dr. Sherry Walling will be talking about staying motivated as an entrepreneur. We have a special guest MC, Lianna Patch, and we'll have a very special guest who has never appeared on the MicroConf stage before- Ben Chestnut, the co-founder of MailChimp. Get all the details and secure your ticket before they run out at microconf.com/americas.

MicroConf US in Atlanta is here in just a couple weeks, and this is your last call to buy tickets. We've sold more than 90% of the tickets, and we will sell this event out as we have for many years. The event is April 21st through the 23rd in Atlanta, Georgia at the amazing Starling Atlanta. There are going to be 200-ish of your closest bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped founder friends who are showing up to hear talks from folks like Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, Asia Orangio of DemandMaven. I'm giving a talk as well, and Dr. Sherry Walling will be talking about staying motivated as an entrepreneur. We have a special guest MC, Lianna Patch, and we'll have a very special guest who has never appeared on the MicroConf stage before- Ben Chestnut, the co-founder of MailChimp. Get all the details and secure your ticket before they run out at microconf.com/americas.

In episode 706, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he discusses a variety of topics. He starts with why it’s important to both consider and credit “prior art” in business. Rob outlines his 2/20/200 idea validation framework used to repeatedly evaluate ideas. He also covers why, though there are some advantages, designing by committee has some significant downsides.&nbsp; Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:37 – Learning from, and crediting, prior art 10:27 – The 2/20/200 Idea Validation Framework 16:03 –&nbsp;Be wary when designing by committee 21:09 – When to crowdsource feedback Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Do Things That Don’t Scale by Paul Graham David Sacks (@DavidSacks) | X Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham Episode 705 | From Bootstrapped to Mostly Bootstrapped Episode 628 | The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework Use This PROVEN Formula to Validate Your Next Startup Idea Validate Your SaaS Idea FAST (Step-by-Step SaaS Validation Process)✅ Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling Metallica: Some Kind of Monster If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 706, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he discusses a variety of topics. He starts with why it’s important to both consider and credit “prior art” in business. Rob outlines his 2/20/200 idea validation framework used to repeatedly evaluate ideas. He also covers why, though there are some advantages, designing by committee has some significant downsides.  Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  2:37 – Learning from, and crediting, prior art 10:27 – The 2/20/200 Idea Validation Framework 16:03 – Be wary when designing by committee 21:09 – When to crowdsource feedback Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Do Things That Don’t Scale by Paul Graham David Sacks (@DavidSacks) | X Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham Episode 705 | From Bootstrapped to Mostly Bootstrapped Episode 628 | The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework Use This PROVEN Formula to Validate Your Next Startup Idea Validate Your SaaS Idea FAST (Step-by-Step SaaS Validation Process)✅ Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling Metallica: Some Kind of Monster If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 705, Rob Walling interviews Braden Dennis, co-founder and CEO of FinChat. They discuss Braden’s journey going from fully bootstrapped, all the way to taking venture capital as FinChat scaled. Braden shares his experience in initially launching to an audience, how they successfully launched a second product, and how FinChat operates well with multiple co-founders. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:55 – What does FinChat look like today? 4:00 – Starting with an audience and building a SaaS 6:40 – Formulating the product and moving upmarket 8:35 – Launching a second product 12:25 – The common pitfall of launching a second product 16:25 –&nbsp;How FinChat found explosive growth 19:27 – Deciding to take venture funding&nbsp; 26:13 – Making hard decisions with incomplete information 30:31 – Working with multiple co-founders Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Apply for Director of Marketing and Operations for MicroConf MicroConf YouTube Channel TinySeed Braden Dennis (@BradoCapital) | X FinChat (@finchat_io) | X FinChat Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: <a href="https://podcasts.appl

In episode 705, Rob Walling interviews Braden Dennis, co-founder and CEO of FinChat. They discuss Braden’s journey going from fully bootstrapped, all the way to taking venture capital as FinChat scaled. Braden shares his experience in initially launching to an audience, how they successfully launched a second product, and how FinChat operates well with multiple co-founders. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:55 – What does FinChat look like today? 4:00 – Starting with an audience and building a SaaS 6:40 – Formulating the product and moving upmarket 8:35 – Launching a second product 12:25 – The common pitfall of launching a second product 16:25 – How FinChat found explosive growth 19:27 – Deciding to take venture funding  26:13 – Making hard decisions with incomplete information 30:31 – Working with multiple co-founders Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Apply for Director of Marketing and Operations for MicroConf MicroConf YouTube Channel TinySeed Braden Dennis (@BradoCapital) | X FinChat (@finchat_io) | X FinChat Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:

In episode 704, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He weighs in on buying a SaaS, how to validate ideas using landing pages, and what tech stack to choose. Rob also provides guidance for those considering leaving their comfortable day jobs in favor of being a founder. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:00 – Comparing your business to successful outliers 9:50 – Exploring business outside of a comfortable day job 15:45 – Early access landing pages prior to development 20:00 – How do you vet SaaS businesses that you are trying to acquire?&nbsp; 27:16 – Evaluating a seller’s intentions 29:50 – Choosing a tech stack for your SaaS Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Apply for Director of Marketing and Operations for MicroConf MicroConf Connect Startups For The Rest of Us –&nbsp;Ask a question 37signals 7 Proven Ways to Create Profitable SaaS Ideas EVERY Time The SaaS Playbook Quiet Light Acquire.com The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping If you have questions about sta

In episode 704, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He weighs in on buying a SaaS, how to validate ideas using landing pages, and what tech stack to choose. Rob also provides guidance for those considering leaving their comfortable day jobs in favor of being a founder. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  4:00 – Comparing your business to successful outliers 9:50 – Exploring business outside of a comfortable day job 15:45 – Early access landing pages prior to development 20:00 – How do you vet SaaS businesses that you are trying to acquire?  27:16 – Evaluating a seller’s intentions 29:50 – Choosing a tech stack for your SaaS Links from the Show:  MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Apply for Director of Marketing and Operations for MicroConf MicroConf Connect Startups For The Rest of Us – Ask a question 37signals 7 Proven Ways to Create Profitable SaaS Ideas EVERY Time The SaaS Playbook Quiet Light Acquire.com The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business tha...

In episode 703, Rob Walling interviews Jordan Hansen, founder of Cobalt Intelligence. They dive into Jordan's unexpected journey into SaaS and the growth of his company, which specializes in business verification through API. Jordan reflects on quitting his job to pursue his startup and the benefits of community and mentorship he has received from TinySeed.&nbsp; Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:30 – What does Cobalt Intelligence offer? 5:45 –&nbsp;Team scale, market, and business origins&nbsp; 9:55 – Starting YouTube and finding motivation to continually publish 13:27 – Working with a savings runway and applying to TinySeed 23:50 –&nbsp;Finding product-market fit 26:58 – Unlisting content to align with business goals 31:50 – “Accidental” SaaS founder Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 TinySeed The SaaS Playbook Jordan Hansen (@JordBHansen) | X Cobalt Intelligence (@CobaltIntell) | X Cobalt Intelligence&nbsp; Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | X The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual by John Sonmez&nbsp; Episode 698 | How to Launch a Million Dollar Business (With Noah Kagan) <a href="https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/episodes/episode-696-the-truth-about-product-market-fit-doing-sales-as-an-i

In episode 703, Rob Walling interviews Jordan Hansen, founder of Cobalt Intelligence. They dive into Jordan's unexpected journey into SaaS and the growth of his company, which specializes in business verification through API. Jordan reflects on quitting his job to pursue his startup and the benefits of community and mentorship he has received from TinySeed.  Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:30 – What does Cobalt Intelligence offer? 5:45 – Team scale, market, and business origins  9:55 – Starting YouTube and finding motivation to continually publish 13:27 – Working with a savings runway and applying to TinySeed 23:50 – Finding product-market fit 26:58 – Unlisting content to align with business goals 31:50 – “Accidental” SaaS founder Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 TinySeed The SaaS Playbook Jordan Hansen (@JordBHansen) | X Cobalt Intelligence (@CobaltIntell) | X Cobalt Intelligence  Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | X The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual by John Sonmez  Episode 698 | How to Launch a Million Dollar Business (With Noah Kagan)

In episode 702, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how to introduce friends to bootstrapping, when to lower your prices, and addresses the difference in revenue and profit multiple valuations. Rob also offers advice when weighing a career move versus building side projects and scaling your MVP. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:15 – How to introduce friends to entrepreneurship and bootstrapping  6:00 – When to focus on profit vs. top-line revenue 10:40 – Considerations for building, scaling, and differentiating an MVP 15:45 – Rare circumstances where you should lower prices 20:25 – Pursuing career moves vs. building on the side 23:43 – Managing cap tables and equity vesting Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies TinySeed The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Start Small, Stay Small The SaaS Playbook MicroConf YouTube Channel: Building Your First SaaS: The Ultimate Crash Course SFTROU Greatest Hits Episode 222 | The Stair Step Approach to Launching Products What is a SAFE? If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for u

In episode 702, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how to introduce friends to bootstrapping, when to lower your prices, and addresses the difference in revenue and profit multiple valuations. Rob also offers advice when weighing a career move versus building side projects and scaling your MVP. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  3:15 – How to introduce friends to entrepreneurship and bootstrapping  6:00 – When to focus on profit vs. top-line revenue 10:40 – Considerations for building, scaling, and differentiating an MVP 15:45 – Rare circumstances where you should lower prices 20:25 – Pursuing career moves vs. building on the side 23:43 – Managing cap tables and equity vesting Links from the Show:  MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies TinySeed The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Start Small, Stay Small The SaaS Playbook MicroConf YouTube Channel: Building Your First SaaS: The Ultimate Crash Course SFTROU Greatest Hits Episode 222 | The Stair Step Approach to Launching Products What is a SAFE? If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 701, Rob Walling interviews Matt Wensing, founder of Summit, a SaaS platform for lead scoring and qualification. Matt shares insights on finding product-market fit, the importance of following customer workflows to get there, and the challenges of marketing and positioning. Rob asks about his choice to raise venture capital, and how keeping a lean team maximizes that opportunity. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:27 – “Traveling many H1’s”, refining a target market&nbsp; 5:44 – Moving back to a self-serve model 10:52 – Niching down to achieve stronger product-market fit 12:53 – Tactics that Matt used to achieve traction 16:54 –&nbsp;Lead scoring by behavior and persona-fit&nbsp; 19:20 – Scoring as a whole product vs. as only a feature 23:31 – Pursuing VC with a lean team 29:09 – Who is your ideal customer profile? Links from the Show:&nbsp; Apply for Tinyseed Feb 12th through Feb 25th MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies Matt Wensing (@mattwensing) | X Summit Episode 696 | The Truth about Product-Market Fit + Doing Sales as an Introvert (With Ruben Gamez) Out of Beta Episode 633 | Building SaaS Plus a Two-Sided Marketplace The SaaS Playbook "How I Sold My SaaS in An 8-Figure Exit" with Matt Wensing If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 701, Rob Walling interviews Matt Wensing, founder of Summit, a SaaS platform for lead scoring and qualification. Matt shares insights on finding product-market fit, the importance of following customer workflows to get there, and the challenges of marketing and positioning. Rob asks about his choice to raise venture capital, and how keeping a lean team maximizes that opportunity. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:27 – “Traveling many H1’s”, refining a target market  5:44 – Moving back to a self-serve model 10:52 – Niching down to achieve stronger product-market fit 12:53 – Tactics that Matt used to achieve traction 16:54 – Lead scoring by behavior and persona-fit  19:20 – Scoring as a whole product vs. as only a feature 23:31 – Pursuing VC with a lean team 29:09 – Who is your ideal customer profile? Links from the Show:  Apply for Tinyseed Feb 12th through Feb 25th MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies Matt Wensing (@mattwensing) | X Summit Episode 696 | The Truth about Product-Market Fit + Doing Sales as an Introvert (With Ruben Gamez) Out of Beta Episode 633 | Building SaaS Plus a Two-Sided Marketplace The SaaS Playbook "How I Sold My SaaS in An 8-Figure Exit" with Matt Wensing If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 700, Rob goes solo to celebrate another milestone of Startups For the Rest of Us. He reflects on playing the long game and doing so publicly enough to create larger luck surface area. He also emphasizes building skills in the process, and highlights several founders who have done this well. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:41 – Balancing short vs. long term thinking and decision making 7:30 – Examples of founders leaning into the long game 12:18 – Putting in the time, and doing it publicly (enough) 16:42 – Lucky or smart? 21:22 – How do I know if I’m playing the correct long game? 23:54 – Acquiring skills as you play the long game 27:13 – Cheers to 700! Links from the Show:&nbsp; Apply for TinySeed Spring 2024 MicroConf TinySeed Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling Gather TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9

In episode 700, Rob goes solo to celebrate another milestone of Startups For the Rest of Us. He reflects on playing the long game and doing so publicly enough to create larger luck surface area. He also emphasizes building skills in the process, and highlights several founders who have done this well. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  2:41 – Balancing short vs. long term thinking and decision making 7:30 – Examples of founders leaning into the long game 12:18 – Putting in the time, and doing it publicly (enough) 16:42 – Lucky or smart? 21:22 – How do I know if I’m playing the correct long game? 23:54 – Acquiring skills as you play the long game 27:13 – Cheers to 700! Links from the Show:  Apply for TinySeed Spring 2024 MicroConf TinySeed Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling Gather TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify |

In episode 699, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, about scaling products tastefully. Derrick offers his perspective on maintaining a tidy UX and deciding which features to implement. They also cover best practices for maintaining knowledge bases, changelogs, and documentation. As a bonus, Rob and Derrick offer podcasting advice to their past selves. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:35 –&nbsp;Establish design systems and language as you scale your product 8:36 – Building out a front-end directory to maintain consistency 10:17 – Truly understand how customers are moving through your product 16:28 – Naming convention dilemmas, industry norms vs. accuracy 19:22 –&nbsp;Hiding product features with feature flags 23:04 – Scaling new products that serve different verticals 31:12 – Best practices for maintaining a product knowledge base 37:11 – Bonus: What advice would you give to your prior self starting a podcast? Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 The SaaS Playbook Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I X SavvyCal&nbsp; Allen D King (@allendking) | X FunJoin FullStory Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea Help Scout Knowledge Base Headway Changelog <a href="https://cleanshot.com/" target="_blank" r

In episode 699, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, about scaling products tastefully. Derrick offers his perspective on maintaining a tidy UX and deciding which features to implement. They also cover best practices for maintaining knowledge bases, changelogs, and documentation. As a bonus, Rob and Derrick offer podcasting advice to their past selves. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:35 – Establish design systems and language as you scale your product 8:36 – Building out a front-end directory to maintain consistency 10:17 – Truly understand how customers are moving through your product 16:28 – Naming convention dilemmas, industry norms vs. accuracy 19:22 – Hiding product features with feature flags 23:04 – Scaling new products that serve different verticals 31:12 – Best practices for maintaining a product knowledge base 37:11 – Bonus: What advice would you give to your prior self starting a podcast? Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 The SaaS Playbook Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I X SavvyCal  Allen D King (@allendking) | X FunJoin FullStory Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea Help Scout Knowledge Base Headway Changelog ...

In episode 698, Rob Walling interviews Noah Kagan, CEO of AppSumo. They discuss the importance of eliminating distractions, cover strategies that led to growth in Noah’s businesses, and share insights from growing YouTube channels. Noah also shares why he decided to write his new book, Million Dollar Weekend. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.&nbsp;&nbsp; Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:38 – Making good decisions, consistently 5:47 –&nbsp;Noah’s disappointment in selling Sumo 13:20 – Strategies and decisions that led to growth 15:46 – Focus on eliminating distractions 20:15 – Noah returns as AppSumo CEO 23:20 – Making the mistake of not listening to customers 26:55 –Growing a YouTube Channel to 1M+ subscribers&nbsp; 35:03 – The role of YouTube content in supporting AppSumo 37:11 –&nbsp;Building a million dollar business in a weekend Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan Noah Kagan (@noahkagan) | X Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin Sumo AppSumo TidyCal SendFox KingSumo Noah’s YouTube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit

In episode 698, Rob Walling interviews Noah Kagan, CEO of AppSumo. They discuss the importance of eliminating distractions, cover strategies that led to growth in Noah’s businesses, and share insights from growing YouTube channels. Noah also shares why he decided to write his new book, Million Dollar Weekend. Episode Sponsor: Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball? Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.   Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement. Topics we cover:  2:38 – Making good decisions, consistently 5:47 – Noah’s disappointment in selling Sumo 13:20 – Strategies and decisions that led to growth 15:46 – Focus on eliminating distractions 20:15 – Noah returns as AppSumo CEO 23:20 – Making the mistake of not listening to customers 26:55 –Growing a YouTube Channel to 1M+ subscribers  35:03 – The role of YouTube content in supporting AppSumo 37:11 – Building a million dollar business in a weekend Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan Noah Kagan (@noahkagan) | X Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin Sumo AppSumo TidyCal SendFox KingSumo Noah’s YouTube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We...

In episode 697, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he makes predictions for SaaS in 2024. His predictions focus on Vertical SaaS, emerging markets, the professionalization of No-Code, subscription fatigue,&nbsp; AI and more. At the end of the episode, he evaluates predictions he made over the past 10 years to see if they held up. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:32 – Opportunity in vertical SaaS 3:48 – SaaS will continue to grow in emerging markets 5:08 – Twitter changes hands in 2024? 6:56 – Subscription fatigue has little impact on adoption of B2B SaaS 8:13 –&nbsp;No-Code and Low-Code will undergo “professionalization” 10:24 – Is it hype, or is it not? How AI will continue to develop this year 14:11 – Will Stripe go public? 17:08 – Revisiting past predictions: SaaS, Twitter, VR, crypto, markets, &amp; gadgets Links from the Show:&nbsp; Call for Pitches TinySeed Portfolio Start Small Stay Small Dave Kellett (@davekellett) | X Once.com If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 697, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he makes predictions for SaaS in 2024. His predictions focus on Vertical SaaS, emerging markets, the professionalization of No-Code, subscription fatigue,  AI and more. At the end of the episode, he evaluates predictions he made over the past 10 years to see if they held up. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:32 – Opportunity in vertical SaaS 3:48 – SaaS will continue to grow in emerging markets 5:08 – Twitter changes hands in 2024? 6:56 – Subscription fatigue has little impact on adoption of B2B SaaS 8:13 – No-Code and Low-Code will undergo “professionalization” 10:24 – Is it hype, or is it not? How AI will continue to develop this year 14:11 – Will Stripe go public? 17:08 – Revisiting past predictions: SaaS, Twitter, VR, crypto, markets, &amp; gadgets Links from the Show:  Call for Pitches TinySeed Portfolio Start Small Stay Small Dave Kellett (@davekellett) | X Once.com If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 696, Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez cover a variety of topics. They discuss how product market fit is achieved across customer segments and use cases, not simply broadly. Ruben shares how he approaches effective decision making and sales as an introvert. They wrap up by sharing how they evaluate candidates when hiring to build their teams. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:47 – Product market fit, increasing average revenue per customer 7:58 – When did you know you had product market fit? 11:03 – Product market fit is a continuum, and use case specific 14:27 –&nbsp;Making hard decisions around product market fit 19:01 – Getting better at prioritizing and making hard decisions 27:38 – Doing sales as an introvert 33:09 – Building a functional team that gets stuff done 40:10 –&nbsp;Evaluating potential hires Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Sponsorships Microconf Connect Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X SignWell Episode 695 | Ideal Customers, Moving from B2C to B2B, and More Listener Questions (with Asia Orangio) The SaaS Playbook Dynamite Jobs Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart, Randy Street Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, et al.&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 696, Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez cover a variety of topics. They discuss how product market fit is achieved across customer segments and use cases, not simply broadly. Ruben shares how he approaches effective decision making and sales as an introvert. They wrap up by sharing how they evaluate candidates when hiring to build their teams. Topics we cover:  4:47 – Product market fit, increasing average revenue per customer 7:58 – When did you know you had product market fit? 11:03 – Product market fit is a continuum, and use case specific 14:27 – Making hard decisions around product market fit 19:01 – Getting better at prioritizing and making hard decisions 27:38 – Doing sales as an introvert 33:09 – Building a functional team that gets stuff done 40:10 – Evaluating potential hires Links from the Show:  MicroConf Sponsorships Microconf Connect Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X SignWell Episode 695 | Ideal Customers, Moving from B2C to B2B, and More Listener Questions (with Asia Orangio) The SaaS Playbook Dynamite Jobs Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart, Randy Street Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, et al.  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 695, Rob Walling and Asia Orangio answer listener questions. They take questions about ideal target customers, moving from B2C to B2B, and how to advertise for a product in a new space. They wrap up discussing the challenges of making freemium work while bootstrapping. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:06 – Adjusting your target customers to chase an opportunity 11:58 – Is translating marketing or educational content worth it? 16:46 – Moving from B2C to B2B 25:53 – Defining a cross-channel marketing approach 33:22 – Advertising for a product in new product category 41:40 – The issues with making freemium work while bootstrapping. Links from the Show:&nbsp; State of Independent SaaS Report MicroConf Mastermind Program Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) | X DemandMaven Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea User Interviews Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Four Fits for $100M+ Growth by Brian Balfour Brian Balfour (@bbalfour) | X Reforge Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us

In episode 695, Rob Walling and Asia Orangio answer listener questions. They take questions about ideal target customers, moving from B2C to B2B, and how to advertise for a product in a new space. They wrap up discussing the challenges of making freemium work while bootstrapping. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  4:06 – Adjusting your target customers to chase an opportunity 11:58 – Is translating marketing or educational content worth it? 16:46 – Moving from B2C to B2B 25:53 – Defining a cross-channel marketing approach 33:22 – Advertising for a product in new product category 41:40 – The issues with making freemium work while bootstrapping. Links from the Show:  State of Independent SaaS Report MicroConf Mastermind Program Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) | X DemandMaven Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea User Interviews Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Four Fits for $100M+ Growth by Brian Balfour Brian Balfour (@bbalfour) | X Reforge Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover,...

In episode 694, join Rob Walling as he recaps 2023. He reflects on growing TinySeed, MicroConf, the YouTube channel and this podcast. Rob also addresses his struggle with "arrival fallacy" and the continuous journey of success. Alongside the growth, he describes seeing burnout on the horizon, emphasizes the importances of addressing that early, and what it means for him and his team in 2024. Episode Sponsor: Going from an idea sketched on the back of a napkin to a robust, stable product requires a wide range of skills. You can spend ages looking for a one-in-a-million developer who can do it all, or you can quickly ramp up an entire product team to help you build and launch your product with our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Take the hassle out of assembling and managing a sprawling team of freelancers and work with a group that’s ready to hit the ground running. Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off your engagement.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:20 – 2023 growth, launch of The SaaS Playbook 6:04 – Audience growth and supporting the mission 7:24 – Seeing burnout on the horizon, content calendars, and travel 11:49 – Dealing with burnout if you are experiencing it 14:18 – Adjusting travel schedules and amount 15:39 –&nbsp;Doing the things that “give me life”, sustainably Links from the Show:&nbsp; TinySeed Get Your tickets for MicroConf Atlanta State of Independent SaaS Report The SaaS Playbook Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel Start Small Stay Small Episode 670 | Relying on Luck, Avoiding Burnout, and Bad Player vs. Bad Instrument (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together The Zen Founder Guide to Founder Retreats If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!</

In episode 694, join Rob Walling as he recaps 2023. He reflects on growing TinySeed, MicroConf, the YouTube channel and this podcast. Rob also addresses his struggle with "arrival fallacy" and the continuous journey of success. Alongside the growth, he describes seeing burnout on the horizon, emphasizes the importances of addressing that early, and what it means for him and his team in 2024. Episode Sponsor: Going from an idea sketched on the back of a napkin to a robust, stable product requires a wide range of skills. You can spend ages looking for a one-in-a-million developer who can do it all, or you can quickly ramp up an entire product team to help you build and launch your product with our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Take the hassle out of assembling and managing a sprawling team of freelancers and work with a group that’s ready to hit the ground running. Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off your engagement.  Topics we cover:  4:20 – 2023 growth, launch of The SaaS Playbook 6:04 – Audience growth and supporting the mission 7:24 – Seeing burnout on the horizon, content calendars, and travel 11:49 – Dealing with burnout if you are experiencing it 14:18 – Adjusting travel schedules and amount 15:39 – Doing the things that “give me life”, sustainably Links from the Show:  TinySeed Get Your tickets for MicroConf Atlanta State of Independent SaaS Report The SaaS Playbook Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel Start Small Stay Small Episode 670 | Relying on Luck, Avoiding Burnout, and Bad Player vs. Bad Instrument (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together The Zen Founder Guide to Founder Retreats If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Revie...

In episode 693, Rob Walling interviews Grant McConnaughey, founder of Postpone, a social media scheduling tool. They discuss the app's growth from inception to mid six figures, early growth tactics, a successful price increase, and platform risks with Reddit and Twitter. Grant also shares his experience going all-in on one idea, joining TinySeed, and reveals what he can still improve upon. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:04 –&nbsp;Postpone starts off as part of a New Year’s resolution 4:13 –&nbsp;Validating and building the MVP to schedule content for Reddit&nbsp; 6:44 – Launching lean to slow growth in the beginning 9:10 – Doing things that don’t scale&nbsp; 10:53 – What were the reasons for joining TinySeed 13:06 – Full time focus and pricing changes enabled strong growth for Postpone 17:15 – Initial hesitation for raising prices at first 22:08 – Experiencing and overcoming Reddit platform risk 26:00 – What could Grant be doing better? Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect TinySeed Grant McConnaughey (@gmcconnaughey) | X Postone’s MRR graph | X Postpone Adam Wathan (@adamwathan) | X Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 693, Rob Walling interviews Grant McConnaughey, founder of Postpone, a social media scheduling tool. They discuss the app's growth from inception to mid six figures, early growth tactics, a successful price increase, and platform risks with Reddit and Twitter. Grant also shares his experience going all-in on one idea, joining TinySeed, and reveals what he can still improve upon. Topics we cover:  2:04 – Postpone starts off as part of a New Year’s resolution 4:13 – Validating and building the MVP to schedule content for Reddit  6:44 – Launching lean to slow growth in the beginning 9:10 – Doing things that don’t scale  10:53 – What were the reasons for joining TinySeed 13:06 – Full time focus and pricing changes enabled strong growth for Postpone 17:15 – Initial hesitation for raising prices at first 22:08 – Experiencing and overcoming Reddit platform risk 26:00 – What could Grant be doing better? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect TinySeed Grant McConnaughey (@gmcconnaughey) | X Postone’s MRR graph | X Postpone Adam Wathan (@adamwathan) | X Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 692, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he addresses a variety of topics. He stresses revisiting your onboarding to evaluate your product’s “minimum path to awesome” and warns of conducting “mirror research” instead of market research. Rob also tackles why being the cheapest option is not always the best positioning. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:33 – Walking customers through signup to first value, revisit your onboarding 4:29 – The early entrepreneur’s trap: "We are pre-revenue still…” 8:31 – Not being the cheapest option 14:31 – Mirror research vs. market research 17:16 – Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist Links from the Show:&nbsp; Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 The SaaS Playbook Episode 456 | Launching a 2nd Product + Revisiting Freemium with Ruben Gamez TinySeed Mentors Comic Lab Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Episode 687 | An 8th Thing You Should Never Do, Things That Don’t Scale, and More Rob Solo Topics If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startups-for-the-rest-of-us/id366931

In episode 692, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he addresses a variety of topics. He stresses revisiting your onboarding to evaluate your product’s “minimum path to awesome” and warns of conducting “mirror research” instead of market research. Rob also tackles why being the cheapest option is not always the best positioning. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:33 – Walking customers through signup to first value, revisit your onboarding 4:29 – The early entrepreneur’s trap: "We are pre-revenue still…” 8:31 – Not being the cheapest option 14:31 – Mirror research vs. market research 17:16 – Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024 The SaaS Playbook Episode 456 | Launching a 2nd Product + Revisiting Freemium with Ruben Gamez TinySeed Mentors Comic Lab Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Episode 687 | An 8th Thing You Should Never Do, Things That Don’t Scale, and More Rob Solo Topics If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:

In episode 691, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He evaluates freemium as it relates to paying by the “honor system”, competing&nbsp; against big incumbents, and whether to sell using high-touch vs. low-touch strategies. Rob also recommends books for introverts looking for sales advice.&nbsp;&nbsp; Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:01 – Charging for your product using the “honor system” 6:16 – Competing against big, entrenched incumbents 12:36 – Low-touch vs. high-touch sales strategies 17:01 – Selling as an introverted founder 20:45 – Skipping the “Stair Step” approach to quickly validate a SaaS Links from the Show:&nbsp; Startups For the Rest of Us | X Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Keap Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain The Introvert's Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone by Matthew Pollard The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Episode 628 | The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework Ask a Question on SFTROU If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please <a href="https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/

In episode 691, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He evaluates freemium as it relates to paying by the “honor system”, competing  against big incumbents, and whether to sell using high-touch vs. low-touch strategies. Rob also recommends books for introverts looking for sales advice.   Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:01 – Charging for your product using the “honor system” 6:16 – Competing against big, entrenched incumbents 12:36 – Low-touch vs. high-touch sales strategies 17:01 – Selling as an introverted founder 20:45 – Skipping the “Stair Step” approach to quickly validate a SaaS Links from the Show:  Startups For the Rest of Us | X Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Keap Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain The Introvert's Edge: How the Quiet and Shy Can Outsell Anyone by Matthew Pollard The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Episode 628 | The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework Ask a Question on SFTROU If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 690, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He advises on the ethical considerations of email marketing and answers how he would value a business when buying out a partner. He also addresses the best ways to collect customer feedback and the value of high-fidelity customer calls. Episode Sponsor: Going from an idea sketched on the back of a napkin to a robust, stable product requires a wide range of skills. You can spend ages looking for a one-in-a-million developer who can do it all, or you can quickly ramp up an entire product team to help you build and launch your product with our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.&nbsp; Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.&nbsp; Take the hassle out of assembling and managing a sprawling team of freelancers and work with a group that’s ready to hit the ground running. Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off your engagement.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:59 – Emailing users about other projects you are working on 9:26 – Avoid sending spam-like emails 12:55 –&nbsp;Building a service vs. selling it as an affiliate 17:34 – SaaS evaluation after business partner falling out 21:25 –&nbsp;The best ways to collect customer feedback 25:36 –&nbsp;Determining which group of buyers to sell to, HOA’s or property managers Links from the Show:&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook Ask a Question on SFTROU Start Marketing the Day You Start Coding The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Quiet Light FE International Discretion Capital MicroConf Connect Producer Xander (@ProducerXander) | X Episode 139 | 6 Questions You Should Ask In Your Customer Development Survey If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submi

In episode 690, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He advises on the ethical considerations of email marketing and answers how he would value a business when buying out a partner. He also addresses the best ways to collect customer feedback and the value of high-fidelity customer calls. Episode Sponsor: Going from an idea sketched on the back of a napkin to a robust, stable product requires a wide range of skills. You can spend ages looking for a one-in-a-million developer who can do it all, or you can quickly ramp up an entire product team to help you build and launch your product with our sponsor - DevSquad. DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.  Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success. You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts.  Take the hassle out of assembling and managing a sprawling team of freelancers and work with a group that’s ready to hit the ground running. Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off your engagement.  Topics we cover:  2:59 – Emailing users about other projects you are working on 9:26 – Avoid sending spam-like emails 12:55 – Building a service vs. selling it as an affiliate 17:34 – SaaS evaluation after business partner falling out 21:25 – The best ways to collect customer feedback 25:36 – Determining which group of buyers to sell to, HOA’s or property managers Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook Ask a Question on SFTROU Start Marketing the Day You Start Coding The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Quiet Light FE International Discretion Capital MicroConf Connect Producer Xander (@ProducerXander) | X Episode 139 | 6 Questions You Should Ask In Your Customer Development Survey If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming epis...

In episode 689, Rob Walling interviews Robert Cserti, co-founder of SessionLab. Robert and his team provide tools and resources for designing workshops and SessionLab operates fully remote. Rob and Robert discuss strategies for motivating remote teams, fostering team culture and communication, and being intentional about synchronous meetings and team bonding. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:01 – SessionLab, for creating workshops&nbsp; 3:42 – Keeping employee engagement high in remote teams, intentionally creating a workplace culture. 7:15 – Daily check-ins, synchronous vs. asynchronous communication 10:32 – Finding a cadence for synchronous calls and “all-hands” 13:20 – Planning in team retreats 15:18 – Meetings specifically for team bonding 18:42 – Regularly scheduled, random 1:1 social chats 21:05 – Experimenting with tools to facilitate communication and identify issues early 26:02 –&nbsp;Managing synchronous working overlap across time zones Links from the Show:&nbsp; Are you considering selling your SaaS business? The Psychology of Exiting Your Company&nbsp; Quiet Light Robert Cserti | LinkedIn SessionLab (@SessionLab) | X SessionLab SessionLab’s Library of facilitation techniques Geekbot Cozy Juicy Real Donut SpatialChat If you have questions about start

In episode 689, Rob Walling interviews Robert Cserti, co-founder of SessionLab. Robert and his team provide tools and resources for designing workshops and SessionLab operates fully remote. Rob and Robert discuss strategies for motivating remote teams, fostering team culture and communication, and being intentional about synchronous meetings and team bonding. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:01 – SessionLab, for creating workshops  3:42 – Keeping employee engagement high in remote teams, intentionally creating a workplace culture. 7:15 – Daily check-ins, synchronous vs. asynchronous communication 10:32 – Finding a cadence for synchronous calls and “all-hands” 13:20 – Planning in team retreats 15:18 – Meetings specifically for team bonding 18:42 – Regularly scheduled, random 1:1 social chats 21:05 – Experimenting with tools to facilitate communication and identify issues early 26:02 – Managing synchronous working overlap across time zones Links from the Show:  Are you considering selling your SaaS business? The Psychology of Exiting Your Company  Quiet Light Robert Cserti | LinkedIn SessionLab (@SessionLab) | X SessionLab SessionLab’s Library of facilitation techniques Geekbot Cozy Juicy Real Donut SpatialChat If you have questions about starting or scaling a software...

In episode 688, Rob Walling interviews Lane Wagner, founder of Boot.dev. Boot.dev is a learning platform gamified to teach backend development. They discuss the journey of bootstrapping Boot.dev, its explosive growth, and its unique business model. Lane also shares challenges of running a B2C business, why he took some funding, and the significance of customer lifetime value over MRR in his business. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:38 – Boot.dev seeing incredible growth 3:35 – Growing on YouTube with partnerships 5:42 – Teaching Python and Go as a B2C business 7:49 – “This is not really SaaS”, considering JTBD 11:18 – The beginnings of Boot.dev, serving the backend niche 14:21 – Gaining the confidence to quit the day job 15:51 – Deciding to raise funding and “mostly” bootstrap 20:31 – Enduring hardship before turning the corner on growth 26:38 – Finding the right revenue metric for the business Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf US - Atlanta - April 21 - 23, 2024 Interested in Sponsoring MicroConf Content? Subscribe for Exclusive Episodes Lane from Boot.dev (@wagslane) | X Boot.dev Profitable, at last! Purple Cow by Seth Godin If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 688, Rob Walling interviews Lane Wagner, founder of Boot.dev. Boot.dev is a learning platform gamified to teach backend development. They discuss the journey of bootstrapping Boot.dev, its explosive growth, and its unique business model. Lane also shares challenges of running a B2C business, why he took some funding, and the significance of customer lifetime value over MRR in his business. Topics we cover:  2:38 – Boot.dev seeing incredible growth 3:35 – Growing on YouTube with partnerships 5:42 – Teaching Python and Go as a B2C business 7:49 – “This is not really SaaS”, considering JTBD 11:18 – The beginnings of Boot.dev, serving the backend niche 14:21 – Gaining the confidence to quit the day job 15:51 – Deciding to raise funding and “mostly” bootstrap 20:31 – Enduring hardship before turning the corner on growth 26:38 – Finding the right revenue metric for the business Links from the Show:  MicroConf US - Atlanta - April 21 - 23, 2024 Interested in Sponsoring MicroConf Content? Subscribe for Exclusive Episodes Lane from Boot.dev (@wagslane) | X Boot.dev Profitable, at last! Purple Cow by Seth Godin If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 687, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where discusses a variety of topics. He revisits a recent episode to add one more item to the list of things founders should never do. Rob also offers a hot take on Meta’s new subscription plans and weighs in on a Hacker News post about doing things that don’t scale. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:50 – There’s one more thing that founders should never do 8:44 – Facebook and Instagram will offer a subscription for no ads 12:42 – Ask HN: Paul Graham’s “Do Things That Don’t Scale” 19:53 – Lugg, doing what it takes to prove out an idea Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X TinySeed Facebook and Instagram To Offer Subscription for No Ads in Europe&nbsp; Ask HN: PG's 'Do Things That Don't Scale' manual examples? Do Things that Don't Scale Lugg If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify</

In episode 687, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where discusses a variety of topics. He revisits a recent episode to add one more item to the list of things founders should never do. Rob also offers a hot take on Meta’s new subscription plans and weighs in on a Hacker News post about doing things that don’t scale. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:50 – There’s one more thing that founders should never do 8:44 – Facebook and Instagram will offer a subscription for no ads 12:42 – Ask HN: Paul Graham’s “Do Things That Don’t Scale” 19:53 – Lugg, doing what it takes to prove out an idea Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X TinySeed Facebook and Instagram To Offer Subscription for No Ads in Europe  Ask HN: PG's 'Do Things That Don't Scale' manual examples? Do Things that Don't Scale Lugg If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify |

In episode 686, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how to evaluate monetary success, combat hedonic adaptation, and how to evaluate the capabilities of technical co-founders. Rob also discusses whether outsourcing sales and marketing is possible and considers some alternative no-code approaches.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:20 – Success after stair-stepping, confronting hedonic adaptation 15:35 – Sales funnels, friction before demos, and collecting email addresses 19:24 – Outsourcing marketing and sales 23:54 – Evaluating the technical capabilities of your technical co-founder(s) 29:41 – Reducing the platform risk of developing in typical no-code tools Links from the Show:&nbsp; State of Independent SaaS Survey and Report MicroConf Local in Austin MicroConf Connect Bernard Huang (@bernardjhuang) | X WP Engine (@wpengine) | X Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook This Took 11 Years to Be An "Overnight Success" - SaaS Exit Strategy Once&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 686, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how to evaluate monetary success, combat hedonic adaptation, and how to evaluate the capabilities of technical co-founders. Rob also discusses whether outsourcing sales and marketing is possible and considers some alternative no-code approaches.  Topics we cover:  4:20 – Success after stair-stepping, confronting hedonic adaptation 15:35 – Sales funnels, friction before demos, and collecting email addresses 19:24 – Outsourcing marketing and sales 23:54 – Evaluating the technical capabilities of your technical co-founder(s) 29:41 – Reducing the platform risk of developing in typical no-code tools Links from the Show:  State of Independent SaaS Survey and Report MicroConf Local in Austin MicroConf Connect Bernard Huang (@bernardjhuang) | X WP Engine (@wpengine) | X Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup  The SaaS Playbook This Took 11 Years to Be An "Overnight Success" - SaaS Exit Strategy Once  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 685, Rob Walling goes solo to share his insights on 7 common mistakes that SaaS founders make. Be sure to listen to the end to hear Rob’s spicy take on launching a portfolio of products to see what sticks. Episode Sponsor: As a founder your plate is full. So when you have to hire devs, there’s no time to search for that perfect culture-fit, get-things-done developer. Lemon.io’s new product, Lemon Hire saves founders time by connecting them with a pipeline of 80K+ senior engineers. Each dev is filtered through a 4-step vetting process, available to interview within 48 hours of choosing, and backed by a 30-day replacement guarantee. Find your great-fit candidates fast with Lemon Hire. Claim a special discount for our fans. Visit  https://lemon.io/hire/, sign up, and mention “Startups” to receive $2000 off your first hire. Topics we cover:  1:29 – Sign the National Association of Manufacturers Letter, Section 174 3:52 – Compiling a list of things founders shouldn’t do 6:49 – B2C applications, “the worst of all the worlds” 9:42 – Don’t build a second product if your first has stopped growing 10:40 – Defining a new category of software is usually a bad idea  19:59 – Avoid multi-language support 24:13 – Dig deep to find root causes beyond the symptoms 27:41 – The portfolio approach Links from the Show:  The Small Software Business Alliance MicroConf Remote The SaaS Playbook Dan Andrews (@TropicalMBA) | X Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 685, Rob Walling goes solo to share his insights on 7 common mistakes that SaaS founders make. Be sure to listen to the end to hear Rob’s spicy take on launching a portfolio of products to see what sticks. Episode Sponsor: As a founder your plate is full. So when you have to hire devs, there’s no time to search for that perfect culture-fit, get-things-done developer. Lemon.io’s new product, Lemon Hire saves founders time by connecting them with a pipeline of 80K+ senior engineers. Each dev is filtered through a 4-step vetting process, available to interview within 48 hours of choosing, and backed by a 30-day replacement guarantee. Find your great-fit candidates fast with Lemon Hire. Claim a special discount for our fans. Visit  https://lemon.io/hire/, sign up, and mention “Startups” to receive $2000 off your first hire. Topics we cover:  1:29 – Sign the National Association of Manufacturers Letter, Section 174 3:52 – Compiling a list of things founders shouldn’t do 6:49 – B2C applications, “the worst of all the worlds” 9:42 – Don’t build a second product if your first has stopped growing 10:40 – Defining a new category of software is usually a bad idea  19:59 – Avoid multi-language support 24:13 – Dig deep to find root causes beyond the symptoms 27:41 – The portfolio approach Links from the Show:  The Small Software Business Alliance MicroConf Remote The SaaS Playbook Dan Andrews (@TropicalMBA) | X Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 684, Rob Walling is joined by Dr. Sherry Walling to share their experience from MicroConf Europe 2023 in Lisbon. They discuss a continued shift in MicroConf’s focus towards fostering founder connections and networking, and the value of face-to-face interactions. Rob and Sherry reflect on their own talks and highlight others by fellow founders and attendees.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:28 – Reflecting on MicroConf locations 6:28 – Continuous event improvements, focus on community 9:41 – Michelle Hanson’s talk “Frameworks For Making Product and Strategic Company Decisions” 10:38 – Rob’s talk about the five stages of customer awareness 13:21 – Einar Vollset’s talk on applying AI iteratively to solve problems 15:07 –&nbsp;QuietLight’s live business valuation 16:39 – Attendee talks from Sophie, Johannes Akhison, and more 19:25 – Dr. Sherry Walling discusses motivational archetypes 22:46 – Steven Craven’s founder story Links from the Show:&nbsp; Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Sherrywalling.com Dr. Sherry Walling | YouTube MicroConf Remote Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Michele Hansen (@mjwhansen) | X Powered by Search (@poweredbysearch) | X David Newell | Quiet Light thisissophie.com Johannes Åkesson – “How Consulting Gave Me Time to Nail Product-Market Fit.” Stephen Craven (@stephen_craven) | X Stridist Producer Xander (@ProducerXander) | X If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 684, Rob Walling is joined by Dr. Sherry Walling to share their experience from MicroConf Europe 2023 in Lisbon. They discuss a continued shift in MicroConf’s focus towards fostering founder connections and networking, and the value of face-to-face interactions. Rob and Sherry reflect on their own talks and highlight others by fellow founders and attendees.  Topics we cover:  1:28 – Reflecting on MicroConf locations 6:28 – Continuous event improvements, focus on community 9:41 – Michelle Hanson’s talk “Frameworks For Making Product and Strategic Company Decisions” 10:38 – Rob’s talk about the five stages of customer awareness 13:21 – Einar Vollset’s talk on applying AI iteratively to solve problems 15:07 – QuietLight’s live business valuation 16:39 – Attendee talks from Sophie, Johannes Akhison, and more 19:25 – Dr. Sherry Walling discusses motivational archetypes 22:46 – Steven Craven’s founder story Links from the Show:  Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Sherrywalling.com Dr. Sherry Walling | YouTube MicroConf Remote Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Michele Hansen (@mjwhansen) | X Powered by Search (@poweredbysearch) | X David Newell | Quiet Light thisissophie.com Johannes Åkesson – “How Consulting Gave Me Time to Nail Product-Market Fit.” Stephen Craven (@stephen_craven) | X Stridist Producer Xander (@ProducerXander) | X If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 683, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He addresses gathering feedback from customers that are reluctant to give it to you, whether to bring on a partner, and the value of going to in-person events. Rob also covers topics such as equity for advisors, pricing strategies, &amp; productized services. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:56 – Gathering feedback from reluctant customers 8:47 – When to bring in other partners 12:45 – Weighing the positives and negatives of going to trade shows 15:36 – Staying energized and motivated 17:51 – Offering pre-launch discounts vs. offering value-added product 22:08 – Charging for products in different currencies 23:37 – Productized service, pricing, and pausing 26:40 – Fractional CTOs and equity grants&nbsp; Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Connect The SaaS Playbook Episode 671 | Working on What Matters, Left-handed Threads, and Being Lucky (A Rob Solo Adventure) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 683, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He addresses gathering feedback from customers that are reluctant to give it to you, whether to bring on a partner, and the value of going to in-person events. Rob also covers topics such as equity for advisors, pricing strategies, &amp; productized services. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:56 – Gathering feedback from reluctant customers 8:47 – When to bring in other partners 12:45 – Weighing the positives and negatives of going to trade shows 15:36 – Staying energized and motivated 17:51 – Offering pre-launch discounts vs. offering value-added product 22:08 – Charging for products in different currencies 23:37 – Productized service, pricing, and pausing 26:40 – Fractional CTOs and equity grants  Links from the Show:  MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Connect The SaaS Playbook Episode 671 | Working on What Matters, Left-handed Threads, and Being Lucky (A Rob Solo Adventure) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 682, Rob Walling interviews Alex Theuma, the founder of SaaStock, a conference for SaaS founders. They discuss the challenges of bootstrapping an event and the pros and cons of large startup events versus small startup events. Alex also shares his experience of building credibility and authority in the industry, the importance of maintaining a positive attendee experience, and ensuring financial sustainability. Episode Sponsor: Tired of searching endlessly for highly skilled software developers? CloudDevs is your solution. Gain access to over 8000 pre-vetted senior devs distributed across their Latin America and global talent pools. All their remote developers work within your own time zone and can get onboarded within 24 hours. The CloudDevs team can help you recruit full time hires, or part time, project based freelancers. And every hire comes with a week-long free trial, making sure you get the right person for the job. All of our listeners get a 15% discount on their first month of collaboration. Hire trusted tech talent efficiently without breaking the bank by visiting CloudDevs.com. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:44 –&nbsp;How Alex bootstrapped SaaStock in the early stages 4:32 –&nbsp;Laying the groundwork and building credibility 6:59 – Figuring out sponsor subsidies 8:53 – Reflecting on the first event, growing afterwards 12:59 – Event sizing and event types 19:44 – Setting up event programming 23:00 – Swapping crazy event stories Links from the Show:&nbsp; Microconf Mastermind Matching SaaStock SaaStock (@SaaStock) | X SaaStock |&nbsp; LinkedIn Alex Theuma (@alextheuma) | X The SaaS Revolution Show ChartMogul Web Summit ProfitWell Dunbar's number SaaS.City Muck Rack Patrick Campbell’s “Churn” talk If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://podcasts.apple.co

In episode 682, Rob Walling interviews Alex Theuma, the founder of SaaStock, a conference for SaaS founders. They discuss the challenges of bootstrapping an event and the pros and cons of large startup events versus small startup events. Alex also shares his experience of building credibility and authority in the industry, the importance of maintaining a positive attendee experience, and ensuring financial sustainability. Episode Sponsor: Tired of searching endlessly for highly skilled software developers? CloudDevs is your solution. Gain access to over 8000 pre-vetted senior devs distributed across their Latin America and global talent pools. All their remote developers work within your own time zone and can get onboarded within 24 hours. The CloudDevs team can help you recruit full time hires, or part time, project based freelancers. And every hire comes with a week-long free trial, making sure you get the right person for the job. All of our listeners get a 15% discount on their first month of collaboration. Hire trusted tech talent efficiently without breaking the bank by visiting CloudDevs.com. Topics we cover:  2:44 – How Alex bootstrapped SaaStock in the early stages 4:32 – Laying the groundwork and building credibility 6:59 – Figuring out sponsor subsidies 8:53 – Reflecting on the first event, growing afterwards 12:59 – Event sizing and event types 19:44 – Setting up event programming 23:00 – Swapping crazy event stories Links from the Show:  Microconf Mastermind Matching SaaStock SaaStock (@SaaStock) | X SaaStock |  LinkedIn Alex Theuma (@alextheuma) | X The SaaS Revolution Show ChartMogul Web Summit ProfitWell Dunbar's number SaaS.City Muck Rack Patrick Campbell’s “Churn” talk If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:

In episode 681, Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez go deep on the drawbacks of launching a second product. They both generally advise against doing so, as it can distract from the existing product. However they do share some successful attempts, strategic insights, how to approach feedback on second ideas, and the benefits for founders that beat the odds. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:31 – When you should launch a second product 5:32 – Ruben’s experience growing Bidsketch and SignWell 9:45 – Responding to market pull, avoid the sunk cost fallacy 12:26 – Dividing attention between multiple products 16:40 – Choosing when to split focus 21:13 – Why a second product worked for Ruben and others 28:54 – Gauging your product intuition and getting outside feedback 32:50 – Avoiding bias when receiving feedback on your ideas 38:21 – Strategies and goals for adding a second product 42:50 – Cross selling multiple products Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf US Tickets are on sale Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth – Part 1 Intelligent Editing SignWell (@SignWellApp) | X Bidsketch SignWell Stratosphere finchat.io David Cancel (@dcancel) | X The SaaS Playbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 681, Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez go deep on the drawbacks of launching a second product. They both generally advise against doing so, as it can distract from the existing product. However they do share some successful attempts, strategic insights, how to approach feedback on second ideas, and the benefits for founders that beat the odds. Topics we cover:  1:31 – When you should launch a second product 5:32 – Ruben’s experience growing Bidsketch and SignWell 9:45 – Responding to market pull, avoid the sunk cost fallacy 12:26 – Dividing attention between multiple products 16:40 – Choosing when to split focus 21:13 – Why a second product worked for Ruben and others 28:54 – Gauging your product intuition and getting outside feedback 32:50 – Avoiding bias when receiving feedback on your ideas 38:21 – Strategies and goals for adding a second product 42:50 – Cross selling multiple products Links from the Show:  MicroConf US Tickets are on sale Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth – Part 1 Intelligent Editing SignWell (@SignWellApp) | X Bidsketch SignWell Stratosphere finchat.io David Cancel (@dcancel) | X The SaaS Playbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 680, Rob Walling goes solo again, covering a wide variety of topics including listening to customers, but not necessarily their solutions. He also cautions against making decisions based on one customer's feedback, but listening to the crowd. Finally, Rob highlights the importance of doing whatever it takes to succeed as a founder. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:52 – Paying attention to customer problems, not customer solutions 6:52 – Don’t listen to a customer, always listen to your customers 9:42 – Finding product market fit with limited information 13:01 – Identifying the appropriate time to grind out the work 19:18 – Don’t be above “taking out the trash” Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Connect Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X Ruben’s repost of @sequence_film ComicLab (@ComicLabPodcast) | X Dave Kellett (@davekellett) | X Brad Guigar (@guigar) | X The SaaS Playbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 680, Rob Walling goes solo again, covering a wide variety of topics including listening to customers, but not necessarily their solutions. He also cautions against making decisions based on one customer's feedback, but listening to the crowd. Finally, Rob highlights the importance of doing whatever it takes to succeed as a founder. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:52 – Paying attention to customer problems, not customer solutions 6:52 – Don’t listen to a customer, always listen to your customers 9:42 – Finding product market fit with limited information 13:01 – Identifying the appropriate time to grind out the work 19:18 – Don’t be above “taking out the trash” Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X Ruben’s repost of @sequence_film ComicLab (@ComicLabPodcast) | X Dave Kellett (@davekellett) | X Brad Guigar (@guigar) | X The SaaS Playbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 679.5, Rob shares seven announcements about the future of MicroConf in the upcoming year.&nbsp; Whether you're a long-time supporter or a new member of our crew of misfits, you know we're all about empowering bootstrapped SaaS entrepreneurs. For nearly a decade, we've been fueling the permissionless entrepreneurship movement that's gripped founders worldwide - and we're nowhere close to finished. Our next big leap is coming, and you won't want to miss it. If you want to get the inside scoop, and to keep up to date as we roll out all of these offerings, head over to https://www.futureofmicroconf.com/. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:03 – MicroConf Connect has leveled up, and is accepting new signups 2:41 – The return of The State of Independent SaaS Report 3:21 – Community voting for MicroConf Local 2024 cities 3:50 – New course launch, “Starting Up From Idea to Traction” 4:21 – MicroConf co-founder matching coming soon 4:58 – Host your team retreat with MicroConf’s Team Sync 5:28 – MicroConf Platinum Events for an exclusive and intimate experience Links from the Show:&nbsp; Sign up to get notified for MicroConf updates MicroConf Connect Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X MicroConf (@MicroConf) | X MicroConf YouTube Channel MicroConf On Air Podcast MicroConf Mastermind Matching State of Independent SaaS (2022) DemandMaven MicroConf Local TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 679.5, Rob shares seven announcements about the future of MicroConf in the upcoming year.  Whether you're a long-time supporter or a new member of our crew of misfits, you know we're all about empowering bootstrapped SaaS entrepreneurs. For nearly a decade, we've been fueling the permissionless entrepreneurship movement that's gripped founders worldwide - and we're nowhere close to finished. Our next big leap is coming, and you won't want to miss it. If you want to get the inside scoop, and to keep up to date as we roll out all of these offerings, head over to https://www.futureofmicroconf.com/. Topics we cover:  2:03 – MicroConf Connect has leveled up, and is accepting new signups 2:41 – The return of The State of Independent SaaS Report 3:21 – Community voting for MicroConf Local 2024 cities 3:50 – New course launch, “Starting Up From Idea to Traction” 4:21 – MicroConf co-founder matching coming soon 4:58 – Host your team retreat with MicroConf’s Team Sync 5:28 – MicroConf Platinum Events for an exclusive and intimate experience Links from the Show:  Sign up to get notified for MicroConf updates MicroConf Connect Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X MicroConf (@MicroConf) | X MicroConf YouTube Channel MicroConf On Air Podcast MicroConf Mastermind Matching State of Independent SaaS (2022) DemandMaven MicroConf Local TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 679, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He discusses how “mock features” can be implemented to close deals with certain buying dynamics, how to recover from a failed launch, and the benefits of phased launches to minimize those. Rob also gives advice on creating organic content for a SaaS and suggests alternative marketing strategies to content creation. Finally, he covers what an engineer might encounter during an acquisition in a small startup and how to dive into consulting and contracting. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:43 – Mock features for B2B SaaS 6:20 – Recovering from a failed launch 10:37 – Advice for a consumer-facing “vitamin” product 12:53 – Creating content to market SaaS tools 17:13 – Acquisitions for startups with small engineering teams 20:24 –&nbsp;Consulting for junior and mid-level engineers Links from the Show:&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect Applications are Open! Episode 671 | Working on What Matters, Left-handed Threads, and Being Lucky (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ab Advany’s “Mock Features for B2B SaaS” If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 679, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He discusses how “mock features” can be implemented to close deals with certain buying dynamics, how to recover from a failed launch, and the benefits of phased launches to minimize those. Rob also gives advice on creating organic content for a SaaS and suggests alternative marketing strategies to content creation. Finally, he covers what an engineer might encounter during an acquisition in a small startup and how to dive into consulting and contracting. Topics we cover:  3:43 – Mock features for B2B SaaS 6:20 – Recovering from a failed launch 10:37 – Advice for a consumer-facing “vitamin” product 12:53 – Creating content to market SaaS tools 17:13 – Acquisitions for startups with small engineering teams 20:24 – Consulting for junior and mid-level engineers Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect Applications are Open! Episode 671 | Working on What Matters, Left-handed Threads, and Being Lucky (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ab Advany’s “Mock Features for B2B SaaS” If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 678, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how he might find buyers for a half-done SaaS product, addresses platform risk that accompanies no-code development, and shares insights on bookkeeping for SaaS startups. Rob also details what frameworks new marketers should be looking into and gives advice on launching a new SaaS tool to an email list. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:10 – Where can I sell partially developed SaaS apps? 7:42 – Evaluating higher platform risk inherent in no-code apps 11:44 – Approaches to bookkeeping early on in your SaaS business&nbsp; 14:47 – Setting up a marketing engine for those with little experience 20:43 – Launching a new product to an email list with a phased approach Links from the Show:&nbsp; Apply for TinySeed Join Us For A Big MicroConf Announcement The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect Acquire.com #1 Mistake No-Code SaaS Founders Make - Don't Build Without THIS Episode 642 | The Pros and Cons of Building a No-Code MVP Bench.co Xero.com Traction by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis, Morgan Brown Postaga <a href="https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/episodes/episode-670-rely

In episode 678, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how he might find buyers for a half-done SaaS product, addresses platform risk that accompanies no-code development, and shares insights on bookkeeping for SaaS startups. Rob also details what frameworks new marketers should be looking into and gives advice on launching a new SaaS tool to an email list. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:10 – Where can I sell partially developed SaaS apps? 7:42 – Evaluating higher platform risk inherent in no-code apps 11:44 – Approaches to bookkeeping early on in your SaaS business  14:47 – Setting up a marketing engine for those with little experience 20:43 – Launching a new product to an email list with a phased approach Links from the Show:  Apply for TinySeed Join Us For A Big MicroConf Announcement The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Connect Acquire.com #1 Mistake No-Code SaaS Founders Make - Don't Build Without THIS Episode 642 | The Pros and Cons of Building a No-Code MVP Bench.co Xero.com Traction by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis, Morgan Brown Postaga

In episode 677, Tracy Osborn interviews Leon Barnard from Balsamiq about wireframing and design. They discuss the book "Wireframing for Everyone" written by Leon and his co-authors from Balsamiq and they emphasize the value of low-fidelity wireframes for founders. They also cover how wireframing can improve ideation and communication processes among teams. To wrap up, they recommend resources for non-designers interested in learning more about wireframing and design. Episode Sponsor: Life as a founder can put a strain on even the strongest relationships, but spending dedicated quality time with your better half can help you recharge and refocus. If you’re ready to unwind from the daily startup grind, head over to cratedwithlove.com to level up your next date night. And for listeners of this podcast, you can use code STARTUPS during checkout for an exclusive 15% off your first order.&nbsp; Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:29 – TinySeed applications for Fall 2023 are open 5:00 – Leon’s passion for wireframing&nbsp; 8:32 – Designing in low fidelity wireframes 11:03 – Wireframing, ideation, and iteration 16:21 –&nbsp;Communicating design with wireframing 21:22 – Using wireframing to iterate on already existing, high fidelity content 24:35 – Writing about wireframing within the broader context of general design principles 28:16 – Additional resources for non-designers to gain confidence in design 32:36 – Asking questions informs good design Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf is leveling up! Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X Leon Barnard (@leonbarnard) | X Leon Barnard | LinkedIn Balsamiq (@balsamiq) | X Wireframing for Everyone by Michael Angeles, Leon Barnard, and Billy Carlson Balsamiq Wireframing Academy Sketching User Experiences by Bill Buxton Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug UX for Lean Startups by Laura Klein If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 677, Tracy Osborn interviews Leon Barnard from Balsamiq about wireframing and design. They discuss the book "Wireframing for Everyone" written by Leon and his co-authors from Balsamiq and they emphasize the value of low-fidelity wireframes for founders. They also cover how wireframing can improve ideation and communication processes among teams. To wrap up, they recommend resources for non-designers interested in learning more about wireframing and design. Episode Sponsor: Life as a founder can put a strain on even the strongest relationships, but spending dedicated quality time with your better half can help you recharge and refocus. If you’re ready to unwind from the daily startup grind, head over to cratedwithlove.com to level up your next date night. And for listeners of this podcast, you can use code STARTUPS during checkout for an exclusive 15% off your first order.  Topics we cover:  3:29 – TinySeed applications for Fall 2023 are open 5:00 – Leon’s passion for wireframing  8:32 – Designing in low fidelity wireframes 11:03 – Wireframing, ideation, and iteration 16:21 – Communicating design with wireframing 21:22 – Using wireframing to iterate on already existing, high fidelity content 24:35 – Writing about wireframing within the broader context of general design principles 28:16 – Additional resources for non-designers to gain confidence in design 32:36 – Asking questions informs good design Links from the Show:  MicroConf is leveling up! Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X Leon Barnard (@leonbarnard) | X Leon Barnard | LinkedIn Balsamiq (@balsamiq) | X Wireframing for Everyone by Michael Angeles, Leon Barnard, and Billy Carlson Balsamiq Wireframing Academy Sketching User Experiences by Bill Buxton Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug UX for Lean Startups by Laura Klein If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 676, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers more listener questions. He answers questions around the inflated valuations in the B2B SaaS market, choosing between ideas, and validating a SaaS idea before building. Rob wraps up evaluating the effectiveness of building a podcast or YouTube following prior to launch. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 0:56 – TinySeed applications for fall 2023 batch 1:42 – The Future of MicroConf announcement event 2:13 – Why are B2B SaaS valuations so high? 10:43 – Choosing between two software ideas 15:02 – Don’t start a two-sided marketplace 17:04 – Do my “Stair Steps” have to be related? 19:47 – Co-founder equity splits and founder agreements 24:56 – Idea validation techniques 28:02 – Starting a podcast to building an audience Links from the Show:&nbsp; The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Future of MicroConf The UpFlip Podcast 27. How to Build a Thriving Software Company (From Scratch) Quiet Light, Empire Flippers, FE international Castos Productions Nolo, Rocket Lawyer, Lexgo Slicing Pie Episode 671 | Working on What Matters, Left-handed Threads, and Being Lucky (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Traction by Gino Wickman Hacking Growth by Sean Brown, Morgan, Ellis If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXN0b3MuY2

In episode 676, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers more listener questions. He answers questions around the inflated valuations in the B2B SaaS market, choosing between ideas, and validating a SaaS idea before building. Rob wraps up evaluating the effectiveness of building a podcast or YouTube following prior to launch. Topics we cover:  0:56 – TinySeed applications for fall 2023 batch 1:42 – The Future of MicroConf announcement event 2:13 – Why are B2B SaaS valuations so high? 10:43 – Choosing between two software ideas 15:02 – Don’t start a two-sided marketplace 17:04 – Do my “Stair Steps” have to be related? 19:47 – Co-founder equity splits and founder agreements 24:56 – Idea validation techniques 28:02 – Starting a podcast to building an audience Links from the Show:  The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Future of MicroConf The UpFlip Podcast 27. How to Build a Thriving Software Company (From Scratch) Quiet Light, Empire Flippers, FE international Castos Productions Nolo, Rocket Lawyer, Lexgo Slicing Pie Episode 671 | Working on What Matters, Left-handed Threads, and Being Lucky (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Traction by Gino Wickman Hacking Growth by Sean Brown, Morgan, Ellis If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify |

In episode 675, Rob Walling interviews Stephen Steers, author of "Superpower Storytelling." They discuss Stephen’s experience in selling and teaching startups how to sell better. They cover Stephen’s storytelling “AREA” framework and the concept of the problem stack. They also talk about when founders should consider delegating sales, the importance of documenting successful sales processes, and using humor in the sales process. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:36 – Start Small, Stay Small 3:21 – Stephen’s book, Superpower Storytelling, and how to tell the story of you and your company 4:30 – Why is storytelling important for startups 7:47 – A valuable background in sales consulting 10:35 – The AREA mental framework 13:21 – The “problem stack” 18:42 – When to outsource sales in your organization 22:37 – The four reasons that businesses buy, consultative selling 28:01 – Using humor to your advantage when selling or as a founder Links from the Show:&nbsp; Stephen Steers | LinkedIn Steers Sales Consulting Superpower Storytelling by Stephen Steers Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling Made to Stick by Chip Heath &amp; Dan Heath Taki Moore (@takimoore) | Twitter Scott Sambucci (@scottsambucci) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startups-for

In episode 675, Rob Walling interviews Stephen Steers, author of "Superpower Storytelling." They discuss Stephen’s experience in selling and teaching startups how to sell better. They cover Stephen’s storytelling “AREA” framework and the concept of the problem stack. They also talk about when founders should consider delegating sales, the importance of documenting successful sales processes, and using humor in the sales process. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:36 – Start Small, Stay Small 3:21 – Stephen’s book, Superpower Storytelling, and how to tell the story of you and your company 4:30 – Why is storytelling important for startups 7:47 – A valuable background in sales consulting 10:35 – The AREA mental framework 13:21 – The “problem stack” 18:42 – When to outsource sales in your organization 22:37 – The four reasons that businesses buy, consultative selling 28:01 – Using humor to your advantage when selling or as a founder Links from the Show:  Stephen Steers | LinkedIn Steers Sales Consulting Superpower Storytelling by Stephen Steers Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling Made to Stick by Chip Heath &amp; Dan Heath Taki Moore (@takimoore) | Twitter Scott Sambucci (@scottsambucci) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:

In episode 674, ​​join Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. They talk about Elon rebranding Twitter to X and the emergence of Instagram's Threads. They also cover the pros and cons of taking VC and SparkToro's unique funding model and paying back investors. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:49 – Twitter is now X 5:53 – Does the rebranding make sense? 12:15 –&nbsp;Instagram launches Threads 19:18 – SparkToro pays back investors 26:04 –&nbsp;Planning ahead for the payback 28:53 – “Don’t take VC funding” 35:11 – “We Raised a Bunch of Money” Links from the Show:&nbsp; Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Twitter is being rebranded as X Introducing Threads: A New Way to Share with Text Rand Fishkin (@randfish ) |Twitter Casey Henry (@caseyhen) |Twitter SparkToro Postpone SparkToro Year 3 Retrospective: Investor Payback, Systemic Challenges, and V2 on the Way Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin Fly.io We Raised A Bunch Of Money If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 674, ​​join Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. They talk about Elon rebranding Twitter to X and the emergence of Instagram's Threads. They also cover the pros and cons of taking VC and SparkToro's unique funding model and paying back investors. Topics we cover:  2:49 – Twitter is now X 5:53 – Does the rebranding make sense? 12:15 – Instagram launches Threads 19:18 – SparkToro pays back investors 26:04 – Planning ahead for the payback 28:53 – “Don’t take VC funding” 35:11 – “We Raised a Bunch of Money” Links from the Show:  Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Twitter is being rebranded as X Introducing Threads: A New Way to Share with Text Rand Fishkin (@randfish ) |Twitter Casey Henry (@caseyhen) |Twitter SparkToro Postpone SparkToro Year 3 Retrospective: Investor Payback, Systemic Challenges, and V2 on the Way Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin Fly.io We Raised A Bunch Of Money If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 673, Rob Walling chats with Ruben Gamez, the founder of SignWell, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics related to pricing models for SaaS products, marketing strategies for new products, the concept of copycat apps, and the challenges of balancing customer requests with product development. Additionally, they address a question about choosing between working at a startup or a big tech company. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:06 – Lifetime value pricing vs. monthly recurring revenue 11:33 – Pay-as-you-go as an alternative to lifetime or SaaS pricing 14:30 – Testing the market with a landing page 22:16 – Getting feedback from landing page signups 25:11 – Marketing strategies for SaaS 32:53 – Building copycat apps 38:51 – Startup roles vs. roles in a big tech company as a software engineer 43:33 – Balancing customer needs with our strategic roadmap Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf Sponsorships The SaaS Playbook Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | Twitter SignWell (@SignWellApp) |Twitter SignWell Hackers Incorporated, E4 | Lifetime pricing is underrated AppSumo Tailwind UI Loadster How to Grow Your Self Funded Business Faster – Hiten Shah – MicroConf 2014 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please <a href="https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/contact" tar

In episode 673, Rob Walling chats with Ruben Gamez, the founder of SignWell, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics related to pricing models for SaaS products, marketing strategies for new products, the concept of copycat apps, and the challenges of balancing customer requests with product development. Additionally, they address a question about choosing between working at a startup or a big tech company. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:06 – Lifetime value pricing vs. monthly recurring revenue 11:33 – Pay-as-you-go as an alternative to lifetime or SaaS pricing 14:30 – Testing the market with a landing page 22:16 – Getting feedback from landing page signups 25:11 – Marketing strategies for SaaS 32:53 – Building copycat apps 38:51 – Startup roles vs. roles in a big tech company as a software engineer 43:33 – Balancing customer needs with our strategic roadmap Links from the Show:  MicroConf Sponsorships The SaaS Playbook Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | Twitter SignWell (@SignWellApp) |Twitter SignWell Hackers Incorporated, E4 | Lifetime pricing is underrated AppSumo Tailwind UI Loadster How to Grow Your Self Funded Business Faster – Hiten Shah – MicroConf 2014 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 672, Rob Walling speaks with Jon Hainstock, M&amp;A advisor at Quiet Light and previously ZoomShift. They discuss Jon’s bootstrapper journey, his exit from ZoomShift, the benefits of buying versus building, and how he helps other founders sell their businesses at Quiet Light. To wrap up, Jon exposes some common pitfalls to avoid when buying businesses. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:17 – Timeline of building and selling ZoomShift 6:07 – Deciding to sell ZoomShift 11:06 – Jumping into a new project immediately after exit 17:16 – Acquiring small assets 19:16 – Picking Quiet Light Brokerage over smaller acquisitions 26:23 – “Broker” vs. “Advisor” 30:26 – What to avoid when buying a business Links from the Show:&nbsp; The Exit Event Jon Hainstock (@jonhainstock) | Twitter Quiet Light (@quietlightinc) | Twitter ZoomShift ChatterDocs.ai Quiet Light Finish Big by Bo Burlingham Acquire.com, formerly MicroAcquire Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki The Quiet Light Podcast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 672, Rob Walling speaks with Jon Hainstock, M&amp;A advisor at Quiet Light and previously ZoomShift. They discuss Jon’s bootstrapper journey, his exit from ZoomShift, the benefits of buying versus building, and how he helps other founders sell their businesses at Quiet Light. To wrap up, Jon exposes some common pitfalls to avoid when buying businesses. Topics we cover:  2:17 – Timeline of building and selling ZoomShift 6:07 – Deciding to sell ZoomShift 11:06 – Jumping into a new project immediately after exit 17:16 – Acquiring small assets 19:16 – Picking Quiet Light Brokerage over smaller acquisitions 26:23 – “Broker” vs. “Advisor” 30:26 – What to avoid when buying a business Links from the Show:  The Exit Event Jon Hainstock (@jonhainstock) | Twitter Quiet Light (@quietlightinc) | Twitter ZoomShift ChatterDocs.ai Quiet Light Finish Big by Bo Burlingham Acquire.com, formerly MicroAcquire Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki The Quiet Light Podcast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 671, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he covers a variety of topics. First, he shares an example of why successful founders move the needle rather than staying in their comfort zone. He shares an anecdote about discovering left-handed threads and how it applies to startups, and wraps up with some thoughts on the role of luck in audience building.&nbsp; Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:56 – Moving the needle rather than staying comfortable 11:10 – First time discovering left-handed threads 19:15 – Building an audience doesn’t require luck Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf MicroConf Connect The SaaS Playbook Episode 670 | Relying on Luck, Avoiding Burnout, and Bad Player vs. Bad Instrument (A Rob Solo Adventure) Joel Spolsky (@spolsky) | Twitter TinySeed How to Build SaaS from Scratch in 8 Simplified Steps If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 671, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he covers a variety of topics. First, he shares an example of why successful founders move the needle rather than staying in their comfort zone. He shares an anecdote about discovering left-handed threads and how it applies to startups, and wraps up with some thoughts on the role of luck in audience building.  Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:56 – Moving the needle rather than staying comfortable 11:10 – First time discovering left-handed threads 19:15 – Building an audience doesn’t require luck Links from the Show:  MicroConf MicroConf Connect The SaaS Playbook Episode 670 | Relying on Luck, Avoiding Burnout, and Bad Player vs. Bad Instrument (A Rob Solo Adventure) Joel Spolsky (@spolsky) | Twitter TinySeed How to Build SaaS from Scratch in 8 Simplified Steps If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 670, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure, where he discusses why, while striking luck in your SaaS journey is great, working hard and building skills is the sustainable way to build businesses for the long haul. He also shares his personal approach to work when burnout is on the horizon and finally an anecdote relating to SaaS marketing approaches. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 0:41 – RSS feed issues, undesirable startup tasks 2:52 – Two exclusive episodes of Startups For the Rest of Us 3:39 – Success takes hard work, luck, and skill 11:00 – The grind of content creation, burnout on the horizon 21:38 – Bad player or bad instrument? Links from the Show:&nbsp; Episode 667 | Increase Your Exit Price by Decoupling Yourself from Your Business with John Warrillow Castos Sugarcult – “Stuck in America” MicroConf YouTube Channel MicroConf On Air Podcast Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | Twitter The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 670, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure, where he discusses why, while striking luck in your SaaS journey is great, working hard and building skills is the sustainable way to build businesses for the long haul. He also shares his personal approach to work when burnout is on the horizon and finally an anecdote relating to SaaS marketing approaches. Topics we cover:  0:41 – RSS feed issues, undesirable startup tasks 2:52 – Two exclusive episodes of Startups For the Rest of Us 3:39 – Success takes hard work, luck, and skill 11:00 – The grind of content creation, burnout on the horizon 21:38 – Bad player or bad instrument? Links from the Show:  Episode 667 | Increase Your Exit Price by Decoupling Yourself from Your Business with John Warrillow Castos Sugarcult – “Stuck in America” MicroConf YouTube Channel MicroConf On Air Podcast Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | Twitter The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 669, Rob Walling chats with Rick Hymanson, founder of detamoov and previously Shugo. They discuss Rick’s exit from Shugo in 2018 in what Rob calls “ten years to overnight success”. Rick recounts an early pivot for the company in finding product market fit, building the business with a day job, the logistics of the exit, and why he’s excited to join TinySeed with detamoov. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:59 – How Rick felt after exiting Shugo 5:10 – Deciding to start detamoov after the exit 7:09 – Creating a Shugo MVP and pivoting 11:15 – Building a SaaS product while working a day job 15:34 – Transitioning to full time and growing Shugo ARR 20:28 – Expanding the product feature set 22:11 – When did you know you had product-market fit? 23:28 – Finding an acquirer and navigating the process 27:38 – Starting and growing datamoov 31:12 – The value of relationship building 34:43 – IP ownership agreements Links from the Show:&nbsp; Rick Hymanson | LinkedIn detamoov The SaaS Playbook TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google Listen to Episode 669

In episode 669, Rob Walling chats with Rick Hymanson, founder of detamoov and previously Shugo. They discuss Rick’s exit from Shugo in 2018 in what Rob calls “ten years to overnight success”. Rick recounts an early pivot for the company in finding product market fit, building the business with a day job, the logistics of the exit, and why he’s excited to join TinySeed with detamoov. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:59 – How Rick felt after exiting Shugo 5:10 – Deciding to start detamoov after the exit 7:09 – Creating a Shugo MVP and pivoting 11:15 – Building a SaaS product while working a day job 15:34 – Transitioning to full time and growing Shugo ARR 20:28 – Expanding the product feature set 22:11 – When did you know you had product-market fit? 23:28 – Finding an acquirer and navigating the process 27:38 – Starting and growing datamoov 31:12 – The value of relationship building 34:43 – IP ownership agreements Links from the Show:  Rick Hymanson | LinkedIn detamoov The SaaS Playbook TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

In episode 668, Rob Walling and Arvid Kahl share nine key takeaways from MicroConf US 2023 in Denver. They cover topics ranging from founder mental health, shared motivations for bootstrapping, the value of in-person conferences, and the MicroConf experimentation that led to the “Chaos Lunch”. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:04 – MicroConf 2023 in Denver, building back after COVID 9:09 – Founders are sharing an experience of struggles and pivots 11:21 – Why nothing beats being in a room together 14:07 – Discussing mental health in a welcoming environment 17:07 – How experimentation on the MicroConf format led to “Chaos Lunch” 21:03&nbsp; – Sharing strategies and tactics, Dev Basu’s talk on product marketing 24:28 – What motivations do founders have for running their SaaS businesses 27:27 – Arvid’s workshop encourages discussion of founder mental health&nbsp;&nbsp; 30:22 – MicroConf’s powerful Hallway track 32:45 – Patrick Campbell’s talk on mental frameworks and founder paths 36:47 – Upcoming MicroConf events 40:05 – The not-so-hidden track: Arvid’s Twitter growth and strategy Links from the Show:&nbsp; MicroConf US 2024 | Atlanta, GA | April 21 - 23, 2024 MicroConf US Recordings Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) I Twitter Episode 492 | From Zero to $55k MRR to Exit (in 2 Years) with Feedback Panda thebootstrappedfounder.com Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | Twitter Claire Suellentrop (@ClaireSuellen) | Twitter Dev Basu (@devbasu) | Twitter Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) Twitter John Ndege (@johnndege) | Twitter Comte Anthony Eden (@aeden) | Twitter Quiet Light (@quietlightinc) | Twitter Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify |&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXN

In episode 668, Rob Walling and Arvid Kahl share nine key takeaways from MicroConf US 2023 in Denver. They cover topics ranging from founder mental health, shared motivations for bootstrapping, the value of in-person conferences, and the MicroConf experimentation that led to the “Chaos Lunch”. Topics we cover:  2:04 – MicroConf 2023 in Denver, building back after COVID 9:09 – Founders are sharing an experience of struggles and pivots 11:21 – Why nothing beats being in a room together 14:07 – Discussing mental health in a welcoming environment 17:07 – How experimentation on the MicroConf format led to “Chaos Lunch” 21:03  – Sharing strategies and tactics, Dev Basu’s talk on product marketing 24:28 – What motivations do founders have for running their SaaS businesses 27:27 – Arvid’s workshop encourages discussion of founder mental health   30:22 – MicroConf’s powerful Hallway track 32:45 – Patrick Campbell’s talk on mental frameworks and founder paths 36:47 – Upcoming MicroConf events 40:05 – The not-so-hidden track: Arvid’s Twitter growth and strategy Links from the Show:  MicroConf US 2024 | Atlanta, GA | April 21 - 23, 2024 MicroConf US Recordings Arvid Kahl (@arvidkahl) I Twitter Episode 492 | From Zero to $55k MRR to Exit (in 2 Years) with Feedback Panda thebootstrappedfounder.com Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | Twitter Claire Suellentrop (@ClaireSuellen) | Twitter Dev Basu (@devbasu) | Twitter Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) Twitter John Ndege (@johnndege) | Twitter Comte Anthony Eden (@aeden) | Twitter Quiet Light (@quietlightinc) | Twitter Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | 

In episode 667, Rob Walling speaks with John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell, about validating and launching his second SaaS business, VidGuide. They cover how Standard Operating Procedures can help your business, from leading toward better exits to easing your burden as a founder. Topics we cover:  2:59 – Why John decided to launch [&#8230;]&#160;

In episode 667, Rob Walling speaks with John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell, about validating and launching his second SaaS product, VidGuide. They cover how Standard Operating Procedures can help your business, from leading toward better exits to easing your burden as a founder. Topics we cover:  2:59 – Why John decided to launch VidGuide 7:23 – Validating and positioning a “scratch-your-own-itch” SaaS idea 13:45 – Considerations for novel software solutions 18:27 – Success stories of others and their SOPs 22:42 – John’s early validation for VidGuide 26:13 – Following April Dunford’s methodology for positioning Links from the Show: John Warrillow (@JohnWarrillow) I Twitter Built To Sell by John Warrillow The Automatic Customer by John Warrillow The Art of Selling Your Business by John Warrillow The ValueBuilder System Built to Sell Radio VidGuide Episode 532 | The Art of Selling Your Business with John Warrillow Episode 603 | Bootstrapping HotJar to $40M ARR Using D2C Marketing Episode 492 | From Zero to $55k MRR to Exit (in 2 Years) with Feedback Panda Ten Year Career by Jodie Cook MicroConf Refresh Episode 60: How to Craft a Story that Sells with April Dunford If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and in this week's episode, I talk with John Warrilow, the author of Built To Sell, The Automatic Customer, and The Art of Selling Your Business. John also runs a very successful SaaS company called Value Builder that is aimed at business advisors and brokers. In my experience of this business world, John is one of the most knowledgeable people about real business exits. This is not Instagram selling for a billion dollars in a weekend. This is about software companies, agencies, manufacturing com

In episode 667, Rob Walling speaks with John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell, about validating and launching his second SaaS business, VidGuide. They cover how Standard Operating Procedures can help your business, from leading toward better exits to easing your burden as a founder. Topics we cover:  2:59 – Why John decided to launch VidGuide 7:23 – Validating and positioning a “scratch-your-own-itch” SaaS idea 13:45 – Considerations for novel software solutions 18:27 – Success stories of others and their SOPs 22:42 – John’s early validation for VidGuide 26:13 – Following April Dunford’s methodology for positioning Links from the Show: John Warrillow (@JohnWarrillow) I Twitter Built To Sell by John Warrillow The Automatic Customer by John Warrillow The Art of Selling Your Business by John Warrillow The ValueBuilder System Built to Sell Radio VidGuide Episode 532 | The Art of Selling Your Business with John Warrillow Episode 603 | Bootstrapping HotJar to $40M ARR Using D2C Marketing Episode 492 | From Zero to $55k MRR to Exit (in 2 Years) with Feedback Panda Ten Year Career by Jodie Cook MicroConf Refresh Episode 60: How to Craft a Story that Sells with April Dunford If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 666, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from idea validation in competitive spaces to book recommendations to development strategies for non-technical founders. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 666, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from idea validation in competitive spaces to book recommendations to development strategies for non-technical founders. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:05 – How to validate ideas in competitive markets 7:49 – How to manage stress when growing a small SaaS business 15:48 – Finding a technical co-founder vs. outsourcing development 28:24 – How to decide between doubling down on a current project or starting a new SaaS app 34:15 – Tools for tracking traffic, conversions, and A/B test results 40:21 – Recommended reading for SaaS startups Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter SavvyCal  The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | Twitter Pieter Levels (@levelsio) | Twitter Danny Postma (@dannypostmaa) | Twitter Fathom Analytics, Mixpanel, Heap, Segmetrics.io, June Optimizely, VWO, Hotjar, Crazy Egg Obviously Awesome by April Dunford Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and J

In episode 666, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from idea validation in competitive spaces to book recommendations to development strategies for non-technical founders. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:05 – How to validate ideas in competitive markets 7:49 – How to manage stress when growing a small SaaS business 15:48 – Finding a technical co-founder vs. outsourcing development 28:24 – How to decide between doubling down on a current project or starting a new SaaS app 34:15 – Tools for tracking traffic, conversions, and A/B test results 40:21 – Recommended reading for SaaS startups Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter SavvyCal  The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | Twitter Pieter Levels (@levelsio) | Twitter Danny Postma (@dannypostmaa) | Twitter Fathom Analytics, Mixpanel, Heap, Segmetrics.io, June Optimizely, VWO, Hotjar, Crazy Egg

In episode 665, Rob Walling chats with Georgiana Laudi, who is the co-author of the new book, Forget the Funnel. They dive deep into key concepts from the book, including specific Jobs-to-be-done interview examples and how to apply these insights to your marketing strategy.They also chat a bit about the process of writing a book. Topics we cover: 2:37 - Gia and Claire's intentional decision to keep the book under 200 pages 5:28 - What size SaaS companies will get the most value from Claire and Gia’s new book? 9:49 - The customer-led growth framework 11:29 - Why you shouldn’t think in terms of marketing funnels 15:51- Jobs-to-be done interviews 20:27- An approach for founders who are skeptical about customer research and JTBD interviews 25:15- How to use information gathered from customer interviews to inform your marketing strategy 29:47- What was the experience like recording the audiobook? Links from the Show: Claire Suellentrop @clairesuellen I...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 665, Rob Walling chats with Georgiana Laudi, who is the co-author of the new book, Forget the Funnel. They dive deep into key concepts from the book, including specific Jobs-to-be-done interview examples and how to apply these insights to your marketing strategy. They also chat a bit about the process of writing a book. Topics we cover: 2:37 - Gia and Claire's intentional decision to keep the book under 200 pages 5:28 - What size SaaS companies will get the most value from Claire and Gia’s new book? 9:49 - The customer-led growth framework 11:29 - Why you shouldn’t think in terms of marketing funnels 15:51- Jobs-to-be done interviews 20:27- An approach for founders who are skeptical about customer research and JTBD interviews 25:15- How to use information gathered from customer interviews to inform your marketing strategy 29:47- What was the experience like recording the audiobook? Links from the Show: Claire Suellentrop @clairesuellen I Twitter Georgiana Laudi @ggiiaa) I Twitter Forget the Funnel: A Customer-Led Approach for Driving Predictable, Recurring Revenue  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Being a startup founder is like playing a never ending game of chess, except the pieces keep changing, the board is on fire, and nobody knows the rules. This is Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. That joke, not very good, was written by ChatGPT, if you can believe it. I mean, ChatGPT is good at a lot of things, but it's still working out its humor. This week, I have a great conversation with one of the authors of Forget the Funnel. Gia Laudi and Claire Suellentrop run an agency that works with SaaS companies to help them grow their businesses. It's called Forget the Funnel, and their book is called Forget the Funnel. And so if you're already sold on this or you get two minutes into the interview and you want to pick it up, it's on Amazon. You can just search for Forget the Funnel. But the book dives deep into jobs to be done, with very specific examples where they have used it to help companies improve their onboarding rates, to help them grow their businesses overall, to find more customers like the ones that are already successful using their product. And what I like about the book, you'll hear me say in the conversation, is it's short, it's compact, doesn't waste your time, and it has a lot of extremely concrete examples from their experience doing this for clients. But before we dive into that, if you haven't checked out our YouTube channel, I'm releasing effectively a Rob solo adventure every week, 52 weeks a year, over at MicroConf.com/YouTube. It's a 10 to 15 minute video covering all the topics that you would hear us discuss on this podcast, so

In episode 665, Rob Walling chats with Georgiana Laudi, who is the co-author of the new book, Forget the Funnel. They dive deep into key concepts from the book, including specific Jobs-to-be-done interview examples and how to apply these insights to your marketing strategy. They also chat a bit about the process of writing a book. Topics we cover: 2:37 - Gia and Claire's intentional decision to keep the book under 200 pages 5:28 - What size SaaS companies will get the most value from Claire and Gia’s new book? 9:49 - The customer-led growth framework 11:29 - Why you shouldn’t think in terms of marketing funnels 15:51- Jobs-to-be done interviews 20:27- An approach for founders who are skeptical about customer research and JTBD interviews 25:15- How to use information gathered from customer interviews to inform your marketing strategy 29:47- What was the experience like recording the audiobook? Links from the Show: Claire Suellentrop @clairesuellen I Twitter Georgiana Laudi @ggiiaa) I Twitter Forget the Funnel: A Customer-Led Approach for Driving Predictable, Recurring Revenue  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 664, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers more listener questions. These questions range from positioning a new SaaS product with many use cases to consumption vs. seat-based pricing and managing your time as a single parent. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 664, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers more listener questions. These questions range from positioning a new SaaS product with many use cases to consumption vs. seat-based pricing and managing your time as a single parent. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover: 2:07 - Positioning a new SaaS business with multiple use cases 9:22 - Consumption vs. seat-based pricing 13:00 - When to expand a SaaS business outside of the core problem it solves 19:07 - Building a marketing flywheel for a 2-sided marketplace 22:23- Managing your time as a single parent Links from the Show: Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It  Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer’s Guide To Launching a Startup  The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Ads can be a good way to get started, but it's not scalable. I think in the long term, if you want to build a flywheel, then you need that content engine cranking out content, and you need to start ranking for enough terms. Start with the long tail, and you slowly climb u

In episode 664, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers more listener questions. These questions range from positioning a new SaaS product with many use cases to consumption vs. seat-based pricing and managing your time as a single parent. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover: 2:07 - Positioning a new SaaS business with multiple use cases 9:22 - Consumption vs. seat-based pricing 13:00 - When to expand a SaaS business outside of the core problem it solves 19:07 - Building a marketing flywheel for a 2-sided marketplace 22:23- Managing your time as a single parent Links from the Show: Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It  Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer’s Guide To Launching a Startup  The SaaS Playbook MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 663, Rob Walling and Einar Vollset share five insights SaaS founders should know about the state of AI. They offer a unique perspective by sharing a mental model around the four categories of AI and how to use this to think about the impact on your business. Topics we cover: 2:08 - Einar’s thoughts on the state of AI 7:11 - Why you shouldn’t ignore AI 9:33 - The 4 categories of AI 18:36 - AI is not a product differentiator 22:01- Should bootstrapped companies try to build their own LLMs? 24:41- Using AI internally in your company 30:03 - Is my business model a ticking time bomb? Links from the Show: Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter MicroConf Europe MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 663, Rob Walling and Einar Vollset share five insights SaaS founders should know about the state of AI. They offer a unique perspective by sharing a mental model around the four categories of AI and how to use this to think about the impact on your business. Topics we cover: 2:08 - Einar’s thoughts on the state of AI 7:11 - Why you shouldn’t ignore AI 9:33 - The 4 categories of AI 18:36 - AI is not a product differentiator 22:01- Should bootstrapped companies try to build their own LLMs? 24:41- Using AI internally in your company 30:03 - Is my business model a ticking time bomb? Links from the Show: Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter MicroConf Europe MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back. To start off, for the rest of us, this is the show where we focus on bootstrapping and mostly bootstrapping SaaS companies. Today, I sit down with my TinySeed co-founder, Einar Vollset, and we talk through five insights SaaS founders should know about AI, about OpenAI, ChatGPT, LOMs. All the things you're probably kind of tired of hearing about. But here's the different tact that we took that I'm not hearing other podcasts and other pundits make on this topic. I tried to put a mental framework around AI that SaaS founders would understand. It's how I would be thinking about this if I were a startup founder, and frankly, it's how I'm advising my almost 150 investments to be thinking about this. So I kick it off by going through four categories of AI. So we had some taxonomy to think about and I talk about generative categorization, summarization, and predictive. And then we walk through five things that I think you as a founder should be thinking about. If you're putting your head in the sand and thinking AI's not going to change everything, that's a problem because it's going to change quite a few things. But before we dive into that, tickets for MicroConf Europe this October are available for sale microconf.com/europe. MicroConf Europe is in Lisbon October 1st through the third speakers include Michelle Hansen of Geocodio, Sherry Walling of ZenFounder, myself, Stephen Innala-Craven of Stridist, and several others yet to be announced. It's going to be an amazing event. Tickets are already flying off the shelves, as they say, microconf.com/europe if you're interested. And with that, let's dive into my conversation with interval set on five insights SaaS founders should know about AI. Einar, thanks for coming back on the show. Einar Vollset: Glad you have me. Rob Walling: It is awesome. We're going to be digging into AI today, obviously talking about things that SaaS founders, whether bootstrapped or not really should be thinking about. I want to kick it off by maybe giving folks an idea of how you've been digging into AI, how you're thinking about it and how much you've been screwing around with it

In episode 663, Rob Walling and Einar Vollset share five insights SaaS founders should know about the state of AI. They offer a unique perspective by sharing a mental model around the four categories of AI and how to use this to think about the impact on your business. Topics we cover: 2:08 - Einar’s thoughts on the state of AI 7:11 - Why you shouldn’t ignore AI 9:33 - The 4 categories of AI 18:36 - AI is not a product differentiator 22:01- Should bootstrapped companies try to build their own LLMs? 24:41- Using AI internally in your company 30:03 - Is my business model a ticking time bomb? Links from the Show: Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter MicroConf Europe MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 662, join Rob Walling for a solo listening adventure where he talks through the key factors to consider in an acquisition, whether to sell a business for five years of runway and knowing when to move on from a SaaS app you built. Topics we cover: 1:15 - Switching jobs while bootstrapping 7:36 - Key factors to consider for an acquisition 18:57 - Taking a job as a founding engineer vs. starting a lifestyle business? 23:49 - Selling a business for five years of runway 27:47- Knowing when it is time to move on from a SaaS app you’ve built Links from the Show: The Art of Selling Your Business: Winning Strategies &amp; Secret Hacks For Exiting on Top Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide to Interviewing Customers  The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers &amp; Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying To You  Episode 628 I The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework  MicroConf Europe MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 662, join Rob Walling for a solo listening adventure where he talks through the key factors to consider in an acquisition, whether to sell a business for five years of runway and knowing when to move on from a SaaS app you built. Topics we cover: 1:15 - Switching jobs while bootstrapping 7:36 - Key factors to consider for an acquisition 18:57 - Taking a job as a founding engineer vs. starting a lifestyle business? 23:49 - Selling a business for five years of runway 27:47- Knowing when it is time to move on from a SaaS app you’ve built Links from the Show: The Art of Selling Your Business: Winning Strategies &amp; Secret Hacks For Exiting on Top Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide to Interviewing Customers  The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers &amp; Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying To You  Episode 628 I The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework  MicroConf Europe MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: The big question is can I find people to talk to? If no one will talk to you, this is such a good lesson. I've said this on the podcast before, but I think it deserves to be stated again. It's that if you try to validate a product before you build it and you cold call, cold email, cold dm, run ads, whatever it is you do, and no one will talk to you about this problem. How are you going to get them to talk to you once you're selling something? Welcome to yet another episode of Startups for the Rest of Us, I'm your host, Rob Walling. Today I'm answering listener questions. We've had an amazing influx of audio and video questions and so I'm going to be digging into those today. My first question is from Misha about switching jobs while bootstrapping a company. Misha: Hi Rob, my name is Misha. I have a question, should I switch jobs while bootstrapping a SaaS company? We haven't launched yet. Our plan is to launch in about two months. The reason I'm looking to switch jobs is while at my current gig I can do the job easy enough and block out time to work on the SaaS product. It comes with plenty of what I call emotional politics, thing

In episode 662, join Rob Walling for a solo listening adventure where he talks through the key factors to consider in an acquisition, whether to sell a business for five years of runway and knowing when to move on from a SaaS app you built. Topics we cover: 1:15 - Switching jobs while bootstrapping 7:36 - Key factors to consider for an acquisition 18:57 - Taking a job as a founding engineer vs. starting a lifestyle business? 23:49 - Selling a business for five years of runway 27:47- Knowing when it is time to move on from a SaaS app you’ve built Links from the Show: The Art of Selling Your Business: Winning Strategies &amp; Secret Hacks For Exiting on Top Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide to Interviewing Customers  The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers &amp; Learn If Your Business is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying To You  Episode 628 I The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework  MicroConf Europe MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 661, Rob Walling chats with Mike Perham, the founder of Sidekiq, who is a solo founder doing millions in revenue as a one-person business.If this isn’t unique enough, Sidekiq originally started as an open-source project before he later monetized it by selling features that aren't available in the core product. You'll also hear how it took him ten years to become "an overnight success" because of all the things Mike tried before launching Sidekiq. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 661, Rob Walling chats with Mike Perham, the founder of Sidekiq, who is a solo founder doing millions in revenue as a one-person business. If this isn’t unique enough, Sidekiq originally started as an open-source project before he later monetized it by selling features that aren't available in the core product. You'll also hear how it took him ten years to become "an overnight success" because of all the things Mike tried before launching Sidekiq. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover: 2:51 - Sidekiq’s unique business model 5:24 - Running a multimillion-dollar software company with no employees 6:41 - How did Mike get here? 8:23 - Mike’s approach to monetizing Sidekiq 12:58- The 10-year overnight success story 14:13 - Did Mike ever have any doubts about this not working? 16:54- Mike’s thoughts around building on top of the Ruby ecosystem 19:26 - Why doesn't Mike hire any employees? 23:31- Mike’s approach to competitors 26:08 - Mike’s response to open-source purists on Hacker News Links from the Show: Mike Perham (@getajobmike) I Twitter Sidekiq Code Code Ship: Mike Perham Hacker News Discussion about Sidekiq MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. This week I talk with Mike Perham, the founder of Sidekiq, t

In episode 661, Rob Walling chats with Mike Perham, the founder of Sidekiq, who is a solo founder doing millions in revenue as a one-person business. If this isn’t unique enough, Sidekiq originally started as an open-source project before he later monetized it by selling features that aren't available in the core product. You'll also hear how it took him ten years to become "an overnight success" because of all the things Mike tried before launching Sidekiq. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover: 2:51 - Sidekiq’s unique business model 5:24 - Running a multimillion-dollar software company with no employees 6:41 - How did Mike get here? 8:23 - Mike’s approach to monetizing Sidekiq 12:58- The 10-year overnight success story 14:13 - Did Mike ever have any doubts about this not working? 16:54- Mike’s thoughts around building on top of the Ruby ecosystem 19:26 - Why doesn't Mike hire any employees? 23:31- Mike’s approach to competitors 26:08 - Mike’s response to open-source purists on Hacker News Links from the Show: Mike Perham (@getajobmike) I Twitter Sidekiq Code Code Ship: Mike Perham Hacker News Discussion about Sidekiq MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 660, join Rob Walling for another solo listening adventure where he talks about the tradeoffs of hiring a team vs. contractors, when to raise funding as a bootstrapper, and the importance of knowing what you are bad at. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 660, join Rob Walling for another solo listening adventure where he talks about the tradeoffs of hiring a team vs. contractors, when to raise funding as a bootstrapper, and the importance of knowing what you are bad at. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover: 1:57 - Hiring full-time employees vs. contractors 6:12 - The danger of thinking your customers are just like you 11:19 - Buying souvenirs 14:34 - Raising funding if you are a bootstrapper 18:18- On career progression 21:51 - The importance of knowing what you are bad at Links from the Show: Comic Lab MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: In my opinion, the wrong way to go about it is to have this magical thinking and to think that, much like me, my customers will want certain things and if your customers are not you, if they're not developers, if you're selling to school teachers, or to realtors, or to construction firms, they're very unlikely to be like you. So know that going in, and this is where talking to your customers and learning how they think and how they buy is critical to your success. Welcome back to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, I'm Rob Walling, and today I'm doing another solo adventure. I'm going to talk about the trade-offs of hiring a team of contractors versus hiring full-time folks. I'm going to talk about not raising funding if you want to be a lifestyle business, talk about the danger of thinking your customers are like you, and maybe another topic or two depending on time.

In episode 660, join Rob Walling for another solo listening adventure where he talks about the tradeoffs of hiring a team vs. contractors, when to raise funding as a bootstrapper, and the importance of knowing what you are bad at. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover: 1:57 - Hiring full-time employees vs. contractors 6:12 - The danger of thinking your customers are just like you 11:19 - Buying souvenirs 14:34 - Raising funding if you are a bootstrapper 18:18- On career progression 21:51 - The importance of knowing what you are bad at Links from the Show: Comic Lab MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 659, Rob Walling speaks with Courtland Allen and Channing Allen, the co-founders of Indie Hackers, to talk about their newfound independence since they are no longer owned by Stripe.For the first half of the episode, they turn the tables and interview Rob about his new book, The SaaS Playbook.They also share a bunch of theories about entrepreneurship and investing. Topics we cover: 4:46 - About Rob’s new book - The SaaS Playbook 6:47 - Why did Rob hire a writing coach? 12:35 - Rob’s decision to launch a Kickstarter for his book 20:39- Rob’s thought process for what to include in his book 28:31 - Startup positioning 31:07 - Founder mindset 35:51 - Is it possible to find a business idea that both makes money and aligns with the things you enjoy doing? 42:38 - What motivates Rob these days? 48:18 - Courtland and Channing’s approach to going indie again with Indie Hackers 53:46 - Did Courtland and Channing have hesitations about going...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 659, Rob Walling speaks with Courtland Allen and Channing Allen, the co-founders of Indie Hackers, to talk about their newfound independence since they are no longer owned by Stripe. For the first half of the episode, they turn the tables and interview Rob about his new book, The SaaS Playbook. They also share a bunch of theories about entrepreneurship and investing. Topics we cover: 4:46 - About Rob’s new book - The SaaS Playbook 6:47 - Why did Rob hire a writing coach? 12:35 - Rob’s decision to launch a Kickstarter for his book 20:39- Rob’s thought process for what to include in his book 28:31 - Startup positioning 31:07 - Founder mindset 35:51 - Is it possible to find a business idea that both makes money and aligns with the things you enjoy doing? 42:38 - What motivates Rob these days? 48:18 - Courtland and Channing’s approach to going indie again with Indie Hackers 53:46 - Did Courtland and Channing have hesitations about going independent again? 57:44 - What does Rob want to see Courtland and Channing do next? 1:01:07 - Indie hackers investing in other indie hackers Links from the Show: Courtland Allen (@csallen) I Twitter Channing Allen (@channingallen) I Twitter Indie Hackers The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business The War of Art Lifting the Veil: The Data Behind Successful Product Launches - Ryan Delk - MicroConf 2014 MicroConf Upcoming Events MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. Today I sit down with Courtland and Channing Allen, the co-founders of Indie Hackers, to talk about their newfound independence. They are no longer owned by Stripe. They also turned the tables on me in this int

In episode 659, Rob Walling speaks with Courtland Allen and Channing Allen, the co-founders of Indie Hackers, to talk about their newfound independence since they are no longer owned by Stripe. For the first half of the episode, they turn the tables and interview Rob about his new book, The SaaS Playbook. They also share a bunch of theories about entrepreneurship and investing. Topics we cover: 4:46 - About Rob’s new book - The SaaS Playbook 6:47 - Why did Rob hire a writing coach? 12:35 - Rob’s decision to launch a Kickstarter for his book 20:39- Rob’s thought process for what to include in his book 28:31 - Startup positioning 31:07 - Founder mindset 35:51 - Is it possible to find a business idea that both makes money and aligns with the things you enjoy doing? 42:38 - What motivates Rob these days? 48:18 - Courtland and Channing’s approach to going indie again with Indie Hackers 53:46 - Did Courtland and Channing have hesitations about going independent again? 57:44 - What does Rob want to see Courtland and Channing do next? 1:01:07 - Indie hackers investing in other indie hackers Links from the Show: Courtland Allen (@csallen) I Twitter Channing Allen (@channingallen) I Twitter Indie Hackers The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business The War of Art Lifting the Veil: The Data Behind Successful Product Launches - Ryan Delk - MicroConf 2014 MicroConf Upcoming Events MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 658, Rob Walling speaks with Geoff Roberts, co-founder of Outseta, about global sales tax compliance for SaaS founders. Geoff wrote a 4,400 article on the topic about when SaaS founders should care about sales tax not only within their own country but globally, along with the pros and cons of various solutions. We also dive into a bit of Geoff’s own story as the cofounder of Outseta. Topics we cover: 3:01 - Why should SaaS founders care about sales tax? 4:20 - At what revenue level does sales tax become important? 6:28 - Country-specific sales tax obligations 7:50 - The added tax complexities of running a membership platform 9:07 - What is a merchant of record? 14:28 - Why did Geoff write this 4,000-word post on sales tax compliance? 16:05 - The pros and cons of using a third-party merchant of record 17:39 - Alternative solutions where you are your own merchant of record 20:38 - How does a foreign government enforce tax requirements for an American...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 658, Rob Walling speaks with Geoff Roberts, co-founder of Outseta, about global sales tax compliance for SaaS founders. Geoff wrote a 4,400 article on the topic about when SaaS founders should care about sales tax not only within their own country but globally, along with the pros and cons of various solutions. We also dive into a bit of Geoff’s own story as the cofounder of Outseta. Topics we cover: 3:01 - Why should SaaS founders care about sales tax? 4:20 - At what revenue level does sales tax become important? 6:28 - Country-specific sales tax obligations 7:50 - The added tax complexities of running a membership platform 9:07 - What is a merchant of record? 14:28 - Why did Geoff write this 4,000-word post on sales tax compliance? 16:05 - The pros and cons of using a third-party merchant of record 17:39 - Alternative solutions where you are your own merchant of record 20:38 - How does a foreign government enforce tax requirements for an American small business? 21:48 - Mitigating sales tax risks if you take on funding or sell the company 23:34 - About Outseta 24:27 - The impact of the pandemic on Outseta 25:20 - The challenge of speaking to two very different audiences Links from the Show: Geoff Roberts @GeoffTRoberts I Twitter Outseta Global Sales Tax Compliance and Remittance  MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, I'm Rob Walling. Today I sit down with Geoff Roberts, co-founder of Outseta. He wrote a 4,400 word article on global sales tax remittance, and I joke with him in today's conversation about how it's one of the most boring topics, but it's something that people should be aware of and that's why I titled this episode As a SaaS Founder, when Should You Care about Sales Tax? Because the answer is likely not on day one, but there does come a point when you need to start thinking about sales tax, not only within your own country but globally. And that's what Geoff and I dig into today. He's done a ton of research on this topic. We define merchant of record, we talk about when you might want to be your own versus using a third party. The pros and cons, and we hear a little bit about Geoff's own story as a founder of Outseta. Before we dive into that, MicroConf Mastermind matching starts in just a week or two. Our applications open on May 3rd, and we've had incredible success connecting nearly 1000 founders around the world over the last three years with approaching $200 million in combined ARR. We have founders in the idea

In episode 658, Rob Walling speaks with Geoff Roberts, co-founder of Outseta, about global sales tax compliance for SaaS founders. Geoff wrote a 4,400 article on the topic about when SaaS founders should care about sales tax not only within their own country but globally, along with the pros and cons of various solutions. We also dive into a bit of Geoff’s own story as the cofounder of Outseta. Topics we cover: 3:01 - Why should SaaS founders care about sales tax? 4:20 - At what revenue level does sales tax become important? 6:28 - Country-specific sales tax obligations 7:50 - The added tax complexities of running a membership platform 9:07 - What is a merchant of record? 14:28 - Why did Geoff write this 4,000-word post on sales tax compliance? 16:05 - The pros and cons of using a third-party merchant of record 17:39 - Alternative solutions where you are your own merchant of record 20:38 - How does a foreign government enforce tax requirements for an American small business? 21:48 - Mitigating sales tax risks if you take on funding or sell the company 23:34 - About Outseta 24:27 - The impact of the pandemic on Outseta 25:20 - The challenge of speaking to two very different audiences Links from the Show: Geoff Roberts @GeoffTRoberts I Twitter Outseta Global Sales Tax Compliance and Remittance  MicroConf Mastermind Matching MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 657, join Rob Walling as he answers more listener questions. Topics range from concierge onboarding to getting higher engagement rates on cold emails. He also covers how to think about balancing product improvements vs. marketing. Topics we cover: 1:00 - Concierge onboarding 7:34 - Branding tips for a new business 14:42 - Getting higher engagement rates on cold outreach emails 21:29 - Prioritizing product improvements vs. funnel-building 14:42 - Getting higher engagement rates on cold outreach emails 21:29 - Prioritizing product improvements vs. funnel-building Links from the Show: Fascinate, Revised and Updated: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist TinySeed  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 657, join Rob Walling as he answers more listener questions. Topics range from concierge onboarding to getting higher engagement rates on cold emails. He also covers how to think about balancing product improvements vs. marketing. Topics we cover: 1:00 - Concierge onboarding 7:34 - Branding tips for a new business 14:42 - Getting higher engagement rates on cold outreach emails 21:29 - Prioritizing product improvements vs. funnel-building 14:42 - Getting higher engagement rates on cold outreach emails 21:29 - Prioritizing product improvements vs. funnel-building Links from the Show: Fascinate, Revised and Updated: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist TinySeed  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: And so that's where it makes sense to invest time into something, and I just mean labor, human hours into something that can build that flywheel. That's what SaaS is, right? It's building a flywheel slowly over time, and if you have high churn, it's hard to do that. If you have low churn, then it's how do we throw everything we can afford at it in order to be able to onboard more people? Welcome back to another episode of The Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and today I'm answering listener questions. We have a great funnel of listener questions coming into the show. Our first four questions are going to be audio or video, and then if we have time, I will dive into a text question or two to try to get through the backlog. Thanks as always for sending your questions. You can email them questions at startupsfortherestofus.com or head to startupsfortherestofus.com. Click ask a question in the top nav, and if you send an audio or video question, it goes to the top of the stack. My first question comes from Mike all the way from France. Mike : Hey Rob, Mike here, all the way from France. I love your podcast, so thanks a lot. I created a SaaS software company called typedesk, which is a template builder slash text expender for entrepreneurs and small teams. My main challenge right now is that we have a low churn, high stickiness once people actually spend time creating their templates and the feedback we get is usually, "Well, I can't just live another day without typedesk." Which is great to hear, but getting to that point is really challenging because I can provide new users with boilerplate templates. Each company's unique. I mean, everyone has a different needs and also it's quite a technical product, so right now working on making sure that we get to the value as quickly as possible and trying to dem

In episode 657, join Rob Walling as he answers more listener questions. Topics range from concierge onboarding to getting higher engagement rates on cold emails. He also covers how to think about balancing product improvements vs. marketing. Topics we cover: 1:00 - Concierge onboarding 7:34 - Branding tips for a new business 14:42 - Getting higher engagement rates on cold outreach emails 21:29 - Prioritizing product improvements vs. funnel-building 14:42 - Getting higher engagement rates on cold outreach emails 21:29 - Prioritizing product improvements vs. funnel-building Links from the Show: Fascinate, Revised and Updated: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist TinySeed  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 656, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure, where he revisits a few topics from earlier episodes. These topics range from balancing having taste while shipping consistently to the only two keys to being remembered for something. Topics we cover: 1:39 - What founders need to know about the Section 174 tax change 5:03 - Balancing developing taste with shipping 10:47 - If you want to be remembered for something, you either have to be the first or the best. 17:13 - Lifestyle bootstrapper vs. ambitious bootstrapper vs. the billion-dollar entrepreneur and why you need to get clear on the path you aspire to take. Links from the Show: Small Software Business Coalition Letter To Congress  Episode 652 I Mixing No-code with Code, Developer Superpowers, $5k Angel Check, and More Listener Questions Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It  The SaaS Playbook  TinySeed  MicroConf Youtube Channel ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 656, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure, where he revisits a few topics from earlier episodes. These topics range from balancing having taste while shipping consistently to the only two keys to being remembered for something. Topics we cover: 1:39 - What founders need to know about the Section 174 tax change 5:03 - Balancing developing taste with shipping 10:47 - If you want to be remembered for something, you either have to be the first or the best. 17:13 - Lifestyle bootstrapper vs. ambitious bootstrapper vs. the billion-dollar entrepreneur and why you need to get clear on the path you aspire to take. Links from the Show: Small Software Business Coalition Letter To Congress  Episode 652 I Mixing No-code with Code, Developer Superpowers, $5k Angel Check, and More Listener Questions Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It  The SaaS Playbook  TinySeed  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: But at a certain point, no matter your taste, no matter how high your taste is, you do have to balance that with shipping things into the world. And this is a really tough balance I think for a lot of people. What I think it comes down to is knowing yourself. If you are the type of person that sits and works on something for way, way, way too long, you need to ship way earlier than you think. And if you're the type of person that ships stuff too early, then you need to wait longer and you need to perfect it and make it better. And if you're shipping a lot of things and none are resonating, you probably need to ship fewer things, not more, but you need to spend more time on them and make them better. Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and this week I'm walking through a couple Rob solo topics. I'm going to revisit that concept of having taste and what that means and how to balance that with shipping. I'm going to talk about being remembered for something or being the best, and I'm going to talk about getting clearer about what each of us is seeking. All of these, of course, with a bent on building software companies or really just being an entrepreneur and trying to change our lives in our little corner of the world. Before I dive into those topics, I have a special guest correspondent, my remote co

In episode 656, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure, where he revisits a few topics from earlier episodes. These topics range from balancing having taste while shipping consistently to the only two keys to being remembered for something. Topics we cover: 1:39 - What founders need to know about the Section 174 tax change 5:03 - Balancing developing taste with shipping 10:47 - If you want to be remembered for something, you either have to be the first or the best. 17:13 - Lifestyle bootstrapper vs. ambitious bootstrapper vs. the billion-dollar entrepreneur and why you need to get clear on the path you aspire to take. Links from the Show: Small Software Business Coalition Letter To Congress  Episode 652 I Mixing No-code with Code, Developer Superpowers, $5k Angel Check, and More Listener Questions Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It  The SaaS Playbook  TinySeed  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

It’s possible to build a multimillion dollar startup without venture capital. I know this, because I’ve done it myself and I’ve watched hundreds of other founders do the same. This podcast is all about the strategies and frameworks that can get you there too.Welcome to Startups For the Rest of Us, a podcast that’s focused on helping developers, designers and entrepreneurs build life-changing businesses without begging venture capitalists for money. You’re in the right place if you’re a bootstrapped or mostly bootstrapped SaaS founder who wants to build and grow your company faster.I’m your host, Rob Walling. I’m a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, I’ve written 4 books about starting companies, and I’ve invested in more than 150 startups. For over 13 years, I’ve shown up here every Tuesday sharing my experience starting, growing, and mentoring startups, so you can avoid the mistakes others have made. When I first got started, I realized that most...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

It’s possible to build a multimillion dollar startup without venture capital. I know this, because I’ve done it myself and I’ve watched hundreds of other founders do the same. This podcast is all about the strategies and frameworks that can get you there too. Welcome to Startups For the Rest of Us, a podcast that’s focused on helping developers, designers and entrepreneurs build life-changing businesses without begging venture capitalists for money. You’re in the right place if you’re a bootstrapped or mostly bootstrapped SaaS founder who wants to build and grow your company faster. I’m your host, Rob Walling. I’m a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, I’ve written 4 books about starting companies, and I’ve invested in more than 150 startups. For over 13 years, I’ve shown up here every Tuesday sharing my experience starting, growing, and mentoring startups, so you can avoid the mistakes others have made. When I first got started, I realized that most of the startup advice I could find online was aimed at companies focused on billion dollar exits, or founders looking to build a slide deck instead of a real business. I was constantly frustrated that no one was providing stories, strategies and tactics for founders who just want to build a real product for real customers who pay them real money. If you want to launch a startup, or grow your SaaS startup so it supports you full-time, OR you’re already making six or seven figures and want to grow your business faster, the stories, strategies, and tactics on this show will help you do just that. Go ahead and subscribe and I’ll be in your ears next Tuesday. Links from the Pod: Rob Walling | Twitter Startups For the Rest of Us | Twitter MicroConf YouTube Channel

It’s possible to build a multimillion dollar startup without venture capital. I know this, because I’ve done it myself and I’ve watched hundreds of other founders do the same. This podcast is all about the strategies and frameworks that can get you there too. Welcome to Startups For the Rest of Us, a podcast that’s focused on helping developers, designers and entrepreneurs build life-changing businesses without begging venture capitalists for money. You’re in the right place if you’re a bootstrapped or mostly bootstrapped SaaS founder who wants to build and grow your company faster. I’m your host, Rob Walling. I’m a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, I’ve written 4 books about starting companies, and I’ve invested in more than 150 startups. For over 13 years, I’ve shown up here every Tuesday sharing my experience starting, growing, and mentoring startups, so you can avoid the mistakes others have made. When I first got started, I realized that most of the startup advice I could find online was aimed at companies focused on billion dollar exits, or founders looking to build a slide deck instead of a real business. I was constantly frustrated that no one was providing stories, strategies and tactics for founders who just want to build a real product for real customers who pay them real money. If you want to launch a startup, or grow your SaaS startup so it supports you full-time, OR you’re already making six or seven figures and want to grow your business faster, the stories, strategies, and tactics on this show will help you do just that. Go ahead and subscribe and I’ll be in your ears next Tuesday. Links from the Pod: Rob Walling | Twitter Startups For the Rest of Us | Twitter MicroConf YouTube Channel

In episode 655, Rob Walling answers listener questions on enterprise pricing frameworks, validating a business idea, and if it is possible for your churn rate to be too low. Topics we cover:  2:17 - How to avoid login abuse on individual plans 8:12 - How to validate a business idea before committing to it 15:26 - Enterprise pricing frameworks 19:34 - What Rob learned in the early days as a consultant and building early products pre-Drip 26:22 - Finding role fit in a SaaS 32:21 - Is it possible to have a churn rate that is too low? 33:41 - How much should you pay yourself vs. investing back into the business? Links from the Show: The SaaS Playbook  Validate Your SaaS Idea Fast  State of Independent SaaS Report The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Episode 628 I The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 655, Rob Walling answers listener questions on enterprise pricing frameworks, validating a business idea, and if it is possible for your churn rate to be too low. Topics we cover:  2:17 - How to avoid login abuse on individual plans 8:12 - How to validate a business idea before committing to it 15:26 - Enterprise pricing frameworks 19:34 - What Rob learned in the early days as a consultant and building early products pre-Drip 26:22 - Finding role fit in a SaaS 32:21 - Is it possible to have a churn rate that is too low? 33:41 - How much should you pay yourself vs. investing back into the business? Links from the Show: The SaaS Playbook  Validate Your SaaS Idea Fast  State of Independent SaaS Report The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Episode 628 I The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: I will admit that taught me a lot about how to interview, how to get jobs, how to present myself, and also how to work with a lot of different people and oh, this is a good one actually, a lot of different code bases. And this might be one of the reasons I was never scared to acquire companies or SaaS apps in essence, because I knew that no matter the code base, I could get in there and figure it out because so much of my career had been going into existing code bases and either refactoring or improving or adding on, and so I would've to learn the code base quickly. Sometimes I would've to learn the language, and so I knew that I could buy a SaaS app or a software product in a language that maybe I knew, maybe I didn't, and that I could figure it out. Welcome to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, I'm Rob Walling and I'm stoked to be here today. We got some great listener questions I'm going to comb through today covering pricing, idea validation, enterprise pricing, what you can learn as a consultant and more. This is the show where we dive into bootstrapping and mostly bootstrapping software companies, SaaS companies, but honestly, there's a lot of listeners that are doing hardware info products. It really is just being an entrepreneur and trying to change your life and those around you through entrepreneurship. Whether you raise a bit of funding, whether you raise a lot of funding, it's just about being motivated, not sacrificing your life or your mental health to get where you want to go. Before we dive into the first question, I have a new book. It's my fourth book. It'

In episode 655, Rob Walling answers listener questions on enterprise pricing frameworks, validating a business idea, and if it is possible for your churn rate to be too low. Topics we cover:  2:17 - How to avoid login abuse on individual plans 8:12 - How to validate a business idea before committing to it 15:26 - Enterprise pricing frameworks 19:34 - What Rob learned in the early days as a consultant and building early products pre-Drip 26:22 - Finding role fit in a SaaS 32:21 - Is it possible to have a churn rate that is too low? 33:41 - How much should you pay yourself vs. investing back into the business? Links from the Show: The SaaS Playbook  Validate Your SaaS Idea Fast  State of Independent SaaS Report The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Episode 628 I The 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 654, Rob Walling chats with Tom Merritt, who is the host of multiple shows, including Daily Tech News, Know A Little More, Sword &amp; Laser, Cordkillers, and more. Tom has more podcasts than anyone I know, and this episode will be a little different since Tom isn’t a SaaS founder or someone who wrote a book for founders.Instead, you’ll learn about the systems, processes, and discipline that Tom has set up so that he can be such a prolific creator. You’ll also learn more about his innate ability to summarize complex situations and then talk about both sides in a fair and balanced way. Topics we cover:  3:13 - Tom’s decision to go into business for himself in 2013 7:10 - Being an early adopter of Patreon 9:29 - Dealing with the emotional aspect in the early days 10:40 - The hardest parts of launching a daily show in the early days 13:01 - Tom’s approach to dealing with public criticism 19:07 - Tom’s process for shipping new content every day...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 654, Rob Walling chats with Tom Merritt, who is the host of multiple shows, including Daily Tech News, Know A Little More, Sword &amp; Laser, Cordkillers, and more. Tom has more podcasts than anyone I know, and this episode will be a little different since Tom is not a SaaS founder or someone who wrote a book for founders. Instead, you’ll learn about the systems, processes, and discipline that Tom has set up so that he can be such a prolific creator. You’ll also learn more about his innate ability to summarize complex situations and then talk about both sides in a fair and balanced way. Topics we cover:  3:13 - Tom’s decision to go into business for himself in 2013 7:10 - Being an early adopter of Patreon 9:29 - Dealing with the emotional aspect in the early days 10:40 - The hardest parts of launching a daily show in the early days 13:01 - Tom’s approach to dealing with public criticism 19:07 - Tom’s process for shipping new content every day for 10 years 24:00 - Has Tom missed a day for recording The Daily Tech News Show in 10 years? 25:01 - Tom’s ability to see and communicate both sides of a story 28:22 - Is Tom using AI in his workflow? 34:10 - The Secret Hidden Track Links from the Show: Tom Merritt I Twitter Tommerritt.com Daily Tech News Show  ElevenLabs  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. Today, you get to hear me have a conversation with Tom Merritt, the host of Daily Tech News Show, Cordkillers, Current Geek, It's A Thing, Sword and Laser, Know A Little More. He has more podcasts than any five people I know, and this episode is a little different. Tom Merritt is not a SaaS founder. He has not written a book for SaaS founders, but I'm fascinated with people who are able to ship something every day for years, in fact, decades as you'll hear us get into it. I asked him about his thought process and then the physical process of how he has shipped Daily Tech News Show five days a week for a decade. Talk about grind and discipline to get it out. He's a tech pundit, a journalist/pundit, but he's very balanced and I've always admired his ability to summarize complex situations and then talk about both sides of them. He doesn't get so far out in left field or out in right field like so many pundits do. They do it for the shock value and he doesn't. So, if you know who Tom Merritt is and you've heard him on one of these shows, I'm sure this will be fun for you. If you haven't and you came here today for some SaaS-focused tactics, this is not your episode and you can obviously feel free to skip this one. But I really

In episode 654, Rob Walling chats with Tom Merritt, who is the host of multiple shows, including Daily Tech News, Know A Little More, Sword &amp; Laser, Cordkillers, and more. Tom has more podcasts than anyone I know, and this episode will be a little different since Tom is not a SaaS founder or someone who wrote a book for founders. Instead, you’ll learn about the systems, processes, and discipline that Tom has set up so that he can be such a prolific creator. You’ll also learn more about his innate ability to summarize complex situations and then talk about both sides in a fair and balanced way. Topics we cover:  3:13 - Tom’s decision to go into business for himself in 2013 7:10 - Being an early adopter of Patreon 9:29 - Dealing with the emotional aspect in the early days 10:40 - The hardest parts of launching a daily show in the early days 13:01 - Tom’s approach to dealing with public criticism 19:07 - Tom’s process for shipping new content every day for 10 years 24:00 - Has Tom missed a day for recording The Daily Tech News Show in 10 years? 25:01 - Tom’s ability to see and communicate both sides of a story 28:22 - Is Tom using AI in his workflow? 34:10 - The Secret Hidden Track Links from the Show: Tom Merritt I Twitter Tommerritt.com Daily Tech News Show  ElevenLabs  MicroConf Youtube Channel If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 653, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he talks through three topics, including the story of an Armageddon beer, developing taste, and an important question that all entrepreneurs should ask themselves. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 653, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he talks through three topics, including the story of an Armageddon beer, developing taste, and an important question that all entrepreneurs should ask themselves. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:41 - The Armageddon beer story 10:49 - Developing taste as an entrepreneur 18:25 - What if I succeed? Links from the Show: MicroConf U.S. MicroConf Remote 6.0  The Gap by Ira Glass TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: The Armageddon beer is there for when things get so bad that there is no hope, it's when it's absolute Armageddon. And when that happens, you and I are going to come into this trailer alone, we're going to open that beer, each going to drink half, then we're going to drive to the shop, the corporate headquarters, we're going to turn in our keys and we're going to walk. If it's that bad, we're going to drink the beer. And if it's not, then we're going to finish this job. Welcome back to another episode of Startups With the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and this week we have a Rob solo adventure, where I'm going to talk through a few topics including a story about an Armageddon beer, how I would think about attacking a competitive market, asking yourself, "What will I do if I succeed?" And maybe more if time allows. Before we dive into that, I want to let you know that MicroConf U.S. tickets are now sold out. So if you want to come to MicroConf U.S. here in Denver in a few weeks, get on the wait list at microconf.com/americas. I would expec

In episode 653, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he talks through three topics, including the story of an Armageddon beer, developing taste, and an important question that all entrepreneurs should ask themselves. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:41 - The Armageddon beer story 10:49 - Developing taste as an entrepreneur 18:25 - What if I succeed? Links from the Show: MicroConf U.S. MicroConf Remote 6.0  The Gap by Ira Glass TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 652, Rob Walling answers more listener questions with Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal. They cover topics from the most important superpower for developers to the best resources for learning how to code and should you ever mix no-code with code. Topics we cover:  2:03 - The most important superpower for developers 11:39 - Combining no-code with code 20:31- Should you take a $5k angel investment? 25:30 - How to do outreach for initial idea validation calls 29:09 - How should bootstrapped founders handle the Section 174 changes 33:50 - Best resources to learn how to code Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter Derrickreimer.com  SavvyCal  Episode 642 I The Pros and Cons of Building a No-Code MVP  MicroConf Remote 6.0  TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 652, Rob Walling answers more listener questions with Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal. They cover topics from the most important superpower for developers to the best resources for learning how to code and should you ever mix no-code with code. Topics we cover:  2:03 - The most important superpower for developers 11:39 - Combining no-code with code 20:31- Should you take a $5k angel investment? 25:30 - How to do outreach for initial idea validation calls 29:09 - How should bootstrapped founders handle the Section 174 changes 33:50 - Best resources to learn how to code Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter Derrickreimer.com  SavvyCal  Episode 642 I The Pros and Cons of Building a No-Code MVP  MicroConf Remote 6.0  TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, I'm Rob Walling, and this is the podcast where we talk about topics related to building, launching, and growing successful software products with an emphasis on SaaS and an emphasis on bootstrapping or mostly bootstrapping your company. Talk about doing it in a capital efficient way that allows you to have a sane life as you change your life and those around you. Today I answer listener questions with Derrick Reimer. He is a fan favorite. We answer questions like, should I mix no code with code? If I'm a developer and I need to develop one superpower to be a successful SaaS founder, what should I develop and should I take a $5,000 angel check? Plus we have two or three other listener questions. It's a great episode today. I hope you enjoy it. But before we dive into that, MicroConf in Denver in just about a month is now sold out. I had mentioned a few times on the show that we had, I don't know, 25, 30 tickets left and they've been selling really strong. So MicroConf is sold out. But if you would like to attend, go to microconf.com/americas and get on the wait list. I would expect a few tickets to become available in the coming weeks. In addition, MicroConf Remote is next week. That's where we teach founders how to up their sales game, diving into cold email and doing demos, and just getting better in general as a founder at sales. That's at microconf.com/remote. And with that, let's dive into my conversation with Derek. Derrick Reimer back for more punishment, huh? Derrick Reimer: Back for more. I'm ready. Rob Walling: We have some good listener questions that are in your wheelhouse today. I'm excited to have you back on the show. First question is f

In episode 652, Rob Walling answers more listener questions with Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal. They cover topics from the most important superpower for developers to the best resources for learning how to code and should you ever mix no-code with code. Topics we cover:  2:03 - The most important superpower for developers 11:39 - Combining no-code with code 20:31- Should you take a $5k angel investment? 25:30 - How to do outreach for initial idea validation calls 29:09 - How should bootstrapped founders handle the Section 174 changes 33:50 - Best resources to learn how to code Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter Derrickreimer.com  SavvyCal  Episode 642 I The Pros and Cons of Building a No-Code MVP  MicroConf Remote 6.0  TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 651, Rob Walling catches up with fan favorite Mike Taber, who co-hosted the first 448 episodes of Startups For the Rest of Us. The last time he was on the podcast, Bluetick was still a side hustle. Now, 15 months later, he shares that the app is now profitable, supporting him full-time, and gives an update on some key parts of his entrepreneurial journey. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 651, Rob Walling catches up with fan favorite Mike Taber, who co-hosted the first 448 episodes of Startups For the Rest of Us. The last time he was on the podcast, Bluetick was still a side hustle. Now, 15 months later, he shares that the app is now profitable, supporting him full-time, and gives an update on some key parts of his entrepreneurial journey. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:34 - An update on Bluetick 6:26 - Is Bluetick a profitable business? 8:59 - Why Mike decided to pivot his company to supporting agencies 13:34 - Setting up Bluetick to scale from 1x to 500x volume 15:33 - Is Mike doing much marketing these days? 19:12 - Mike’s celebration moment in the past 15 months 20:40 - When Mike realized he had product-market fit 23:54 - How Mike thinks about implementing new features 24:55 - Mike’s low point in the past 15 months 26:27 - What changed that allowed Mike’s business to grow so dramatically over the past year? 32:50 - Is Mike planning to update his marketing to position the product to agencies? Links from the Show: Mike Taber (@SingleFounder) I Twitter Bluetick.io MicroConf US If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: It's Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. This week, I talk with Mike Taber, how he has gone from Bluetick being a side hustle for years to finally being a full-time gig for him, a profitable app that supports him full-time. I'm really happy for Mike. We have a fun conversation. For those that don't know, for the first 448 episodes of this podcast, Mike and I co-hosted Start

In episode 651, Rob Walling catches up with fan favorite Mike Taber, who co-hosted the first 448 episodes of Startups For the Rest of Us. The last time he was on the podcast, Bluetick was still a side hustle. Now, 15 months later, he shares that the app is now profitable, supporting him full-time, and gives an update on some key parts of his entrepreneurial journey. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:34 - An update on Bluetick 6:26 - Is Bluetick a profitable business? 8:59 - Why Mike decided to pivot his company to supporting agencies 13:34 - Setting up Bluetick to scale from 1x to 500x volume 15:33 - Is Mike doing much marketing these days? 19:12 - Mike’s celebration moment in the past 15 months 20:40 - When Mike realized he had product-market fit 23:54 - How Mike thinks about implementing new features 24:55 - Mike’s low point in the past 15 months 26:27 - What changed that allowed Mike’s business to grow so dramatically over the past year? 32:50 - Is Mike planning to update his marketing to position the product to agencies? Links from the Show: Mike Taber (@SingleFounder) I Twitter Bluetick.io MicroConf US If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 650, Rob Walling answers more listener questions. We cover topics like how to get more customers while working a full-time job, talking to users when there is a language barrier, and whether to buy vs. build a SaaS product. Topics we cover:  1:59 - Buying a small SaaS for $10,000 vs. getting financing and buying a SaaS for 6-figures 8:00 - How to get more customers while working full-time 13:33 - Can you hire someone to find an established SaaS business for you to buy? 16:40 - Diverse entrepreneurship podcast recommendations 20:08 - Talking to users when there is a language barrier Links from the Show: MicroConf Remote 6.0  SaaS Playbook  Zen Founder Software Social  Indie Hackers  In Demand: How To Grow Your SaaS to $100k MRR  They Got Acquired  Afford Anything Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide To Interviewing Customers  The Jobs-To-Be-Done Handbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 650, Rob Walling answers more listener questions. We cover topics like how to get more customers while working a full-time job, talking to users when there is a language barrier, and whether to buy vs. build a SaaS product. Topics we cover:  1:59 - Buying a small SaaS for $10,000 vs. getting financing and buying a SaaS for 6-figures 8:00 - How to get more customers while working full-time 13:33 - Can you hire someone to find an established SaaS business for you to buy? 16:40 - Diverse entrepreneurship podcast recommendations 20:08 - Talking to users when there is a language barrier Links from the Show: MicroConf Remote 6.0  SaaS Playbook  Zen Founder Software Social  Indie Hackers  In Demand: How To Grow Your SaaS to $100k MRR  They Got Acquired  Afford Anything Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide To Interviewing Customers  The Jobs-To-Be-Done Handbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Buying lets you skip the line, so to speak. It lets you skip 12, 18, 24 months of building, launching, finding product-market fit. And while there are obvious pros and cons to buying versus building, I am a huge proponent of it if you have the resources. In fact, if you go back to a lot of the speaking and the teaching I was doing from about 2008 until maybe 2011, a lot of that emphasized buying equally with building from scratch. It's that time of the week for another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and this week I am answering listener questions. Got some really good questions that have come in, people asking for thoughts on acquiring a SaaS app, how to get more customers while working full-time, and advice for talking to users when there's a language barrier. But before we dive into that, our next MicroConf Remote is coming up in just a few weeks, March 21st and 22nd. Level Up Your SaaS Sales, that's the title. It's totally focused on SaaS sales. It's a fully virtual event, happens over two days, one and a half hours per day. It's $30 price tag. I'

In episode 650, Rob Walling answers more listener questions. We cover topics like how to get more customers while working a full-time job, talking to users when there is a language barrier, and whether to buy vs. build a SaaS product. Topics we cover:  1:59 - Buying a small SaaS for $10,000 vs. getting financing and buying a SaaS for 6-figures 8:00 - How to get more customers while working full-time 13:33 - Can you hire someone to find an established SaaS business for you to buy? 16:40 - Diverse entrepreneurship podcast recommendations 20:08 - Talking to users when there is a language barrier Links from the Show: MicroConf Remote 6.0  SaaS Playbook  Zen Founder Software Social  Indie Hackers  In Demand: How To Grow Your SaaS to $100k MRR  They Got Acquired  Afford Anything Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide To Interviewing Customers  The Jobs-To-Be-Done Handbook If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 649, Rob Walling chats with Pete Kazanjy about his book Founding Sales, which is designed to help SaaS founders learn how to sell as well as how to hire and scale sales. We cover a lot, including objection handling, how to ask for the sale, and mindset shifts you need to make when learning how to sell. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 649, Rob Walling chats with Pete Kazanjy about his book Founding Sales, which is designed to help SaaS founders learn how to sell as well as how to hire and scale sales. We cover a lot, including objection handling, how to ask for the sale, and mindset shifts you need to make when learning how to sell. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:53 - Overview of Founding Sales 7:54 - Growing TalentBin to $6M ARR 10:28 - What Pete is working on today with Atrium 12:28 - Mindset changes when doing sales for the first time 19:26 - Speed vs. production value for sales materials 22:46 - Handling objections 26:50 - Asking for the sale 31:03 - Relentless execution 32:15 - What sets good sales reps apart from those that struggle? Links from the Show: Pete Kazanjy (@Kazanjy) I Twitter Atrium Founding Sales Modern Sales Pros Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into A Sales Machine With The $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com The Lean Startup  The Startup Owner’s Manual  ElevenLabs Prime Voice AI  <a href="https://microconf.com/americas" target="_blank" rel="noopener"

In episode 649, Rob Walling chats with Pete Kazanjy about his book Founding Sales, which is designed to help SaaS founders learn how to sell as well as how to hire and scale sales. We cover a lot, including objection handling, how to ask for the sale, and mindset shifts you need to make when learning how to sell. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:53 - Overview of Founding Sales 7:54 - Growing TalentBin to $6M ARR 10:28 - What Pete is working on today with Atrium 12:28 - Mindset changes when doing sales for the first time 19:26 - Speed vs. production value for sales materials 22:46 - Handling objections 26:50 - Asking for the sale 31:03 - Relentless execution 32:15 - What sets good sales reps apart from those that struggle? Links from the Show: Pete Kazanjy (@Kazanjy) I Twitter Atrium Founding Sales Modern Sales Pros Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into A Sales Machine With The $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com The Lean Startup  The Startup Owner’s Manual 

In episode 648, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers a bunch of listener questions. Some topics covered include competing against a nonprofit, validating step 1 app marketplace businesses, and driving traffic to idea validation landing pages. Topics we cover:  2:02 - Competing against a nonprofit as a startup 4:11 - The trend of bigger companies building more projects in adjacent verticals 8:03 - Incorporating as a Delaware C Corp 9:57 - Bootstrapping a spinoff startup from a dev agency 14:27 - How to go to market when solving a latent pain 19:09 - How to validate step 1 app marketplace businesses 22:19 - Driving traffic to an idea validation landing page Links from the Show: SaaS Playbook  The Elephant in the Room: The Myth of Exponential Hypergrowth Episode 442 I Corporate Structures and How The Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down The Line  Stripe Atlas  How to Get Your First Hundred Customers for Your SaaS Product ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 648, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers a bunch of listener questions. Some topics covered include competing against a nonprofit, validating step 1 app marketplace businesses, and driving traffic to idea validation landing pages. Topics we cover:  2:02 - Competing against a nonprofit as a startup 4:11 - The trend of bigger companies building more projects in adjacent verticals 8:03 - Incorporating as a Delaware C Corp 9:57 - Bootstrapping a spinoff startup from a dev agency 14:27 - How to go to market when solving a latent pain 19:09 - How to validate step 1 app marketplace businesses 22:19 - Driving traffic to an idea validation landing page Links from the Show: SaaS Playbook  The Elephant in the Room: The Myth of Exponential Hypergrowth Episode 442 I Corporate Structures and How The Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down The Line  Stripe Atlas  How to Get Your First Hundred Customers for Your SaaS Product  Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: So in my opinion, while I hate saying, "Well, you should just build it," in the cases of a lot of these smaller products that you're trying to get into the marketplaces, I think that building it first without doing a ton of validation is probably the way to go. It's to act quickly, get something tested. Now, realize that it may fail and you may have wasted that time and that's validation that it was a bad idea. The problem with building without validating is usually building takes, what, six months, 12 months? Heaven forbid people spend 18 months sitting in a basement building and they've pissed away all that time when they could have done some validation and quickly gotten a signal of whether it's going to work or not. Welcome back to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm your host Rob Walling, and in this episode, I'm going to answer listener questions. We have a great backlog of questions. I'm going to work through as many as I can today. Before we dive into the first question, I wanted to let you know that my fourth book is complete. It's called The SaaS Playbook: Build a Multimillion-Dollar Startup Without Venture Capital. It's not solely focused on bootstrapping, you can raise a little bit of money, it's just not going down the venture track. It's all the things I talk about here on this show and at MicroConf and through Ti

In episode 648, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers a bunch of listener questions. Some topics covered include competing against a nonprofit, validating step 1 app marketplace businesses, and driving traffic to idea validation landing pages. Topics we cover:  2:02 - Competing against a nonprofit as a startup 4:11 - The trend of bigger companies building more projects in adjacent verticals 8:03 - Incorporating as a Delaware C Corp 9:57 - Bootstrapping a spinoff startup from a dev agency 14:27 - How to go to market when solving a latent pain 19:09 - How to validate step 1 app marketplace businesses 22:19 - Driving traffic to an idea validation landing page Links from the Show: SaaS Playbook  The Elephant in the Room: The Myth of Exponential Hypergrowth Episode 442 I Corporate Structures and How The Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down The Line  Stripe Atlas  How to Get Your First Hundred Customers for Your SaaS Product  Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this bonus episode, we are playing back the audio from yesterday’s TinySeed Application Q&amp;A livestream.The TinySeed team (Rob Walling, Tracy Osborn, and Alex McQuade) answers questions from the audience about the application process.TinySeed is a year-long, remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders. Our program is designed to help founders with a revenue-generating SaaS optimize product-market fit and grow faster. Spring 2023 applications are open until from February 6th to February 19th, 2023.For more information about the program and application process, check out https://tinyseed.com/program Links from the Pod Watch this Q&amp;A on YouTube Apply for TinySeed Tracy Osborn I Twitter Alex McQuade I Twitter Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome to this bonus episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and today I'm chiming in to let you know that TinySeed applications for our next batch are open. They close in a couple...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this bonus episode, we are playing back the audio from yesterday’s TinySeed Application Q&amp;A livestream. The TinySeed team (Rob Walling, Tracy Osborn, and Alex McQuade) answers questions from the audience about the application process. TinySeed is a year-long, remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders. Our program is designed to help founders with a revenue-generating SaaS optimize product-market fit and grow faster.  Spring 2023 applications are open until from February 6th to February 19th, 2023. For more information about the program and application process, check out https://tinyseed.com/program Links from the Pod Watch this Q&amp;A on YouTube Apply for TinySeed Tracy Osborn I Twitter Alex McQuade I Twitter Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome to this bonus episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and today I'm chiming in to let you know that TinySeed applications for our next batch are open. They close in a couple weeks on February 19th. If you or someone you know might be interested in the right amount of funding for Bootstrap SaaS, amazing mentorship, world-class community, all the support you need to get there faster, you should head to TinySeed.com/apply. That's it for the key takeaway of today's bonus episode. I also wanted to include the audio from a livestream I did yesterday with a couple other TinySeed folks, our program director and program manager, and we answered audience questions about TinySeed, about the program, anything that someone is wondering about, we talked it through. What's amazing is even after doing a lot of these livestream Q&amp;As, we still find that there are interesting and informative questions being asked, and each time we think, "Well, we'll probably get through these in about half an hour and by the end, we're just racing to answer all of them. The session had a lot of energy and if you're interested in learning more about TinySeed, even if you don't plan to apply, it'll be a fun listen. If not, delete it. I'll be back with your regularly scheduled programming next Tuesday morning, US time. With that, let's roll right in to our TinySeed Q&amp;A. We are live. I love that TinySeed piece. Alex McQuade: I know. I love it so much. Rob Walling: I'm- Alex McQuade: It's such a pump up song. Rob Walling: I'm very excited. It's like Eye of the Tiger. I'm [inaudible 00:01:35] Rob Walling and I am here with Tracy Osborn... Tracy Osborn: Yep. Hey, happy to be here. Rob Walling: ... Program... Tracy Osborn: Super happy. Rob Walling: ... Program Director of TinySeed and Alex McQuade. Alex McQuade: Hello. Super excited to be here as well. Rob Walling: Program manager for our EMEA program. We have a lot of good questions. Looks like people are piling into the stream. Thank you so much for joining us today. This is our fourth or fifth time we've done this and every time we think A, there's not going to be a lot of people that show up and we're always wrong, and B... Tracy Osborn: We'll just be [inaudible 00:02:03]. Rob Walling: ... there won't be enough questions and we're always wrong, right? This will be [inaudible 00:02:08]. Tracy Osborn: It feels like we did did this last month. Time is... Rob Walling: I know. Tracy Osborn: ... totally flies. Alex McQuade: [inaudible 00:02:11]? Yeah. Tracy Osborn: Mm-hmm. Rob Walling: I always leave here feeling energized and excited. Applications opened three days ago? Tracy, you want to talk a little bit about? Tracy Osborn: What day is it? It's Monday? Rob Walling: It is. Tracy Osbor

In this bonus episode, we are playing back the audio from yesterday’s TinySeed Application Q&amp;A livestream. The TinySeed team (Rob Walling, Tracy Osborn, and Alex McQuade) answers questions from the audience about the application process. TinySeed is a year-long, remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders. Our program is designed to help founders with a revenue-generating SaaS optimize product-market fit and grow faster.  Spring 2023 applications are open until from February 6th to February 19th, 2023. For more information about the program and application process, check out https://tinyseed.com/program Links from the Pod Watch this Q&amp;A on YouTube Apply for TinySeed Tracy Osborn I Twitter Alex McQuade I Twitter

In episode 647, Rob Walling chats with Whitney Deterding about product marketing and how to equip sales, support, and your entire team with critical product knowledge as you grow. We dive into how to communicate all aspects of your product, from individual features to benefits and use cases.When you're one or two people, you're doing all of this as a founder, but the moment you have three, four, or more people on your team, you have to figure out a way to communicate how the product is changing effectively. Otherwise, your prospects, sales, and support won't know that. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 647, Rob Walling chats with Whitney Deterding about product marketing and how to equip sales, support, and your entire team with critical product knowledge as you grow. We dive into how to communicate all aspects of your product, from individual features to benefits and use cases. When you're one or two people, you're doing all of this as a founder, but the moment you have three, four, or more people on your team, you have to figure out a way to communicate how the product is changing effectively. Otherwise, your prospects, sales, and support won't know that. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  4:08 - What is product marketing? 8:56 - How do you implement cross team knowledge sharing? 14:54 - When should you start writing product or launch briefs? 16:35 - Training new sales and customer success people 23:05 - How to equip your salespeople 31:18 - Product positioning 35:13 - How to navigate positioning changes over times Links from the Show: ​Whitney Deterding (@WhitDeterding) I Twitter Coschedule  Guru TinySeed TinySeed Applications Q&amp;A on February 8 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Welcome back to another episode of Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling, and in this episode I talk with Whitney Deterding about product marketing. Sounds really boring, but it's re

In episode 647, Rob Walling chats with Whitney Deterding about product marketing and how to equip sales, support, and your entire team with critical product knowledge as you grow. We dive into how to communicate all aspects of your product, from individual features to benefits and use cases. When you're one or two people, you're doing all of this as a founder, but the moment you have three, four, or more people on your team, you have to figure out a way to communicate how the product is changing effectively. Otherwise, your prospects, sales, and support won't know that. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  4:08 - What is product marketing? 8:56 - How do you implement cross team knowledge sharing? 14:54 - When should you start writing product or launch briefs? 16:35 - Training new sales and customer success people 23:05 - How to equip your salespeople 31:18 - Product positioning 35:13 - How to navigate positioning changes over times Links from the Show: ​Whitney Deterding (@WhitDeterding) I Twitter Coschedule  Guru TinySeed TinySeed Applications Q&amp;A on February 8 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this bonus episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, we realized that we have never talked about the refocusing of MicroConf US and MicroConf Europe and growing our extended hallway track to focus on helping founders build more connections.Since we started the event in 2011, we've done 35 of them now. The feedback we've always gotten is that the hallway track is the best part of MicroConf, and the speakers are an excuse to get us all in a room so that we can meet one another and build those relationships.After Covid hit, we decided to take a chance and adjust our traditional format. We cut down the number of speakers and focused more on additional ways to grow the hallway track. In MicroConf US - Denver - this April, we’re at 5 speakers. All the rest of the time is spent doing activities and connecting with other founders, including through offsite adventures, roundtables, workshops, etc.Finally, we’ve also introduced Founder by Founder, which is like speed...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this bonus episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, we realized that we have never talked about the refocusing of MicroConf US and MicroConf Europe and growing our extended hallway track to focus on helping founders build more connections. Since we started the event in 2011, we've done 35 of them now. The feedback we've always gotten is that the hallway track is the best part of MicroConf, and the speakers are an excuse to get us all in a room so that we can meet one another and build those relationships. After Covid hit, we decided to take a chance and adjust our traditional format. We cut down the number of speakers and focused more on additional ways to grow the hallway track. In MicroConf US - Denver - this April, we’re at 5 speakers. All the rest of the time is spent doing activities and connecting with other founders, including through offsite adventures, roundtables, workshops, etc. Finally, we’ve also introduced Founder by Founder, which is like speed networking. We set a seven-minute timer and encouraged everyone to talk to someone they don't know and introduce themselves. Whether it's at the workshops, the offsite adventures, or Founder by Founder, we've found getting out of your bubble and connecting with other founders has been an extremely valuable change and a shift to the way that the MicroConf in-person events happen. Head over to Microconf.com/events to see all of our events happening this year. Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome to this special bonus episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. This is a Thursday drop. It's a .5 episode, which we've used historically to have episodes that are maybe outside the timeline of the main feed, outside of the cannon, if you will, of startups For the Rest of Us. This episode came about because of a conversation I was having with Producer Xander and we were talking about the dramatic overhaul of MicroConf, the in-person event specifically that we've done over the past couple years. And we both realized that we've never come out and talked about kind of the refocusing of MicroConf US and MicroConf Europe on our expanded or extended hallway track, that we have dramatically shifted the event to focus on connection between founders. And since we started the event in 2011, and we've done 35 of them now I believe, the feedback we've always gotten is the hallway track is the best part of MicroConf and the speakers are an excuse to get us all in a room so that we can meet one another and build those relationships. And after Covid hit, we decided to basically gamble, to take a chance, and to adjust our traditional format. So when MicroConf first started in 2011, we had 12 speakers over two days, and we quickly moved that down to nine speakers over two days. Still a lot of content, and you could meet folks in the morning for breakfast or at lunch and then there were some evening gatherings. But in 2022 in Minneapolis, we cut the number of speakers down to six, and then MicroConf Malta, which was just a few months ago, we cut it down to four. We got some feedback that four might be not enough. So I believe at this point we're at five speakers, for MicroConf in Denver here in April. And the reason I wanted to say this on the podcast is I think if you've attended a MicroConf in the past and you feel like that's no longer what you need or you don't want to go somewhere and watch nine talks, MicroConf is literally two or three talks during the whole day, plus a couple attendee talks. All the rest of the time is spent connecting with other founders. So we've started having offsite activities, adventures, that basically maybe push you outside your comfort zone a bit, but you do it with the other founders. So we've historically done things like kayak tours. We had an improv workshop in Minneapolis. Brewery tours. We had a trapeze class where people literally went offsite with other founders at MicroConf and they

In this bonus episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, we realized that we have never talked about the refocusing of MicroConf US and MicroConf Europe and growing our extended hallway track to focus on helping founders build more connections. Since we started the event in 2011, we've done 35 of them now. The feedback we've always gotten is that the hallway track is the best part of MicroConf, and the speakers are an excuse to get us all in a room so that we can meet one another and build those relationships. After Covid hit, we decided to take a chance and adjust our traditional format. We cut down the number of speakers and focused more on additional ways to grow the hallway track. In MicroConf US - Denver - this April, we’re at 5 speakers. All the rest of the time is spent doing activities and connecting with other founders, including through offsite adventures, roundtables, workshops, etc. Finally, we’ve also introduced Founder by Founder, which is like speed networking. We set a seven-minute timer and encouraged everyone to talk to someone they don't know and introduce themselves. Whether it's at the workshops, the offsite adventures, or Founder by Founder, we've found getting out of your bubble and connecting with other founders has been an extremely valuable change and a shift to the way that the MicroConf in-person events happen. Head over to Microconf.com/events to see all of our events happening this year.

In episode 646, Rob Walling catches up with James Kennedy, the founder of ProcurementExpress, about James’s unconventional approach to price increases. Every year, James does an annual price increase across the board. He talks about how he communicates it to both leads and customers, the pros and cons of this approach, and why it is been a net positive for the business. Topics we cover:  2:03 - About ProcurementExpress 4:41 - How big is the ProcurementExpress team? 7:43 - Why did James change the company name? 9:48 - What led James to settle on an 8% annual price increase for all customers 15:02 - Communicating the annual price increase to new customers 17:01- How James uses these annual price increases to close more deals 17:36 - When you shouldn’t do annual price increases 23:04 - SaaS buying patterns that James sees 24:00 - The best subject line that James has ever written Links from the Show: James Kennedy (@JamesKennedy) I Twitter ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 646, Rob Walling catches up with James Kennedy, the founder of ProcurementExpress, about James’s unconventional approach to price increases. Every year, James does an annual price increase across the board. He talks about how he communicates it to both leads and customers, the pros and cons of this approach, and why it is been a net positive for the business. Topics we cover:  2:03 - About ProcurementExpress 4:41 - How big is the ProcurementExpress team? 7:43 - Why did James change the company name? 9:48 - What led James to settle on an 8% annual price increase for all customers 15:02 - Communicating the annual price increase to new customers 17:01- How James uses these annual price increases to close more deals 17:36 - When you shouldn’t do annual price increases 23:04 - SaaS buying patterns that James sees 24:00 - The best subject line that James has ever written Links from the Show: James Kennedy (@JamesKennedy) I Twitter ProcurementExpress TinySeed Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen ​​How to Stop Giving Demos &amp; Build a Sales Factory Instead – James Kennedy – MicroConf Growth 2017 How We Reduced Churn by 25% and How You Could Do It Too – James Kennedy – MicroConf Europe 2019 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. This week I sit down with James Kennedy and we talk through this interesting approach he takes with his business, ProcurementExpress, where they have a recurring annual price increase every year. And they're very upfront about this. They communicate this to the clients when they sign up. We run through the pros and cons of this strategy, as well as catch up with James Kennedy. He has spoken at several MicroConfs. You may have seen him if you've attended. But before we dive into that, TinySeed applications for our next batch are open from February 6th to February 19th. If you're a bootstrapped SaaS founder doing at least $500 in monthly recurring revenue up into the many tens of thousands in MRR, I'd love it if you would apply. Head to tinyseed.com/apply to find out more. You can drop your email there to get notified when applications open or just head to tinyseed.com/apply if you are interested in participating in a year-long accelerator program that is focused on bootstrap and mostly bootstrap SaaS founders like yourself. We offer mentorship, guidance, the batch itself, we have an amazing Slack channel, and we offer a community. And we match you with masterminds within your cohort of founders

In episode 646, Rob Walling catches up with James Kennedy, the founder of ProcurementExpress, about James’s unconventional approach to price increases. Every year, James does an annual price increase across the board. He talks about how he communicates it to both leads and customers, the pros and cons of this approach, and why it is been a net positive for the business. Topics we cover:  2:03 - About ProcurementExpress 4:41 - How big is the ProcurementExpress team? 7:43 - Why did James change the company name? 9:48 - What led James to settle on an 8% annual price increase for all customers 15:02 - Communicating the annual price increase to new customers 17:01- How James uses these annual price increases to close more deals 17:36 - When you shouldn’t do annual price increases 23:04 - SaaS buying patterns that James sees 24:00 - The best subject line that James has ever written Links from the Show: James Kennedy (@JamesKennedy) I Twitter ProcurementExpress TinySeed Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen ​​How to Stop Giving Demos &amp; Build a Sales Factory Instead – James Kennedy – MicroConf Growth 2017 How We Reduced Churn by 25% and How You Could Do It Too – James Kennedy – MicroConf Europe 2019 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Mastermind Matching applications are now open. Whether you are in the process of validating your SaaS idea and looking for product-market fit to finding a scalable marketing channel, or maybe you are looking for an extra dose of accountability and support as you grow the company, joining a mastermind can help.With hundreds of successful matches under our belt, we have brought together founders from all walks of life, from over 50 countries across 20 time zones, with a collective $150M+ in ARR.To do this, we focus on a number of key data points to get a feel for each entrepreneur’s experience level, expectations, work and personality styles, and other key criteria that allow us to make informed matches, including: Location Time zone Language Experience Level Current Revenue Level Goals Skill Set Industry served Whether or not this is your first business If you already have 1 or more established businesses (like an agency) and building a SaaS as a...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

Mastermind Matching applications are now open.  Whether you are in the process of validating your SaaS idea and looking for product-market fit to finding a scalable marketing channel, or maybe you are looking for an extra dose of accountability and support as you grow the company, joining a mastermind can help. With hundreds of successful matches under our belt, we have brought together founders from all walks of life, from over 50 countries across 20 time zones, with a collective $150M+ in ARR. To do this, we focus on a number of key data points to get a feel for each entrepreneur’s experience level, expectations, work and personality styles, and other key criteria that allow us to make informed matches, including: Location Time zone Language Experience Level Current Revenue Level Goals Skill Set Industry served Whether or not this is your first business If you already have 1 or more established businesses (like an agency) and building a SaaS as a 2nd business, etc. We've also made some big updates to the content in our mastermind program, including adding a series of 3 mentor sessions to tackle topics and challenges you are likely to experience based on where you are currently at with your business. These mentor sessions range from how to structure and get the most value out of your mastermind to mastering customer interviews, building a marketing flywheel, and hiring and onboarding your first few employees. For those of you who sign up for a mastermind and are doing more than $500k in ARR, you'll be invited to attend three virtual office hours with Rob Walling, Co-Founder of TinySeed + MicroConf &amp; Einar Vollset, Co-Founder of TinySeed. Links from the Show: MicroConf Masterminds Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and this is a special half episode, a 0.5 episode, that from time to time we put in the feed when we have a special announcement or a topic to cover that otherwise doesn't fit in the main continuity of the Startups for the Rest of Us feed. Today I wanted to make a special announcement about the MicroConf Mastermind Matching program. If you're not already familiar with what a Startup Mastermind is, we have talked about them in a few episodes on this feed. And I've been espousing their values for 10 plus years now. I've gotten my first Mastermind maybe 13-ish years ago, somewhere around then, and it made such an incredible difference in my entrepreneurial journey. And if you're not familiar with a Startup Mastermind, what that term means, A) you can go back and listen to episode 277 and 167 of this podcast. Or I'll give you just the two sentence definition here. But realistically, Masterminds were a concept invented in a book from the '30s that just isn't that relevant to what we're talking about today. But Startup Masterminds are when you get three founders, five founders, six founders together via Zoom. In person's great too, but usually it's remote and every two to four weeks is the typical cadence of a Mastermind. And you come alongside one another. And in my experience, you form this bond where other people have ownership in your journey. And not only is it moral support, it's sanity check, it's sounding board, but it also is accountability. And it's that idea of one plus one equaling three, right? It doesn't 2x your brain power, 3x your brain power, it 10x's your collective brain power because you get new thoughts and ideas from the experiences of the other people in the group. I would not be where I am today without my Masterminds. I've been in multiple and they have had a

Mastermind Matching applications are now open.  Whether you are in the process of validating your SaaS idea and looking for product-market fit to finding a scalable marketing channel, or maybe you are looking for an extra dose of accountability and support as you grow the company, joining a mastermind can help. With hundreds of successful matches under our belt, we have brought together founders from all walks of life, from over 50 countries across 20 time zones, with a collective $150M+ in ARR. To do this, we focus on a number of key data points to get a feel for each entrepreneur’s experience level, expectations, work and personality styles, and other key criteria that allow us to make informed matches, including: Location Time zone Language Experience Level Current Revenue Level Goals Skill Set Industry served Whether or not this is your first business If you already have 1 or more established businesses (like an agency) and building a SaaS as a 2nd business, etc. We've also made some big updates to the content in our mastermind program, including adding a series of 3 mentor sessions to tackle topics and challenges you are likely to experience based on where you are currently at with your business. These mentor sessions range from how to structure and get the most value out of your mastermind to mastering customer interviews, building a marketing flywheel, and hiring and onboarding your first few employees. For those of you who sign up for a mastermind and are doing more than $500k in ARR, you'll be invited to attend three virtual office hours with Rob Walling, Co-Founder of TinySeed + MicroConf &amp; Einar Vollset, Co-Founder of TinySeed. Links from the Show: MicroConf Masterminds

In episode 645, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers whether bootstrapping is the anti-bro movement, the difference between working with someone good vs. someone great, and the rise of outrage culture on social media and how that doesn’t leave much room for nuanced thinking. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 645, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers whether bootstrapping is the anti-bro movement, the difference between working with someone good vs. someone great, and the rise of outrage culture on social media and how that doesn’t leave much room for nuanced thinking. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:28 - The anti-bro startup movement 8:58 - Outrage culture on social media 12:49 - Declining a $9M acquisition at 18 16:14 - What startup founders can learn from outlier performers 22:23- The difference between being good vs. being great Links from the Show: MicroConf Masterminds I Learned 227 Beatles Bass Lines And Discovered This… If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: I showed up to dinner and I think my belt buckle ... I'd gotten out of a cab or an Uber or something. My belt buckle was literally two inches off to the side. And one guy said, "You got to straighten your belt. You run a conference now." And I remember thinking to myself, "What in the (beep) are you talking about, man?" I've run five of these events, six of these events. This was my house. I remember feeling that. Like, "This is my house. You don't come in here." And it's little levels of disrespect that just don't need to be there. And no one else does that. The only people that have come to MicroConf and said things like that happen to be these overconfident folks who had hopped in. And I'm not ragging on San Francisco per se, but we do know that there's that "startup bro" feel that maybe just doesn't jive with who I am, doesn't jive with what MicroConf is, and it doesn't jive with the community

In episode 645, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers whether bootstrapping is the anti-bro movement, the difference between working with someone good vs. someone great, and the rise of outrage culture on social media and how that doesn’t leave much room for nuanced thinking. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:28 - The anti-bro startup movement 8:58 - Outrage culture on social media 12:49 - Declining a $9M acquisition at 18 16:14 - What startup founders can learn from outlier performers 22:23- The difference between being good vs. being great Links from the Show: MicroConf Masterminds I Learned 227 Beatles Bass Lines And Discovered This… If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 644, Rob Walling chats with Dan Martell about founder productivity, delegating, and the difference between being effective and efficient. Dan also shares the key frameworks from his first book, Buy Back Your Time, which was released this week. Topics we cover:  2:40 - Dan’s process for writing his first book 7:56 - The Buyback Principle 12:31 - Hiring and delegating to an assistant 18:02 - The Buyback Loop: Audit, Transfer, and Fill 25:19 - Why no one does it right, and I can’t afford to hire are limiting beliefs 30:53 - 1-3-1 hack Links from the Show: Dan Martell @DanMartell) I Twitter Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire The SaaS Playbook  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 644, Rob Walling chats with Dan Martell about founder productivity, delegating, and the difference between being effective and efficient. Dan also shares the key frameworks from his first book, Buy Back Your Time, which was released this week. Topics we cover:  2:40 - Dan’s process for writing his first book 7:56 - The Buyback Principle 12:31 - Hiring and delegating to an assistant 18:02 - The Buyback Loop: Audit, Transfer, and Fill 25:19 - Why no one does it right, and I can’t afford to hire are limiting beliefs 30:53 - 1-3-1 hack Links from the Show: Dan Martell @DanMartell) I Twitter Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire The SaaS Playbook  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups with the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and this week, I talk with Dan Martell about his new book, Buy Back Your Time. I read most of Dan's book in preparation for this interview, and it's really an interesting combination of productivity, of being effective rather than being efficient, and also a healthy dose of delegation. And if you've read books like The Four Hour Work Week, where Tim Ferris had the first part about being effective and delegating, and then the second part was about starting a business using AdWords and doing smoke tests and stuff. Buy Back Your Time is more of a fully fleshed out model with a bunch of frameworks. Really well done diagrams too, by the way, the book is gorgeous. Obviously, Dan hired a good designer to put this together, but I was impressed by the depth and the uniqueness of these frameworks that Dan uses in this book. In fact, when I got done reading it, I actually told Sherry that she should read it because she's right in the midst of hiring a chief of staff and getting a lot of things off her plate, and I felt like there's a lot in this book that she could learn from, a lot in this book that I learned, and I think if you're someone who has trouble delegating, has trouble feeling like you're being effective, it's obvious that Dan has spent a lot of time thinking about this. And this is from a founder's perspective, so it's highly applicable to folks like you and I. And if you're looking for another book to read, just a couple weeks ago, I was able to get my book website live. It's my fourth book. It's called The SaaS Playbook; Build a Multimillion-Dollar Startup Without Venture Capital, and it's at saasplaybook.com, if you want to see all the ringing testimonials and endorsements from folks like Jason Cohen, Dharmesh Shah, Noah Kagan, and so on. And read a little more about what's in the book. See the cover, see a few picks of the inside. The designer right now is working on all the diagrams, and this is why I noticed Dan Martell's diagrams in Buy Back Your Time and how nice they are because I've been looking at my own for the past

In episode 644, Rob Walling chats with Dan Martell about founder productivity, delegating, and the difference between being effective and efficient. Dan also shares the key frameworks from his first book, Buy Back Your Time, which was released this week. Topics we cover:  2:40 - Dan’s process for writing his first book 7:56 - The Buyback Principle 12:31 - Hiring and delegating to an assistant 18:02 - The Buyback Loop: Audit, Transfer, and Fill 25:19 - Why no one does it right, and I can’t afford to hire are limiting beliefs 30:53 - 1-3-1 hack Links from the Show: Dan Martell @DanMartell) I Twitter Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire The SaaS Playbook  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 643, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from SaaS feature flags to communicating product needs to a technical founder and combating imposter syndrome. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 643, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from SaaS feature flags to communicating product needs to a technical founder and combating imposter syndrome. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:17 - How to think about feature flags for different pricing tiers 10:31 - How to communicate product needs to a technical cofounder 22:03 - When to put your main SaaS on the backburner 28:13 - Combating developer imposter syndrome Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter SavvyCal  MicroConf US The Stair Step Method to Bootstrapping  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome to another episode of Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling, and today with Derrick Reimer I'm answering listener questions. We cover topics ranging from how to implement feature flags in your SaaS app, combating imposter syndrome, whether to use the Stair Step Method and more amazing listener questions from listeners just like you. But before we do that, I want to let you know about MicroConf US next April 2023. Lianna Patch and I will be MC'ing. We have amazing speakers, Claire Suellentrop, Dev Basu, Patrick Campbell. We have workshops. It's going to be great. It starts April 16th and runs through the 18th in downtown Denver, Colorado. Head to microconf.com/americas if you want to find out more and buy a ticket. Tickets are on sale now. They are going fast. I'd love to see you there. And with that, let's dive into listener questions. Derrick Reimer. Y

In episode 643, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from SaaS feature flags to communicating product needs to a technical founder and combating imposter syndrome. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:17 - How to think about feature flags for different pricing tiers 10:31 - How to communicate product needs to a technical cofounder 22:03 - When to put your main SaaS on the backburner 28:13 - Combating developer imposter syndrome Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I Twitter SavvyCal  MicroConf US The Stair Step Method to Bootstrapping  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 642, Rob Walling chats with Tara Reed, who is the founder of Apps Without Code. We talk about her journey getting into no-code, bootstrapping Apps Without Code to $5M ARR, and the decision she made last year to throttle growth to become more profitable. In our conversation, we also cover some of the pros and cons of no-code tools, along with some entrepreneurial mindset shifts that new entrepreneurs need to make. Topics we cover:  1:46 - How Tara came up with the idea for Apps Without Code 3:56 - Why Tara deliberately scaled the business back from $5M to $3M in ARR 5:35 - Tara’s approach to building the Apps Without Code Team 6:04 - Two ways that Apps Without Code makes money 10:50 - The biggest no-code limitations today 16:29 - Using no-code tools to build MVPs and internal apps 19:07 - Tara’s preferred no-code platform 20:24 - The biggest positives of building with no-code tools 22:40 - The biggest drawbacks of building with no-code tools ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 642, Rob Walling chats with Tara Reed, who is the founder of Apps Without Code. We talk about her journey getting into no-code, bootstrapping Apps Without Code to $5M ARR, and the decision she made last year to throttle growth to become more profitable. In our conversation, we also cover some of the pros and cons of no-code tools, along with some entrepreneurial mindset shifts that new entrepreneurs need to make. Topics we cover:  1:46 - How Tara came up with the idea for Apps Without Code 3:56 - Why Tara deliberately scaled the business back from $5M to $3M in ARR 5:35 - Tara’s approach to building the Apps Without Code Team 6:04 - Two ways that Apps Without Code makes money 10:50 - The biggest no-code limitations today 16:29 - Using no-code tools to build MVPs and internal apps 19:07 - Tara’s preferred no-code platform 20:24 - The biggest positives of building with no-code tools 22:40 - The biggest drawbacks of building with no-code tools 26:56 - 3 entrepreneurial mindset shifts that new founders need to make Links from the Show: Tara Reed (@tarareed_) I Twitter Apps without Code MicroConf 2023 Accountability Challenge  MicroConf Connect  State of Independent SaaS Report  Glide  Episode 14 I Overcoming Fear  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Happy New Year. It's another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. This is the 13th calendar year in which an episode of this show has been published. It's great to have you listening today. In this episode, I talk with Tara Reed of Apps Without Code. We have a great conversation. We talk about her journey, getting into no-code, then starting Apps Without Code, growing it to a $5 million bootstrap company, actually pulling it back to between $3 and $4 million to make it more profitable. We talk about entrepreneurial mindset. She deals with a lot of early stage founders trying to get off the ground by building an MVP or an app in no-code, and she sees some patterns and some anti-patterns. And then we spend a good bit of time talking about the pros and cons of no-code, the amazing things it can do, and the handful of things that it struggles with. Before we dive into that, if you want to get a headstart on your 2023 goals, join us for the MicroConf Accountability Challenge. The difference between crushing your goals and falling short often lies in the tiny habits and wins along the way. And sticking with those habits can b

In episode 642, Rob Walling chats with Tara Reed, who is the founder of Apps Without Code. We talk about her journey getting into no-code, bootstrapping Apps Without Code to $5M ARR, and the decision she made last year to throttle growth to become more profitable. In our conversation, we also cover some of the pros and cons of no-code tools, along with some entrepreneurial mindset shifts that new entrepreneurs need to make. Topics we cover:  1:46 - How Tara came up with the idea for Apps Without Code 3:56 - Why Tara deliberately scaled the business back from $5M to $3M in ARR 5:35 - Tara’s approach to building the Apps Without Code Team 6:04 - Two ways that Apps Without Code makes money 10:50 - The biggest no-code limitations today 16:29 - Using no-code tools to build MVPs and internal apps 19:07 - Tara’s preferred no-code platform 20:24 - The biggest positives of building with no-code tools 22:40 - The biggest drawbacks of building with no-code tools 26:56 - 3 entrepreneurial mindset shifts that new founders need to make Links from the Show: Tara Reed (@tarareed_) I Twitter Apps without Code MicroConf 2023 Accountability Challenge  MicroConf Connect  State of Independent SaaS Report  Glide  Episode 14 I Overcoming Fear  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 641, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers more listener questions. Topics covered range from dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based, what product feedback to listen to in the early days, and when to hire project-level thinkers vs. task-level thinkers.Topics we cover:  3:18 - Dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based 8:38 - Going upmarket 9:42 - Who to listen to in the early days to improve your product 15:47 - Should I worry about people copying my business idea? 24:26 - Should I join MicroConf Connect if I’m still in the idea validation phase? 25:54 - Hiring project-level thinkers vs. task-level workers Links from the Show: The SaaS Playbook MicroConf 2023 Accountability Challenge  MicroConf Connect  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you....Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 641, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers more listener questions. Topics covered range from dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based, what product feedback to listen to in the early days, and when to hire project-level thinkers vs. task-level thinkers. Topics we cover:  3:18 - Dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based 8:38 - Going upmarket 9:42 - Who to listen to in the early days to improve your product 15:47 - Should I worry about people copying my business idea? 24:26 - Should I join MicroConf Connect if I’m still in the idea validation phase? 25:54 - Hiring project-level thinkers vs. task-level workers Links from the Show: The SaaS Playbook MicroConf 2023 Accountability Challenge  MicroConf Connect  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Over the past probably five, 10 years, I've done a bunch of work to get better at that. So I worry about a lot fewer things, even though those are possible. So is it possible I'll get struck by lightning? Is it possible I'll get in a car accident? Is it possible I can go out of business next week or get sued, or have something terrible happen? Yes. All of those things are possible. Should I be worrying about those? That's the real question, right? Welcome back to another episode of Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. And today, I'm going to be answering listener questions from bootstrapped and mostly-bootstrapped startup founders who are thinking through things like dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based, who to listen to in the early days to improve your product, and many more topics than that. I did want to let you know that the website for my new book is live. Title of the book is The SaaS Playbook: Build a Multimillion-Dollar Startup Without Venture Capital. So it's not solely focused on bootstrapping, but it's bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped SaaS companies, as you often hear me say on this show. So head to saasplaybook.com if you want to check it out. You can obviously sign up to the email list so I can notify you when the Kickstarter for the book begins. And of course, if you're on other email lists of mine, you'll hear from me as well. But I'm excited about this. It took me a lot longer to write the book than I would've liked. I had a bit of writer's block in the midst of it. But in the end, I'm really excited about the end product. And I've had, I don't know, a dozen people, maybe 15 people whom I trust who are SaaS founders ... some really experienced, some still in the early days ... read through it. Gotten a lot of helpful feedback that allowed me to improve it, and then a lot of positive feedback telling me that I'm on the right track, right? Because this, like anything we do ... I call products art. SaaS products are art. Music is art. A book like this, it's art. It's our product that we're putting into the world. And anything li

In episode 641, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers more listener questions. Topics covered range from dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based, what product feedback to listen to in the early days, and when to hire project-level thinkers vs. task-level thinkers. Topics we cover:  3:18 - Dealing with high churn when your tool is project-based 8:38 - Going upmarket 9:42 - Who to listen to in the early days to improve your product 15:47 - Should I worry about people copying my business idea? 24:26 - Should I join MicroConf Connect if I’m still in the idea validation phase? 25:54 - Hiring project-level thinkers vs. task-level workers Links from the Show: The SaaS Playbook MicroConf 2023 Accountability Challenge  MicroConf Connect  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 640, join Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. We dig into ChatGPT, the new tool everyone is talking about from OpenAI. We also discuss Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama around this entire endeavor and whether or not the U.S. is in a recession right now. Topics we cover:  2:06 - ChatGPT 14:29 - Is there a path to bootstrap an AI startup? 18:59 - Is the U.S. in a recession right now? 29:37 - Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama around his early moves Links from the Show: Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) I Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter ChatGPT  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: It's a bird, it's a plane. It's...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 640, join Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. We dig into ChatGPT, the new tool everyone is talking about from OpenAI. We also discuss Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama around this entire endeavor and whether or not the U.S. is in a recession right now. Topics we cover:  2:06 - ChatGPT 14:29 - Is there a path to bootstrap an AI startup? 18:59 - Is the U.S. in a recession right now? 29:37 - Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama around his early moves Links from the Show: Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) I Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter ChatGPT  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: It's a bird, it's a plane. It's another episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. Today is another episode of Hot Take Tuesday. This is our news round-up format where we take the most important news stories of the day that affect bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped SaaS founders. And we bat them around and we give our hot takes on topics today ranging from whether we are actually experiencing a recession, how to think about that as a startup founder. We dig into ChatGPT, which is the open AI project that is all the buzz right now, and we talk about Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama or lack of drama, depending on your perspective, around this entire endeavor. But as always, we relate it back to bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startup founders who are trying to figure out how these events impact us and our companies, if at all. And all the while I tried to keep my guests from derailing the podcast episode. Our first panelist for Hot Take Tuesday is Tracy Makes on Twitter. Tracy Osborn, welcome back to the show. Tracy Osborn: Happy to be here. Rob Walling: We got some good topics today. Our other panelist, many of you know him well. This dower gentleman to my left, Mr. Einar Vollset whose Twitter feed is filled with things that only make sense if you are actively watching the World Cup or a Giants game. Einar Vollset, welcome to the show. Einar Vollset: Thank you very much. I was upset this morning because it turns out that Aaron Judge is going to stay with the New York Yankees, which is a disaster. See what I mean? Rob Walling: I have no idea what you're talking about. Is that a sports ball team? Tracy Osborn: I was going to say my brain just went reeeee. Rob Walling: I don't know who or what. I caught a baseball team in there, I think. The man who is not going to derail today's episode, Mr. Einar Vollset. Einar Vollset: Thank you for having me. Tracy Osborn: It's not going to happen. Rob Walling: All right, we're going to kick it off with the topic that everyone's talking about this week. Chat.openAI, which by the way, if you forget the name of this and you try to find it via a Google search, I couldn't because I couldn't remember it

In episode 640, join Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. We dig into ChatGPT, the new tool everyone is talking about from OpenAI. We also discuss Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama around this entire endeavor and whether or not the U.S. is in a recession right now. Topics we cover:  2:06 - ChatGPT 14:29 - Is there a path to bootstrap an AI startup? 18:59 - Is the U.S. in a recession right now? 29:37 - Elon Musk acquiring Twitter and the drama around his early moves Links from the Show: Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) I Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter ChatGPT  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 639, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Berkowitz, the co-founder and CEO of Suggestion Ox, about the secret sauce to building happy, high-performing teams and how we as founders need to unlearn some of the strict policies that have been in place for hundreds of years.Suggestion Ox is a feedback platform that helps HR teams build candid communication between leadership and employees. And before that, Andrew co-founded a sports management platform that was acquired in 2021. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 639, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Berkowitz, the co-founder and CEO of Suggestion Ox, about the secret sauce to building happy, high-performing teams and how we as founders need to unlearn some of the strict policies that have been in place for hundreds of years. Suggestion Ox is a feedback platform that helps HR teams build candid communication between leadership and employees. And before that, Andrew co-founded a sports management platform that was acquired in 2021. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:10 - Why trust is the key ingredient when building high-performing teams 6:56 - Flexible vacation policies 9:17 - Flexible work hours 15:08 - The link between remote work and hiring and retaining great employees 18:14 - Using transparency to build trust with your team 19:43 - How transparent should you be with your team for temporary issues? 21:55 - Does this approach to trust and transparency work at scale? 25:57 - Getting better at giving constructive feedback as a manager 28:20 - Is it possible to hire the best people at scale? 32:08 - Andrew’s approach to dealing with bad apples or people who slack off 36:41 - Building a company culture where employees feel safe to give candid feedback Links from the Show: Andrew Berkowitz I Twitter Suggestion Ox Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, here with the cold that I'm getting over. I caught it last week while in Malta. We had an amazing kickoff for our European TinySeed batch followed by MicroConf Europe in Malta. I did not leave unscathed though. For the first time ever, more than 30 in-person events, I missed a day of MicroConf. I was so sick I had to stay in bed. It was absolutely devastating to me. I effectively lost my voice, and it wasn't going to be a good scene if I went and tried to MC it. So mad props and thanks to producer Xander and the rest of the MicroConf team for stepping up and making it happen. Just goes to show you we can't do these things alone. These should be lessons that we all know by now. But at some point, you're going to get sick. At some point, you're not going to be able to show up. And having amazing people that you work with that have your back is what it takes to do this over the long run. Today I'm talking with Andrew Berkowitz, the founder of Suggestion Ox. And we dive in to the secret sauce to building happy, motivated teams. We talk a lot about trust. We talk a lot about not having these strict policies that hav

In episode 639, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Berkowitz, the co-founder and CEO of Suggestion Ox, about the secret sauce to building happy, high-performing teams and how we as founders need to unlearn some of the strict policies that have been in place for hundreds of years. Suggestion Ox is a feedback platform that helps HR teams build candid communication between leadership and employees. And before that, Andrew co-founded a sports management platform that was acquired in 2021. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:10 - Why trust is the key ingredient when building high-performing teams 6:56 - Flexible vacation policies 9:17 - Flexible work hours 15:08 - The link between remote work and hiring and retaining great employees 18:14 - Using transparency to build trust with your team 19:43 - How transparent should you be with your team for temporary issues? 21:55 - Does this approach to trust and transparency work at scale? 25:57 - Getting better at giving constructive feedback as a manager 28:20 - Is it possible to hire the best people at scale? 32:08 - Andrew’s approach to dealing with bad apples or people who slack off 36:41 - Building a company culture where employees feel safe to give candid feedback Links from the Show: Andrew Berkowitz I Twitter Suggestion Ox

In episode 638, Rob Walling chats with Justin Vincent about how to generate startup ideas. They share 8 startup ideas in this episode along with Justin’s approach for coming up with thousands of startup ideas. Topics we cover:  1:58 - Coming up with SaaS ideas 3:51 - Transcription for team meetings 11:42 - Online time capsule 15:41 - Pest control using drones 20:29 - Prerecorded live interviews 25:06 - Special diet builder 26:30 - AI-casting director 29:53 - Cash burn alert for VC 31:47 - database modeling tool Links from the Show: Justin Vincent (@justinvincent) I Twitter Nugget.one Techzing Episode 526 I Launching, learning and teaching with Justin Vincent  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 638, Rob Walling chats with Justin Vincent about how to generate startup ideas. They share 8 startup ideas in this episode along with Justin’s approach for coming up with thousands of startup ideas. Topics we cover:  1:58 - Coming up with SaaS ideas 3:51 - Transcription for team meetings 11:42 - Online time capsule 15:41 - Pest control using drones 20:29 - Prerecorded live interviews 25:06 - Special diet builder 26:30 - AI-casting director 29:53 - Cash burn alert for VC 31:47 - database modeling tool Links from the Show: Justin Vincent (@justinvincent) I Twitter Nugget.one Techzing Episode 526 I Launching, learning and teaching with Justin Vincent  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and today I welcome Justin Vincent on the show. We talk a bit about how to generate startup ideas, plus look at eight ideas he brings to the show that you can steal. Justin and I had a great time talking through these ideas. He had sourced them from a few mastermind friends of his, as well as his own brand. He has a tendency for coming up with ideas. I really enjoyed our conversation. If you don't know of Justin, he is the co-host of the TechZing Podcast, and he also, last time he was on this show, was running nugget.one, which is a community for early stage founders, as well as bunch of business ideas, 4000 he tells me. I thought it was 800, but 4000 different business ideas that he had gathered over a few years. He is no longer focused on that. He's moved on to a new idea, which we will talk about in the show, so let's dive right into our conversation about generating startup ideas. I want to ask you about coming up with startup ideas because A, it's something that you have done a lot. I mean, I heard you do it on TechZing, your podcast, many times coming up with ideas and even just bringing new ideas, talking through them with your co-hots. But I also watched you start Nugget, nugget.one, which we've talked about here on the show before, where you didn't generate all these ideas yourself, but you did bring them in, evaluate them, and kind of churn them through, and there's 780 of them or something like that. Justin Vincent: 4000. Rob Walling: Are there? Oh, my gosh. I was looking at the premium ones. So 4000, holy moly. Justin Vincent: Yeah. That's right. Rob Walling: And you have generously allowed me to talk about some of them in the YouTube series that I'm doing. About every six weeks, eight weeks, I do a, here are some SaaS ideas to get your mind going basically. And so the YouTube channel, I'll start showing some of those. But really today I want to talk about A, your process for coming up

In episode 638, Rob Walling chats with Justin Vincent about how to generate startup ideas. They share 8 startup ideas in this episode along with Justin’s approach for coming up with thousands of startup ideas. Topics we cover:  1:58 - Coming up with SaaS ideas 3:51 - Transcription for team meetings 11:42 - Online time capsule 15:41 - Pest control using drones 20:29 - Prerecorded live interviews 25:06 - Special diet builder 26:30 - AI-casting director 29:53 - Cash burn alert for VC 31:47 - database modeling tool Links from the Show: Justin Vincent (@justinvincent) I Twitter Nugget.one Techzing Episode 526 I Launching, learning and teaching with Justin Vincent  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 637, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure as he answers a handful of listener questions. Topics covered range from hiring your first salesperson and acquiring a web app to dealing with the fear of having your idea copied and why bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace is usually a bad idea. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 637, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure as he answers a handful of listener questions. Topics covered range from hiring your first salesperson and acquiring a web app to dealing with the fear of having your idea copied and why bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace is usually a bad idea. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:14 - You either die a consumer startup hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a B2B SaaS founder. 2:40 - Hiring your first salesperson 9:36 - Bootstrapping a talent marketplace 15:10 - Acquiring a web app 19:40 - Getting over your fear of being copied when doing idea validation interviews Links from the Show: Daniel Nguyen (@daniel_nguyenx)’s tweet The Mom Test  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript: Rob Walling: If you're looking for the podcast where we talk about non venture track startups, how to build them, launch them, and grow them, you've come to the right place. It's Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. This week I answer listener questions ranging from which is better B2B or B2C hiring for your first sales role, bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace, and many more. If you're in the US, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving last week, and if you're everywhere else in the world, I hope you enjoy this episode as I dive in to listener questions. Before I do that, if you haven't checked out our YouTube channel, it's MicroConf.com/YouTube. And I'm releasing a video every week where I talk through specific topics. I actually have a full video on B2B versus B2C SaaS, which is better. I've talked through funnels, talked through validation, talked through lowering churn, all kinds of stuff. Every week a new video is coming out. I'd encourage you to check it out, MicroConf.com/YouTube. And with that, let's dive into listener ques

In episode 637, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure as he answers a handful of listener questions. Topics covered range from hiring your first salesperson and acquiring a web app to dealing with the fear of having your idea copied and why bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace is usually a bad idea. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  1:14 - You either die a consumer startup hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a B2B SaaS founder. 2:40 - Hiring your first salesperson 9:36 - Bootstrapping a talent marketplace 15:10 - Acquiring a web app 19:40 - Getting over your fear of being copied when doing idea validation interviews Links from the Show: Daniel Nguyen (@daniel_nguyenx)’s tweet The Mom Test  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 636, Rob Walling chats with Claire Suellentrop about the new book she co-wrote with her co-founder, Georgiana Laudi. The book is called Forget the Funnel: A Customer-Led Approach to Driving Predictable Recurring Revenue. Gia and Claire have run a consulting firm for the past several years where they are working with startups and SaaS companies to help them learn more about their customers in order to drive more revenue. And this book is a distillation of their learnings. Topics we cover: 1:09 - Why did Claire name their new book, Forget the Funnel? 2:36 - A three-step approach for unlocking customer-led growth 3:09 - A framework for getting inside your customers’ heads 14:01 - How to learn from future customers 20:21 - Applying and operationalizing all your customer insights Links from the Show: Claire Suellentrop (@ClaireSuellen)  I Twitter Georgiana Laudi (@ggiiaa) I Twitter Forget The Funnel: a Customer-Led Approach to Driving Predictable,...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 636, Rob Walling chats with Claire Suellentrop about the new book she co-wrote with her co-founder, Georgiana Laudi. The book is called Forget the Funnel: A Customer-Led Approach to Driving Predictable Recurring Revenue. Gia and Claire have run a consulting firm for the past several years where they are working with startups and SaaS companies to help them learn more about their customers in order to drive more revenue. And this book is a distillation of their learnings. Topics we cover: 1:09 - Why did Claire name their new book, Forget the Funnel? 2:36 - A three-step approach for unlocking customer-led growth 3:09 - A framework for getting inside your customers’ heads 14:01 - How to learn from future customers 20:21 - Applying and operationalizing all your customer insights Links from the Show: Claire Suellentrop (@ClaireSuellen)  I Twitter Georgiana Laudi (@ggiiaa) I Twitter Forget The Funnel: a Customer-Led Approach to Driving Predictable, Recurring Revenue The Jobs-to-be-Done Handbook: Practical techniques for improving your application of Jobs-to-be-Done Deploy Empathy: A practical guide to interviewing customers Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Sparktoro  MicroConf Growth  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and in this episode I'm talking with Claire Suellentrop about the new book she co-wrote with her co-founder, Gia Laudi. The book is called Forget the Funnel, A Customer Led Approach to Driving Predictable Recurring Revenue. Gia and Claire have run a consulting firm for the past several years where they are working with startups and SaaS companies to help them learn more about their customers in order to drive more revenue. And this book is essentially a distillation of a t

In episode 636, Rob Walling chats with Claire Suellentrop about the new book she co-wrote with her co-founder, Georgiana Laudi. The book is called Forget the Funnel: A Customer-Led Approach to Driving Predictable Recurring Revenue. Gia and Claire have run a consulting firm for the past several years where they are working with startups and SaaS companies to help them learn more about their customers in order to drive more revenue. And this book is a distillation of their learnings. Topics we cover: 1:09 - Why did Claire name their new book, Forget the Funnel? 2:36 - A three-step approach for unlocking customer-led growth 3:09 - A framework for getting inside your customers’ heads 14:01 - How to learn from future customers 20:21 - Applying and operationalizing all your customer insights Links from the Show: Claire Suellentrop (@ClaireSuellen)  I Twitter Georgiana Laudi (@ggiiaa) I Twitter Forget The Funnel: a Customer-Led Approach to Driving Predictable, Recurring Revenue The Jobs-to-be-Done Handbook: Practical techniques for improving your application of Jobs-to-be-Done Deploy Empathy: A practical guide to interviewing customers Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Sparktoro  MicroConf Growth  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 635, Rob Walling catches up with Tony Chan, the co-founder of CloudForecast, an AWS cost monitoring tool. Tony shared his victories, challenges, and failures in TinySeed Tales Season 3. It has been over eight months since we recorded the final episode.In this episode, we reflect and catch up on what’s been happening with Tony and CloudForecast. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 635, Rob Walling catches up with Tony Chan, the co-founder of CloudForecast, an AWS cost monitoring tool. Tony shared his victories, challenges, and failures in TinySeed Tales Season 3. It has been over eight months since we recorded the final episode. In this episode, we reflect and catch up on what’s been happening with Tony and CloudForecast. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:03 - Losing one of CloudForecast’s engineers 5:35 - Tony’s approach to hiring engineers 8:31 - Did Tony end up hiring someone to help with content marketing? 17:32 - What is Tony struggling with right now? 21:07 - Managing your founder psychology 25:08 - Tony’s recent conundrum Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Tales Season 3 MicroConf Local: Austin If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: If you love the smell of startups in the morning, you're in the right place. It's Startups For the Rest Of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and here we are diving into a Where Are They Now? episode. Today I'm talking with Tony Chan. You just heard his season just a month or two ago. TinySeed Tales season three wrapped in this podcast feed. But what most people don't know is that the last time Tony and I spoke to record that final episode was eight months ago. So a lot has happened since then. But before we dive into that, I want to let you know about our next MicroConf local. I'm sitting down with Jason Cohen to do another one of our SaaS snapshots where I have a conversation, I ask questio

In episode 635, Rob Walling catches up with Tony Chan, the co-founder of CloudForecast, an AWS cost monitoring tool. Tony shared his victories, challenges, and failures in TinySeed Tales Season 3. It has been over eight months since we recorded the final episode. In this episode, we reflect and catch up on what’s been happening with Tony and CloudForecast. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  3:03 - Losing one of CloudForecast’s engineers 5:35 - Tony’s approach to hiring engineers 8:31 - Did Tony end up hiring someone to help with content marketing? 17:32 - What is Tony struggling with right now? 21:07 - Managing your founder psychology 25:08 - Tony’s recent conundrum Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Tales Season 3 MicroConf Local: Austin If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 634, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions on topics ranging from naming your startup to initial aha moments and how to know if you have tapped out a specific niche. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week....Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 634, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions on topics ranging from naming your startup to initial aha moments and how to know if you have tapped out a specific niche. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:38 - Naming your startup 6:02 - How to know if you tapped out a specific niche? 13:21 - Did you have an initial aha moment when you felt that this was the winning idea to start up? 22:25 - How would you value your time if you have a client that is gonna be competing in the same space? Links from the Show: MicroConf Europe  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Bootstrapping cares if you can provide value to a group of businesses or individuals who are willing to pay for it. I view it as something that helped me improve my space in life, but also helped me achieve the freedom, purpose, and relationships that I had been seeking for so many years. Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. It's another week, another episode. It's great to be here with you. Thanks for joining me. I'm going to be diving into listener questions today. I don't know if it's the YouTube channel taking off, you should check that out, MicroConf.com/Youtube, or if it's just our audience and our reach expanding through the podcast and other avenues, but I'm getting a lot of listener questions these days, which is great. Last week I was in Atlanta for MicroConf Local where I sat down with Ben Chestnut, the co-founder of MailChimp, and did what we call a SaaS snapshot where I asked him questions about starting up, about exiting, things he's learned in his 22 years as a SaaS entrepreneur, if you can believe it. But while I was there, I took a few minutes to do a little workshopping, customer development, as they say. It was just talking to a few of the founders who had shown up for that event. I was asking folks about their opinions of specific Startups For the Rest of Us ep

In episode 634, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions on topics ranging from naming your startup to initial aha moments and how to know if you have tapped out a specific niche. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:38 - Naming your startup 6:02 - How to know if you tapped out a specific niche? 13:21 - Did you have an initial aha moment when you felt that this was the winning idea to start up? 22:25 - How would you value your time if you have a client that is gonna be competing in the same space? Links from the Show: MicroConf Europe  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 633, Rob Walling chats with Matt Wensing, the founder of Summit. Matt is no stranger on the podcast. And we talk about Matt's decision to change Summit's brand positioning and the far-reaching impact on his business. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 633, Rob Walling chats with Matt Wensing, the founder of Summit. Matt is no stranger on the podcast. And we talk about Matt's decision to change Summit's brand positioning and the far-reaching impact on his business. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:24 - Matt’s decision to change Summit’s positioning 15:22 - Redesigning Summit’s website 22:39 - The dangers of scaling up before you have product-market fit 24:43 - The response to Summit’s relaunch 29:33 - How Summit is evolving into a 2-sided marketplace Links from the Show: Matt Wensing (@MattWensing) I Twitter Summit  MicroConf Remote  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startup For the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling, and in this episode I talk with Matt Wensing, the founder of Summit. And we talk about how he's been grinding away building his SAS and he's adding a two-sided marketplace. A really interesting conversation, you're not going to want to miss it. Before we dive into that, MicroConf Remote is happening today, tomorrow and Thursday. Head to microconfremote.com if you're interested in early stage B2B SaaS marketing approaches. We're hearing from Gia Laudi, the co-founder of Forget the Funnel. We're hearing from the CMO of Crisp, the founder of GymDesk on Capterra marketing, VP of marketing at SparkToro. I'm going to be doing a talk. It's a fully remote event. It's very inexpensive. It's the cheapest MicroConf Remote we've ever done. We're trying to make it accessible to as many people as possible. And even if you miss today, you'll get the videos when the event ends. That's microconfremote.com. And with that, let's dive into my conversation with Matt

In episode 633, Rob Walling chats with Matt Wensing, the founder of Summit. Matt is no stranger on the podcast. And we talk about Matt's decision to change Summit's brand positioning and the far-reaching impact on his business. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:24 - Matt’s decision to change Summit’s positioning 15:22 - Redesigning Summit’s website 22:39 - The dangers of scaling up before you have product-market fit 24:43 - The response to Summit’s relaunch 29:33 - How Summit is evolving into a 2-sided marketplace Links from the Show: Matt Wensing (@MattWensing) I Twitter Summit  MicroConf Remote  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 632, join Rob Walling and Einar Vollset for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. Some topics covered include the Figma exit, side project distractions, no-code apps, and more.Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startupsThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io/ helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io/, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 632, join Rob Walling and Einar Vollset for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. Some topics covered include the Figma exit, side project distractions, no-code apps, and more. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io/ helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io/, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:35 - Adobe acquires Figma 8:20 - Growing one product to $20k MRR vs. launching a bunch of side projects 18:43 - Apple’s anti-ad tracking crackdown 25:58 - Building no-code apps 31:12 - Watching movies at 1.5x speed Links from the Show: Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter  MicroConf Remote  Adobe snaps up Figma for $20 billion  Pierre de Wulf’s tweet  Apple’s ad business set to boom on the back of its own anti-tracking crackdown  Hana’s tweet  Ruben’s tweet  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. This week we have a show format

In episode 632, join Rob Walling and Einar Vollset for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. Some topics covered include the Figma exit, side project distractions, no-code apps, and more. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io/ helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io/, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:35 - Adobe acquires Figma 8:20 - Growing one product to $20k MRR vs. launching a bunch of side projects 18:43 - Apple’s anti-ad tracking crackdown 25:58 - Building no-code apps 31:12 - Watching movies at 1.5x speed Links from the Show: Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) I Twitter  MicroConf Remote  Adobe snaps up Figma for $20 billion  Pierre de Wulf’s tweet  Apple’s ad business set to boom on the back of its own anti-tracking crackdown  Hana’s tweet  Ruben’s tweet  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify |

In episode 631, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers listener questions on topics ranging from when to rewrite your codebase to founder salaries and balancing your founder vs. developer mindset. Episode Sponsor Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.ioThe competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week.And for...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 631, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers listener questions on topics ranging from when to rewrite your codebase to founder salaries and balancing your founder vs. developer mindset. Episode Sponsor Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:32 - Is there any validity that rewriting our code and changing our tech stack will get us to a higher multiple at a future exit? 8:08 - Founder salaries 12:16 - Using the stair step approach to create a course 15:20 - Can you sell a Zapier-type connection between several products as an early MVP for your target market? 20:06 - Founder mindset vs. developer mindset Links from the Show: Episode 622 I Making Hard Product Decisions &amp; Growth vs. Profitability with Derrick Reimer  The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: So what I did is I emailed Einar Vollset, who, as many of you have heard on the show, has a lot of experience with in particular SaaS M&amp;A, and his response to that question was, and I quote, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. This is the dumbest (beep) thing I've ever heard in my entire (beep) life. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us, I'm Rob Walling, and this week I was going to walk through some Rob solo adventure topics, but I realized that we have such a backlog of questions, and actually several of the questions are kind of Rob solo adventure type topics, asking questions about broader strategic things rather than just detailed tactics, so I am excited to answer several of those. There are many video questions and audio questions, and if you don't catch the video snippet that we throw up on Twitter each week, you should follow @startupspod

In episode 631, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers listener questions on topics ranging from when to rewrite your codebase to founder salaries and balancing your founder vs. developer mindset. Episode Sponsor Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce.  Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months.  With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups Topics we cover:  2:32 - Is there any validity that rewriting our code and changing our tech stack will get us to a higher multiple at a future exit? 8:08 - Founder salaries 12:16 - Using the stair step approach to create a course 15:20 - Can you sell a Zapier-type connection between several products as an early MVP for your target market? 20:06 - Founder mindset vs. developer mindset Links from the Show: Episode 622 I Making Hard Product Decisions &amp; Growth vs. Profitability with Derrick Reimer  The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 630, Rob Walling chats with Jonathan Weinberg, who is the founder of Builder Prime, a CRM software for home improvement contractors. We chat about how he came up with the idea for Builder Prime, getting early traction, and finding product-market fit. Topics we cover:  2:46 - Getting Builder Prime to almost $1M ARR 3:32 - Deciding who to hire next 4:40 - How did Jonathan come up with the idea for Builder Prime? 8:29 - Jonathan's decision to quit his day job and work on Builder Prime before it made any money 10:55 - The unique steps that Jonathan took to get early traction 17:05 - When did Jonathan realize he had product-market fit? 24:04 - Jonathan’s hockey stick growth moment 28:31 - What’s next for Jonathan? Links from the Show: Jonathan Weinberg @Jonathan_codes) I Twitter Builder Prime  TinySeed  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 630, Rob Walling chats with Jonathan Weinberg, who is the founder of Builder Prime,&nbsp;a CRM software for home improvement contractors. We chat about how he came up with the idea for Builder Prime, getting early traction, and finding product-market fit. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:46 - Getting Builder Prime to almost $1M ARR 3:32 - Deciding who to hire next 4:40 - How did Jonathan come up with the idea for Builder Prime? 8:29 - Jonathan's decision to quit his day job and work on Builder Prime before it made any money 10:55 - The unique steps that Jonathan took to get early traction 17:05 - When did Jonathan realize he had product-market fit? 24:04 - Jonathan’s hockey stick growth moment 28:31 - What’s next for Jonathan? Links from the Show: Jonathan Weinberg @Jonathan_codes) I Twitter Builder Prime&nbsp; TinySeed&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 630, Rob Walling chats with Jonathan Weinberg, who is the founder of Builder Prime, a CRM software for home improvement contractors. We chat about how he came up with the idea for Builder Prime, getting early traction, and finding product-market fit. Topics we cover:  2:46 - Getting Builder Prime to almost $1M ARR 3:32 - Deciding who to hire next 4:40 - How did Jonathan come up with the idea for Builder Prime? 8:29 - Jonathan's decision to quit his day job and work on Builder Prime before it made any money 10:55 - The unique steps that Jonathan took to get early traction 17:05 - When did Jonathan realize he had product-market fit? 24:04 - Jonathan’s hockey stick growth moment 28:31 - What’s next for Jonathan? Links from the Show: Jonathan Weinberg @Jonathan_codes) I Twitter Builder Prime  TinySeed  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the final episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. They reflect on some of the most prominent challenges and milestones that the business has faced over the last year. Topics we cover:  1:31 - Tony reflects on attending his first MicroConf Growth in Minneapolis 3:30 - An update on how CloudForecast’s content marketing efforts are going 7:59 - Getting an article featured at the top of Reddit 11:16 - An update on how their new senior engineer is doing 16:18 - Why Tony prefers to hire full-time employees 18:26 - An update on CloudForecast’s sales pipeline 20:50 - Tony reflects on the challenges of figuring out where to invest time and capital 24:30 - The importance of getting low-level tasks off your plate 28:36 - What is Tony least looking forward to in the next year? 30:38 - What is Tony most looking forward to in the next year? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In the final episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. They reflect on some of the most prominent challenges and milestones that the business has faced over the last year. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:31 - Tony reflects on attending his first MicroConf Growth in Minneapolis 3:30 - An update on how CloudForecast’s content marketing efforts are going 7:59 - Getting an article featured at the top of Reddit 11:16 - An update on how their new senior engineer is doing 16:18 - Why Tony prefers to hire full-time employees 18:26 - An update on CloudForecast’s sales pipeline 20:50 - Tony reflects on the challenges of figuring out where to invest time and capital 24:30 - The importance of getting low-level tasks off your plate 28:36 - What is Tony least looking forward to in the next year? 30:38 - What is Tony most looking forward to in the next year? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast Cost of living the cloud life: Fossil fuel consumption as a service If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the final episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. They reflect on some of the most prominent challenges and milestones that the business has faced over the last year. Topics we cover:  1:31 - Tony reflects on attending his first MicroConf Growth in Minneapolis 3:30 - An update on how CloudForecast’s content marketing efforts are going 7:59 - Getting an article featured at the top of Reddit 11:16 - An update on how their new senior engineer is doing 16:18 - Why Tony prefers to hire full-time employees 18:26 - An update on CloudForecast’s sales pipeline 20:50 - Tony reflects on the challenges of figuring out where to invest time and capital 24:30 - The importance of getting low-level tasks off your plate 28:36 - What is Tony least looking forward to in the next year? 30:38 - What is Tony most looking forward to in the next year? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast Cost of living the cloud life: Fossil fuel consumption as a service If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 628, join Rob Walling on a solo adventure where he dives into his newest framework. The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework is a helpful way to evaluate different startup ideas through a set of criteria to gauge the size of the opportunity.Want to download the PDF version the the 5 p.M. Idea Evaluation Framework? Join the Startups For The Rest Us Mailing List, and we'll send you the link in the first email. Look for the orange email opt-in widget on the page. Topics we cover:  3:37 - Why is it called The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework? 4:06 - Problem 6:23 - Purchaser 8:17 - Pricing Model 9:00 -  Market 12:48 - Product-Founder Fit 13:21 - Pain to validate the product 13:59 - Evaluating two business ideas through Rob’s 5pm framework Links from the Show: SaaS Ideas to Build Right Now, Before Someone Else Does  Jon Yongfook's Tweet MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 628, join Rob Walling on a solo adventure where he dives into his newest framework.&nbsp;The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework is a helpful way to evaluate different startup ideas through a set of criteria to gauge the size of the opportunity. Want to download the PDF version the the 5 p.M. Idea Evaluation Framework? Join the Startups For The Rest Us Mailing List, and we'll send you the link in the first email. Look for the orange email opt-in widget on the page. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:37 - Why is it called The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework? 4:06 - Problem 6:23 - Purchaser 8:17 - Pricing Model 9:00 -&nbsp; Market 12:48 - Product-Founder Fit 13:21 - Pain to validate the product 13:59 - Evaluating two business ideas through Rob’s 5pm framework Links from the Show: SaaS Ideas to Build Right Now, Before Someone Else Does&nbsp; Jon Yongfook's Tweet MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 628, join Rob Walling on a solo adventure where he dives into his newest framework. The 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework is a helpful way to evaluate different startup ideas through a set of criteria to gauge the size of the opportunity. Want to download the PDF version the the 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework? Join the Startups For The Rest Us Mailing List, and we'll send you the link in the first email. Look for the orange email opt-in widget on the page. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:37 - Why is it called The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework? 4:06 - Problem 6:23 - Purchaser 8:17 - Pricing Model 9:00 -&nbsp; Market 12:48 - Product-Founder Fit 13:21 - Pain to validate the product 13:59 - Evaluating two business ideas through Rob’s 5PM framework Links from the Show: SaaS Ideas to Build Right Now, Before Someone Else Does&nbsp; Jon Yongfook's Tweet MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 628, join Rob Walling on a solo adventure where he dives into his newest framework. The 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework is a helpful way to evaluate different startup ideas through a set of criteria to gauge the size of the opportunity. Want to download the PDF version the the 5 PM Pre-Validation Framework? Join the Startups For The Rest Us Mailing List, and we'll send you the link in the first email. Look for the orange email opt-in widget on the page. Topics we cover:  3:37 - Why is it called The 5 P.M. Idea Validation Framework? 4:06 - Problem 6:23 - Purchaser 8:17 - Pricing Model 9:00 -  Market 12:48 - Product-Founder Fit 13:21 - Pain to validate the product 13:59 - Evaluating two business ideas through Rob’s 5PM framework Links from the Show: SaaS Ideas to Build Right Now, Before Someone Else Does  Jon Yongfook's Tweet MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the penultimate episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast.Tony shares some recent big wins, including hiring a senior engineer. We also meet Tony’s cofounder, Francois Lagier, for the first time. Topics we cover:  1:49 - The story of how Tony and Francois first met 2:14 - Hiring a senior engineer at CloudForecast 8:51 - Tony shares two recent big wins at CloudForecast 14:31 - The paradox of choice that all startup founders face 16:30 - CloudForecast dives into some new content marketing and SEO initiatives 18:35 - What are Tony and Francois looking forward to in the next month? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter Francois Lagier (@francoislagier) I Twitter CloudForecast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review:...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In the penultimate episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. Tony shares some recent big wins, including hiring a senior engineer. We also meet Tony’s cofounder, Francois Lagier, for the first time. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:49 - The story of how Tony and Francois first met 2:14 - Hiring a senior engineer at CloudForecast 8:51 - Tony shares two recent big wins at CloudForecast 14:31 - The paradox of choice that all startup founders face 16:30 - CloudForecast dives into some new content marketing and SEO initiatives 18:35 - What are Tony and Francois looking forward to in the next month? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter Francois Lagier (@francoislagier) I Twitter CloudForecast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the penultimate episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. Tony shares some recent big wins, including hiring a senior engineer. We also meet Tony’s cofounder, Francois Lagier, for the first time. Topics we cover:  1:49 - The story of how Tony and Francois first met 2:14 - Hiring a senior engineer at CloudForecast 8:51 - Tony shares two recent big wins at CloudForecast 14:31 - The paradox of choice that all startup founders face 16:30 - CloudForecast dives into some new content marketing and SEO initiatives 18:35 - What are Tony and Francois looking forward to in the next month? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter Francois Lagier (@francoislagier) I Twitter CloudForecast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 626, Rob Walling chats with Nick Swan, the founder of SEOTesting.com. SEOTesting helps SEO professionals and agencies automate the reporting of page updates and changes. Nick originally launched it as a free tool under a different name.In this episode, we cover when Nick decided to charge for it, renaming the tool, rewriting the codebase, and the journey to growing to $18,000 MRR. Topics we cover:  3:17 - Growing SEOTesting.com to $18,000 MRR 4:53 - What kinds of businesses use SEOTesting.com? 8:11 - The decision to build SEOTesting 12:33 - Launching SEOTesting as a free tool 15:39 - When Nick started to charge for SEOTesting? 18:16 - Nick’s initial pricing strategy and rollout 27:06 - Reflecting on the initial launch 29:49 - Nick’s thought process for pivoting and changing the company name 34:45 - Reaching product-market fit 36:01 - Nick’s decision to bring on a co-founder a few years in 39:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 626, Rob Walling chats with Nick Swan, the founder of SEOTesting.com. SEOTesting helps SEO professionals and agencies automate the reporting of page updates and changes. Nick originally launched it as a free tool under a different name. In this episode, we cover when Nick decided to charge for it, renaming the tool, rewriting the codebase, and the journey to growing to $18,000 MRR. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:17 - Growing SEOTesting.com to $18,000 MRR 4:53 - What kinds of businesses use SEOTesting.com? 8:11 - The decision to build SEOTesting 12:33 - Launching SEOTesting as a free tool 15:39 - When Nick started to charge for SEOTesting? 18:16 - Nick’s initial pricing strategy and rollout 27:06 - Reflecting on the initial launch 29:49 - Nick’s thought process for pivoting and changing the company name 34:45 - Reaching product-market fit 36:01 - Nick’s decision to bring on a co-founder a few years in 39:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development Links from the Show: Nick Swan (@NickSwan) I Twitter SEOTesting.com&nbsp; TinySeed&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 626, Rob Walling chats with Nick Swan, the founder of SEOTesting.com. SEOTesting helps SEO professionals and agencies automate the reporting of page updates and changes. Nick originally launched it as a free tool under a different name. In this episode, we cover when Nick decided to charge for it, renaming the tool, rewriting the codebase, and the journey to growing to $18,000 MRR. Topics we cover:  3:17 - Growing SEOTesting.com to $18,000 MRR 4:53 - What kinds of businesses use SEOTesting.com? 8:11 - The decision to build SEOTesting 12:33 - Launching SEOTesting as a free tool 15:39 - When Nick started to charge for SEOTesting? 18:16 - Nick’s initial pricing strategy and rollout 27:06 - Reflecting on the initial launch 29:49 - Nick’s thought process for pivoting and changing the company name 34:45 - Reaching product-market fit 36:01 - Nick’s decision to bring on a co-founder a few years in 39:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development Links from the Show: Nick Swan (@NickSwan) I Twitter SEOTesting.com  TinySeed  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the fourth episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks back in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast.Tony shares that they’ve doubled their MRR in the last couple of months, and it feels like he has unlocked a cheat code. Topics we cover:  2:02 - What’s changed since the last episode? 3:14 - Winning a huge enterprise deal that nearly doubled their MRR 5:21 - Deploying capital 12:31 - A key mindset shift that Tony had to make 13:33 - Tony’s experience at a recent TinySeed retreat 18:10 - Tony reflects on some low points 19:35 - What is he looking forward to? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications are now open If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from youSubscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob Walling: Welcome back...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In the fourth episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks back in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. Tony shares that they’ve doubled their MRR in the last couple of months, and it feels like he has unlocked a cheat code. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:02 - What’s changed since the last episode? 3:14 - Winning a huge enterprise deal that nearly doubled their MRR 5:21 - Deploying capital 12:31 - A key mindset shift that Tony had to make 13:33 - Tony’s experience at a recent TinySeed retreat 18:10 - Tony reflects on some low points 19:35 - What is he looking forward to? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications are now open If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the fourth episode of TinySeed Tales Season 3, Rob Walling checks back in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast. Tony shares that they’ve doubled their MRR in the last couple of months, and it feels like he has unlocked a cheat code. Topics we cover:  2:02 - What’s changed since the last episode? 3:14 - Winning a huge enterprise deal that nearly doubled their MRR 5:21 - Deploying capital 12:31 - A key mindset shift that Tony had to make 13:33 - Tony’s experience at a recent TinySeed retreat 18:10 - Tony reflects on some low points 19:35 - What is he looking forward to? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications are now open If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 624, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers some listener questions on topics ranging from customer interviews to transitioning from a free to a paid product and prioritizing marketing vs. development. Topics we cover:  2:11 - What episodes should I start with to get up to speed? 3:27 - When to transition from a free to a paid product 11:37 - Customer interviews as a service 15:03 - Making the jump from software to manufacturing 19:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development Links from the Show: Greatest Hits Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies  How Much Do SaaS Companies Spend on Marketing? MicroConf Locals MicroConf Youtube Channel  MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 624, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers some listener questions on topics ranging from customer interviews to transitioning from a free to a paid product and prioritizing marketing vs. development. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:11 - What episodes should I start with to get up to speed? 3:27 - When to transition from a free to a paid product 11:37 - Customer interviews as a service 15:03 - Making the jump from software to manufacturing 19:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development Links from the Show: Greatest Hits Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies&nbsp; How Much Do SaaS Companies Spend on Marketing? MicroConf Locals MicroConf Youtube Channel&nbsp; MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 624, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers some listener questions on topics ranging from customer interviews to transitioning from a free to a paid product and prioritizing marketing vs. development. Topics we cover:  2:11 - What episodes should I start with to get up to speed? 3:27 - When to transition from a free to a paid product 11:37 - Customer interviews as a service 15:03 - Making the jump from software to manufacturing 19:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development Links from the Show: Greatest Hits Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies  How Much Do SaaS Companies Spend on Marketing? MicroConf Locals MicroConf Youtube Channel  MicroConf Connect If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the third episode of season 3 of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast to see how he is faring since his co-founder is now on paternity leave.During this time, Tony shares a big win along with dealing with some hiring and growth setbacks. Topics we cover:  1:24 - How the business is doing while Francois is on paternity leave  2:36 - Tony’s perspective on being a solo founder for the past 6 weeks  5:04 - Managing your own founder psychology   7:49 - How Tony is dealing with an unexpected sales slump  16:16 - Did Tony end up hiring a full-time SDR?   21:04 - Dealing with setbacks  22:41 - What Tony is looking forward to in the next couple of months   Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications are now open  Episode 613 | Hacking Your Founder Psychology Summit If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In the third episode of season 3 of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast to see how he is faring since his co-founder is now on paternity leave. During this time, Tony shares a big win along with dealing with some hiring and growth setbacks. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:24 - How the business is doing while Francois is on paternity leave&nbsp; 2:36 - Tony’s perspective on being a solo founder for the past 6 weeks&nbsp; 5:04 - Managing your own founder psychology&nbsp;&nbsp; 7:49 - How Tony is dealing with an unexpected sales slump&nbsp; 16:16 - Did Tony end up hiring a full-time SDR?&nbsp;&nbsp; 21:04 - Dealing with setbacks&nbsp; 22:41 - What Tony is looking forward to in the next couple of months&nbsp;&nbsp; Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications are now open&nbsp; Episode 613 | Hacking Your Founder Psychology Summit If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the third episode of season 3 of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Tony Chan of CloudForecast to see how he is faring since his co-founder is now on paternity leave. During this time, Tony shares a big win along with dealing with some hiring and growth setbacks. Topics we cover:  1:24 - How the business is doing while Francois is on paternity leave  2:36 - Tony’s perspective on being a solo founder for the past 6 weeks  5:04 - Managing your own founder psychology   7:49 - How Tony is dealing with an unexpected sales slump  16:16 - Did Tony end up hiring a full-time SDR?   21:04 - Dealing with setbacks  22:41 - What Tony is looking forward to in the next couple of months   Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications are now open  Episode 613 | Hacking Your Founder Psychology Summit If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 622, join Rob Walling and fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they discuss topics like balancing profitability versus growth and deciding which features to build and not. They chat about some specific features that Derek has decided to build, those he has not decided to build, and the thought process behind them.Topics we cover:  4:02 - Making product decisions  9:22 - Deciding on what features you are not going to build  19:12 - When to reply to debates on Twitter   27:42 - Twitter’s newsletter feature  31:40 - Derrick’s perspective on balancing profitability vs reinvesting in the business  43:10 - Is Rob scratching his maker itch by being an investor in companies through TinySeed, or is he missing building SaaS businesses?   46:29 - Should Rob join TikTok?  Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer @derrickreimer I Twitter SavvyCal Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Are Now Open  ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 622, join Rob Walling and fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they discuss topics like balancing profitability versus growth and deciding which features to build and not. They chat about some specific features that Derek has decided to build, those he has not decided to build, and the thought process behind them. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 4:02 - Making product decisions&nbsp; 9:22 - Deciding on what features you are not going to build&nbsp; 19:12 - When to reply to debates on Twitter&nbsp;&nbsp; 27:42 - Twitter’s newsletter feature&nbsp; 31:40 - Derrick’s perspective on balancing profitability vs reinvesting in the business&nbsp; 43:10 - Is Rob scratching his maker itch by being an investor in companies through TinySeed, or is he missing building SaaS businesses?&nbsp;&nbsp; 46:29 - Should Rob join TikTok?&nbsp; Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer @derrickreimer I Twitter SavvyCal Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Are Now Open&nbsp; MicroConf Youtube Channel&nbsp; High Signal If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 622, join Rob Walling and fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they discuss topics like balancing profitability versus growth and deciding which features to build and not. They chat about some specific features that Derek has decided to build, those he has not decided to build, and the thought process behind them. Topics we cover:  4:02 - Making product decisions  9:22 - Deciding on what features you are not going to build  19:12 - When to reply to debates on Twitter   27:42 - Twitter’s newsletter feature  31:40 - Derrick’s perspective on balancing profitability vs reinvesting in the business  43:10 - Is Rob scratching his maker itch by being an investor in companies through TinySeed, or is he missing building SaaS businesses?   46:29 - Should Rob join TikTok?  Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer @derrickreimer I Twitter SavvyCal Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Are Now Open  MicroConf Youtube Channel  High Signal If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob chats with Tony Chan from CloudForecast about the progress his rapidly growing team has made over the previous few weeks.Tony is riding the roller coaster that is entrepreneurship and in this episode you get to follow along. Topics we cover: 1:47 - New full time engineering hire onboarding results 4:50 - Part time SDR hire onboarding results 7:31 - How hiring affects company culture 10:19 - Tony’s biggest wins in the last few weeks 14:30 - Growing the product to grow Expansion Revenue 15:45 - CloudForecast’s summer sales lull 19:40 - Keeping sane as a founder 22:00 - What Tony is worried about coming out of summer 24:00 - The next MRR target Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications open September 12, 2022 TinySeed Tales S2E1 I Introducing Gather  TinySeed Tales 1 I A Non-Technical Saas Founder  If you have questions about starting or scaling a...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob chats with Tony Chan from CloudForecast about the progress his rapidly growing team has made over the previous few weeks. Tony is riding the roller coaster that is entrepreneurship and in this episode you get to follow along. Topics we cover: 1:47 - New full time engineering hire onboarding results 4:50 - Part time SDR hire onboarding results 7:31 - How hiring affects company culture 10:19 - Tony’s biggest wins in the last few weeks 14:30 - Growing the product to grow Expansion Revenue 15:45 - CloudForecast’s summer sales lull 19:40 - Keeping sane as a founder 22:00 - What Tony is worried about coming out of summer 24:00 - The next MRR target Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications open September 12, 2022 TinySeed Tales S2E1 I Introducing Gather&nbsp; TinySeed Tales 1 I A Non-Technical Saas Founder&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob chats with Tony Chan from CloudForecast about the progress his rapidly growing team has made over the previous few weeks. Tony is riding the roller coaster that is entrepreneurship and in this episode you get to follow along. Topics we cover: 1:47 - New full time engineering hire onboarding results 4:50 - Part time SDR hire onboarding results 7:31 - How hiring affects company culture 10:19 - Tony’s biggest wins in the last few weeks 14:30 - Growing the product to grow Expansion Revenue 15:45 - CloudForecast’s summer sales lull 19:40 - Keeping sane as a founder 22:00 - What Tony is worried about coming out of summer 24:00 - The next MRR target Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast TinySeed Applications open September 12, 2022 TinySeed Tales S2E1 I Introducing Gather  TinySeed Tales 1 I A Non-Technical Saas Founder  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 620, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers some listener questions. These questions range from which SaaS business metrics to pay attention to and how to find good SaaS ideas to helping an employee transition from a task-level to a project-level thinker.Topics we cover:  1:44- What SaaS business metrics matter the most?  11:21- Do you have any general observations about building a SaaS for non-technical customers?  16:00- How do you find a good SaaS idea?  24:41- How can I assist an employee in transitioning from a task-level to a project-level thinker?  Links from the Show: Episode 480 I Stairstepping Your Way To SaaS with Christopher Gimmer 2022 State of Independent SaaS Report  The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping  TMBA 100 - Rip, Pivot, and Jam MicroConf Connect  MicroConf Europe  Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel  If you have...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 620, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers some listener questions. These questions range from which SaaS business metrics to pay attention to and how to find good SaaS ideas to helping an employee transition from a task-level to a project-level thinker. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 1:44- What SaaS business metrics matter the most?&nbsp; 11:21- Do you have any general observations about building a SaaS for non-technical customers?&nbsp; 16:00- How do you find a good SaaS idea?&nbsp; 24:41- How can I assist an employee in transitioning from a task-level to a project-level thinker?&nbsp; Links from the Show: Episode 480 I Stairstepping Your Way To SaaS with Christopher Gimmer 2022 State of Independent SaaS Report&nbsp; The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping&nbsp; TMBA 100 - Rip, Pivot, and Jam MicroConf Connect&nbsp; MicroConf Europe&nbsp; Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 620, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers some listener questions. These questions range from which SaaS business metrics to pay attention to and how to find good SaaS ideas to helping an employee transition from a task-level to a project-level thinker. Topics we cover:  1:44- What SaaS business metrics matter the most?  11:21- Do you have any general observations about building a SaaS for non-technical customers?  16:00- How do you find a good SaaS idea?  24:41- How can I assist an employee in transitioning from a task-level to a project-level thinker?  Links from the Show: Episode 480 I Stairstepping Your Way To SaaS with Christopher Gimmer 2022 State of Independent SaaS Report  The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping  TMBA 100 - Rip, Pivot, and Jam MicroConf Connect  MicroConf Europe  Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Welcome to Season 3 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the founders of one SaaS startup throughout a year as they share their struggles, victories, and failures.On the first episode of Season 3, Rob introduces us to Tony Chan, the cofounder of CloudForecast. CloudForecast is a daily AWS cost monitoring service for busy engineering teams. Tony is one of 33 startup founders from TinySeed’s Spring 2021 accelerator batch. Topics we cover:  2:41- What’s CloudForecast?  4:09- How large is the CloudForecast team?  6:54- Why did Tony apply to TinySeed? 8:30- Why Tony turned down venture capital offers?  13:48- Tony reflects on the added complexity of taking funding  19:47- Tony’s biggest fear  22:34- What is Tony looking forward to? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast  TinySeed  Castos  Gather  TinySeed Tales S2E1 I Introducing Gather  TinySeed Tales S1E1 I A Non-Technical Saas Founder  If you...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

Welcome to Season 3 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the founders of one SaaS startup throughout a year as they share their struggles, victories, and failures. On the first episode of Season 3, Rob introduces us to Tony Chan, the cofounder of CloudForecast. CloudForecast is a daily AWS cost monitoring service for busy engineering teams. Tony is one of 33 startup founders from TinySeed’s Spring 2021 accelerator batch. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 2:41- What’s CloudForecast?&nbsp; 4:09- How large is the CloudForecast team?&nbsp; 6:54- Why did Tony apply to TinySeed? 8:30- Why Tony turned down venture capital offers?&nbsp; 13:48- Tony reflects on the added complexity of taking funding&nbsp; 19:47- Tony’s biggest fear&nbsp; 22:34- What is Tony looking forward to? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast&nbsp; TinySeed&nbsp; Castos&nbsp; Gather&nbsp; TinySeed Tales S2E1 I Introducing Gather&nbsp; TinySeed Tales S1E1 I A Non-Technical Saas Founder&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.

Welcome to Season 3 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the founders of one SaaS startup throughout a year as they share their struggles, victories, and failures. On the first episode of Season 3, Rob introduces us to Tony Chan, the cofounder of CloudForecast. CloudForecast is a daily AWS cost monitoring service for busy engineering teams. Tony is one of 33 startup founders from TinySeed’s Spring 2021 accelerator batch. Topics we cover:  2:41- What’s CloudForecast?  4:09- How large is the CloudForecast team?  6:54- Why did Tony apply to TinySeed? 8:30- Why Tony turned down venture capital offers?  13:48- Tony reflects on the added complexity of taking funding  19:47- Tony’s biggest fear  22:34- What is Tony looking forward to? Links from the Show: Tony Chan (@toeknee123) I Twitter CloudForecast  TinySeed  Castos  Gather  TinySeed Tales S2E1 I Introducing Gather  TinySeed Tales S1E1 I A Non-Technical Saas Founder  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.

In episode 618, join Rob Walling as he chats with Sam Dogen, the founder of Financial Samurai, which is one of the longest-running and most popular personal finance blogs. Over the last 13 years, Sam has personally written over 2,500 essays along with a Wall Street Journal Bestselling book. We talk about achieving financial freedom, money mindsets, and relentless execution. Topics we cover:  3:12- The 4% Rule  4:40- Sam’s alternative approach to the 4% Rule  7:25- The FIRE Movement  10:16- How to navigate the US health insurance system as an early retiree  12:10- Sam’s relentless execution when it comes to running Financial Samurai  17:40- How Sam learned about personal finance  18:47- How Sam negotiated a severance package despite quitting his investment banking job  22:47- Why he runs Financial Samurai as a true lifestyle business  26:07- Would Sam sell Financial Samurai for $20 million?  27:35- The premise of Sam’s new book  28:46-...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 618, join Rob Walling as he chats with Sam Dogen, the founder of Financial Samurai, which is one of the longest-running and most popular personal finance blogs. Over the last 13 years, Sam has personally written over 2,500 essays along with a Wall Street Journal Bestselling book. We talk about achieving financial freedom, money mindsets, and relentless execution. Topics we cover:&nbsp; 3:12- The 4% Rule&nbsp; 4:40- Sam’s alternative approach to the 4% Rule&nbsp; 7:25- The FIRE Movement&nbsp; 10:16- How to navigate the US health insurance system as an early retiree&nbsp; 12:10- Sam’s relentless execution when it comes to running Financial Samurai&nbsp; 17:40- How Sam learned about personal finance&nbsp; 18:47- How Sam negotiated a severance package despite quitting his investment banking job&nbsp; 22:47- Why he runs Financial Samurai as a true lifestyle business&nbsp; 26:07- Would Sam sell Financial Samurai for $20 million?&nbsp; 27:35- The premise of Sam’s new book&nbsp; 28:46- Sam’s mental model for allocating financial assets to generate passive income&nbsp; Links from the Show: Sam Dogen (@financialsamura) I Twitter Financial Samurai&nbsp;&nbsp; Buy This, Not That&nbsp;&nbsp; TropicalMBA&nbsp; MicroConf Europe&nbsp; Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 618, join Rob Walling as he chats with Sam Dogen, the founder of Financial Samurai, which is one of the longest-running and most popular personal finance blogs. Over the last 13 years, Sam has personally written over 2,500 essays along with a Wall Street Journal Bestselling book. We talk about achieving financial freedom, money mindsets, and relentless execution. Topics we cover:  3:12- The 4% Rule  4:40- Sam’s alternative approach to the 4% Rule  7:25- The FIRE Movement  10:16- How to navigate the US health insurance system as an early retiree  12:10- Sam’s relentless execution when it comes to running Financial Samurai  17:40- How Sam learned about personal finance  18:47- How Sam negotiated a severance package despite quitting his investment banking job  22:47- Why he runs Financial Samurai as a true lifestyle business  26:07- Would Sam sell Financial Samurai for $20 million?  27:35- The premise of Sam’s new book  28:46- Sam’s mental model for allocating financial assets to generate passive income  Links from the Show: Sam Dogen (@financialsamura) I Twitter Financial Samurai   Buy This, Not That   TropicalMBA  MicroConf Europe  Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 617, Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn join Rob Walling for a bootstrapper news roundup episode. They cover a wide range of topics from ProfitWell’s big 200 million exit, spreadsheet mentality, watching an acquirer ruin your company, and much more. Topics we cover:  [3:06] What’s your take on ProfitWell’s acquisition?  [5:52] Watching an acquirer ruin your company [14:03] The spreadsheet mentality [23:09] If you can’t buy it twice, don’t buy it[36:00] Balancing realism with optimism as a founder  Links from the Show: Tracy Osborn @tracymakes I Twitter Einar Vollset @einarvollset I Twitter Episode 611 | Bootstrapping ProfitWell to a $200M Exit (with Patrick Campbell) Watching an acquirer ruin your company Episode 605 | Building a SaaS with Little Dev Experience, Using No Code for Your MVP, Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace, and More Listener Questions The “Spreadsheet Mentality” sucks, and kills the efficacy of jobs ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 617, Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn join Rob Walling for a bootstrapper news roundup episode. They cover a wide range of topics from ProfitWell’s big 200 million exit, spreadsheet mentality, watching an acquirer ruin your company, and much more. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [3:06] What’s your take on ProfitWell’s acquisition?&nbsp;&nbsp; [5:52] Watching an acquirer ruin your company&nbsp; [14:03] The spreadsheet mentality&nbsp; [23:09] If you can’t buy it twice, don’t buy it [36:00] Balancing realism with optimism as a founder&nbsp; Links from the Show: Tracy Osborn @tracymakes I Twitter Einar Vollset @einarvollset I Twitter Episode 611 | Bootstrapping ProfitWell to a $200M Exit (with Patrick Campbell) Watching an acquirer ruin your company Episode 605 | Building a SaaS with Little Dev Experience, Using No Code for Your MVP, Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace, and More Listener Questions The “Spreadsheet Mentality” sucks, and kills the efficacy of jobs If You Can’t Buy It Twice, Don’t Buy It 14 Critical Things Investors Look for In A SaaS Startup Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel MicroConf Europe If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 617, Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn join Rob Walling for a bootstrapper news roundup episode. They cover a wide range of topics from ProfitWell’s big 200 million exit, spreadsheet mentality, watching an acquirer ruin your company, and much more. Topics we cover:  [3:06] What’s your take on ProfitWell’s acquisition?   [5:52] Watching an acquirer ruin your company  [14:03] The spreadsheet mentality  [23:09] If you can’t buy it twice, don’t buy it [36:00] Balancing realism with optimism as a founder  Links from the Show: Tracy Osborn @tracymakes I Twitter Einar Vollset @einarvollset I Twitter Episode 611 | Bootstrapping ProfitWell to a $200M Exit (with Patrick Campbell) Watching an acquirer ruin your company Episode 605 | Building a SaaS with Little Dev Experience, Using No Code for Your MVP, Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace, and More Listener Questions The “Spreadsheet Mentality” sucks, and kills the efficacy of jobs If You Can’t Buy It Twice, Don’t Buy It 14 Critical Things Investors Look for In A SaaS Startup Applications for TinySeed’s Fall 2022 SaaS Accelerators Will Open September 12th MicroConf Youtube Channel MicroConf Europe If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 616, Rob Walling chats with Liam Martin, the co-founder of Time Doctor and author of the new book, “Running Remote: Master the Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Remote Work Pioneers.” We dig into the fundamentals of asynchronous communication, how to do remote work better, and some surprises they saw during the pandemic. Episode Sponsor Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong.Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:  [2:46] What Liam...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 616, Rob Walling chats with Liam Martin, the co-founder of Time Doctor and author of the new book, “Running Remote: Master the Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Remote Work Pioneers.” We dig into the fundamentals of asynchronous communication, how to do remote work better, and some surprises they saw during the pandemic. Episode Sponsor Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [2:46] What Liam has learned running Time Doctor for the past 12 years&nbsp; [6:23] Can extroverts thrive long-term in a remote work environment?&nbsp; [11:14] Liam’s approach to metrics and KPIs for engineering teams&nbsp; [18:23] Why remote companies that move faster collaborate less&nbsp; [21:31] How far can you take async communication in a remote team&nbsp;&nbsp; [24:29] Combating isolation on remote teams&nbsp; Links from the Show: Liam Martin (@LiamRemote) I Twitter Running Remote Book Time Doctor&nbsp; Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World MicroConf Youtube Channel&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 616, Rob Walling chats with Liam Martin, the co-founder of Time Doctor and author of the new book, “Running Remote: Master the Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Remote Work Pioneers.” We dig into the fundamentals of asynchronous communication, how to do remote work better, and some surprises they saw during the pandemic. Episode Sponsor Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:  [2:46] What Liam has learned running Time Doctor for the past 12 years  [6:23] Can extroverts thrive long-term in a remote work environment?  [11:14] Liam’s approach to metrics and KPIs for engineering teams  [18:23] Why remote companies that move faster collaborate less  [21:31] How far can you take async communication in a remote team   [24:29] Combating isolation on remote teams  Links from the Show: Liam Martin (@LiamRemote) I Twitter Running Remote Book Time Doctor  Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World MicroConf Youtube Channel  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 615, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers what makes a business bootstrappable (and things to avoid), cargo culting, and how large of a business you can build at different customer lifetime value levels. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong.Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:  [1:51] What makes a business bootstrappable? [14:15] Cargo culting [20:05] How large of a business can you build at a...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 615, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers what makes a business bootstrappable (and things to avoid), cargo culting, and how large of a business you can build at different customer lifetime value levels. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:51] What makes a business bootstrappable?&nbsp; [14:15] Cargo culting&nbsp; [20:05] How large of a business can you build at a specific annual contract value or lifetime value?&nbsp; Links from the Show: Bootstrapper’s Guide to Outside Funding&nbsp; Episode 613 I Hacking Your Founder Psychology&nbsp; Episode 602 I Explaining SaaS Metrics to a Child&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 615, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers what makes a business bootstrappable (and things to avoid), cargo culting, and how large of a business you can build at different customer lifetime value levels. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:  [1:51] What makes a business bootstrappable?  [14:15] Cargo culting  [20:05] How large of a business can you build at a specific annual contract value or lifetime value?  Links from the Show: Bootstrapper’s Guide to Outside Funding  Episode 613 I Hacking Your Founder Psychology  Episode 602 I Explaining SaaS Metrics to a Child  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 614, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer. They start out by talking about Derrick’s decision to take a sabbatical from The Art of Product podcast after co-hosting it with Ben Orenstein for more than 5 years. Then, they answer a handful of listener questions, including when to quit your day job to focus on your startup full-time, coping with anxiety as a second-time founder, and choosing a domain name. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong.Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15%...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 614, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer. They start out by talking about Derrick’s decision to take a sabbatical from The Art of Product podcast after co-hosting it with Ben&nbsp;Orenstein for more than 5 years. Then, they answer a handful of listener questions, including when to quit your day job to focus on your startup full-time, coping with anxiety as a second-time founder, and choosing a domain name. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [2:18] Derrick’s decision to take a break from The Art of The Product podcast&nbsp; [10:22] When should you go full-time on your startup?&nbsp; [17:20] Before looking for tech firms, should I know the best frontend and backend architecture for my SaaS MVP and then only shop for firms who specialize in that?&nbsp;&nbsp; [24:13] I'm starting a new SaaS business, and despite a previous successful experience, I can't stop feeling extremely anxious about it. Is this something you're familiar with? How did you deal with it? [30:34] When choosing a domain name for my startup, should you go with a meaningful and expressive name, but a less serious TLD.io or a somewhat fictional name combined with the best tld.com?&nbsp;&nbsp; Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer @derrickreimer I Twitter&nbsp; SavvyCal The Art of Product&nbsp; Bootstrapped Web&nbsp; Summit&nbsp; TinySeed&nbsp; Bullet Train&nbsp; MicroConf Connect&nbsp; The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You The Mom Test&nbsp; How I Nabbe

In episode 614, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer. They start out by talking about Derrick’s decision to take a sabbatical from The Art of Product podcast after co-hosting it with Ben Orenstein for more than 5 years. Then, they answer a handful of listener questions, including when to quit your day job to focus on your startup full-time, coping with anxiety as a second-time founder, and choosing a domain name. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:  [2:18] Derrick’s decision to take a break from The Art of The Product podcast  [10:22] When should you go full-time on your startup?  [17:20] Before looking for tech firms, should I know the best frontend and backend architecture for my SaaS MVP and then only shop for firms who specialize in that?   [24:13] I'm starting a new SaaS business, and despite a previous successful experience, I can't stop feeling extremely anxious about it. Is this something you're familiar with? How did you deal with it? [30:34] When choosing a domain name for my startup, should you go with a meaningful and expressive name, but a less serious TLD.io or a somewhat fictional name combined with the best tld.com?   Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer @derrickreimer I Twitter  SavvyCal The Art of Product  Bootstrapped Web  Summit  TinySeed  Bullet Train  MicroConf Connect  The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You The Mom Test 

In episode 613, Rob Walling chats with Dr. Sherry Walling about the release of her new book, Touching Two Worlds: A guide for finding hope in the landscape of loss. They cover a lot in this episode, including the hustle of launching a book, the behind the scenes of how Sherry has hacked her own psychology to help promote the book, and grief in entrepreneurship. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong.Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover: ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 613, Rob Walling chats with Dr. Sherry Walling about the release of her new book, Touching Two Worlds: A guide for finding hope in the landscape of loss. They cover a lot in this episode, including the hustle of launching a book, the behind the scenes of how Sherry has hacked her own psychology to help promote the book, and grief in entrepreneurship. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [4:04] What it is like to publish a book with a traditional publisher&nbsp; [5:30] The process of launching and promoting a book [9:24] A clever way to reframe cold outreach&nbsp; [15:52] Hacking your founder psychology&nbsp; [21:03] A short book summary&nbsp; Links from the Show: Sherry Walling (@SherryWalling) I Twitter Zen Founder&nbsp; Touching Two Worlds: A guide for finding hope in the landscape of loss Episode 585 I Moving Outside Your Comfort Zone with Dr. Sherry Walling&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 613, Rob Walling chats with Dr. Sherry Walling about the release of her new book, Touching Two Worlds: A guide for finding hope in the landscape of loss. They cover a lot in this episode, including the hustle of launching a book, the behind the scenes of how Sherry has hacked her own psychology to help promote the book, and grief in entrepreneurship. Episode Sponsor: Hiring developers has been tough for years, but it is even tougher these days. Lemon.io is on a mission to make the process of hiring an experienced developer or even an entire team easier. They only have experienced developers on their marketplace, and each one is hand-vetted. It is virtually risk-free as they’ll guarantee a replacement in 48 hours if something goes wrong. Find your perfect developer or a team with Lemon.io. You can also claim a special discount for our podcast fans. Visit lemon.io/startups to receive a 15% discount for the first 4 weeks of work with a developer. Topics we cover:  [4:04] What it is like to publish a book with a traditional publisher  [5:30] The process of launching and promoting a book [9:24] A clever way to reframe cold outreach  [15:52] Hacking your founder psychology  [21:03] A short book summary  Links from the Show: Sherry Walling (@SherryWalling) I Twitter Zen Founder  Touching Two Worlds: A guide for finding hope in the landscape of loss Episode 585 I Moving Outside Your Comfort Zone with Dr. Sherry Walling  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 612, Rob Walling chats with longtime friend and repeat podcast guest Dave Rodenbaugh. Dave was even at the very first MicroConf back in 2011.In this episode, we have a candid conversation on our experiences balancing side projects with a day job, struggling with the decision in our own different ways of when to quit, and the surprising habits you have to unlearn once you are finally independent of the day job and consulting work. Topics we cover:  [1:27] Dave’s thought process behind expanding Recapture [5:34] The decision to go full-time on Recapture [15:05] Dave’s process for unlearning bad employee / consultant habits [20:07] The danger of the arrival fallacy [24:20] What would you do if you sold the business?[26:03] Balancing a side project with your day job   Links from the Show: Dave Rodenbaugh (@DaveRodenbaugh) I Twitter Recapture  Rogue Startups  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 612, Rob Walling chats with longtime friend and repeat podcast guest Dave Rodenbaugh. Dave was even at the very first MicroConf back in 2011. In this episode, we have a candid conversation on our experiences balancing side projects with a day job, struggling with the decision in our own different ways of when to quit, and the surprising habits you have to unlearn once you are finally independent of the day job and consulting work. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:27] Dave’s thought process behind expanding Recapture&nbsp; [5:34] The decision to go full-time on Recapture&nbsp; [15:05] Dave’s process for unlearning bad employee / consultant habits&nbsp; [20:07] The danger of the arrival fallacy&nbsp; [24:20] What would you do if you sold the business? [26:03] Balancing a side project with your day job&nbsp;&nbsp; Links from the Show: Dave Rodenbaugh (@DaveRodenbaugh) I Twitter Recapture&nbsp; Rogue Startups&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 612, Rob Walling chats with longtime friend and repeat podcast guest Dave Rodenbaugh. Dave was even at the very first MicroConf back in 2011. In this episode, we have a candid conversation on our experiences balancing side projects with a day job, struggling with the decision in our own different ways of when to quit, and the surprising habits you have to unlearn once you are finally independent of the day job and consulting work. Topics we cover:  [1:27] Dave’s thought process behind expanding Recapture  [5:34] The decision to go full-time on Recapture  [15:05] Dave’s process for unlearning bad employee / consultant habits  [20:07] The danger of the arrival fallacy  [24:20] What would you do if you sold the business? [26:03] Balancing a side project with your day job   Links from the Show: Dave Rodenbaugh (@DaveRodenbaugh) I Twitter Recapture  Rogue Startups  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 611, join Rob Walling as he chats with Patrick Campbell, the cofounder of ProfitWell, on how he and his co-founders bootstrapped ProfitWell to a $200 million exit.Profitwell was acquired by Paddle earlier this year. We dive into a bunch of topics you have not heard elsewhere, including details about the actual transaction, what was the stock vs. cash split, the revenue breakdown of consulting versus SaaS when they sold as well as talking through his thought process as they were deciding whether to sell. Topics we cover:  [3:53] Using their consulting business to fund and grow Profitwell in the early days [8:23] The split between cash and stock in Profitwell’s acquisition [9:49] The percentage of Profitwell’s revenue from consulting vs. SaaS[13:39] The conversations that Patrick and his cofounders had from the get-go about their end goals and how much to reinvest in the business [15:02] The ownership split between all of the cofounders ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 611, join Rob Walling as he chats with Patrick Campbell, the cofounder of ProfitWell, on how he and his co-founders bootstrapped ProfitWell to a $200 million exit. Profitwell was acquired by Paddle earlier this year. We dive into a bunch of topics you have not heard elsewhere, including details about the actual transaction, what was the stock vs. cash split, the revenue breakdown of consulting versus SaaS when they sold as well as talking through his thought process as they were deciding whether to sell. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [3:53] Using their consulting business to fund and grow Profitwell in the early days&nbsp; [8:23] The split between cash and stock in Profitwell’s acquisition&nbsp; [9:49] The percentage of Profitwell’s revenue from consulting vs. SaaS [13:39] The conversations that Patrick and his cofounders had from the get-go about their end goals and how much to reinvest in the business&nbsp; [15:02] The ownership split between all of the cofounders&nbsp; [17:08] How he made sure his employees were taken care of in the acquisition&nbsp;&nbsp; [19:05] Did Patrick ever consider taking funding?&nbsp; [26:14] How long it took to sell the business from the first contact with Paddle&nbsp;&nbsp; [31:55] Why should SaaS founders take money off the table once they hit certain milestones?&nbsp; [36:01] Patrick’s feelings about competing with Stripe&nbsp; [42:15] Why Patrick moved to Puerto Rico&nbsp; Links from the Show: Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) I Twitter&nbsp; Profitwell&nbsp; Paddle If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 611, join Rob Walling as he chats with Patrick Campbell, the cofounder of ProfitWell, on how he and his co-founders bootstrapped ProfitWell to a $200 million exit. Profitwell was acquired by Paddle earlier this year. We dive into a bunch of topics you have not heard elsewhere, including details about the actual transaction, what was the stock vs. cash split, the revenue breakdown of consulting versus SaaS when they sold as well as talking through his thought process as they were deciding whether to sell. Topics we cover:  [3:53] Using their consulting business to fund and grow Profitwell in the early days  [8:23] The split between cash and stock in Profitwell’s acquisition  [9:49] The percentage of Profitwell’s revenue from consulting vs. SaaS [13:39] The conversations that Patrick and his cofounders had from the get-go about their end goals and how much to reinvest in the business  [15:02] The ownership split between all of the cofounders  [17:08] How he made sure his employees were taken care of in the acquisition   [19:05] Did Patrick ever consider taking funding?  [26:14] How long it took to sell the business from the first contact with Paddle   [31:55] Why should SaaS founders take money off the table once they hit certain milestones?  [36:01] Patrick’s feelings about competing with Stripe  [42:15] Why Patrick moved to Puerto Rico  Links from the Show: Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) I Twitter  Profitwell  Paddle If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 610, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he talks about the benefits of working a day job before launching your company, some bad habits he picked up in the early days, why the college dropout narrative is annoying, and what he would do if he was starting over today. Topics we cover:  [1:08] The benefits of working a day job[6:20] Some bad habits Rob learned as a solopreneur in the early days [9:45] Why the college dropout narrative is bs [12:51] What would Rob do if he was starting over today [19:22] The benefits of starting a business today vs. 10 years ago  Links from the Show: Episode 551 I Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More The Stair Step Approach to bootstrapping Quiet Light  68 B2B SaaS marketplaces with opportunities for indie hackers If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 610, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he talks about the benefits of working a day job before launching your company, some bad habits he picked up in the early days, why the college dropout narrative is annoying, and what he would do if he was starting over today. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:08] The benefits of working a day job [6:20] Some bad habits Rob learned as a solopreneur in the early days&nbsp; [9:45] Why the college dropout narrative is bs&nbsp; [12:51] What would Rob do if he was starting over today&nbsp; [19:22] The benefits of starting a business today vs. 10 years ago&nbsp; Links from the Show: Episode 551 I Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More The Stair Step Approach to bootstrapping Quiet Light&nbsp; 68 B2B SaaS marketplaces with opportunities for indie hackers If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 610, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he talks about the benefits of working a day job before launching your company, some bad habits he picked up in the early days, why the college dropout narrative is annoying, and what he would do if he was starting over today. Topics we cover:  [1:08] The benefits of working a day job [6:20] Some bad habits Rob learned as a solopreneur in the early days  [9:45] Why the college dropout narrative is bs  [12:51] What would Rob do if he was starting over today  [19:22] The benefits of starting a business today vs. 10 years ago  Links from the Show: Episode 551 I Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More The Stair Step Approach to bootstrapping Quiet Light  68 B2B SaaS marketplaces with opportunities for indie hackers If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 609, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers a handful of listener questions ranging from when it makes sense to have multiple LLCs and hiring task-level vs. project-level thinkers to planning for large projects. He also shares his thought process behind ways you can build a complex mobile app prototype in a capital efficient manner. Topics we cover:  [1:56] Is it worth it to create multiple LLCs? [6:10] Do you have any tips for how to find the time to work on future improvements when it feels like you don't have time to do anything but fix bugs and answer support tickets? [13:01] Do you have any advice around how to build a complex mobile app MVP in a capital efficient manner? [20:30] Should internal company, marketing and transactional emails be on the same domain? [22:27] How do you plan for a large project?  Links from the Show: Episode 551 I Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 609, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers a handful of listener questions ranging from when it makes sense to have multiple LLCs and hiring task-level vs. project-level thinkers to planning for large projects. He also shares his thought process behind ways you can build a complex mobile app prototype in a capital efficient manner. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:56] Is it worth it to create multiple LLCs?&nbsp; [6:10] Do you have any tips for how to find the time to work on future improvements when it feels like you don't have time to do anything but fix bugs and answer support tickets?&nbsp; [13:01] Do you have any advice around how to build a complex mobile app MVP in a capital efficient manner?&nbsp; [20:30] Should internal company, marketing and transactional emails be on the same domain?&nbsp; [22:27] How do you plan for a large project?&nbsp; Links from the Show: Episode 551 I Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More MicroConf Connect&nbsp; Episode 505 I 42 Side Projects and the #NoCode Movement Github Issues&nbsp; Episode 311 I What’s It’s Like Selling a $128k Side Project&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 609, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers a handful of listener questions ranging from when it makes sense to have multiple LLCs and hiring task-level vs. project-level thinkers to planning for large projects. He also shares his thought process behind ways you can build a complex mobile app prototype in a capital efficient manner. Topics we cover:  [1:56] Is it worth it to create multiple LLCs?  [6:10] Do you have any tips for how to find the time to work on future improvements when it feels like you don't have time to do anything but fix bugs and answer support tickets?  [13:01] Do you have any advice around how to build a complex mobile app MVP in a capital efficient manner?  [20:30] Should internal company, marketing and transactional emails be on the same domain?  [22:27] How do you plan for a large project?  Links from the Show: Episode 551 I Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More MicroConf Connect  Episode 505 I 42 Side Projects and the #NoCode Movement Github Issues  Episode 311 I What’s It’s Like Selling a $128k Side Project  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 608, Rob Walling chats with Adrian Rosebrock, who bootstrapped and successfully exited his seven-figure info product company, PyImageSearch, in 2021. PyImageSearch provided digital courses around visual image detection and image classification in Python.Adrian wasn’t always an entrepreneur. He graduated with a PhD in computer science, got a day job, realized early on that he hated it, and just stair-stepped his way up to running a successful business. In this episode, we cover a lot including Adrian’s decision to start blogging and launch a Kickstarter campaign in the early days to learning how to hire employees and making the decision to sell the business in 2021. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 608, Rob Walling chats with Adrian Rosebrock, who bootstrapped and successfully exited his seven-figure info product company, PyImageSearch, in 2021. PyImageSearch provided digital courses around visual image detection and image classification in Python. Adrian wasn’t always an entrepreneur. He graduated with a PhD in computer science, got a day job, realized early on that he hated it, and just stair-stepped his way up to running a successful business. In this episode, we cover a lot including Adrian’s decision to start blogging and launch a Kickstarter campaign in the early days to learning how to hire employees and making the decision to sell the business in 2021. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founder Hub&nbsp; Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress.&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources,&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:&nbsp; [2:41] The story of how Adrian first discovered MicroConf&nbsp; [6:29] Why Adrian didn’t want to go down the traditional path after getting his PhD in computer science&nbsp; [10:01] When he knew having a traditional day job as an employee wasn’t for him&nbsp; [11:24] How he used the stair-step approach to launch PyImageSearch&nbsp; [13:54] What Adrian did when he started to see early traction [16:45] Did having a PhD in computer science have a big impact in the early days of launching his business?&nbsp;&nbsp; [18:05] Adrian’s approach to learning how to market [20:31] How he balanced working a day job and his side business in the early days&nbsp; [23:39] Adrian’s launch plan for selling his first ebook in 2014 [28:48] The epiphanies that Adrian had in the early days to keep plugging away&nbsp; [33:33] How he went from making $38,000 in 2014 to $600,000 in 2016 as a company of one&nbsp;&nbsp; [36:28] The mindset shifts he had to make when he started hiring employees [39:10] Adrian’s decision to sell the business&nbsp; [45:03] His reflections after selling the business in 2021 Links from the Show: Adrian Rosebrock @InfoProdMastery I Twitter PyImageSearch Info Product Mastery The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping Ryan Delk: Lifting The Veil: The Data Behind Successful Product Launches I Youtube Quiet Light If you have questions about starting or scaling a soft

In episode 608, Rob Walling chats with Adrian Rosebrock, who bootstrapped and successfully exited his seven-figure info product company, PyImageSearch, in 2021. PyImageSearch provided digital courses around visual image detection and image classification in Python. Adrian wasn’t always an entrepreneur. He graduated with a PhD in computer science, got a day job, realized early on that he hated it, and just stair-stepped his way up to running a successful business. In this episode, we cover a lot including Adrian’s decision to start blogging and launch a Kickstarter campaign in the early days to learning how to hire employees and making the decision to sell the business in 2021. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub  Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [2:41] The story of how Adrian first discovered MicroConf  [6:29] Why Adrian didn’t want to go down the traditional path after getting his PhD in computer science  [10:01] When he knew having a traditional day job as an employee wasn’t for him  [11:24] How he used the stair-step approach to launch PyImageSearch  [13:54] What Adrian did when he started to see early traction [16:45] Did having a PhD in computer science have a big impact in the early days of launching his business?   [18:05] Adrian’s approach to learning how to market [20:31] How he balanced working a day job and his side business in the early days  [23:39] Adrian’s launch plan for selling his first ebook in 2014 [28:48] The epiphanies that Adrian had in the early days to keep plugging away  [33:33] How he went from making $38,000 in 2014 to $600,000 in 2016 as a company of one   [36:28] The mindset shifts he had to make when he started hiring employees [39:10] Adrian’s decision to sell the business  [45:03] His reflections after selling the business in 2021 Links from the Show: Adrian Rosebrock @InfoProdMastery I Twitter PyImageSearch Info Product Mastery The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping Ryan Delk: Lifting The Veil: The Data Behind Successful Product Launches I Youtube Quiet Light If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that...

In episode 607, Rob Walling chats with Asia Orangio, and they answer listener questions about customer onboarding videos, overcoming revenue plateaus, stealth launches, and founder-driven sales. Topics we cover:  [1:12] Where’s the best place to put customer onboarding videos?  [5:37] How to scale a content business [15:36] What to do if revenue has plateaued? [21:41] When to do a stealth launch [26:30] Is it possible for a SaaS product to sell to the enterprise without a dedicated sales team?  Links from the Show: Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) I Twitter DemandMaven  In Demand Productize &amp; Scale SaaS Metrics MicroConf Youtube Channel  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: It was the best of times, it was the worst of...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 607, Rob Walling chats with Asia Orangio, and they answer listener questions about customer onboarding videos, overcoming revenue plateaus, stealth launches, and founder-driven sales. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:12] Where’s the best place to put customer onboarding videos?&nbsp;&nbsp; [5:37] How to scale a content business&nbsp; [15:36] What to do if revenue has plateaued?&nbsp; [21:41] When to do a stealth launch&nbsp; [26:30] Is it possible for a SaaS product to sell to the enterprise without a dedicated sales team?&nbsp; Links from the Show: Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) I Twitter DemandMaven&nbsp; In Demand Productize &amp; Scale SaaS Metrics MicroConf Youtube Channel&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 607, Rob Walling chats with Asia Orangio, and they answer listener questions about customer onboarding videos, overcoming revenue plateaus, stealth launches, and founder-driven sales. Topics we cover:  [1:12] Where’s the best place to put customer onboarding videos?   [5:37] How to scale a content business  [15:36] What to do if revenue has plateaued?  [21:41] When to do a stealth launch  [26:30] Is it possible for a SaaS product to sell to the enterprise without a dedicated sales team?  Links from the Show: Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) I Twitter DemandMaven  In Demand Productize &amp; Scale SaaS Metrics MicroConf Youtube Channel  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 606, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt, the founder of Castos. They talk about company building, staying up to speed when you are no longer doing the day-to-day tasks as well as their thoughts on a recent string of acquisitions happening in the podcast ecosystem. Topics we cover:  [1:24] 2 MicroConf Local events happening in Chicago and Denver  [3:50] The pros and cons of Spotify acquiring a couple of podcast analytics platforms [7:51] The specific challenges with podcast analytics [12:39] Spotify vs. Apple [16:31] Staying up to speed as CEO once you have a team doing the day-to-day tasks [28:32] Implementing OKRs at Castos [33:07] Castos’ Mission Links from the Show: Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) I Twitter Castos  MicroConf Local  Seeking Scale Rogue Startups Bootstrapped Web Tempo I Castos If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 606, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt, the founder of Castos. They talk about company building, staying up to speed when you are no longer doing the day-to-day tasks as well as their thoughts on a recent string of acquisitions happening in the podcast ecosystem. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:24] 2 MicroConf Local events happening in Chicago and Denver &nbsp; [3:50] The pros and cons of Spotify acquiring a couple of podcast analytics platforms&nbsp; [7:51] The specific challenges with podcast analytics&nbsp; [12:39] Spotify vs. Apple&nbsp; [16:31] Staying up to speed as CEO once you have a team doing the day-to-day tasks&nbsp; [28:32] Implementing OKRs at Castos&nbsp; [33:07] Castos’ Mission Links from the Show: Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) I Twitter Castos&nbsp; MicroConf Local&nbsp; Seeking Scale Rogue Startups Bootstrapped Web Tempo I Castos If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 606, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt, the founder of Castos. They talk about company building, staying up to speed when you are no longer doing the day-to-day tasks as well as their thoughts on a recent string of acquisitions happening in the podcast ecosystem. Topics we cover:  [1:24] 2 MicroConf Local events happening in Chicago and Denver   [3:50] The pros and cons of Spotify acquiring a couple of podcast analytics platforms  [7:51] The specific challenges with podcast analytics  [12:39] Spotify vs. Apple  [16:31] Staying up to speed as CEO once you have a team doing the day-to-day tasks  [28:32] Implementing OKRs at Castos  [33:07] Castos’ Mission Links from the Show: Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) I Twitter Castos  MicroConf Local  Seeking Scale Rogue Startups Bootstrapped Web Tempo I Castos If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 605, Rob Walling is joined by Ruben Gamez, and they dig into a handful of listener questions. Topics range from building a SaaS with little development experience and using no-code tools to build your MVP to stair-stepping bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace. Topics we cover:  [0:55] Selling to the enterprise [4:31] What level of development expertise would you say the founders of a B2B SaaS should have in order to create a successful product? [13:26] Should you launch a productized service to validate a SaaS idea before building it?  [20:47] Can you use the stairstep method to bootstrap a two-sided marketplace business? [31:34] Is no-code something you see mainly for building an MVP,  or is it something that you could sustainably build an actual SaaS startup on without running into scaling issues? What are the downside risks to no-code tools other than platform risk?[37:08] Do you think no-code tools will ever get to the point where you can...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 605, Rob Walling is joined by Ruben Gamez, and they dig into a handful of listener questions. Topics range from building a SaaS with little development experience and using no-code tools to build your MVP to stair-stepping bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [0:55] Selling to the enterprise&nbsp; [4:31] What level of development expertise would you say the founders of a B2B SaaS should have in order to create a successful product?&nbsp; [13:26] Should you launch a productized service to validate a SaaS idea before building it?&nbsp;&nbsp; [20:47] Can you use the stairstep method to bootstrap a two-sided marketplace business?&nbsp; [31:34] Is no-code something you see mainly for building an MVP,&nbsp; or is it something that you could sustainably build an actual SaaS startup on without running into scaling issues? What are the downside risks to no-code tools other than platform risk? [37:08] Do you think no-code tools will ever get to the point where you can build a full SaaS business?&nbsp; Links from the Show: Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) I Twitter SignWell RocketGems Castos&nbsp; Bubble Airtable&nbsp; Dynamite Jobs Clarity.fm MicroConf Masterminds&nbsp; The SaaS Founder Guide to No-Code&nbsp; If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 605, Rob Walling is joined by Ruben Gamez, and they dig into a handful of listener questions. Topics range from building a SaaS with little development experience and using no-code tools to build your MVP to stair-stepping bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace. Topics we cover:  [0:55] Selling to the enterprise  [4:31] What level of development expertise would you say the founders of a B2B SaaS should have in order to create a successful product?  [13:26] Should you launch a productized service to validate a SaaS idea before building it?   [20:47] Can you use the stairstep method to bootstrap a two-sided marketplace business?  [31:34] Is no-code something you see mainly for building an MVP,  or is it something that you could sustainably build an actual SaaS startup on without running into scaling issues? What are the downside risks to no-code tools other than platform risk? [37:08] Do you think no-code tools will ever get to the point where you can build a full SaaS business?  Links from the Show: Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) I Twitter SignWell RocketGems Castos  Bubble Airtable  Dynamite Jobs Clarity.fm MicroConf Masterminds  The SaaS Founder Guide to No-Code  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 604, Rob Walling talks with Derrick Reimer and gets the latest update on SavvyCal, how he makes product decisions, and they also share the best things they’ve bought for $100 and $1000 that have added much more value to their lives than the price point. Topics we cover:  [4:50] Apple’s influence on startup founders [8:52] SavvyCal’s new Squadcast integration[12:51] Some upcoming features in the works for SavvyCal [14:05] Experimenting with a freemium feature—meeting polls[17:07] Derrick’s mental framework for deciding what features to build next [23:58] Switching from an employee to a founder mindset[25:56] Would you rather fight one duck-sized horse or a thousand duck-sized horses? [27:25] The best purchase Derrick has made for under $100 in the last 6 months [33:14] The best purchase Derrick has made for under $1000 in the last 6 months  Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@DerrickReimer) I Twitter SavvyCal ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 604, Rob Walling talks with Derrick Reimer and gets the latest update on SavvyCal, how he makes product decisions, and they also share the best things they’ve bought for $100 and $1000 that have added much more value to their lives than the price point. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [4:50] Apple’s influence on startup founders&nbsp; [8:52] SavvyCal’s new Squadcast integration [12:51] Some upcoming features in the works for SavvyCal&nbsp; [14:05] Experimenting with a freemium feature—meeting polls [17:07] Derrick’s mental framework for deciding what features to build next&nbsp; [23:58] Switching from an employee to a founder mindset [25:56] Would you rather fight one duck-sized horse or a thousand duck-sized horses?&nbsp; [27:25] The best purchase Derrick has made for under $100 in the last 6 months&nbsp; [33:14] The best purchase Derrick has made for under $1000 in the last 6 months&nbsp; Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@DerrickReimer) I Twitter SavvyCal Squadcast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 604, Rob Walling talks with Derrick Reimer and gets the latest update on SavvyCal, how he makes product decisions, and they also share the best things they’ve bought for $100 and $1000 that have added much more value to their lives than the price point. Topics we cover:  [4:50] Apple’s influence on startup founders  [8:52] SavvyCal’s new Squadcast integration [12:51] Some upcoming features in the works for SavvyCal  [14:05] Experimenting with a freemium feature—meeting polls [17:07] Derrick’s mental framework for deciding what features to build next  [23:58] Switching from an employee to a founder mindset [25:56] Would you rather fight one duck-sized horse or a thousand duck-sized horses?  [27:25] The best purchase Derrick has made for under $100 in the last 6 months  [33:14] The best purchase Derrick has made for under $1000 in the last 6 months  Links from the Show: Derrick Reimer (@DerrickReimer) I Twitter SavvyCal Squadcast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 603, Rob Walling chats with David Darmanin, one of the founders of Hotjar. Hotjar was bootstrapped to $40 million ARR with a fully distributed team of 170 employees. David and his cofounders sold the company for a 9-figure exit in 2021.From their incredible launch story and their unique DTC approach to sales and marketing in a B2B SaaS business to David’s mental models and the thought process behind selling the business, there is no shortage of key insights in this episode. Topics we cover:  [5:07] How David initially financed building Hotjar [8:11] The biggest difference between Hotjar and its competitors  [12:03] The unique approach that David took when launching Hotjar [12:44] Lessons learned from a failed product launch prior to Hotjar [15:01] How they built their initial launch list to 60,000 subscribers [19:32] How to know how much to spend on paid ads[24:53] Why David said it was easy to work 60-80 hour workweeks for the first...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 603, Rob Walling chats with David Darmanin, one of the founders of Hotjar. Hotjar was bootstrapped to $40 million ARR with a fully distributed team of 170 employees. David and his cofounders sold the company for a 9-figure exit in 2021. From their incredible launch story and their unique DTC approach to sales and marketing in a B2B SaaS business to David’s mental models and the thought process behind selling the business, there is no shortage of key insights in this episode. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [5:07] How David initially financed building Hotjar&nbsp; [8:11] The biggest difference between Hotjar and its competitors&nbsp;&nbsp; [12:03] The unique approach that David took when launching Hotjar&nbsp; [12:44] Lessons learned from a failed product launch prior to Hotjar&nbsp; [15:01] How they built their initial launch list to 60,000 subscribers&nbsp; [19:32] How to know how much to spend on paid ads [24:53] Why David said it was easy to work 60-80 hour workweeks for the first 6-9 months of Hotjar&nbsp; [27:22] The two key ingredients needed if you want to sell a low-priced SaaS product&nbsp; [30:31] How they tripled their growth from $1M - $3M in the first year&nbsp; [33:26] How their initial launch strategy gave them a major competitive advantage when they started doing content marketing later on&nbsp; [34:03] What led him to sell Hotjar&nbsp; [40:39] How long the exit process took Links from the Show: David Darmanin @DavidDarmanin I Twitter Hotjar Episode 569 I The Life-Changing Decision of When to Sell your Company How a 7-hour workweek led to Anna Maste’s 7-figure sale I They Got Acquired Conversion Rate Experts Delivering Happiness&nbsp; Selling The Invisible&nbsp; The Dip Built to Sell The Great CEO Within&nbsp; Let My People Go Surfing Just Cause If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an

In episode 603, Rob Walling chats with David Darmanin, one of the founders of Hotjar. Hotjar was bootstrapped to $40 million ARR with a fully distributed team of 170 employees. David and his cofounders sold the company for a 9-figure exit in 2021. From their incredible launch story and their unique DTC approach to sales and marketing in a B2B SaaS business to David’s mental models and the thought process behind selling the business, there is no shortage of key insights in this episode. Topics we cover:  [5:07] How David initially financed building Hotjar  [8:11] The biggest difference between Hotjar and its competitors   [12:03] The unique approach that David took when launching Hotjar  [12:44] Lessons learned from a failed product launch prior to Hotjar  [15:01] How they built their initial launch list to 60,000 subscribers  [19:32] How to know how much to spend on paid ads [24:53] Why David said it was easy to work 60-80 hour workweeks for the first 6-9 months of Hotjar  [27:22] The two key ingredients needed if you want to sell a low-priced SaaS product  [30:31] How they tripled their growth from $1M - $3M in the first year  [33:26] How their initial launch strategy gave them a major competitive advantage when they started doing content marketing later on  [34:03] What led him to sell Hotjar  [40:39] How long the exit process took Links from the Show: David Darmanin @DavidDarmanin I Twitter Hotjar Episode 569 I The Life-Changing Decision of When to Sell your Company How a 7-hour workweek led to Anna Maste’s 7-figure sale I They Got Acquired Conversion Rate Experts Delivering Happiness  Selling The Invisible  The Dip Built to Sell The Great CEO Within  Let My People Go Surfing Just Cause If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

In episode 602, Rob Walling explains SaaS metrics to his kid. This is a great episode to listen to if you are unfamiliar or not well-versed in SaaS because we dig into from first principles, starting with dollars, revenue, and the purpose of businesses, all the way to SaaS metrics like MRR, ACV, and LTV. And, even if you are well-versed in SaaS metrics, you’ll likely learn a few things from this conversation. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 602, Rob Walling explains SaaS metrics to his kid. This is a great episode to listen to if you are unfamiliar or not well-versed in SaaS because we dig into from first principles, starting with dollars, revenue, and the purpose of businesses, all the way to SaaS metrics like MRR, ACV, and LTV. And, even if you are well-versed in SaaS metrics, you’ll likely learn a few things from this conversation. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founder Hub&nbsp; Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress.&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources,&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:55] MicroConf Local London tickets are on sale&nbsp; [3:17] Starting with the basics: money, dollars, and businesses&nbsp; [7:01] Revenue&nbsp; [7:12] Expenses&nbsp; [10:51] SaaS&nbsp; [13:29] Recurring revenue&nbsp; [13:58] Average revenue per account&nbsp;(ARPA) [14:56] Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)&nbsp; [15:08] Average revenue per customer&nbsp; [17:08] Annual contract value (ACV)&nbsp; [18:18] Churn [19:30] Differences between Revenue Churn and Customer Churn&nbsp; [21:18] Lifetime value&nbsp; [22:10] Average customer lifetime value&nbsp; [25:49] Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 602, Rob Walling explains SaaS metrics to his kid. This is a great episode to listen to if you are unfamiliar or not well-versed in SaaS because we dig into from first principles, starting with dollars, revenue, and the purpose of businesses, all the way to SaaS metrics like MRR, ACV, and LTV. And, even if you are well-versed in SaaS metrics, you’ll likely learn a few things from this conversation. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub  Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [1:55] MicroConf Local London tickets are on sale  [3:17] Starting with the basics: money, dollars, and businesses  [7:01] Revenue  [7:12] Expenses  [10:51] SaaS  [13:29] Recurring revenue  [13:58] Average revenue per account (ARPA) [14:56] Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)  [15:08] Average revenue per customer  [17:08] Annual contract value (ACV)  [18:18] Churn [19:30] Differences between Revenue Churn and Customer Churn  [21:18] Lifetime value  [22:10] Average customer lifetime value  [25:49] Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 601, Rob Walling chats with Nick Fogle of ChurnKey. Nick previously cofounded Wavve which was acquired in early 2021. In this conversation, they chat about how the idea for Churnkey came from his other business, decision to sell Wavve, and some of the key differences between bootstrapping a B2C vs a B2B SaaS. Topics we cover:  [2:11] Tips for reducing churn [3:26] Asking for feedback at the point of cancellation via feedback surveys [8:09] When he knew it was the right time to double down on ChurnKey [9:06] A piece of advice for bootstrappers looking for SaaS business ideas [14:44] The process Nick and his cofounder used to sell Wavve for a life-changing exit. [22:13] The potential pitfalls of off-market deals [26:56] His initial reaction after selling Wavve[29:04] The key differences between selling B2B and B2C [30:36] Why Nick made the difference to hire a head of sales for ChurnKey[32:14] The mindset shifts he had to unlock...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 601, Rob Walling chats with Nick Fogle of ChurnKey. Nick previously cofounded Wavve which was acquired in early 2021. In this conversation, they chat about how the idea for Churnkey came from his other business, decision to sell Wavve, and some of the key differences between bootstrapping a B2C vs a B2B SaaS. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [2:11] Tips for reducing churn&nbsp; [3:26] Asking for feedback at the point of cancellation via feedback surveys&nbsp; [8:09] When he knew it was the right time to double down on ChurnKey&nbsp; [9:06] A piece of advice for bootstrappers looking for SaaS business ideas&nbsp; [14:44] The process Nick and his cofounder used to sell Wavve for a life-changing exit.&nbsp; [22:13] The potential pitfalls of off-market deals&nbsp; [26:56] His initial reaction after selling Wavve [29:04] The key differences between selling B2B and B2C&nbsp; [30:36] Why Nick made the difference to hire a head of sales for ChurnKey [32:14] The mindset shifts he had to unlock around shifting from low touch to high touch sales&nbsp; [33:43] Why he decided to join the current batch of TinySeed&nbsp; Links from the Show: Nick Fogle (@nickfogle) I Twitter Churnkey&nbsp; Wavve TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 601, Rob Walling chats with Nick Fogle of ChurnKey. Nick previously cofounded Wavve which was acquired in early 2021. In this conversation, they chat about how the idea for Churnkey came from his other business, decision to sell Wavve, and some of the key differences between bootstrapping a B2C vs a B2B SaaS. Topics we cover:  [2:11] Tips for reducing churn  [3:26] Asking for feedback at the point of cancellation via feedback surveys  [8:09] When he knew it was the right time to double down on ChurnKey  [9:06] A piece of advice for bootstrappers looking for SaaS business ideas  [14:44] The process Nick and his cofounder used to sell Wavve for a life-changing exit.  [22:13] The potential pitfalls of off-market deals  [26:56] His initial reaction after selling Wavve [29:04] The key differences between selling B2B and B2C  [30:36] Why Nick made the difference to hire a head of sales for ChurnKey [32:14] The mindset shifts he had to unlock around shifting from low touch to high touch sales  [33:43] Why he decided to join the current batch of TinySeed  Links from the Show: Nick Fogle (@nickfogle) I Twitter Churnkey  Wavve TinySeed If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 600, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he dives into topics ranging from when to hire your first manager to a mental framework for deciding which things to work on vs. what to delegate to your team. He also shares his thought process behind when things take multiple iterations and how to know whether or not you are on the right track. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required.Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 600, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he dives into topics ranging from when to hire your first manager to a mental framework for deciding which things to work on vs. what to delegate to your team. He also shares his thought process behind when things take multiple iterations and how to know whether or not you are on the right track. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founder Hub&nbsp; Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress.&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources,&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:04] A mental framework for deciding what things you should focus on as a SaaS founder vs. what to delegate&nbsp; [7:28] The importance of resting and taking proper breaks as a SaaS founder [14:28] When to hire your first manager&nbsp; [14:50] The two main components of management: supervising and leading&nbsp; [18:45] The importance of continuous iterations&nbsp; [26:21] Why you need to manage your own psychology as a founder&nbsp; [28:11] Hitting a big podcast milestone: 600 episodes Links from the Show: Strawberry Fields I Beatles Yesterday I Beatles Episode 200: Customer Acquisition Plans for Bootstrappers If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 600, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he dives into topics ranging from when to hire your first manager to a mental framework for deciding which things to work on vs. what to delegate to your team. He also shares his thought process behind when things take multiple iterations and how to know whether or not you are on the right track. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub  Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [1:04] A mental framework for deciding what things you should focus on as a SaaS founder vs. what to delegate  [7:28] The importance of resting and taking proper breaks as a SaaS founder [14:28] When to hire your first manager  [14:50] The two main components of management: supervising and leading  [18:45] The importance of continuous iterations  [26:21] Why you need to manage your own psychology as a founder  [28:11] Hitting a big podcast milestone: 600 episodes Links from the Show: Strawberry Fields I Beatles Yesterday I Beatles Episode 200: Customer Acquisition Plans for Bootstrappers If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 599, Rob Walling chats with Dominic “Dom” and Tracy Phillips of CodeSubmit. CodeSubmit provides a library of real-world, take-home tasks in more than 60 coding languages. Some of their customers are Audi, Netflix, Carbon Health, 3M, and Apple.Dom and Tracy were also a part of the spring 2020 batch of TinySeed. During that year, they managed to 25x their MRR. In this episode, we’re digging into how they did that, what led to their bootstrapped hockey stick growth moment, what it is like working on a company with your spouse, and much more. Topics we cover:  [2:20] How Dom and Tracy came up with the idea for CodeSubmit [6:59] The approach they used to build their product MVP on nights and weekends [11:16] Running a startup with your spouse [13:42] The catalyst that led to their hockey stick growth moment [17:06] When they knew they had product market fit  [21:46] The number of different marketing channels they tried before they decided...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 599, Rob Walling chats with Dominic “Dom” and Tracy Phillips of CodeSubmit. CodeSubmit provides a library of real-world, take-home tasks in more than 60 coding languages. Some of their customers are Audi, Netflix, Carbon Health, 3M, and Apple. Dom and Tracy were also a part of the spring 2020 batch of TinySeed. During that year, they managed to 25x their MRR. In this episode, we’re digging into how they did that, what led to their bootstrapped hockey stick growth moment, what it is like working on a company with your spouse, and much more. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [2:20] How Dom and Tracy came up with the idea for CodeSubmit&nbsp; [6:59] The approach they used to build their product MVP on nights and weekends&nbsp; [11:16] Running a startup with your spouse&nbsp; [13:42] The catalyst that led to their hockey stick growth moment&nbsp; [17:06] When they knew they had product market fit&nbsp;&nbsp; [21:46] The number of different marketing channels they tried before they decided to double down on content marketing and SEO&nbsp; [26:19] The biggest mistakes that hiring managers and recruiters make when vetting new developers via take-home challenges&nbsp; [29:40] Thoughts on building a lifestyle business&nbsp; Links from the Show: CodeSubmit Dominic Phillips @domrdy I Twitter Tracy Phillips @tracy_s9z I Twitter ScrapingBee If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 599, Rob Walling chats with Dominic “Dom” and Tracy Phillips of CodeSubmit. CodeSubmit provides a library of real-world, take-home tasks in more than 60 coding languages. Some of their customers are Audi, Netflix, Carbon Health, 3M, and Apple. Dom and Tracy were also a part of the spring 2020 batch of TinySeed. During that year, they managed to 25x their MRR. In this episode, we’re digging into how they did that, what led to their bootstrapped hockey stick growth moment, what it is like working on a company with your spouse, and much more. Topics we cover:  [2:20] How Dom and Tracy came up with the idea for CodeSubmit  [6:59] The approach they used to build their product MVP on nights and weekends  [11:16] Running a startup with your spouse  [13:42] The catalyst that led to their hockey stick growth moment  [17:06] When they knew they had product market fit   [21:46] The number of different marketing channels they tried before they decided to double down on content marketing and SEO  [26:19] The biggest mistakes that hiring managers and recruiters make when vetting new developers via take-home challenges  [29:40] Thoughts on building a lifestyle business  Links from the Show: CodeSubmit Dominic Phillips @domrdy I Twitter Tracy Phillips @tracy_s9z I Twitter ScrapingBee If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 598, join Rob Walling as he answers listener emails. Topics range from diversity in the startup ecosystem and when’s the right time to write your company’s mission, philosophy, and values to how to find good business ideas and the different approaches for developing features for a new app. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder HubMicrosoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required.Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [1:21] MicroConf Remote 4.0 [1:59] Improving diversity...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 598, join Rob Walling as he answers listener emails. Topics range from diversity in the startup ecosystem and when’s the right time to write your company’s mission, philosophy, and values to how to find good business ideas and the different approaches for developing features for a new app. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:21] MicroConf Remote 4.0&nbsp; [1:59] Improving diversity in the startup ecosystem&nbsp; [8:11] Is bootstrapping the great equalizer in business?&nbsp;&nbsp; [8:51] The right time to work on company values, mission statements, and philosophy&nbsp; [14:02] Developing features for a new app&nbsp; [15:18] How to figure out your minimum lovable product&nbsp; [21:18] How to find business ideas Links from the Show: State of Independent SaaS The Updated Survival Guide for Bootstrapping SaaS I MicroConf On Air Episode 589 I Finding a SaaS idea through 70 cold calls My First Million Tropical MBA If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 598, join Rob Walling as he answers listener emails. Topics range from diversity in the startup ecosystem and when’s the right time to write your company’s mission, philosophy, and values to how to find good business ideas and the different approaches for developing features for a new app. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [1:21] MicroConf Remote 4.0  [1:59] Improving diversity in the startup ecosystem  [8:11] Is bootstrapping the great equalizer in business?   [8:51] The right time to work on company values, mission statements, and philosophy  [14:02] Developing features for a new app  [15:18] How to figure out your minimum lovable product  [21:18] How to find business ideas Links from the Show: State of Independent SaaS The Updated Survival Guide for Bootstrapping SaaS I MicroConf On Air Episode 589 I Finding a SaaS idea through 70 cold calls My First Million Tropical MBA If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 597, Rob Walling chats with Ashley Baxter, the founder of With Jack. With Jack gives peace of mind and protection for UK freelancers through insurance, professional indemnity, public liability, contracts, legal expenses, etc.We dig into the lessons Ashley learned from a failed insurance business she inherited from her father, how she used her freelance photography to fund With Jack in the early days, along with sharing many of the successes and failures she has had on her entrepreneurial journey. Topics we cover:  [1:49] Tickets for MicroConf Remote 4.0 are now on sale [2:55] Putting a tech twist on a regulated industry [3:27] Improving the onboarding experience [5:24] How Ashley came up with the name for her business, With Jack[8:24] How she used the money from her freelance photography business to fund the early development costs for With Jack[10:16] Lessons learned from taking over her father’s insurance business at 18 [15:20] The...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 597, Rob Walling chats with Ashley Baxter, the founder of With Jack. With Jack gives peace of mind and protection for UK freelancers through insurance, professional indemnity, public liability, contracts, legal expenses, etc. We dig into the lessons Ashley learned from a failed insurance business she inherited from her father, how she used her freelance photography to fund With Jack in the early days, along with sharing many of the successes and failures she has had on her entrepreneurial journey. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [1:49] Tickets for MicroConf Remote 4.0 are now on sale&nbsp; [2:55] Putting a tech twist on a regulated industry&nbsp; [3:27] Improving the onboarding experience&nbsp; [5:24] How Ashley came up with the name for her business, With Jack [8:24] How she used the money from her freelance photography business to fund the early development costs for With Jack [10:16] Lessons learned from taking over her father’s insurance business at 18&nbsp; [15:20] The danger of depending on only one channel to run your business [17:49] Ashley’s three pivotal business moments [21:27] The concept of a vitamin vs. painkiller business&nbsp; [27:10] The challenges of hiring an executive or admin assistant in a highly regulated industry&nbsp; [28:42] How Ashley responded when a competitor stole her website design&nbsp; [31:17] Why you shouldn’t be intimidated if a competitor gets funding&nbsp; Links from the Show: Ashley Baxter&nbsp; @iamashley I Twitter With Jack I Company Website Ashley Baxter I Ashley’s website If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 597, Rob Walling chats with Ashley Baxter, the founder of With Jack. With Jack gives peace of mind and protection for UK freelancers through insurance, professional indemnity, public liability, contracts, legal expenses, etc. We dig into the lessons Ashley learned from a failed insurance business she inherited from her father, how she used her freelance photography to fund With Jack in the early days, along with sharing many of the successes and failures she has had on her entrepreneurial journey. Topics we cover:  [1:49] Tickets for MicroConf Remote 4.0 are now on sale  [2:55] Putting a tech twist on a regulated industry  [3:27] Improving the onboarding experience  [5:24] How Ashley came up with the name for her business, With Jack [8:24] How she used the money from her freelance photography business to fund the early development costs for With Jack [10:16] Lessons learned from taking over her father’s insurance business at 18  [15:20] The danger of depending on only one channel to run your business [17:49] Ashley’s three pivotal business moments [21:27] The concept of a vitamin vs. painkiller business  [27:10] The challenges of hiring an executive or admin assistant in a highly regulated industry  [28:42] How Ashley responded when a competitor stole her website design  [31:17] Why you shouldn’t be intimidated if a competitor gets funding  Links from the Show: Ashley Baxter  @iamashley I Twitter With Jack I Company Website Ashley Baxter I Ashley’s website If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 596, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn for a bootstrapper news roundup episode. They cover a wide range of topics from Google’s decision to bring employees back into the office (and the potential implications for bootstrapped companies), founder salary data trends, email management strategies, and much more. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required.Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [0:59] The...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 596, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn for a bootstrapper news roundup episode. They cover a wide range of topics from Google’s decision to bring employees back into the office (and the potential implications for bootstrapped companies), founder salary data trends, email management strategies, and much more. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founder Hub&nbsp; Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress.&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources,&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more&nbsp;aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:&nbsp; [0:59] The State of Independent SaaS Report &amp; Livestream&nbsp; [5:38] Google is ending work from home options for most Bay Area employees&nbsp; [12:11] How much do startup founders pay themselves? [14:51] The impact on having cofounders and salaries&nbsp; [19:41] Why you are probably using email wrong [26:21] Rob’s system for filtering emails&nbsp; [30:45] Twitter is making it harder to choose the reverse chronological feed [37:37] Practical strategies for working with and getting money to your existing developers in Ukraine and Russia&nbsp; Links from the Show: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4 I Reuters What do startup founders pay themselves? I Sifted Twitter makes it harder to choose the old reverse-chronological feed I The Verge If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 596, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn for a bootstrapper news roundup episode. They cover a wide range of topics from Google’s decision to bring employees back into the office (and the potential implications for bootstrapped companies), founder salary data trends, email management strategies, and much more. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub  Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Topics we cover:  [0:59] The State of Independent SaaS Report &amp; Livestream  [5:38] Google is ending work from home options for most Bay Area employees  [12:11] How much do startup founders pay themselves? [14:51] The impact on having cofounders and salaries  [19:41] Why you are probably using email wrong [26:21] Rob’s system for filtering emails  [30:45] Twitter is making it harder to choose the reverse chronological feed [37:37] Practical strategies for working with and getting money to your existing developers in Ukraine and Russia  Links from the Show: Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4 I Reuters What do startup founders pay themselves? I Sifted Twitter makes it harder to choose the old reverse-chronological feed I The Verge If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 595, Rob Walling catches up with Brian and Scottie Elliott, the husband and wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management SaaS. This husband and wife duo shared their victories, challenges, and failures, including a cash crunch, moving upmarket, and managing to double revenue over their nine episodes of TinySeed Tales Season 2.It’s been over a year since they were last on the podcast and wanted to see how the company is doing. It turns out Gather is on track to 10x their MRR.In this episode, we reflect on what they learned in the last year, how their thought process has evolved around deploying capital to grow the business, and what they are most excited about in 2022. Topics we cover:  [3:33] How Gather is on track to 10x MRR [4:26] Shifting from solo designers and small design firms to catering to large firms [5:51] Moving upmarket [8:28] Why they shut down Gather consulting services [10:38] How they knew when they had...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 595, Rob Walling catches up with Brian and Scottie Elliott, the husband and wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management SaaS. This husband and wife duo shared their victories, challenges, and failures, including a cash crunch, moving upmarket, and managing to double revenue over their nine episodes of TinySeed Tales Season 2. It’s been over a year since they were last on the podcast and wanted to see how the company is doing. It turns out Gather is on track to 10x their MRR. In this episode, we reflect on what they learned in the last year, how their thought process has evolved around deploying capital to grow the business, and what they are most excited about in 2022. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [3:33] How Gather is on track to 10x MRR&nbsp; [4:26] Shifting from solo designers and small design firms to catering to large firms&nbsp; [5:51] Moving upmarket&nbsp; [8:28] Why they shut down Gather consulting services&nbsp; [10:38] How they knew when they had product-market fit [12:57] How they bounced back after their developer accidentally crashed their entire app&nbsp; [20:11] Their thought process for deploying capital to grow the business&nbsp; [23:02] What they are most excited about in 2022&nbsp; Links from the Show: Gather | Website Brian Elliott (@brianleeelliott) | Twitter Thanks for listening to another episode of TinySeed Tales. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all of Season 2 of TinySeed Tales with Brian and Scottie and Season 1 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the SaaS journey with Craig Hewitt of Castos. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 595, Rob Walling catches up with Brian and Scottie Elliott, the husband and wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management SaaS. This husband and wife duo shared their victories, challenges, and failures, including a cash crunch, moving upmarket, and managing to double revenue over their nine episodes of TinySeed Tales Season 2. It’s been over a year since they were last on the podcast and wanted to see how the company is doing. It turns out Gather is on track to 10x their MRR. In this episode, we reflect on what they learned in the last year, how their thought process has evolved around deploying capital to grow the business, and what they are most excited about in 2022. Topics we cover:  [3:33] How Gather is on track to 10x MRR  [4:26] Shifting from solo designers and small design firms to catering to large firms  [5:51] Moving upmarket  [8:28] Why they shut down Gather consulting services  [10:38] How they knew when they had product-market fit [12:57] How they bounced back after their developer accidentally crashed their entire app  [20:11] Their thought process for deploying capital to grow the business  [23:02] What they are most excited about in 2022  Links from the Show: Gather | Website Brian Elliott (@brianleeelliott) | Twitter Thanks for listening to another episode of TinySeed Tales. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all of Season 2 of TinySeed Tales with Brian and Scottie and Season 1 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the SaaS journey with Craig Hewitt of Castos. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 594, Rob Walling chats with Dan Andrews and Ian Schoen, the founders of Dynamite Jobs and the TropicalMBA podcast. We talk about how they started over. They started a new business, Dynamite Jobs, a couple of years after selling their physical products company back in 2015.Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required.Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofusDynamite Jobs was born after seeing a need within their community, The Dynamite Circle,...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 594, Rob Walling chats with Dan Andrews and Ian Schoen, the founders of Dynamite Jobs and the TropicalMBA podcast. We talk about how they started over. They started a new business, Dynamite Jobs, a couple of years after selling their physical products company back in 2015. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founder Hub&nbsp; Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress.&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources,&nbsp;Microsoft&nbsp;collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Dynamite Jobs was born after seeing a need within their community, The Dynamite Circle, a community for location independent entrepreneurs. It’s a need that would be hard for most people to bootstrap because it is a two-sided marketplace, but Dan and Ian had an advantage with their existing business and audience, and were able to capitalize on it. In fact, after humble beginnings, the business has grown 10x in the last year. In this episode, we chat about how they are bootstrapping and growing a two-sided marketplace, along with a wide range of other topics. Topics we cover:&nbsp; [2:37] Why Dan and Ian both settled in Austin, Texas and the unexpected benefits that has had for their businesses&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [3:22] Why their digital nomad journey in the early days was born out of necessity&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; [4:35] The events that led to the first DCBKK event in 2012 and the impact it had on their business&nbsp; [6:16] Embracing the chops index instead of the old school digital marketer “guru” model&nbsp; [8:21] The ideas that led Dan and Ian to start Dynamite Jobs in 2017 [14:46] The first key metric for Dynamite Jobs back in the early days [17:12]&nbsp; How deciding to hire a CTO was the catalyst that scaled Dynamite Jobs exponentially in late summer 2020&nbsp; [20:34] The critical mistake they made that cost them months of development time&nbsp; [22:51] The concept of CEO bombing vs. diving deeper into the core features that matter [24:53] The 1000 day principle&nbsp; [28:14] Where Dynamite Jobs is in relation to the 1000 day principle [29:00] How they 10x’ed the revenue for Dynamite Jobs in 2021&nbsp; [30:26] The value of hiring senior people who are better than you&nbsp; [35:59] Actionable tips for recruiting and hiring great people&nbsp; [38:44] The lowest cost, highest leverage hiring advantage for founders&nbsp; [41:21] The rip, pivot and jam framework&nbsp; [43:14] Why some of their “best ideas” turned out to be the biggest failures&nbsp; Links from the Show: Tropical MBA Dynamite Jobs <a href="https://twitter.com/tropicalmba" target="_blank" rel="noopen

In Episode 594, Rob Walling chats with Dan Andrews and Ian Schoen, the founders of Dynamite Jobs and the TropicalMBA podcast. We talk about how they started over. They started a new business, Dynamite Jobs, a couple of years after selling their physical products company back in 2015. Episode Sponsor: Microsoft for Startups Founder Hub  Microsoft for Startups is on a mission to help all founders innovate and grow no matter their background, location, or progress. Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a platform that provides founders with free resources to help solve startup challenges, including access to Azure credits, development tools like Github, mentorship resources, Microsoft collaboration and productivity software like Teams and Outlook and more. The program is open to all and takes 5 minutes to sign up, with no funding required. Learn more aka.ms/startupsfortherestofus Dynamite Jobs was born after seeing a need within their community, The Dynamite Circle, a community for location independent entrepreneurs. It’s a need that would be hard for most people to bootstrap because it is a two-sided marketplace, but Dan and Ian had an advantage with their existing business and audience, and were able to capitalize on it. In fact, after humble beginnings, the business has grown 10x in the last year. In this episode, we chat about how they are bootstrapping and growing a two-sided marketplace, along with a wide range of other topics. Topics we cover:  [2:37] Why Dan and Ian both settled in Austin, Texas and the unexpected benefits that has had for their businesses    [3:22] Why their digital nomad journey in the early days was born out of necessity    [4:35] The events that led to the first DCBKK event in 2012 and the impact it had on their business  [6:16] Embracing the chops index instead of the old school digital marketer “guru” model  [8:21] The ideas that led Dan and Ian to start Dynamite Jobs in 2017 [14:46] The first key metric for Dynamite Jobs back in the early days [17:12]  How deciding to hire a CTO was the catalyst that scaled Dynamite Jobs exponentially in late summer 2020  [20:34] The critical mistake they made that cost them months of development time  [22:51] The concept of CEO bombing vs. diving deeper into the core features that matter [24:53] The 1000 day principle  [28:14] Where Dynamite Jobs is in relation to the 1000 day principle [29:00] How they 10x’ed the revenue for Dynamite Jobs in 2021  [30:26] The value of hiring senior people who are better than you  [35:59] Actionable tips for recruiting and hiring great people  [38:44] The lowest cost, highest leverage hiring advantage for founders  [41:21] The rip, pivot and jam framework  [43:14] Why some of their “best ideas” turned out to be the biggest failures  Links from the Show: Tropical MBA Dynamite Jobs Dan Andrews (@tropicalmba)  | Twitter

In Episode 593, join Rob Walling for a Solo Adventure as he chats about accidentally deleting all of his old tweets, retaining talent, the ideal market for a SaaS business, and more. The topics we cover [3:10] Deleting old tweets[8:43] Retaining talent[12:39] Ideal market for a SaaS businessIf you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. This is a show for ambitious startup founders who want to grow incredible companies and maybe not change the whole world, but just our little corner of it. We do this for freedom, purpose, and relationships. I had a fun episode this week. It's a Rob solo adventure. I'm going to talk through a couple of listener questions, tell a story or two to kick us off....Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 593, join Rob Walling for a Solo Adventure as he chats about accidentally deleting all of his old tweets, retaining talent, the ideal market for a SaaS business, and more. The topics we cover [3:10] Deleting old tweets [8:43] Retaining talent [12:39] Ideal market for a SaaS business If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 593, join Rob Walling for a Solo Adventure as he chats about accidentally deleting all of his old tweets, retaining talent, the ideal market for a SaaS business, and more. The topics we cover [3:10] Deleting old tweets [8:43] Retaining talent [12:39] Ideal market for a SaaS business If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 592, Rob Walling is joined again by Cody Duval for a technical conversation about the dos and don'ts for amazing customer support. The topics we cover [2:00] Customer success vs customer support[5:10] Response time[8:59] Post-support surveys[10:58] When to hire first customer support person[13:02] Chat widgets[17:09] Doing customer support early on as a founder[18:01] Training customer support to ask a question[19:00] Dealing with abusive customers[21:10] Customer support tool Links from the show How to Deal with Rude Customers Cody Duval (@codee) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back. It's Startups for the Rest of Us. This is Episode 592 where we're going to dive into nine tactics for...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 592, Rob Walling is joined again by Cody Duval for a technical conversation about the dos and don'ts for amazing customer support. The topics we cover [2:00] Customer success vs customer support [5:10] Response time [8:59] Post-support surveys [10:58] When to hire first customer support person [13:02] Chat widgets [17:09] Doing customer support early on as a founder [18:01] Training customer support to ask a question [19:00] Dealing with abusive customers [21:10] Customer support tool Links from the show How to Deal with Rude Customers Cody Duval (@codee)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 592, Rob Walling is joined again by Cody Duval for a technical conversation about the dos and don'ts for amazing customer support. The topics we cover [2:00] Customer success vs customer support [5:10] Response time [8:59] Post-support surveys [10:58] When to hire first customer support person [13:02] Chat widgets [17:09] Doing customer support early on as a founder [18:01] Training customer support to ask a question [19:00] Dealing with abusive customers [21:10] Customer support tool Links from the show How to Deal with Rude Customers Cody Duval (@codee) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 591, Rob Walling chats with Cody Duvall about his story of acquiring and growing Keeping in a really crowded space of help desk and customer support tools. The topics we cover [4:34] Launching into a crowded market[8:00] Keeping's sales process[10:01] Background on acquiring Keeping[14:53] Outsourcing a team to rewrite the codebase[20:03] Migrating customers[24;01] Challenges with building in a established category[26:09] Hitting product-market fit[28:30] Applying for TinySeed Links from the show Keeping Cody Duvall (@codee) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: If you can believe it, it's another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. This is a show where every week we cover topics related to building...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 591, Rob Walling chats with Cody Duvall about his story of acquiring and growing Keeping in a really crowded space of help desk and customer support tools. The topics we cover [4:34] Launching into a crowded market [8:00] Keeping's sales process [10:01] Background on acquiring Keeping [14:53] Outsourcing a team to rewrite the codebase [20:03] Migrating customers [24;01] Challenges with building in a established category [26:09] Hitting product-market fit [28:30] Applying for TinySeed Links from the show Keeping Cody Duvall (@codee)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 591, Rob Walling chats with Cody Duvall about his story of acquiring and growing Keeping in a really crowded space of help desk and customer support tools. The topics we cover [4:34] Launching into a crowded market [8:00] Keeping's sales process [10:01] Background on acquiring Keeping [14:53] Outsourcing a team to rewrite the codebase [20:03] Migrating customers [24;01] Challenges with building in a established category [26:09] Hitting product-market fit [28:30] Applying for TinySeed Links from the show Keeping Cody Duvall (@codee) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 590, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about building versus buying internal tools, how to compete in a competitive space, accounting software, a founder who has a zombie company where investors want their money back, and more. The topics we cover [5:03] Finding a co-founder as a non-technical founder[11:20] Balancing priorities between day job and a SaaS idea[17:35] Zombie company where investors want their money back[26:00] Accounting software for startups[28:10] Building in a competitive market as a solo-founder[32:24] When to buy vs build internal tools Links from the show The Mom Test - a book by Rob Fitzpatrick Audience Podcast Bench Accounting | Online Bookkeeping and Tax Filing Services for Your Small Business Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 590, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about building versus buying internal tools, how to compete in a competitive space, accounting software, a founder who has a zombie company where investors want their money back, and more. The topics we cover [5:03] Finding a co-founder as a non-technical founder [11:20] Balancing priorities between day job and a SaaS idea [17:35] Zombie company where investors want their money back [26:00] Accounting software for startups [28:10] Building in a competitive market as a solo-founder [32:24] When to buy vs build internal tools Links from the show The Mom Test - a book by Rob Fitzpatrick Audience Podcast Bench Accounting | Online Bookkeeping and Tax Filing Services for Your Small Business Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 590, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about building versus buying internal tools, how to compete in a competitive space, accounting software, a founder who has a zombie company where investors want their money back, and more. The topics we cover [5:03] Finding a co-founder as a non-technical founder [11:20] Balancing priorities between day job and a SaaS idea [17:35] Zombie company where investors want their money back [26:00] Accounting software for startups [28:10] Building in a competitive market as a solo-founder [32:24] When to buy vs build internal tools Links from the show The Mom Test - a book by Rob Fitzpatrick Audience Podcast Bench Accounting | Online Bookkeeping and Tax Filing Services for Your Small Business Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 589, Rob Walling chats with Jason Buckingham about how he found a startup idea from making more than 70 cold calls. It's a great story about staying focused, putting in the time and doing the hard work. The topics we cover [7:14] Finding a problem via cold calls[13:07] Identifying a problem and deciding what to do next[22:32] Getting spouses on board with entrepreneur journey[25:06] Working day jobs while building the product[30:09] Getting into Tiny Seed right before COVID-19 Links from the show Episode 45: Onboarding Your Spouse | Zen Founder Senior Place - Senior Placement and Referral Agency Software If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: In this week's episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, I talk with Jason Buckingham...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 589, Rob Walling chats with Jason Buckingham about how he found a startup idea from making more than 70 cold calls. It's a great story about staying focused, putting in the time and doing the hard work. The topics we cover [7:14] Finding a problem via cold calls [13:07] Identifying a problem and deciding what to do next [22:32] Getting spouses on board with entrepreneur journey [25:06] Working day jobs while building the product [30:09] Getting into Tiny Seed right before COVID-19 Links from the show Episode 45: Onboarding Your Spouse | Zen Founder Senior Place - Senior Placement and Referral Agency Software If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 589, Rob Walling chats with Jason Buckingham about how he found a startup idea from making more than 70 cold calls. It's a great story about staying focused, putting in the time and doing the hard work. The topics we cover [7:14] Finding a problem via cold calls [13:07] Identifying a problem and deciding what to do next [22:32] Getting spouses on board with entrepreneur journey [25:06] Working day jobs while building the product [30:09] Getting into Tiny Seed right before COVID-19 Links from the show Episode 45: Onboarding Your Spouse | Zen Founder Senior Place - Senior Placement and Referral Agency Software If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 588, Rob Walling chats with Courtland Allen about a wide range of bootstrapper and indie hacker topics including the struggles with motivation/depression, bootstrapping today, fighting the urge to quit, and frameworks for getting your first dollar. The topics we cover [3:43] Hiring a podcast producer[6:21] Letting go in business[7:09] Invite-only experiment on Indie Hackers[16:03] Thinking about the future[20:47] Financial freedom and starting a business[25:05] Depression as a founder and rediscovering purpose[37:10] Fighting the urge to quit[41:10] Getting your first dollar[52:35] The bootstrapper scene in 2010 and the relevance of bootstrapping Links from the show Rob Walling on Twitter The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life Courtland Allen (@csallen) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 588, Rob Walling chats with Courtland Allen about a wide range of bootstrapper and indie hacker topics including the struggles with motivation/depression, bootstrapping today, fighting the urge to quit, and frameworks for getting your first dollar. The topics we cover [3:43] Hiring a podcast producer [6:21] Letting go in business [7:09] Invite-only experiment on Indie Hackers [16:03] Thinking about the future [20:47] Financial freedom and starting a business [25:05] Depression as a founder and rediscovering purpose [37:10] Fighting the urge to quit [41:10] Getting your first dollar [52:35] The bootstrapper scene in 2010 and the relevance of bootstrapping Links from the show Rob Walling on Twitter The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life Courtland Allen (@csallen)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Also, if you haven't seen, applications are open for TinySeed's Spring 2022 programs. TinySeed is a year-long remote accelerator program is designed to help founders with a revenue-generating SaaS optimize product-market fit and grow faster. Read about the program and how to apply here. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 588, Rob Walling chats with Courtland Allen about a wide range of bootstrapper and indie hacker topics including the struggles with motivation/depression, bootstrapping today, fighting the urge to quit, and frameworks for getting your first dollar. The topics we cover [3:43] Hiring a podcast producer [6:21] Letting go in business [7:09] Invite-only experiment on Indie Hackers [16:03] Thinking about the future [20:47] Financial freedom and starting a business [25:05] Depression as a founder and rediscovering purpose [37:10] Fighting the urge to quit [41:10] Getting your first dollar [52:35] The bootstrapper scene in 2010 and the relevance of bootstrapping Links from the show Rob Walling on Twitter The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life Courtland Allen (@csallen) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Also, if you haven't seen, applications are open for TinySeed's Spring 2022 programs. TinySeed is a year-long remote accelerator program is designed to help founders with a revenue-generating SaaS optimize product-market fit and grow faster. Read about the program and how to apply here. Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 587, join Rob Walling as he answers listener emails including feedback and a critique about the podcast, the state of microentrepreneurship, and where to start with user growth. The topics we cover [2:22] The reason Rob continues to podcast[5:26] Renaming a company or podcast[8:40] Revisiting inflation[15:06] The state of microentrepreneurship[20:00] Where to start with user growth Links from the show Where to Publish Plugins Episode 581 | Inflation for Founders Start Small Stay Small Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire, the #1 Startup Acquisition Marketplace Empire Flippers Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur | Building, Launching and Growing Startups If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript It's another episode of Startups...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 587, join Rob Walling as he answers listener emails including feedback and a critique about the podcast, the state of microentrepreneurship, and where to start with user growth. The topics we cover [2:22] The reason Rob continues to podcast [5:26] Renaming a company or podcast [8:40] Revisiting inflation [15:06] The state of microentrepreneurship [20:00] Where to start with user growth Links from the show Where to Publish Plugins Episode 581 | Inflation for Founders Start Small Stay Small Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire, the #1 Startup Acquisition Marketplace Empire Flippers Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur | Building, Launching and Growing Startups If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 587, join Rob Walling as he answers listener emails including feedback and a critique about the podcast, the state of microentrepreneurship, and where to start with user growth. The topics we cover [2:22] The reason Rob continues to podcast [5:26] Renaming a company or podcast [8:40] Revisiting inflation [15:06] The state of microentrepreneurship [20:00] Where to start with user growth Links from the show Where to Publish Plugins Episode 581 | Inflation for Founders Start Small Stay Small Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire, the #1 Startup Acquisition Marketplace Empire Flippers Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur | Building, Launching and Growing Startups If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 586, Rob Walling chats with Michele Hansen about her new book where she talks about how to master customer interviews as a startup founder. The topics we cover [5:00] User experience research for startup founders[11:20] Customer Interviews for developers[12:30] Feature requests as customer research springboard[19:55] Practicing customer interviews[23:37] Comparing to Jobs to Be Done framework Links from the show Deploy Empathy: A practical guide for talking to customers Software Social Episode 524 | Bootstrapping a Commodity SaaS Michele Hansen (@mjwhansen) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: In this week’s episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, I talk with Michele Hansen. She’s the co-host of the...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 586, Rob Walling chats with Michele Hansen about her new book where she talks about how to master customer interviews as a startup founder. The topics we cover [5:00] User experience research for startup founders [11:20] Customer Interviews for developers [12:30] Feature requests as customer research springboard [19:55] Practicing customer interviews [23:37] Comparing to Jobs to Be Done framework Links from the show Deploy Empathy: A practical guide for talking to customers Software Social Episode 524 | Bootstrapping a Commodity SaaS Michele Hansen (@mjwhansen)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:&nbsp;iTunes&nbsp;|&nbsp;Spotify&nbsp;|&nbsp;Stitcher

In Episode 586, Rob Walling chats with Michele Hansen about her new book where she talks about how to master customer interviews as a startup founder. The topics we cover [5:00] User experience research for startup founders [11:20] Customer Interviews for developers [12:30] Feature requests as customer research springboard [19:55] Practicing customer interviews [23:37] Comparing to Jobs to Be Done framework Links from the show Deploy Empathy: A practical guide for talking to customers Software Social Episode 524 | Bootstrapping a Commodity SaaS Michele Hansen (@mjwhansen) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 585, Rob Walling chats with Sherry Walling about moving outside your comfort zone, the power of relationships, psychedelic-assisted therapy, as well as her new book about grief launching later this year. The topics we cover [3:22] Deciding against self-publishing[12:00 ] Building an audience vs. a network[14:26] Psychedelic-assisted therapy[24:00] The power and importance of relationships Links from the show The Entrepreneur's Guide To Keeping Your Sh*t Together Touching Two Worlds: A Guide for Finding Hope in the Landscape of Loss Sherry Walling (@zenfounder) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: It’s Startups for the Rest of Us episode 585. Where I welcome Dr. Sherry Walling, my wife, back on the show. We talk...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 585, Rob Walling chats with Sherry Walling about moving outside your comfort zone, the power of relationships, psychedelic-assisted therapy, as well as her new book about grief launching later this year. The topics we cover [3:22] Deciding against self-publishing [12:00 ] Building an audience vs. a network [14:26] Psychedelic-assisted therapy [24:00] The power and importance of relationships Links from the show The Entrepreneur's Guide To Keeping Your Sh*t Together Touching Two Worlds: A Guide for Finding Hope in the Landscape of Loss Sherry Walling (@zenfounder)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 585, Rob Walling chats with Sherry Walling about moving outside your comfort zone, the power of relationships, psychedelic-assisted therapy, as well as her new book about grief launching later this year. The topics we cover [3:22] Deciding against self-publishing [12:00 ] Building an audience vs. a network [14:26] Psychedelic-assisted therapy [24:00] The power and importance of relationships Links from the show The Entrepreneur's Guide To Keeping Your Sh*t Together Touching Two Worlds: A Guide for Finding Hope in the Landscape of Loss Sherry Walling (@zenfounder) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 584, Join Rob Walling for a Happy New Year edition of the show where looks ahead to 2022 and evaluates what he wants to focus on. The things we choose not to do are just as important as the things we chose to do and Rob encourages you to think hard about what is and is not working for you today. The topics we cover [3:00] Founder's retreat [4:36] Estimating growth [9:23] Hiring a full-time content producer [15:32] The power of focus Links from the show The Zen Founder Guide to Founder Retreats If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | StitcherClick the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 584, Join Rob Walling for a Happy New Year edition of the show where looks ahead to 2022 and evaluates what he wants to focus on. The things we choose not to do are just as important as the things we chose to do and Rob encourages you to think hard about what is and is not working for you today. The topics we cover [3:00] Founder's retreat [4:36] Estimating growth [9:23] Hiring a full-time content producer [15:32] The power of focus Links from the show The Zen Founder Guide to Founder Retreats If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 584, Join Rob Walling for a Happy New Year edition of the show where looks ahead to 2022 and evaluates what he wants to focus on. The things we choose not to do are just as important as the things we chose to do and Rob encourages you to think hard about what is and is not working for you today. The topics we cover [3:00] Founder's retreat [4:36] Estimating growth [9:23] Hiring a full-time content producer [15:32] The power of focus Links from the show The Zen Founder Guide to Founder Retreats If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 583, Rob Walling chats with Sam Parr about about building an email list, selling to Hubspot, podcast growth, and how to spot business opportunities. The topics we cover [3:53] Building Hustle to 8 figures in revenue[5:52] Growing an email list[11:01] Selling to a B2B SaaS[19:00] My First Million and growing podcasts[23:45] TikTok marketing[27:30] Spotting interesting opportunities[34:70] Manifest cowboy Links from the show Sam Parr (@theSamParr) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: It's not just any show, it's Startups For the Rest of Us. It's episode 583. I'm your host, Rob Walling, and I catch up with Sam Parr. He's the founder of The Hustle, a wildly popular email newsletter. He grew to several million...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 583, Rob Walling chats with Sam Parr about about building an email list, selling to Hubspot, podcast growth, and how to spot business opportunities. The topics we cover [3:53] Building Hustle to 8 figures in revenue [5:52] Growing an email list [11:01] Selling to a B2B SaaS [19:00] My First Million and growing podcasts [23:45] TikTok marketing [27:30] Spotting interesting opportunities [34:70] Manifest cowboy Links from the show Sam Parr (@theSamParr)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 583, Rob Walling chats with Sam Parr about about building an email list, selling to Hubspot, podcast growth, and how to spot business opportunities. The topics we cover [3:53] Building Hustle to 8 figures in revenue [5:52] Growing an email list [11:01] Selling to a B2B SaaS [19:00] My First Million and growing podcasts [23:45] TikTok marketing [27:30] Spotting interesting opportunities [34:70] Manifest cowboy Links from the show Sam Parr (@theSamParr) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 582, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset to answer listener questions about enterprise sales, crowdfunding, replacing yourself, and things that every B2B SaaS founder should know. The topics we cover [1:26] Investing with Reg CF[6:20] Enterprise plans and pricing[13:31] Finding your replacement[19:29] Best way to give software demos[21:55] What fundamental things should startup founders should know Links from the show Sales Funnel Optimization for Bootstrapped Founders – Steli Efti – MicroConf Europe 2019 Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: You guessed it, it's Startups For the Rest of Us episode 582, where I answer listener questions about enterprise sales, crowdfunding,...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 582, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset to answer listener questions about enterprise sales, crowdfunding, replacing yourself, and things that every B2B SaaS founder should know. The topics we cover [1:26] Investing with Reg CF [6:20] Enterprise plans and pricing [13:31] Finding your replacement [19:29] Best way to give software demos [21:55] What fundamental things should startup founders should know Links from the show Sales Funnel Optimization for Bootstrapped Founders – Steli Efti – MicroConf Europe 2019 Einar Vollset (@einarvollset)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 582, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset to answer listener questions about enterprise sales, crowdfunding, replacing yourself, and things that every B2B SaaS founder should know. The topics we cover [1:26] Investing with Reg CF [6:20] Enterprise plans and pricing [13:31] Finding your replacement [19:29] Best way to give software demos [21:55] What fundamental things should startup founders should know Links from the show Sales Funnel Optimization for Bootstrapped Founders – Steli Efti – MicroConf Europe 2019 Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 581, Rob Walling discusses how to grow money sensibly while protecting the principle during inflationary times. He explores real estate, collectibles, crypto, stocks, bonds, and other strategies to consider as inflation and other economic changes occur. The topics we cover [2:00] Inflation is here[7:20] Pricing flexibility with SaaS[9:44] Rules when inflation goes up[13:53] Inflation and home mortgages[16:29] Emergency funds during inflation[17:36] Bonds during inflationary times[18:40] Growth stocksIf you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. This is a show where we talk about building ambitious startups without sacrificing our freedom, our purpose, or our relationships, and...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 581, Rob Walling discusses how to grow money sensibly while protecting the principle during inflationary times. He explores real estate, collectibles, crypto, stocks, bonds, and other strategies to consider as inflation and other economic changes occur. The topics we cover [2:00] Inflation is here [7:20] Pricing flexibility with SaaS [9:44] Rules when inflation goes up [13:53] Inflation and home mortgages [16:29] Emergency funds during inflation [17:36] Bonds during inflationary times [18:40] Growth stocks If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 581, Rob Walling discusses how to grow money sensibly while protecting the principle during inflationary times. He explores real estate, collectibles, crypto, stocks, bonds, and other strategies to consider as inflation and other economic changes occur. The topics we cover [2:00] Inflation is here [7:20] Pricing flexibility with SaaS [9:44] Rules when inflation goes up [13:53] Inflation and home mortgages [16:29] Emergency funds during inflation [17:36] Bonds during inflationary times [18:40] Growth stocks If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 580, Rob Walling chats with Ross Hudgins, an SEO expert, about seven common things that SaaS founders either do well or frequently get wrong. The topics we cover [4:42] Put your blog in a subfolder, not a subdomain.[7:18] With keyword-focused content, make the URL exactly the main keyword.[10:10] Be thoughtful about feature page keywords[13:39] It’s really hard to rank for “best X software” queries[16:24] Use on-page content marketing best practices[20:50] Build passive link assets around keyword[22:58] Answer keyword questions immediately, right after the H1 Links from the show On-Page Content Marketing Best Practices Readability: the Optimal Line Length Ross Hudgins (@RossHudgens) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 580, Rob Walling chats with Ross Hudgins, an SEO expert, about seven common things that SaaS founders either do well or frequently get wrong. The topics we cover [4:42] Put your blog in a subfolder, not a subdomain. [7:18] With keyword-focused content, make the URL exactly the main keyword. [10:10] Be thoughtful about feature page keywords [13:39] It’s really hard to rank for “best X software” queries [16:24] Use on-page content marketing best practices [20:50] Build passive link assets around keyword [22:58] Answer keyword questions immediately, right after the H1 Links from the show On-Page Content Marketing Best Practices Readability: the Optimal Line Length Ross Hudgins (@RossHudgens)&nbsp;| Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 580, Rob Walling chats with Ross Hudgins, an SEO expert, about seven common things that SaaS founders either do well or frequently get wrong. The topics we cover [4:42] Put your blog in a subfolder, not a subdomain. [7:18] With keyword-focused content, make the URL exactly the main keyword. [10:10] Be thoughtful about feature page keywords [13:39] It’s really hard to rank for “best X software” queries [16:24] Use on-page content marketing best practices [20:50] Build passive link assets around keyword [22:58] Answer keyword questions immediately, right after the H1 Links from the show On-Page Content Marketing Best Practices Readability: the Optimal Line Length Ross Hudgins (@RossHudgens) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this special episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about not only the announcement of the TinySeed Syndicate but also the investment landscape for B2B SaaS today. Even if you don't think you'll raise funding, it's important to understand the dynamics of the investment and acquisition market as a bootstrapped founder. The topics we cover [1:40] Investment landscape for bootstrapped SaaS[10:26] What is a syndicate?[13:57] Introducing the TinySeed Syndicate Links from the show Invest — TinySeed Apply — TinySeed Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling SaaS that you'd like us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob Walling. Every week on the show since 2010, we've covered topics...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this special episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about not only the announcement of the TinySeed Syndicate but also the investment landscape for B2B SaaS today. Even if you don't think you'll raise funding, it's important to understand the dynamics of the investment and acquisition market as a bootstrapped founder. The topics we cover [1:40] Investment landscape for bootstrapped SaaS [10:26] What is a syndicate? [13:57] Introducing the TinySeed Syndicate Links from the show Invest — TinySeed Apply — TinySeed Einar Vollset (@einarvollset)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling SaaS that you'd like us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this special episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about not only the announcement of the TinySeed Syndicate but also the investment landscape for B2B SaaS today. Even if you don't think you'll raise funding, it's important to understand the dynamics of the investment and acquisition market as a bootstrapped founder. The topics we cover [1:40] Investment landscape for bootstrapped SaaS [10:26] What is a syndicate? [13:57] Introducing the TinySeed Syndicate Links from the show Invest — TinySeed Apply — TinySeed Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling SaaS that you'd like us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 578, Rob Walling is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber for an update on his progress with Bluetick. Today we find out how Mike's merger that he has been working on for the past year has panned out. The topics we cover [3:55] Mike reflects on time and effort working on partnership[7:20] What to do when a deal stalls[9:00] Doubling down on Bluetick[14:50] Differentiating Bluetick[17:47] Moving fast as a startup[19:03] Finding your intrinsic motivation[26:10] Mike's 90 day plan Links from the show Bluetick.io Mike Taber (@SingleFounder) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 578, Rob Walling is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber for an update on his progress with Bluetick. Today we find out how Mike's merger that he has been working on for the past year has panned out. The topics we cover [3:55] Mike reflects on time and effort working on partnership [7:20] What to do when a deal stalls [9:00] Doubling down on Bluetick [14:50] Differentiating Bluetick [17:47] Moving fast as a startup [19:03] Finding your intrinsic motivation [26:10] Mike's 90 day plan Links from the show Bluetick.io Mike Taber (@SingleFounder)&nbsp;| Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 578, Rob Walling is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber for an update on his progress with Bluetick. Today we find out how Mike's merger that he has been working on for the past year has panned out. The topics we cover [3:55] Mike reflects on time and effort working on partnership [7:20] What to do when a deal stalls [9:00] Doubling down on Bluetick [14:50] Differentiating Bluetick [17:47] Moving fast as a startup [19:03] Finding your intrinsic motivation [26:10] Mike's 90 day plan Links from the show Bluetick.io Mike Taber (@SingleFounder) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 577, Rob Walling chats with Jim Kalbach about how to uncover the right problem to solve with the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework. If you haven't been exposed to JTBD, this episode will be a great primer as we dive into practical examples for bootstrapped or mostly-bootstrapped founders. The topics we cover [3:00] Defining Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)[6:45] JTBD are stable over time[10:27] Be solution-agnostic[11:20] JTBD for pre-product or pre-solution[17:53] Questions to ask to find JTBD[20:50] Switch interviews[24:41] A switch interview case study Links from the show The Jobs To Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs JTBD Toolkit Jim Kalbach (@jimkalbach) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 577, Rob Walling chats with Jim Kalbach about how to uncover the right problem to solve with the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework. If you haven't been exposed to JTBD, this episode will be a great primer as we dive into practical examples for bootstrapped or mostly-bootstrapped founders. The topics we cover [3:00] Defining Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) [6:45] JTBD are stable over time [10:27] Be solution-agnostic [11:20] JTBD for pre-product or pre-solution [17:53] Questions to ask to find JTBD [20:50] Switch interviews [24:41] A switch interview case study Links from the show The Jobs To Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs JTBD Toolkit Jim Kalbach (@jimkalbach)&nbsp;| Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 577, Rob Walling chats with Jim Kalbach about how to uncover the right problem to solve with the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework. If you haven't been exposed to JTBD, this episode will be a great primer as we dive into practical examples for bootstrapped or mostly-bootstrapped founders. The topics we cover [3:00] Defining Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) [6:45] JTBD are stable over time [10:27] Be solution-agnostic [11:20] JTBD for pre-product or pre-solution [17:53] Questions to ask to find JTBD [20:50] Switch interviews [24:41] A switch interview case study Links from the show The Jobs To Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs JTBD Toolkit Jim Kalbach (@jimkalbach) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 576, Rob Walling chats about permissionless entrepreneurship, why you probably shouldn't be a media company if you're an early stage or bootstrapped SaaS, and the importance of exploring beyond what your customers ask for to find out what they actually need. The topics we cover [2:01] Permissionless entrepreneur[9:25] All startups should not become media companies[15:10] Find out what your customers need, not what they ask forThis episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. Every week for more than 11 years, I’ve been putting out content on this podcast feed to help software...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 576, Rob Walling chats about permissionless entrepreneurship, why you probably shouldn't be a media company if you're an early stage or bootstrapped SaaS, and the importance of exploring beyond what your customers ask for to find out what they actually need. The topics we cover [2:01] Permissionless entrepreneur [9:25] All startups should not become media companies [15:10] Find out what your customers need, not what they ask for This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 576, Rob Walling chats about permissionless entrepreneurship, why you probably shouldn't be a media company if you're an early stage or bootstrapped SaaS, and the importance of exploring beyond what your customers ask for to find out what they actually need. The topics we cover [2:01] Permissionless entrepreneur [9:25] All startups should not become media companies [15:10] Find out what your customers need, not what they ask for This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 575, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer for a quick update on SavvyCal and some recent hiring decisions he has made. They also answer listener questions about shipping code as a bootstrapper, pivoting, selling a business through a broker, and more The topics we cover [2:23] The latest with SavvyCal[12:02] Shipping code as a bootstrapper vs larger team[21:39] Considering a zoom-in pivot[25:15] Progressive web app vs two native app[28:20] Thoughts on white-label approach for SaaS[33:55] Selling a bootstrapped business through a broker Links from the show Episode 530 | Making Development Decisions, Regrets about Selling, and More Listener Questions (with Derrick Reimer) Episode 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire SavvyCal MicroAcquire Quiet Light Brokerage Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 575, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer for a quick update on SavvyCal and some recent hiring decisions he has made. They also answer listener questions about shipping code as a bootstrapper, pivoting, selling a business through a broker, and more The topics we cover [2:23] The latest with SavvyCal [12:02] Shipping code as a bootstrapper vs larger team [21:39] Considering a zoom-in pivot [25:15] Progressive web app vs two native app [28:20] Thoughts on white-label approach for SaaS [33:55] Selling a bootstrapped business through a broker Links from the show Episode 530 | Making Development Decisions, Regrets about Selling, and More Listener Questions (with Derrick Reimer) Episode 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire SavvyCal MicroAcquire Quiet Light Brokerage Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer)&nbsp;| Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 575, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer for a quick update on SavvyCal and some recent hiring decisions he has made. They also answer listener questions about shipping code as a bootstrapper, pivoting, selling a business through a broker, and more The topics we cover [2:23] The latest with SavvyCal [12:02] Shipping code as a bootstrapper vs larger team [21:39] Considering a zoom-in pivot [25:15] Progressive web app vs two native app [28:20] Thoughts on white-label approach for SaaS [33:55] Selling a bootstrapped business through a broker Links from the show Episode 530 | Making Development Decisions, Regrets about Selling, and More Listener Questions (with Derrick Reimer) Episode 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire SavvyCal MicroAcquire Quiet Light Brokerage Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

TinySeed, MicroConf's venture fund and SaaS accelerator, is launching their Fall 2021 accelerator batch this week.📈 SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/microconf?sub_confirmation=1 #tinyseedJoin Rob Walling (co-founder of MicroConf and TinySeed) and Tracy Osborn (TinySeed's Program Director) as they announce the 18 SaaS startups chosen out of hundreds of applications for the latest cohort of the year-long program.TinySeed is a remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders, providing mentorship from world-class founders &amp; SaaS experts, community with a batch of other ambitious and talented founders, and enough funding to help you grow faster (or quit your day job).Get a first hand account of what it is like to be a member of TinySeed with Tony Chan, co-founder of CloudForecast Watch the interview → https://bit.ly/tinyseed-experienceApplications for our next accelerator batch and our NEW European cohort will open in January 2022.→ Join our...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

TinySeed, MicroConf's venture fund and SaaS accelerator, is launching their Fall 2021 accelerator batch this week.

TinySeed, MicroConf's venture fund and SaaS accelerator, is launching their Fall 2021 accelerator batch this week.

In Episode 574, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Fiebert, a founder who just couldn't get away from software. He's a software developer, turned podcaster, turned marketer, and now he's a software entrepreneur and on this episode, they discuss his success and struggles while building Lasso. The topics we cover [2:40] Introductions[4:15] WordPress plugin with an annual subscription[5:51] Starting a podcast[8:00] Experiments with monetizing a podcast[13:26] Starting Giftlab.co[15:08] Starting another software business[16:35] Building Lasso[21:23] Launching without the right pricing/product[23:32] Discovering the sticking points in the UI/UX[29:29] Freemium vs paid users[31:06] The biggest struggle with building Lasso[35:23] The future for Lasso Links from the show Lasso GiftLab Listen Money Matters Andrew Fiebert (@andyfieb) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 574, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Fiebert, a founder who just couldn't get away from software. He's a software developer, turned podcaster, turned marketer, and now he's a software entrepreneur and on this episode, they discuss his success and struggles while building Lasso. The topics we cover [2:40] Introductions [4:15] WordPress plugin with an annual subscription [5:51] Starting a podcast [8:00] Experiments with monetizing a podcast [13:26] Starting Giftlab.co [15:08] Starting another software business [16:35] Building Lasso [21:23] Launching without the right pricing/product [23:32] Discovering the sticking points in the UI/UX [29:29] Freemium vs paid users [31:06] The biggest struggle with building Lasso [35:23] The future for Lasso Links from the show Lasso GiftLab Listen Money Matters Andrew Fiebert (@andyfieb)&nbsp;| Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 574, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Fiebert, a founder who just couldn't get away from software. He's a software developer, turned podcaster, turned marketer, and now he's a software entrepreneur and on this episode, they discuss his success and struggles while building Lasso. The topics we cover [2:40] Introductions [4:15] WordPress plugin with an annual subscription [5:51] Starting a podcast [8:00] Experiments with monetizing a podcast [13:26] Starting Giftlab.co [15:08] Starting another software business [16:35] Building Lasso [21:23] Launching without the right pricing/product [23:32] Discovering the sticking points in the UI/UX [29:29] Freemium vs paid users [31:06] The biggest struggle with building Lasso [35:23] The future for Lasso Links from the show Lasso GiftLab Listen Money Matters Andrew Fiebert (@andyfieb) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

We need your help!  The 2022 State of Independent SaaS Survey is now live and we need as many eligible founders of B2B SaaS businesses to complete the survey.  This survey will be used to create our third annual State of Independent SaaS report, offering recommendations, insights, and pitfalls critical to planning for a future in B2B SaaS.Venture funded businesses have a wealth of research and data helping them make decisions about the next steps they should take with their business - our community and niche of indie funded SaaS businesses shouldn't miss out on these best practices.Fill out the 2022 State of Independent SaaS survey today! microconf.com/state-of-indie-saasClick the icon below to listen. &#160;

We need your help!  The 2022 State of Independent SaaS Survey is now live and we need as many eligible founders of B2B SaaS businesses to complete the survey.  This survey will be used to create our third annual State of Independent SaaS report, offering recommendations, insights, and pitfalls critical to planning for a future in B2B SaaS. Venture funded businesses have a wealth of research and data helping them make decisions about the next steps they should take with their business - our community and niche of indie funded SaaS businesses shouldn't miss out on these best practices. Fill out the 2022 State of Independent SaaS survey today! microconf.com/state-of-indie-saas

We need your help!  The 2022 State of Independent SaaS Survey is now live and we need as many eligible founders of B2B SaaS businesses to complete the survey.  This survey will be used to create our third annual State of Independent SaaS report, offering recommendations, insights, and pitfalls critical to planning for a future in B2B SaaS. Venture funded businesses have a wealth of research and data helping them make decisions about the next steps they should take with their business - our community and niche of indie funded SaaS businesses shouldn't miss out on these best practices. Fill out the 2022 State of Independent SaaS survey today! microconf.com/state-of-indie-saas

In Episode 573, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborne about the part-time contractor versus hiring full-time debate, the acquisition of Sandhills Development, as well as the launch of a TinySeed Europe. The topics we cover [02:14] FT vs PT Contractor[09:06] When could part time contracting work?[10:25] Sandhills Development acquisition[14:50] TinySeed Europe announced[21:04] DuckDuckGo and Privacy Links from the show Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Awesome Motive has acquired our WordPress products and services – Sandhills Development, LLC Josh Pigford on Twitter Regarding FT vs PT Contractor DuckDuckGo and Privacy Careers — TinySeed Invest — TinySeed Tracy Osborne on Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from google. ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 573, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborne about the part-time contractor versus hiring full-time debate, the acquisition of Sandhills Development, as well as the launch of a TinySeed Europe. The topics we cover [02:14] FT vs PT Contractor [09:06] When could part time contracting work? [10:25] Sandhills Development acquisition [14:50] TinySeed Europe announced [21:04] DuckDuckGo and Privacy Links from the show Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Awesome Motive has acquired our WordPress products and services – Sandhills Development, LLC Josh Pigford on Twitter Regarding FT vs PT Contractor DuckDuckGo and Privacy Careers — TinySeed Invest — TinySeed Tracy Osborne on Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset)&nbsp;| Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by&nbsp;Software Promotions. Get better results from google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 573, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborne about the part-time contractor versus hiring full-time debate, the acquisition of Sandhills Development, as well as the launch of a TinySeed Europe. The topics we cover [02:14] FT vs PT Contractor [09:06] When could part time contracting work? [10:25] Sandhills Development acquisition [14:50] TinySeed Europe announced [21:04] DuckDuckGo and Privacy Links from the show Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Awesome Motive has acquired our WordPress products and services – Sandhills Development, LLC Josh Pigford on Twitter Regarding FT vs PT Contractor DuckDuckGo and Privacy Careers — TinySeed Invest — TinySeed Tracy Osborne on Twitter Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from google. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 572, Rob Walling does another solo adventure to talk about taking responsibility for the outcomes of your business and the importance of putting in the reps as a founder. Bootstrapping a startup is a marathon, not a sprint and it's important to enjoy the journey along the way.Thanks to Software Promotions for supporting this podcast! Learn more about their SEO and AdWords services The topics we cover [1:56] Intro[2:20] It's not your fault, but it's your responsibility[8:35] It's not the game, it's the practice[15:23] Dietary patterns Rob wishes he would've known 15 years ago Links from the show Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) 11 Years to Overnight Success: From Beach Towels to A Successful Exit – Rob Walling – MicroConf 2017 Thanks to Software Promotions for supporting this podcast! Learn more about their SEO and AdWords services If you have...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 572, Rob Walling does another solo adventure to talk about taking responsibility for the outcomes of your business and the importance of putting in the reps as a founder. Bootstrapping a startup is a marathon, not a sprint and it's important to enjoy the journey along the way. Thanks to Software Promotions for supporting this podcast! Learn more about their SEO and AdWords services The topics we cover [1:56] Intro [2:20] It's not your fault, but it's your responsibility [8:35] It's not the game, it's the practice [15:23] Dietary patterns Rob wishes he would've known 15 years ago Links from the show Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) 11 Years to Overnight Success: From Beach Towels to A Successful Exit – Rob Walling – MicroConf 2017 Thanks to Software Promotions for supporting this podcast! Learn more about their SEO and AdWords services If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 572, Rob Walling does another solo adventure to talk about taking responsibility for the outcomes of your business and the importance of putting in the reps as a founder. Bootstrapping a startup is a marathon, not a sprint and it's important to enjoy the journey along the way. Thanks to Software Promotions for supporting this podcast! Learn more about their SEO and AdWords services The topics we cover [1:56] Intro [2:20] It's not your fault, but it's your responsibility [8:35] It's not the game, it's the practice [15:23] Dietary patterns Rob wishes he would've known 15 years ago Links from the show Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) 11 Years to Overnight Success: From Beach Towels to A Successful Exit – Rob Walling – MicroConf 2017 Thanks to Software Promotions for supporting this podcast! Learn more about their SEO and AdWords services If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 571, Rob Walling chats with Peter Suhm about moving on from WP Pusher and Branch. We also dive into how he came up with the idea for Reform and his process for validating the idea with a landing page before building. The topics we cover [1:28] Intros[2:48] Default alive and selling Branch[8:15] Changing customer behavior is hard[12:25] Struggling through customer interviews from a small studio[16:20] Thinking through all the options and deciding to keep going[18:45] Moving from a list of requirements to a form builder[27:23] Building a high-quality MVP, starting with a landing page[34:52] Entering a big, horizontal, crowded space Links from the show Branch - Automated deployments for WordPress Reform - Hosted forms. No code required. Start Small, Stay Small Obviously Awesome - How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get it, Buy it, Love it Peter Suhm (@petersuhm) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 571, Rob Walling chats with Peter Suhm about moving on from WP Pusher and Branch. We also dive into how he came up with the idea for Reform and his process for validating the idea with a landing page before building. The topics we cover [1:28] Intros [2:48] Default alive and selling Branch [8:15] Changing customer behavior is hard [12:25] Struggling through customer interviews from a small studio [16:20] Thinking through all the options and deciding to keep going [18:45] Moving from a list of requirements to a form builder [27:23] Building a high-quality MVP, starting with a landing page [34:52] Entering a big, horizontal, crowded space Links from the show Branch - Automated deployments for WordPress Reform - Hosted forms. No code required. Start Small, Stay Small Obviously Awesome - How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get it, Buy it, Love it Peter Suhm (@petersuhm)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 571, Rob Walling chats with Peter Suhm about moving on from WP Pusher and Branch. We also dive into how he came up with the idea for Reform and his process for validating the idea with a landing page before building. The topics we cover [1:28] Intros [2:48] Default alive and selling Branch [8:15] Changing customer behavior is hard [12:25] Struggling through customer interviews from a small studio [16:20] Thinking through all the options and deciding to keep going [18:45] Moving from a list of requirements to a form builder [27:23] Building a high-quality MVP, starting with a landing page [34:52] Entering a big, horizontal, crowded space Links from the show Branch - Automated deployments for WordPress Reform - Hosted forms. No code required. Start Small, Stay Small Obviously Awesome - How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get it, Buy it, Love it Peter Suhm (@petersuhm) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 570, Rob Walling answers listener questions about the ideal business for bootstrapping, how to create trust with potential customers, navigating depression as an entrepreneur as well as advice for introverted founders. The topics we cover [1:42] Problems that are more conducive to bootstrapping[8:51] Creating trust with potential customers[10:51] Battling depression or mental illness as an entrepreneur[13:45] Advice for introverted founders[18:95] Standard operating agreement for co-foundersIf you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling. If you can believe it, this is Episode 570. I think we're approaching 100-listener question episodes where me or myself and a guest answer...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 570, Rob Walling answers listener questions about the ideal business for bootstrapping, how to create trust with potential customers, navigating depression as an entrepreneur as well as advice for introverted founders. The topics we cover [1:42] Problems that are more conducive to bootstrapping [8:51] Creating trust with potential customers [10:51] Battling depression or mental illness as an entrepreneur [13:45] Advice for introverted founders [18:95] Standard operating agreement for co-founders If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 570, Rob Walling answers listener questions about the ideal business for bootstrapping, how to create trust with potential customers, navigating depression as an entrepreneur as well as advice for introverted founders. The topics we cover [1:42] Problems that are more conducive to bootstrapping [8:51] Creating trust with potential customers [10:51] Battling depression or mental illness as an entrepreneur [13:45] Advice for introverted founders [18:95] Standard operating agreement for co-founders If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 569, Rob Walling chats with Anna Maste, a founder who's been a part of the MicroConf community for several years. They talk about how Anna bootstrapped a two-sided RV marketplace and eventually sold it for a healthy multiple. The topics we cover [1:16] An RV boondocker[2:53] Selling for a healthy multiple[5:21 ] Building a business with a a family member[7:02] Tech stack used[8:23] Launching and early customers[12:45] Experimenting with business models and pricing[14:01] Inflection in growth[18:21] Bootstrapping and fitting in[23:53] First purchase offer[28:05] Accepting the second strategic offer Links from the show Boondockers Welcome Anna Maste (@skulegirl) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 569, Rob Walling chats with Anna Maste, a founder who's been a part of the MicroConf community for several years. They talk about how Anna bootstrapped a two-sided RV marketplace and eventually sold it for a healthy multiple. The topics we cover [1:16] An RV boondocker [2:53] Selling for a healthy multiple [5:21 ] Building a business with a a family member [7:02] Tech stack used [8:23] Launching and early customers [12:45] Experimenting with business models and pricing [14:01] Inflection in growth [18:21] Bootstrapping and fitting in [23:53] First purchase offer [28:05] Accepting the second strategic offer Links from the show Boondockers Welcome Anna Maste (@skulegirl)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 569, Rob Walling chats with Anna Maste, a founder who's been a part of the MicroConf community for several years. They talk about how Anna bootstrapped a two-sided RV marketplace and eventually sold it for a healthy multiple. The topics we cover [1:16] An RV boondocker [2:53] Selling for a healthy multiple [5:21 ] Building a business with a a family member [7:02] Tech stack used [8:23] Launching and early customers [12:45] Experimenting with business models and pricing [14:01] Inflection in growth [18:21] Bootstrapping and fitting in [23:53] First purchase offer [28:05] Accepting the second strategic offer Links from the show Boondockers Welcome Anna Maste (@skulegirl) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 568, Rob Walling talks about MailChimp selling for $12 billion to Intuit, the largest exit for a bootstrap company, ever. Not that all founders aspire to grow to this scale, but it's truly an incredible day for bootstrapped founders to know that we have the potential to get to this level without raising institutional funding. The topics we cover [1:41] $800 million in ARR without outside funding[4:14] Acquisition multiple[7:42] Everyone sells, eventually[9:31] Respect for MailChimp[11:49] Disappointed with the UX[13:21] Equity vs higher salaries and bonuses[18:00] Long term outlook for existing Mailchimp customers[21:21] Never say you're never going to sell[21:42] Being an email service provider today is hard Links from the show Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 568, Rob Walling talks about MailChimp selling for $12 billion to Intuit, the largest exit for a bootstrap company, ever. Not that all founders aspire to grow to this scale, but it's truly an incredible day for bootstrapped founders to know that we have the potential to get to this level without raising institutional funding. The topics we cover [1:41] $800 million in ARR without outside funding [4:14] Acquisition multiple [7:42] Everyone sells, eventually [9:31] Respect for MailChimp [11:49] Disappointed with the UX [13:21] Equity vs higher salaries and bonuses [18:00] Long term outlook for existing Mailchimp customers [21:21] Never say you're never going to sell [21:42] Being an email service provider today is hard Links from the show Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) Rob Walling (@robwalling)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 568, Rob Walling talks about MailChimp selling for $12 billion to Intuit, the largest exit for a bootstrap company, ever. Not that all founders aspire to grow to this scale, but it's truly an incredible day for bootstrapped founders to know that we have the potential to get to this level without raising institutional funding. The topics we cover [1:41] $800 million in ARR without outside funding [4:14] Acquisition multiple [7:42] Everyone sells, eventually [9:31] Respect for MailChimp [11:49] Disappointed with the UX [13:21] Equity vs higher salaries and bonuses [18:00] Long term outlook for existing Mailchimp customers [21:21] Never say you're never going to sell [21:42] Being an email service provider today is hard Links from the show Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 567, Rob Walling chats with Don Pottinger about joining a company as a developer, transitioning to CTO within 6 months, buying the company for $1, and then later on selling it for a life-changing sum of money. The topics we cover [1:13] Introductions[4:08] Learning to code independently vs learning on the job[06:38] Joining Kevy in 2014[8:00] Transitioning to Director of Engineering and then to CTO[11:58] Difficulty of laying employees off[14:20] A new CEO and $0 MRR[16:08] Cap table difficulties[19:56] CEO departure and buying the company for $1[26:30] Starting over and doing it solo[29:01] Running as a lifestyle business and selling the company[35:02] Launching a new startup Links from the show Kevy Langua Talk Don Pottinger (@donpottinger) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 567, Rob Walling chats with Don Pottinger about joining a company as a developer, transitioning to CTO within 6 months, buying the company for $1, and then later on selling it for a life-changing sum of money. The topics we cover [1:13] Introductions [4:08] Learning to code independently vs learning on the job [06:38] Joining Kevy in 2014 [8:00] Transitioning to Director of Engineering and then to CTO [11:58] Difficulty of laying employees off [14:20] A new CEO and $0 MRR [16:08] Cap table difficulties [19:56] CEO departure and buying the company for $1 [26:30] Starting over and doing it solo [29:01] Running as a lifestyle business and selling the company [35:02] Launching a new startup Links from the show Kevy Langua Talk Don Pottinger (@donpottinger)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 567, Rob Walling chats with Don Pottinger about joining a company as a developer, transitioning to CTO within 6 months, buying the company for $1, and then later on selling it for a life-changing sum of money. The topics we cover [1:13] Introductions [4:08] Learning to code independently vs learning on the job [06:38] Joining Kevy in 2014 [8:00] Transitioning to Director of Engineering and then to CTO [11:58] Difficulty of laying employees off [14:20] A new CEO and $0 MRR [16:08] Cap table difficulties [19:56] CEO departure and buying the company for $1 [26:30] Starting over and doing it solo [29:01] Running as a lifestyle business and selling the company [35:02] Launching a new startup Links from the show Kevy Langua Talk Don Pottinger (@donpottinger) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 566, Rob Walling chats with Hana Mohan about her journey as a SaaS founder. They compare and contrast bootstrapping and being venture-backed, hiring a chief of staff early on as a startup founder, and more. The topics we cover [2:17] Intro[3:36] Deciding not to bootstrap MagicBell[6:34] The team Composition at MagicBell[9:15] The marketing approaches that are working today.[10:47] Technology behind MagicBell[19:32] Bootstrapping vs raising funding[24:24] The importance of finding the right investors and hiring the right people[25:27] Hiring a Chief of Staff Links from the show Starting a new tech business as a transgender woman From Bootstrapped to Venture-Backed with Hana Mohan Hana Mohan (@unamashana) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 566, Rob Walling chats with Hana Mohan about her journey as a SaaS founder. They compare and contrast bootstrapping and being venture-backed, hiring a chief of staff early on as a startup founder, and more. The topics we cover [2:17] Intro [3:36] Deciding not to bootstrap MagicBell [6:34] The team Composition at MagicBell [9:15] The marketing approaches that are working today. [10:47] Technology behind MagicBell [19:32] Bootstrapping vs raising funding [24:24] The importance of finding the right investors and hiring the right people [25:27] Hiring a Chief of Staff Links from the show Starting a new tech business as a transgender woman From Bootstrapped to Venture-Backed with Hana Mohan Hana Mohan (@unamashana)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 566, Rob Walling chats with Hana Mohan about her journey as a SaaS founder. They compare and contrast bootstrapping and being venture-backed, hiring a chief of staff early on as a startup founder, and more. The topics we cover [2:17] Intro [3:36] Deciding not to bootstrap MagicBell [6:34] The team Composition at MagicBell [9:15] The marketing approaches that are working today. [10:47] Technology behind MagicBell [19:32] Bootstrapping vs raising funding [24:24] The importance of finding the right investors and hiring the right people [25:27] Hiring a Chief of Staff Links from the show Starting a new tech business as a transgender woman From Bootstrapped to Venture-Backed with Hana Mohan Hana Mohan (@unamashana) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 565, Rob Walling answers listener questions about focusing on one product vs multiple, sharing revenue metrics with early employees, and how to overcome the lack of motivation when starting new projects. The topics we cover [05:31] Focusing on one core product vs multiple separate products at the same time[14:59] Sharing revenue metrics with new employees[18:37] Struggling with motivation and consistency Links from the show Cargo cult 1 simple rule to figure out which advice you should follow Episode 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript I think there are two tracks that people wind up on. There is the lifestyle track where the idea is...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 565, Rob Walling answers listener questions about focusing on one product vs multiple, sharing revenue metrics with early employees, and how to overcome the lack of motivation when starting new projects. The topics we cover [05:31] Focusing on one core product vs multiple separate products at the same time [14:59] Sharing revenue metrics with new employees [18:37] Struggling with motivation and consistency Links from the show Cargo cult 1 simple rule to figure out which advice you should follow Episode 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire Rob Walling (@robwalling)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 565, Rob Walling answers listener questions about focusing on one product vs multiple, sharing revenue metrics with early employees, and how to overcome the lack of motivation when starting new projects. The topics we cover [05:31] Focusing on one core product vs multiple separate products at the same time [14:59] Sharing revenue metrics with new employees [18:37] Struggling with motivation and consistency Links from the show Cargo cult 1 simple rule to figure out which advice you should follow Episode 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 564, Rob Walling chats with Sol Orwell about growing his website, examine.com to millions of views per month, changing revenue models, and the importance of doing customer interviews. The topics we cover [2:14] Intro[3:06] How Examine started[7:21] Examine's differentiated approach based on scientific research[9:33] 10,000 paying subscribers[10:59] Building trust through transparency[15:26] Interviewing customers[21:14] Getting hit by Google[26:52] Sol's stunt marketing pages Links from the show Our Mistakes | GiveWell Examine SJO.com Sol Orwell (@sol_orwell) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: You guessed it. It's another episode of Startups For the Rest of Us. I'm Rob Walling, and this week...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 564, Rob Walling chats with Sol Orwell about growing his website,&nbsp;examine.com&nbsp;to millions of views per month, changing revenue models, and the importance of doing customer interviews. The topics we cover [2:14] Intro [3:06] How Examine started [7:21] Examine's differentiated approach based on scientific research [9:33] 10,000 paying subscribers [10:59] Building trust through transparency [15:26] Interviewing customers [21:14] Getting hit by Google [26:52] Sol's stunt marketing pages Links from the show Our Mistakes | GiveWell Examine SJO.com Sol Orwell (@sol_orwell)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 564, Rob Walling chats with Sol Orwell about growing his website, examine.com to millions of views per month, changing revenue models, and the importance of doing customer interviews. The topics we cover [2:14] Intro [3:06] How Examine started [7:21] Examine's differentiated approach based on scientific research [9:33] 10,000 paying subscribers [10:59] Building trust through transparency [15:26] Interviewing customers [21:14] Getting hit by Google [26:52] Sol's stunt marketing pages Links from the show Our Mistakes | GiveWell Examine SJO.com Sol Orwell (@sol_orwell) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 563, Rob Walling answers listener questions about startup operating agreements for co-founders, common cloud hosting solutions, struggling as a young entrepreneur, and selling your startup when you have over $1M in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [1:40] Operating agreements for startup co-founders[5:50] How to do startup vesting when not working fulltime on a project[9:41] Common cloud hosting solutions for startups[11:04] Struggling as a young entrepreneur[18:20] Call to action for info product[20:54] Virtual assistance[23:05] Selling above $1M ARR Links from the show LegalZoom Rocket Laywer Upcounsel Start Small, Stay Small Upwork Best Jobs Virtual Staff Finder Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp;...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 563, Rob Walling answers listener questions about startup operating agreements for co-founders, common cloud hosting solutions, struggling as a young entrepreneur, and selling your startup when you have over $1M in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [1:40] Operating agreements for startup co-founders [5:50] How to do startup vesting when not working fulltime on a project [9:41] Common cloud hosting solutions for startups [11:04] Struggling as a young entrepreneur [18:20] Call to action for info product [20:54] Virtual assistance [23:05] Selling above $1M ARR Links from the show LegalZoom Rocket Laywer Upcounsel Start Small, Stay Small Upwork Best Jobs Virtual Staff Finder Rob Walling (@robwalling)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 563, Rob Walling answers listener questions about startup operating agreements for co-founders, common cloud hosting solutions, struggling as a young entrepreneur, and selling your startup when you have over $1M in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [1:40] Operating agreements for startup co-founders [5:50] How to do startup vesting when not working fulltime on a project [9:41] Common cloud hosting solutions for startups [11:04] Struggling as a young entrepreneur [18:20] Call to action for info product [20:54] Virtual assistance [23:05] Selling above $1M ARR Links from the show LegalZoom Rocket Laywer Upcounsel Start Small, Stay Small Upwork Best Jobs Virtual Staff Finder Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

The application for TinySeed’s Fall 2021 SaaS accelerator batch of startups will open for two weeks starting on August 9th, 2021.Watch the video recording of the Fall 2021 Batch Info Session here: https://youtu.be/6dqTClonO2YInterested in applying? Join us for an info session with the TinySeed team to talk about the application process, what to expect as a member of TinySeed, and some of the things we are looking for in companies we welcome into the fold.https://tinyseed.com#tinyseedWe’ve written a few posts that might be helpful if you’re considering applying:— Our Fall 2021 application announcement: https://tinyseed.com/latest/tinyseeds-fall-2021-application-announcement— Preview our Fall 2021 application and requirements in this overview: https://tinyseed.com/latest/2021-application-preview— Curious about what it's like being a TinySeed founder?Part 1 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/whats-it-like-being-a-tinyseed-founderPart 2 -...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

The application for TinySeed’s Fall 2021 SaaS accelerator batch of startups will open for two weeks starting on August 9th, 2021. Watch the video recording of the Fall 2021 Batch Info Session here: https://youtu.be/6dqTClonO2Y Interested in applying? Join us for an info session with the TinySeed team to talk about the application process, what to expect as a member of TinySeed, and some of the things we are looking for in companies we welcome into the fold. https://tinyseed.com #tinyseed We’ve written a few posts that might be helpful if you’re considering applying: — Our Fall 2021 application announcement: https://tinyseed.com/latest/tinyseeds-fall-2021-application-announcement — Preview our Fall 2021 application and requirements in this overview: https://tinyseed.com/latest/2021-application-preview — Curious about what it's like being a TinySeed founder? Part 1 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/whats-it-like-being-a-tinyseed-founder Part 2 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/part-2-tinyseed-founder

The application for TinySeed’s Fall 2021 SaaS accelerator batch of startups will open for two weeks starting on August 9th, 2021. Watch the video recording of the Fall 2021 Batch Info Session here: https://youtu.be/6dqTClonO2Y Interested in applying? Join us for an info session with the TinySeed team to talk about the application process, what to expect as a member of TinySeed, and some of the things we are looking for in companies we welcome into the fold. https://tinyseed.com #tinyseed We’ve written a few posts that might be helpful if you’re considering applying: — Our Fall 2021 application announcement: https://tinyseed.com/latest/tinyseeds-fall-2021-application-announcement — Preview our Fall 2021 application and requirements in this overview: https://tinyseed.com/latest/2021-application-preview — Curious about what it's like being a TinySeed founder? Part 1 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/whats-it-like-being-a-tinyseed-founder Part 2 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/part-2-tinyseed-founder

In Episode 562, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure to talk about enterprise sales, mental frameworks for founders, undoable decisions, and how to handle being approached about an acquisition. The topics we cover [2:33] Enterprise sales advice[5:48] Measure twice, cut once for SaaS[10:56] Holy Grail of SaaS: Expansion Revenue[13:12] Holy Grail of SaaS: Virality[14:25] Holy Grail of SaaS: Big space with slow-moving incumbents[15:46] Things to keep in mind when being approached about an acquisition Links from the show Josh Ledgard on Twitter Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript If you’ve raised $500,000 and you're making decisions about $1000 here, $5000 there, you are able to throw that...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 562, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure to talk about enterprise sales, mental frameworks for founders, undoable decisions, and how to handle being approached about an acquisition. The topics we cover [2:33] Enterprise sales advice [5:48] Measure twice, cut once for SaaS [10:56] Holy Grail of SaaS: Expansion Revenue [13:12] Holy Grail of SaaS: Virality [14:25] Holy Grail of SaaS: Big space with slow-moving incumbents [15:46] Things to keep in mind when being approached about an acquisition Links from the show Josh Ledgard on Twitter Rob Walling (@robwalling)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 562, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure to talk about enterprise sales, mental frameworks for founders, undoable decisions, and how to handle being approached about an acquisition. The topics we cover [2:33] Enterprise sales advice [5:48] Measure twice, cut once for SaaS [10:56] Holy Grail of SaaS: Expansion Revenue [13:12] Holy Grail of SaaS: Virality [14:25] Holy Grail of SaaS: Big space with slow-moving incumbents [15:46] Things to keep in mind when being approached about an acquisition Links from the show Josh Ledgard on Twitter Rob Walling (@robwalling) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 561, Rob Walling chats with Andy Cabasso, co-founder of Postaga, about launching on Product Hunt, having a done-for-you service in addition to a DIY self-service SaaS app, growing to a team of six people, having a free plan, and doing a ton of customer development in the early days. The topics we cover [01:35] Selling an agency with retainers to start Postaga[03:46] Explaining Postaga simply and succintly[06:32] Size and stage of Postaga[07:24] Using Postaga to market Postaga[10:22] Learning from early users[13:56] Launching on Product Hunt[18:09] Was it worth it to launch on Product Hunt?[20:30] Not charging at launch[22:22] Conjecturing on a Product Hunt flop[23:26] Postaga pricing plans[25:58] A big month of growth[32:13] A SaaS product with a service component Links from the show Postaga | Automated Post Promotion and Marketing Platform Andy Cabasso (@andycabasso) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 561, Rob Walling chats with Andy Cabasso, co-founder of Postaga, about launching on Product Hunt, having a done-for-you service in addition to a DIY self-service SaaS app, growing to a team of six people, having a free plan, and doing a ton of customer development in the early days. The topics we cover [01:35] Selling an agency with retainers to start Postaga [03:46] Explaining Postaga simply and succintly [06:32] Size and stage of Postaga [07:24] Using Postaga to market Postaga [10:22] Learning from early users [13:56] Launching on Product Hunt [18:09] Was it worth it to launch on Product Hunt? [20:30] Not charging at launch [22:22] Conjecturing on a Product Hunt flop [23:26] Postaga pricing plans [25:58] A big month of growth [32:13] A SaaS product with a service component Links from the show Postaga | Automated Post Promotion and Marketing Platform Andy Cabasso (@andycabasso)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 561, Rob Walling chats with Andy Cabasso, co-founder of Postaga, about launching on Product Hunt, having a done-for-you service in addition to a DIY self-service SaaS app, growing to a team of six people, having a free plan, and doing a ton of customer development in the early days. The topics we cover [01:35] Selling an agency with retainers to start Postaga [03:46] Explaining Postaga simply and succintly [06:32] Size and stage of Postaga [07:24] Using Postaga to market Postaga [10:22] Learning from early users [13:56] Launching on Product Hunt [18:09] Was it worth it to launch on Product Hunt? [20:30] Not charging at launch [22:22] Conjecturing on a Product Hunt flop [23:26] Postaga pricing plans [25:58] A big month of growth [32:13] A SaaS product with a service component Links from the show Postaga | Automated Post Promotion and Marketing Platform Andy Cabasso (@andycabasso) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 560, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn to talk about deciding when it's time to hire someone, how to think about which role to hire next, changing location to force productivity, and more. The topics we cover [2:52] Deciding to hire a community manager[9:28] Location hacks for improved productivity[14:52] Delta airline pilot suing Delta for stealing app[20:35] Product → Business → Company[27:18] Facebook Users say "No" and Advertisers are Panicking[32:32] Tech-enabled modern banks Links from the show MicroConf Remote Community Manager Tracy Osborn's Tweet on Location Hacking Delta pilot sues the airline for allegedly stealing an app he designed | Engadget Rob Walling's Tweet on Product → Business → Company FacebookUsers Said No to Tracking. Now Advertisers are Panicking Square Business Banking | Checking, Savings, &amp; Loans If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 560, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn to talk about deciding when it's time to hire someone, how to think about which role to hire next, changing location to force productivity, and more. The topics we cover [2:52] Deciding to hire a community manager [9:28] Location hacks for improved productivity [14:52] Delta airline pilot suing Delta for stealing app [20:35] Product → Business → Company [27:18] Facebook Users say "No" and Advertisers are Panicking [32:32] Tech-enabled modern banks Links from the show MicroConf Remote Community Manager Tracy Osborn's Tweet on Location Hacking Delta pilot sues the airline for allegedly stealing an app he designed | Engadget Rob Walling's Tweet on Product → Business → Company FacebookUsers Said No to Tracking. Now Advertisers are Panicking Square Business Banking | Checking, Savings, &amp; Loans If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 560, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn to talk about deciding when it's time to hire someone, how to think about which role to hire next, changing location to force productivity, and more. The topics we cover [2:52] Deciding to hire a community manager [9:28] Location hacks for improved productivity [14:52] Delta airline pilot suing Delta for stealing app [20:35] Product → Business → Company [27:18] Facebook Users say "No" and Advertisers are Panicking [32:32] Tech-enabled modern banks Links from the show MicroConf Remote Community Manager Tracy Osborn's Tweet on Location Hacking Delta pilot sues the airline for allegedly stealing an app he designed | Engadget Rob Walling's Tweet on Product → Business → Company FacebookUsers Said No to Tracking. Now Advertisers are Panicking Square Business Banking | Checking, Savings, &amp; Loans If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 559, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Gazdecki, the founder of MicroAcquire, about bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace in a competitive industry. They talk about Andrew's previous successes, including growing Bizness Apps to $10 million in annual recurring revenue. They also unpack Andrew's current business, MicroAcquire, and talk about how it was started, its current success, and the future plans for the business. The topics we cover [6:03] Why did Andrew decide to sell Bizness[8:12] Background on MicroAcquire[10:52] Ideal revenue for MicroAcquire[13:29] Comparing MicroAcquire differs from similar broker websites[16:59] The future of MicroAcquire[20:50] Metrics since launching in January 2020[23:08] Bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace[26:33] Raising $22 million post-money valuation[31:25] The hardest thing about bootstrapping a business Links from the show MicroAcquire Bizness Apps Andrew Gazdecki (@agazdecki) | Twitter If...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 559, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Gazdecki, the founder of MicroAcquire, about bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace in a competitive industry. They talk about Andrew's previous successes, including growing Bizness Apps to $10 million in annual recurring revenue. They also unpack Andrew's current business, MicroAcquire, and talk about how it was started, its current success, and the future plans for the business. The topics we cover [6:03] Why did Andrew decide to sell Bizness [8:12] Background on MicroAcquire [10:52] Ideal revenue for MicroAcquire [13:29] Comparing MicroAcquire differs from similar broker websites [16:59] The future of MicroAcquire [20:50] Metrics since launching in January 2020 [23:08] Bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace [26:33] Raising $22 million post-money valuation [31:25] The hardest thing about bootstrapping a business Links from the show MicroAcquire Bizness Apps Andrew Gazdecki (@agazdecki)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 559, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Gazdecki, the founder of MicroAcquire, about bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace in a competitive industry. They talk about Andrew's previous successes, including growing Bizness Apps to $10 million in annual recurring revenue. They also unpack Andrew's current business, MicroAcquire, and talk about how it was started, its current success, and the future plans for the business. The topics we cover [6:03] Why did Andrew decide to sell Bizness [8:12] Background on MicroAcquire [10:52] Ideal revenue for MicroAcquire [13:29] Comparing MicroAcquire differs from similar broker websites [16:59] The future of MicroAcquire [20:50] Metrics since launching in January 2020 [23:08] Bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace [26:33] Raising $22 million post-money valuation [31:25] The hardest thing about bootstrapping a business Links from the show MicroAcquire Bizness Apps Andrew Gazdecki (@agazdecki) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 558, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about bootstrapping versus funding and the many options that exist in between. No longer is it a decision between a bootstrapped or venture path. With their unique perspectives, Rob and Einar talk about all of the funding options that exist. They also share some things to consider when deciding whether or not to take on funding and, if you do, how much you should plan on raising. The topics we cover [04:24] When funding makes sense for bootstrappers[11:54] Raising pre-revenue vs raising with revenue[15:29] Risks of raising as a platform (e.g. Shopify) business[20:40] Funding options available to bootstrappers[27:57] Convertible notes &amp; SAFE's[29:16] How much should a bootstrapper raise? Links from the show Episode 496 | "The Press Covers Exceptions, Don't Compare Yourself to Slack or Zoom" Episode 411 | Bootstrapping vs. Funding: 19 Questions To Ask Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 558, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about bootstrapping versus funding and the many options that exist in between. No longer is it a decision between a bootstrapped or venture path. With their unique perspectives, Rob and Einar talk about all of the funding options that exist. They also share some things to consider when deciding whether or not to take on funding and, if you do, how much you should plan on raising. The topics we cover [04:24] When funding makes sense for bootstrappers [11:54] Raising pre-revenue vs raising with revenue [15:29] Risks of raising as a platform (e.g. Shopify) business [20:40] Funding options available to bootstrappers [27:57] Convertible notes &amp; SAFE's [29:16] How much should a bootstrapper raise? Links from the show Episode 496 | "The Press Covers Exceptions, Don't Compare Yourself to Slack or Zoom" Episode 411 | Bootstrapping vs. Funding: 19 Questions To Ask Einar Vollset (@einarvollset)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 558, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about bootstrapping versus funding and the many options that exist in between. No longer is it a decision between a bootstrapped or venture path. With their unique perspectives, Rob and Einar talk about all of the funding options that exist. They also share some things to consider when deciding whether or not to take on funding and, if you do, how much you should plan on raising. The topics we cover [04:24] When funding makes sense for bootstrappers [11:54] Raising pre-revenue vs raising with revenue [15:29] Risks of raising as a platform (e.g. Shopify) business [20:40] Funding options available to bootstrappers [27:57] Convertible notes &amp; SAFE's [29:16] How much should a bootstrapper raise? Links from the show Episode 496 | "The Press Covers Exceptions, Don't Compare Yourself to Slack or Zoom" Episode 411 | Bootstrapping vs. Funding: 19 Questions To Ask Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 557, Rob Walling flies solo to talk about investing for founders, with an emphasis on retirement. Rob views investing as a long-term game, not treating the stock market like a slot machine by buying and selling stocks. As founders, we're busy with our work, our family, and our friends. We don't want to spend a ton of time fiddling with investments. In this episode, Rob outlines an 80/20 approach to getting the most out of investing as a founder. The topics we cover [02:13] How Rob made most of his money[04:07] The rule of 72[07:30] Investing on autopilot while building startups[07:46] Build an emergency fund[09:53] Max out retirement plans[12:08] Open a simple IRA or SEP IRA[13:00] Life insurance[14:35] Retirement account asset allocation[18:32] Taking your investments to the next step Links from the show Rule of 72 Haven Life Lazy Portfolio Money For the Rest of Us The Stacking Benjamins Podcast Afford Anything If you...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 557, Rob Walling flies solo to talk about investing for founders, with an emphasis on retirement. Rob views investing as a long-term game, not treating the stock market like a slot machine by buying and selling stocks. As founders, we're busy with our work, our family, and our friends. We don't want to spend a ton of time fiddling with investments. In this episode, Rob outlines an 80/20 approach to getting the most out of investing as a founder. The topics we cover [02:13] How Rob made most of his money [04:07] The rule of 72 [07:30] Investing on autopilot while building startups [07:46] Build an emergency fund [09:53] Max out retirement plans [12:08] Open a simple IRA or SEP IRA [13:00] Life insurance [14:35] Retirement account asset allocation [18:32] Taking your investments to the next step Links from the show Rule of 72 Haven Life Lazy Portfolio Money For the Rest of Us The Stacking Benjamins Podcast Afford Anything If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 557, Rob Walling flies solo to talk about investing for founders, with an emphasis on retirement. Rob views investing as a long-term game, not treating the stock market like a slot machine by buying and selling stocks. As founders, we're busy with our work, our family, and our friends. We don't want to spend a ton of time fiddling with investments. In this episode, Rob outlines an 80/20 approach to getting the most out of investing as a founder. The topics we cover [02:13] How Rob made most of his money [04:07] The rule of 72 [07:30] Investing on autopilot while building startups [07:46] Build an emergency fund [09:53] Max out retirement plans [12:08] Open a simple IRA or SEP IRA [13:00] Life insurance [14:35] Retirement account asset allocation [18:32] Taking your investments to the next step Links from the show Rule of 72 Haven Life Lazy Portfolio Money For the Rest of Us The Stacking Benjamins Podcast Afford Anything If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 556, Rob Walling chats with Adam McCrea about growing from zero to $300,000 in ARR over the course of three years as a Heroku add-on. Adam is still a single founder with no employees and up until joining the TinySeed accelerator in their Spring 2021 batch, has fully bootstrapped Rails Autoscale. Now, he's working to grow the app, deal with platform risk, and launch pricing experiments. The topics we cover [03:30] Background before starting Rails Autoscale[07:04] Getting to 100 active users[09:30] Platform risk[14:59] Working on Rails Autoscale as a side project[20:54] Rails Autoscale vs. Heroku's Autoscaler[24:13] Free-trial to freemium experiment Links from the show Rails Autoscale Adam McCrea (@adamlogic) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 556, Rob Walling chats with Adam McCrea about growing from zero to $300,000 in ARR over the course of three years as a Heroku add-on. Adam is still a single founder with no employees and up until joining the TinySeed accelerator in their Spring 2021 batch, has fully bootstrapped Rails Autoscale. Now, he's working to grow the app, deal with platform risk, and launch pricing experiments. The topics we cover [03:30] Background before starting Rails Autoscale [07:04] Getting to 100 active users [09:30] Platform risk [14:59] Working on Rails Autoscale as a side project [20:54] Rails Autoscale vs. Heroku's Autoscaler [24:13] Free-trial to freemium experiment Links from the show Rails Autoscale Adam McCrea (@adamlogic)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 556, Rob Walling chats with Adam McCrea about growing from zero to $300,000 in ARR over the course of three years as a Heroku add-on. Adam is still a single founder with no employees and up until joining the TinySeed accelerator in their Spring 2021 batch, has fully bootstrapped Rails Autoscale. Now, he's working to grow the app, deal with platform risk, and launch pricing experiments. The topics we cover [03:30] Background before starting Rails Autoscale [07:04] Getting to 100 active users [09:30] Platform risk [14:59] Working on Rails Autoscale as a side project [20:54] Rails Autoscale vs. Heroku's Autoscaler [24:13] Free-trial to freemium experiment Links from the show Rails Autoscale Adam McCrea (@adamlogic) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 555, Rob Walling answers listener questions with Ruben Gamez. They discuss different models of bootstrapping success, hiring W2 versus hiring contractors, determining if a business is an ideal fit for bootstrapping and they revisit enterprise pricing. The topics we cover [01:24] Bootstrappers Rob &amp; Ruben admire[12:25] Pros and cons to hiring contractors vs W2 employees[23:05] Determining if an idea is a good fit for bootstrapping[28:31] How to develop competitive pricing for large enterprise clients Links from the show Moraware CartHook Balsamiq Churn Buster SparkToro Bidsketch Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 555, Rob Walling answers listener questions with Ruben Gamez. They discuss different models of bootstrapping success, hiring W2 versus hiring contractors, determining if a business is an ideal fit for bootstrapping and they revisit enterprise pricing. The topics we cover [01:24] Bootstrappers Rob &amp; Ruben admire [12:25] Pros and cons to hiring contractors vs W2 employees [23:05] Determining if an idea is a good fit for bootstrapping [28:31] How to develop competitive pricing for large enterprise clients Links from the show Moraware CartHook Balsamiq Churn Buster SparkToro Bidsketch Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 555, Rob Walling answers listener questions with Ruben Gamez. They discuss different models of bootstrapping success, hiring W2 versus hiring contractors, determining if a business is an ideal fit for bootstrapping and they revisit enterprise pricing. The topics we cover [01:24] Bootstrappers Rob &amp; Ruben admire [12:25] Pros and cons to hiring contractors vs W2 employees [23:05] Determining if an idea is a good fit for bootstrapping [28:31] How to develop competitive pricing for large enterprise clients Links from the show Moraware CartHook Balsamiq Churn Buster SparkToro Bidsketch Episode 551 | Task-level vs. Project-level Thinkers, No Such Thing as an Autopilot Business, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 554, Rob Walling chats with Sherry Walling about grief as a part of entrepreneurship and how to get better at handling grief as an entrepreneur. They also discuss burnout and properly evaluating if it's the right time to sell a company. The topics we cover [02:18] Grief is part of entrepreneurship[05:12] Getting better at handling grief and loss[06:07] Grief and selling a company[09:01] The importance of symbols[12:04] Evaluating reasons to sell a company[16:37] The three components of burnout[20:21] Changing your work schedule for summer Links from the show The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You 18 Summers ZenFounder Sherry Walling Sherry Walling (@zenfounder) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 554, Rob Walling chats with Sherry Walling about grief as a part of entrepreneurship and how to get better at handling grief as an entrepreneur. They also discuss burnout and properly evaluating if it's the right time to sell a company. The topics we cover [02:18] Grief is part of entrepreneurship [05:12] Getting better at handling grief and loss [06:07] Grief and selling a company [09:01] The importance of symbols [12:04] Evaluating reasons to sell a company [16:37] The three components of burnout [20:21] Changing your work schedule for summer Links from the show The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You 18 Summers ZenFounder Sherry Walling Sherry Walling (@zenfounder)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 554, Rob Walling chats with Sherry Walling about grief as a part of entrepreneurship and how to get better at handling grief as an entrepreneur. They also discuss burnout and properly evaluating if it's the right time to sell a company. The topics we cover [02:18] Grief is part of entrepreneurship [05:12] Getting better at handling grief and loss [06:07] Grief and selling a company [09:01] The importance of symbols [12:04] Evaluating reasons to sell a company [16:37] The three components of burnout [20:21] Changing your work schedule for summer Links from the show The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You 18 Summers ZenFounder Sherry Walling Sherry Walling (@zenfounder) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 553, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the latest bootstrapper news, including the recent Stack Overflow and Moz acquisitions, quitting instead of giving up remote work, and highlights from TinySeed 2020 Batch. The topics we cover [01:52] Intro[03:45] Stack Overflow acquisition[12:11] Moz acquisition[16:33] Quitting instead of giving up remote work[26:44] Highlights from TinySeed 2020 Links from the show Episode 545 | The Value of Learning 80/20 Design Fundamentals Episode 511 | Raising Prices &amp; Re-writing Your Codebase Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Working From Home Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 553, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the latest bootstrapper news, including the recent Stack Overflow and Moz acquisitions, quitting instead of giving up remote work, and highlights from TinySeed 2020 Batch. The topics we cover [01:52] Intro [03:45] Stack Overflow acquisition [12:11] Moz acquisition [16:33] Quitting instead of giving up remote work [26:44] Highlights from TinySeed 2020 Links from the show Episode 545 | The Value of Learning 80/20 Design Fundamentals Episode 511 | Raising Prices &amp; Re-writing Your Codebase Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Working From Home Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 553, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the latest bootstrapper news, including the recent Stack Overflow and Moz acquisitions, quitting instead of giving up remote work, and highlights from TinySeed 2020 Batch. The topics we cover [01:52] Intro [03:45] Stack Overflow acquisition [12:11] Moz acquisition [16:33] Quitting instead of giving up remote work [26:44] Highlights from TinySeed 2020 Links from the show Episode 545 | The Value of Learning 80/20 Design Fundamentals Episode 511 | Raising Prices &amp; Re-writing Your Codebase Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Working From Home Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 552, Rob Walling is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to chat about his decision-making around whether to launch a freemium plan, whether to do an AppSumo deal, how his potential partnerships merger is panning out. The topics we cover [04:93] Update on the CRM partnership opportunity, AppSumo, and Freemium[23:39] Yet another Google security audit update Links from the show Bluetick.io Episode 535 | A Bluetick Update with Mike Taber MicroConf Remote Episode 543 | All Things Startup with #Mike Taber Mike Taber (@singlefounder) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. This week, Mike Taber joins me to update us on the status, so we can hear about his decision making around...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 552, Rob Walling is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to chat about his decision-making around whether to launch a freemium plan, whether to do an AppSumo deal, how his potential partnerships merger is panning out. The topics we cover [04:93] Update on the CRM partnership opportunity, AppSumo, and Freemium [23:39] Yet another Google security audit update Links from the show Bluetick.io Episode 535 | A Bluetick Update with Mike Taber MicroConf Remote Episode 543 | All Things Startup with #Mike Taber Mike Taber (@singlefounder)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 552, Rob Walling is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to chat about his decision-making around whether to launch a freemium plan, whether to do an AppSumo deal, how his potential partnerships merger is panning out. The topics we cover [04:93] Update on the CRM partnership opportunity, AppSumo, and Freemium [23:39] Yet another Google security audit update Links from the show Bluetick.io Episode 535 | A Bluetick Update with Mike Taber MicroConf Remote Episode 543 | All Things Startup with #Mike Taber Mike Taber (@singlefounder) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 551 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure to talk about hiring owner-level thinkers, the fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business, and more. The topics we cover [1:25] Hiring task-level thinkers, project-level thinkers, and owner-level thinkers[07:43] The fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business[15:21] Our bootstrap community[20:45] Questions you should ask yourself when building/growing a company Links from the show FE International: Professional M&amp;A Advisor Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire - Startup acquisition marketplace. Free. Private. No middlemen. Empire Flippers - Website Brokers Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 551 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure to talk about hiring owner-level thinkers, the fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business, and more. The topics we cover [1:25] Hiring task-level thinkers, project-level thinkers, and owner-level thinkers [07:43] The fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business [15:21] Our bootstrap community [20:45] Questions you should ask yourself when building/growing a company Links from the show FE International: Professional M&amp;A Advisor Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire - Startup acquisition marketplace. Free. Private. No middlemen. Empire Flippers - Website Brokers Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:&nbsp;iTunes&nbsp;|&nbsp;Spotify&nbsp;|&nbsp;Stitcher This episode is sponsored by&nbsp;Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In episode 551 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure to talk about hiring owner-level thinkers, the fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business, and more. The topics we cover [1:25] Hiring task-level thinkers, project-level thinkers, and owner-level thinkers [07:43] The fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business [15:21] Our bootstrap community [20:45] Questions you should ask yourself when building/growing a company Links from the show FE International: Professional M&amp;A Advisor Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire - Startup acquisition marketplace. Free. Private. No middlemen. Empire Flippers - Website Brokers Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher This episode is sponsored by Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In Episode 550, Rob Walling chats with Tony Chan, co-founder of CloudForecast, about his incredible story of perseverance after getting rejected multiple times only to finally find product-market fit and reach six figures in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [04:11] CloudForecast's current revenue and customer base[08:43] Origin story for the idea of CloudForecast[16:53] Dealing with (many) rejections[28:01] Parting ways with a co-founder[30:07] The journey to Product-Market Fit[35:23] Marketing channels that are working for CloudForecast Links from the show CloudForecast Episode 464 | Highs, Lows, and Building Your First Sales Process with Steli Efti Episode 507 | Making Cold Email Work in B2B SaaS Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino Tony Chan (@toeknee123) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 550, Rob Walling chats with Tony Chan, co-founder of CloudForecast, about his incredible story of perseverance after getting rejected multiple times only to finally find product-market fit and reach six figures in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [04:11] CloudForecast's current revenue and customer base [08:43] Origin story for the idea of CloudForecast [16:53] Dealing with (many) rejections [28:01] Parting ways with a co-founder [30:07] The journey to Product-Market Fit [35:23] Marketing channels that are working for CloudForecast Links from the show CloudForecast Episode 464 | Highs, Lows, and Building Your First Sales Process with Steli Efti Episode 507 | Making Cold Email Work in B2B SaaS Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino Tony Chan (@toeknee123) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher This episode is sponsored by Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In Episode 550, Rob Walling chats with Tony Chan, co-founder of CloudForecast, about his incredible story of perseverance after getting rejected multiple times only to finally find product-market fit and reach six figures in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [04:11] CloudForecast's current revenue and customer base [08:43] Origin story for the idea of CloudForecast [16:53] Dealing with (many) rejections [28:01] Parting ways with a co-founder [30:07] The journey to Product-Market Fit [35:23] Marketing channels that are working for CloudForecast Links from the show CloudForecast Episode 464 | Highs, Lows, and Building Your First Sales Process with Steli Efti Episode 507 | Making Cold Email Work in B2B SaaS Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino Tony Chan (@toeknee123) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher This episode is sponsored by Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In Episode 439, Rob Walling is joined by Jordan Gal to answer listener questions about starting an e-commerce SaaS and the laws and regulations, and compliance requirements required. They talk about managing enterprise perceptions of risk towards bootstrap startups. They also answer questions about bootstrapping and enterprise SaaS as well as hiring a growth role and whether you should hire full-time or outsource to a contractor or an agency. The topics we cover [01:11] Regulatory requirements for starting an e-commerce platform (Solman Ahmed)[06:18] Managing enterprise perception of risk when selling as a bootstrapper (Noah Stall)[16:26] Are some markets not feasible with a bootstrapped approach? (Declan Sweeney)[22:42] Finding someone who is experienced growing SaaS companies (Russ)[30:10] Hiring full-time versus outsourcing (Filip Kis) Links from the show Crossing the Chasm DemandMaven || Growth Marketing Consultancy for SaaS &amp; Startups MicroConf...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 439, Rob Walling is joined by Jordan Gal to answer listener questions about starting an e-commerce SaaS and the laws and regulations, and compliance requirements required. They talk about managing enterprise perceptions of risk towards bootstrap startups. They also answer questions about bootstrapping and enterprise SaaS as well as hiring a growth role and whether you should hire full-time or outsource to a contractor or an agency. The topics we cover [01:11] Regulatory requirements for starting an e-commerce platform (Solman Ahmed) [06:18] Managing enterprise perception of risk when selling as a bootstrapper (Noah Stall) [16:26] Are some markets not feasible with a bootstrapped approach? (Declan Sweeney) [22:42] Finding someone who is experienced growing SaaS companies (Russ) [30:10] Hiring full-time versus outsourcing (Filip Kis) Links from the show Crossing the Chasm DemandMaven || Growth Marketing Consultancy for SaaS &amp; Startups MicroConf Connect — MicroConf Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth - Part 1 Episode 499.5 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth - Part 2 Jordan Gal (@jordangal)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:&nbsp;iTunes&nbsp;|&nbsp;Spotify&nbsp;|&nbsp;Stitcher This episode is sponsored by&nbsp;Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In Episode 439, Rob Walling is joined by Jordan Gal to answer listener questions about starting an e-commerce SaaS and the laws and regulations, and compliance requirements required. They talk about managing enterprise perceptions of risk towards bootstrap startups. They also answer questions about bootstrapping and enterprise SaaS as well as hiring a growth role and whether you should hire full-time or outsource to a contractor or an agency. The topics we cover [01:11] Regulatory requirements for starting an e-commerce platform (Solman Ahmed) [06:18] Managing enterprise perception of risk when selling as a bootstrapper (Noah Stall) [16:26] Are some markets not feasible with a bootstrapped approach? (Declan Sweeney) [22:42] Finding someone who is experienced growing SaaS companies (Russ) [30:10] Hiring full-time versus outsourcing (Filip Kis) Links from the show Crossing the Chasm DemandMaven || Growth Marketing Consultancy for SaaS &amp; Startups MicroConf Connect — MicroConf Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth - Part 1 Episode 499.5 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth - Part 2 Jordan Gal (@jordangal) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher This episode is sponsored by Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 548, Rob Walling chats with Zack Naylor about Aurelius and the harrowing tale of launching multiple times and having to rewrite and re-platform the codebase before finally finding success. They also discuss how to interpret feedback from your customers and the importance of listening to your instinct as a founder. The topics we cover [03:24] Background on how Aurelius helps UX researchers[07:56] The struggles of building and launching multiple alpha versions[15:14] Bootstrapping during a pandemic[22:20] Taking risks as an entrepreneur[26:28] Building a third version of the product that lead to unprecedented growth[30:48] Using your gut as a founder Links from the show Aurelius Things You Should Never Do, Part I Episode 541 | Faster Horses &amp; Product Myths, Life-changing Money, Dual Funnels, and More Zack Naylor (@zacknaylor) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 548, Rob Walling chats with Zack Naylor about Aurelius and the harrowing tale of launching multiple times and having to rewrite and re-platform the codebase before finally finding success. They also discuss how to interpret feedback from your customers and the importance of listening to your instinct as a founder. The topics we cover [03:24] Background on how Aurelius helps UX researchers [07:56] The struggles of building and launching multiple alpha versions [15:14] Bootstrapping during a pandemic [22:20] Taking risks as an entrepreneur [26:28] Building a third version of the product that lead to unprecedented growth [30:48] Using your gut as a founder Links from the show Aurelius Things You Should Never Do, Part I Episode 541 | Faster Horses &amp; Product Myths, Life-changing Money, Dual Funnels, and More Zack Naylor (@zacknaylor)&nbsp;| Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review:&nbsp;iTunes&nbsp;|&nbsp;Spotify&nbsp;|&nbsp;Stitcher This episode is sponsored by&nbsp;Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to&nbsp;getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In Episode 548, Rob Walling chats with Zack Naylor about Aurelius and the harrowing tale of launching multiple times and having to rewrite and re-platform the codebase before finally finding success. They also discuss how to interpret feedback from your customers and the importance of listening to your instinct as a founder. The topics we cover [03:24] Background on how Aurelius helps UX researchers [07:56] The struggles of building and launching multiple alpha versions [15:14] Bootstrapping during a pandemic [22:20] Taking risks as an entrepreneur [26:28] Building a third version of the product that lead to unprecedented growth [30:48] Using your gut as a founder Links from the show Aurelius Things You Should Never Do, Part I Episode 541 | Faster Horses &amp; Product Myths, Life-changing Money, Dual Funnels, and More Zack Naylor (@zacknaylor) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher This episode is sponsored by Rewardful, turning your biggest fans into your best marketers. Get 30% off your first 3 months by heading to getRewardful.com/startups. Offer expires May 31st.

In Episode 547, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about private podcasting, Apple's announcement around their subscription podcast offering as well as the accelerating growth of Castos. The topics we cover [1:22] Focusing on private podcasting at Castos[15:50] Mobile app for private podcasting[20:21] Apple's big announcement[28:08] Castos MRR growth Links from the show TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Seeking Scale Trustshoring Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome once again to Startups for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Rob...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 547, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about private podcasting, Apple's announcement around their subscription podcast offering as well as the accelerating growth of Castos. The topics we cover [1:22] Focusing on private podcasting at Castos [15:50] Mobile app for private podcasting [20:21] Apple's big announcement [28:08] Castos MRR growth Links from the show TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Seeking Scale Trustshoring Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 547, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about private podcasting, Apple's announcement around their subscription podcast offering as well as the accelerating growth of Castos. The topics we cover [1:22] Focusing on private podcasting at Castos [15:50] Mobile app for private podcasting [20:21] Apple's big announcement [28:08] Castos MRR growth Links from the show TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Seeking Scale Trustshoring Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 546, Rob Walling flies solo for a Q&amp;A episode. With a backlog of great listener questions, Rob discusses qualified small business stock (QSBS), hiring entrepreneurially-minded employees, indie hacking while working at a large company, and more. The topics we cover [01:51] Should I switch to a C Corp to take advantage of QSBS in five years?[05:40] How to attract entrepreneurial employees[14:19] Indie-hacking while working at a large Fortune 20 company[19:12] Finding a niche using the Disruptive Innovation Links from the show Episode 442 | Corporate Structures and How the Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down the Line Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping | Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 546, Rob Walling flies solo for a Q&amp;A episode. With a backlog of great listener questions, Rob discusses qualified small business stock (QSBS), hiring entrepreneurially-minded employees, indie hacking while working at a large company, and more. The topics we cover [01:51] Should I switch to a C Corp to take advantage of QSBS in five years? [05:40] How to attract entrepreneurial employees [14:19] Indie-hacking while working at a large Fortune 20 company [19:12] Finding a niche using the Disruptive Innovation Links from the show Episode 442 | Corporate Structures and How the Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down the Line Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping | Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 546, Rob Walling flies solo for a Q&amp;A episode. With a backlog of great listener questions, Rob discusses qualified small business stock (QSBS), hiring entrepreneurially-minded employees, indie hacking while working at a large company, and more. The topics we cover [01:51] Should I switch to a C Corp to take advantage of QSBS in five years? [05:40] How to attract entrepreneurial employees [14:19] Indie-hacking while working at a large Fortune 20 company [19:12] Finding a niche using the Disruptive Innovation Links from the show Episode 442 | Corporate Structures and How the Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down the Line Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping | Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 545, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the importance of learning design fundamentals for startup founders. They also discuss her new book and the pros/cons of self-publishing vs working with a publisher. The topics we cover [00:52] Intros[02:00] Deciding to self publish vs going with a publisher[11:11] Design fundamentals for a startup founder[16:23] Training your design eye[18:57] The #1 thing to do to become a better designer[20:01] Prototypes: the process of sketching ideas Links from the show Hello Web Design No Starch Press The 90-Minute Guide to Building Marketing Funnels That Convert (Data Beats Opinion) Hello Web App Sounds True Tracy's Savy Call breakdown Balsamiq Sketch UX Pin Tailwinds Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 545, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the importance of learning design fundamentals for startup founders. They also discuss her new book and the pros/cons of self-publishing vs working with a publisher. The topics we cover [00:52] Intros [02:00] Deciding to self publish vs going with a publisher [11:11] Design fundamentals for a startup founder [16:23] Training your design eye [18:57] The #1 thing to do to become a better designer [20:01] Prototypes: the process of sketching ideas Links from the show Hello Web Design No Starch Press The 90-Minute Guide to Building Marketing Funnels That Convert (Data Beats Opinion) Hello Web App Sounds True Tracy's Savy Call breakdown Balsamiq Sketch UX Pin Tailwinds Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 545, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the importance of learning design fundamentals for startup founders. They also discuss her new book and the pros/cons of self-publishing vs working with a publisher. The topics we cover [00:52] Intros [02:00] Deciding to self publish vs going with a publisher [11:11] Design fundamentals for a startup founder [16:23] Training your design eye [18:57] The #1 thing to do to become a better designer [20:01] Prototypes: the process of sketching ideas Links from the show Hello Web Design No Starch Press The 90-Minute Guide to Building Marketing Funnels That Convert (Data Beats Opinion) Hello Web App Sounds True Tracy's Savy Call breakdown Balsamiq Sketch UX Pin Tailwinds Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Josh Pigford to answer listener questions, covering topics like annual pay increases, B2B SaaS price increases, white-label vs branded product, and hiring startup-minded people. The topics we cover [03:04] Building Maybe, and Rob busts Josh's chops about starting a business so soon[10:02] Question #1: Annual Raises - Anonymous[18:24] Question #2: Explaining a Price Increase - Steve McLeod Bootstrap FM[23:11] Question #3: Free or Discounted Plans in Exchange for Branding - Adam Wohlberg[29:28] Question #4: Finding startup people to hire - Anonymous Links from the show maybe Transparent Salaries | Buffer Radford | Compensation Surveys Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Parachute List We Work Remotely Authentic Jobs Dynamite Jobs Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Josh Pigford to answer listener questions, covering topics like annual pay increases, B2B SaaS price increases, white-label vs branded product, and hiring startup-minded people. The topics we cover [03:04] Building Maybe, and Rob busts Josh's chops about starting a business so soon [10:02] Question #1: Annual Raises - Anonymous [18:24] Question #2: Explaining a Price Increase - Steve McLeod Bootstrap FM [23:11] Question #3: Free or Discounted Plans in Exchange for Branding - Adam Wohlberg [29:28] Question #4: Finding startup people to hire - Anonymous Links from the show maybe Transparent Salaries | Buffer Radford | Compensation Surveys Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Parachute List We Work Remotely Authentic Jobs Dynamite Jobs Josh Pigford (@Shpigford)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Josh Pigford to answer listener questions, covering topics like annual pay increases, B2B SaaS price increases, white-label vs branded product, and hiring startup-minded people. The topics we cover [03:04] Building Maybe, and Rob busts Josh's chops about starting a business so soon [10:02] Question #1: Annual Raises - Anonymous [18:24] Question #2: Explaining a Price Increase - Steve McLeod Bootstrap FM [23:11] Question #3: Free or Discounted Plans in Exchange for Branding - Adam Wohlberg [29:28] Question #4: Finding startup people to hire - Anonymous Links from the show maybe Transparent Salaries | Buffer Radford | Compensation Surveys Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Parachute List We Work Remotely Authentic Jobs Dynamite Jobs Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 543 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber as he gives an update on all things startups and they analyze top tactics for superhero success.If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: In this episode of Startups for the Rest of Us, Mike and I will talk about all things startup. This is Startups for the Rest of Us episode 543.Welcome to Startups for the Rest of Us. The podcast that helps developers, designers, and entrepreneurs be awesome at building, launching, and growing startups. Whether you built your 5th startup or you're thinking about your...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 543 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber as he gives an update on all things startups and they analyze top tactics for superhero success. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 543 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber as he gives an update on all things startups and they analyze top tactics for superhero success. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 542, Rob Walling chats with Zach Moreno, the Co-Founder and CEO of Squadcast about how they grew their revenue and surpassed $3 million in ARR as a mostly bootstrapped startup. They also discuss the role and importance of having a co-founder, as well as the impact that having a "knowledge investor" had on their success. The topics we cover [04:18] Squadcast growth while entering into a crowded space[16:54] The importance of having a co-founder[22:43] The shelter in place inflection point and building out video functionality[34:08] Choosing a knowledge investor Links from the show Squadcast Zencastr SavvyCal Why we believe something: The quality of audio matters Rockwell Felder - Twitter Zachariah Moreno (@zach__moreno) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 542, Rob Walling chats with Zach Moreno, the Co-Founder and CEO of Squadcast about how they grew their revenue and surpassed $3 million in ARR as a mostly bootstrapped startup. They also discuss the role and importance of having a co-founder, as well as the impact that having a "knowledge investor" had on their success. The topics we cover [04:18] Squadcast growth while entering into a crowded space [16:54] The importance of having a co-founder [22:43] The shelter in place inflection point and building out video functionality [34:08] Choosing a knowledge investor Links from the show Squadcast Zencastr SavvyCal Why we believe something: The quality of audio matters Rockwell Felder - Twitter Zachariah Moreno (@zach__moreno)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 542, Rob Walling chats with Zach Moreno, the Co-Founder and CEO of Squadcast about how they grew their revenue and surpassed $3 million in ARR as a mostly bootstrapped startup. They also discuss the role and importance of having a co-founder, as well as the impact that having a "knowledge investor" had on their success. The topics we cover [04:18] Squadcast growth while entering into a crowded space [16:54] The importance of having a co-founder [22:43] The shelter in place inflection point and building out video functionality [34:08] Choosing a knowledge investor Links from the show Squadcast Zencastr SavvyCal Why we believe something: The quality of audio matters Rockwell Felder - Twitter Zachariah Moreno (@zach__moreno) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 541, Rob Walling flies solo to discuss things like product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote, selling a company, defining life-changing money, and dual funnels. The topics we cover [02:48] Product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote[07:21] Post-exit thoughts[15:32] Life-changing money[22:30] The power of dual-funnels Links from the show Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader Rob Walling - Mailing List Episode 510 | The Story of Startups.com If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript In this episode of Startups For...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 541, Rob Walling flies solo to discuss things like product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote, selling a company, defining life-changing money, and dual funnels. The topics we cover [02:48] Product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote [07:21] Post-exit thoughts [15:32] Life-changing money [22:30] The power of dual-funnels Links from the show Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader Rob Walling - Mailing List Episode 510 | The Story of Startups.com If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 541, Rob Walling flies solo to discuss things like product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote, selling a company, defining life-changing money, and dual funnels. The topics we cover [02:48] Product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote [07:21] Post-exit thoughts [15:32] Life-changing money [22:30] The power of dual-funnels Links from the show Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader Rob Walling - Mailing List Episode 510 | The Story of Startups.com If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob talks with Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, about the recent news that's come out in the bootstrapper community. They talk about the Indie.vc shutdown, the new features coming out on Twitter, LinkedIn’s new gig marketplace, and more. The topics we cover [03:18] Twitter Spaces[10:05] The Network Effect and Twitter Verification[14:32] The Indie.vc shutdown[24:20] Shopify removing the option to work directly with Stripe[32:34] The new ‘Super Follow’ feature in Twitter[35:43] Comparing Google Cloud and AWS onboarding[40:04] The new LinkedIn Gig Marketplace Links from the show TinySeed Tinyseed Thesis Remail Voxer Shopify says remove Stripe billing or get booted from their app store Substack Indie.vc Google Cloud vs AWS onboarding If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob talks with Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, about the recent news that's come out in the bootstrapper community. They talk about the Indie.vc&nbsp;shutdown, the new features coming out on Twitter, LinkedIn’s new gig marketplace, and more. The topics we cover [03:18] Twitter Spaces [10:05] The Network Effect and Twitter Verification [14:32] The&nbsp;Indie.vc&nbsp;shutdown [24:20] Shopify removing the option to work directly with Stripe [32:34] The new ‘Super Follow’ feature in Twitter [35:43] Comparing Google Cloud and AWS onboarding [40:04] The new LinkedIn Gig Marketplace Links from the show TinySeed Tinyseed Thesis Remail Voxer Shopify says remove Stripe billing or get booted from their app store Substack Indie.vc Google Cloud vs AWS onboarding If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob talks with Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, about the recent news that's come out in the bootstrapper community. They talk about the Indie.vc shutdown, the new features coming out on Twitter, LinkedIn’s new gig marketplace, and more. The topics we cover [03:18] Twitter Spaces [10:05] The Network Effect and Twitter Verification [14:32] The Indie.vc shutdown [24:20] Shopify removing the option to work directly with Stripe [32:34] The new ‘Super Follow’ feature in Twitter [35:43] Comparing Google Cloud and AWS onboarding [40:04] The new LinkedIn Gig Marketplace Links from the show TinySeed Tinyseed Thesis Remail Voxer Shopify says remove Stripe billing or get booted from their app store Substack Indie.vc Google Cloud vs AWS onboarding If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob chats with Dan Norris about selling his productized service to GoDaddy, his latest book, and latest business, a very successful brewery in Australia. They also ruminate on the impact that post-exit money has had on their lives. The topics we cover [07:04] Finding the motivation to write 6 books[07:38] Selling WP Curve to GoDaddy[18:11] Compound Marketing and applying the principles to Black Hops[33:53] Life post-exit and the arrival fallacy[45:57] Rob and the sale of Drip[53:37] Building a SaaS to sell vs as a long-term, profitable company Links from the show Episode 183 | 5 Startup Rules to Live By with Dan Norris The 7 Day Startup Compound book Black Hops Brewing - Gold Coast Craft Beer Brewery State of Independent SaaS Report 2021 — MicroConf - The Most Trusted Community for Non-Venture Track SaaS Founders Dan Norris (@thedannorris) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob chats with Dan Norris about selling his productized service to GoDaddy, his latest book, and latest business, a very successful brewery in Australia. They also ruminate on the impact that post-exit money has had on their lives. The topics we cover [07:04] Finding the motivation to write 6 books [07:38] Selling WP Curve to GoDaddy [18:11] Compound Marketing and applying the principles to Black Hops [33:53] Life post-exit and the arrival fallacy [45:57] Rob and the sale of Drip [53:37] Building a SaaS to sell vs as a long-term, profitable company Links from the show Episode 183 | 5 Startup Rules to Live By with Dan Norris The 7 Day Startup Compound book Black Hops Brewing - Gold Coast Craft Beer Brewery State of Independent SaaS Report 2021 — MicroConf - The Most Trusted Community for Non-Venture Track SaaS Founders Dan Norris (@thedannorris)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob chats with Dan Norris about selling his productized service to GoDaddy, his latest book, and latest business, a very successful brewery in Australia. They also ruminate on the impact that post-exit money has had on their lives. The topics we cover [07:04] Finding the motivation to write 6 books [07:38] Selling WP Curve to GoDaddy [18:11] Compound Marketing and applying the principles to Black Hops [33:53] Life post-exit and the arrival fallacy [45:57] Rob and the sale of Drip [53:37] Building a SaaS to sell vs as a long-term, profitable company Links from the show Episode 183 | 5 Startup Rules to Live By with Dan Norris The 7 Day Startup Compound book Black Hops Brewing - Gold Coast Craft Beer Brewery State of Independent SaaS Report 2021 — MicroConf - The Most Trusted Community for Non-Venture Track SaaS Founders Dan Norris (@thedannorris) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset as they answer listener questions ranging from when to sunset a product, filling out enterprise security assessments, acquiring a company where the previous owner had sold lifetime deals and not disclosed it, and more. The topics we cover [03:20] Deciding when to sunset a feature or product[08:27] Splitting a business to focus on two separate audiences[17:21] How to take advantage of being a consumer of your own product.[21:35] Acquiring a SaaS where the previous founder sold lifetime plans[28:20] Enterprise security assessments[35:22] Building a product to solve a problem as a full-time employee Links from the show TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather Episode 515 | Finding a Co-Founder, Getting Better at Sales, and More Listener Questions Episode 9: Raising Entrepreneurial Kids - ZenFounder SOC 2 Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset as they answer listener questions ranging from when to sunset a product, filling out enterprise security assessments, acquiring a company where the previous owner had sold lifetime deals and not disclosed it, and more. The topics we cover [03:20] Deciding when to sunset a feature or product [08:27] Splitting a business to focus on two separate audiences [17:21] How to take advantage of being a consumer of your own product. [21:35] Acquiring a SaaS where the previous founder sold lifetime plans [28:20] Enterprise security assessments [35:22] Building a product to solve a problem as a full-time employee Links from the show TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather Episode 515 | Finding a Co-Founder, Getting Better at Sales, and More Listener Questions Episode 9: Raising Entrepreneurial Kids - ZenFounder SOC 2 Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The TinySeed Investment Thesis — TinySeed: The Startup Accelerator for Bootstrappers Einar Vollset (@einarvollset)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset as they answer listener questions ranging from when to sunset a product, filling out enterprise security assessments, acquiring a company where the previous owner had sold lifetime deals and not disclosed it, and more. The topics we cover [03:20] Deciding when to sunset a feature or product [08:27] Splitting a business to focus on two separate audiences [17:21] How to take advantage of being a consumer of your own product. [21:35] Acquiring a SaaS where the previous founder sold lifetime plans [28:20] Enterprise security assessments [35:22] Building a product to solve a problem as a full-time employee Links from the show TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather Episode 515 | Finding a Co-Founder, Getting Better at Sales, and More Listener Questions Episode 9: Raising Entrepreneurial Kids - ZenFounder SOC 2 Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The TinySeed Investment Thesis — TinySeed: The Startup Accelerator for Bootstrappers Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob is joined by Rand Fishkin for an honest and transparent conversation about his time at Moz, raising funding, his book Lost and Founder, as well as his current effort, SparkToro. They discuss growth levers and the importance of owning the channel where you build your audience. The topics we cover [01:44] Impacts from writing a book[08:41] Transitioning from Moz but continuing to work there[15:53] Venture capital vs angel investing[19:59] Launching SparkToro[36:08] Raising capital for SparkToro[44:14] Growth levers that are working today Links from the show Lost &amp; Founder Start Small, Stay Small Rand Fishkin's Bio Sarah Bird Startups.com Zirtual Clarity — On Demand Business Advice SparkToro Spark Toro Terms Conversion Rate Experts Rand Fishkin (@randfish) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob is joined by Rand Fishkin for an honest and transparent conversation about his time at Moz, raising funding, his book&nbsp;Lost and Founder, as well as his current effort, SparkToro. They discuss growth levers and the importance of owning the channel where you build your audience. The topics we cover [01:44] Impacts from writing a book [08:41] Transitioning from Moz but continuing to work there [15:53] Venture capital vs angel investing [19:59] Launching SparkToro [36:08] Raising capital for SparkToro [44:14] Growth levers that are working today Links from the show Lost &amp; Founder Start Small, Stay Small Rand Fishkin's Bio Sarah Bird Startups.com Zirtual Clarity — On Demand Business Advice SparkToro Spark Toro Terms Conversion Rate Experts Rand Fishkin (@randfish)&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob is joined by Rand Fishkin for an honest and transparent conversation about his time at Moz, raising funding, his book Lost and Founder, as well as his current effort, SparkToro. They discuss growth levers and the importance of owning the channel where you build your audience. The topics we cover [01:44] Impacts from writing a book [08:41] Transitioning from Moz but continuing to work there [15:53] Venture capital vs angel investing [19:59] Launching SparkToro [36:08] Raising capital for SparkToro [44:14] Growth levers that are working today Links from the show Lost &amp; Founder Start Small, Stay Small Rand Fishkin's Bio Sarah Bird Startups.com Zirtual Clarity — On Demand Business Advice SparkToro Spark Toro Terms Conversion Rate Experts Rand Fishkin (@randfish) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 536 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure. As we all faced perhaps one of the worst years on record, Rob talks through some things that 2020 taught him personally, professionally, and at a higher level, philosophically. He also looks beyond 2020 and discusses opportunities for 2021 for software entrepreneurs. The topics we cover [01:53] Keeping perspective during difficult startup times[04:03] We can make it through scary and dangerous moments[07:04] There is always opportunity[09:53] Doing things in public creates opportunity[12:02] Growing niches/industries in 2021[18:31] In search of problems Links from the show Episode 490 | How Founders Should Be Thinking About the Current Crisis Dynamite Jobs If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 536 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure. As we all faced perhaps one of the worst years on record, Rob talks through some things that 2020 taught him personally, professionally, and at a higher level, philosophically. He also looks beyond 2020 and discusses opportunities for 2021 for software entrepreneurs. The topics we cover [01:53] Keeping perspective during difficult startup times [04:03] We can make it through scary and dangerous moments [07:04] There is always opportunity [09:53] Doing things in public creates opportunity [12:02] Growing niches/industries in 2021 [18:31] In search of problems Links from the show Episode 490 | How Founders Should Be Thinking About the Current Crisis Dynamite Jobs If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 536 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure. As we all faced perhaps one of the worst years on record, Rob talks through some things that 2020 taught him personally, professionally, and at a higher level, philosophically. He also looks beyond 2020 and discusses opportunities for 2021 for software entrepreneurs. The topics we cover [01:53] Keeping perspective during difficult startup times [04:03] We can make it through scary and dangerous moments [07:04] There is always opportunity [09:53] Doing things in public creates opportunity [12:02] Growing niches/industries in 2021 [18:31] In search of problems Links from the show Episode 490 | How Founders Should Be Thinking About the Current Crisis Dynamite Jobs If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 535, Rob is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to talk about what Mike has been up to over the past seven months with Bluetick, including an exciting reveal of a big project he's been working on. The topics we cover [05:41] BlueTick partnership or merger with a CRM for field sales reps[11:52] Delays in partnerships from pandemic and potential asymmetric upside[15:42] How far along the CRM software compared to BlueTick?[19:32] Considering freemium and an AppSumo deal[32:48] Another Google security audit Links from the show SonarCloud (mentioned at 17:43) Episode 484 | Marketing That’s Working Today, Moving from 5 to 10 Employees, SaaS Longevity, and More Listener Questions (mentioned at 22:28) AppSumo If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 535, Rob is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to talk about what Mike has been up to over the past seven months with Bluetick, including an exciting reveal of a big project he's been working on. The topics we cover [05:41] BlueTick partnership or merger with a CRM for field sales reps [11:52] Delays in partnerships from pandemic and potential asymmetric upside [15:42] How far along the CRM software compared to BlueTick? [19:32] Considering freemium and an AppSumo deal [32:48] Another Google security audit Links from the show SonarCloud&nbsp;(mentioned at 17:43) Episode 484 | Marketing That’s Working Today, Moving from 5 to 10 Employees, SaaS Longevity, and More Listener Questions&nbsp;(mentioned at 22:28) AppSumo If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 535, Rob is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to talk about what Mike has been up to over the past seven months with Bluetick, including an exciting reveal of a big project he's been working on. The topics we cover [05:41] BlueTick partnership or merger with a CRM for field sales reps [11:52] Delays in partnerships from pandemic and potential asymmetric upside [15:42] How far along the CRM software compared to BlueTick? [19:32] Considering freemium and an AppSumo deal [32:48] Another Google security audit Links from the show SonarCloud (mentioned at 17:43) Episode 484 | Marketing That’s Working Today, Moving from 5 to 10 Employees, SaaS Longevity, and More Listener Questions (mentioned at 22:28) AppSumo If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob talks with Josh Pigford in a first appearance since the sale of Baremetrics for $4m. They discuss his seven-year journey to build Baremetrics, the details of the sale, and Josh's post-sale, non-software aspirations. The topics we cover [02:42] Intros [04:26] Avoiding capital gains via qualified small business stock. [09:08] Josh's post-sale purchases and other dramatic life shifts [13:46] Changes at Baremetrics after sale [18:32] Weeks of cash to profitable in 8 months [23:20] Breaking through plateaus and product vs marketing for growth out of plateaus [30:13] What motivated Josh to start thinking about selling [32:58] Launching a new feature called Intros in 2020 [39:11] Laser tweets and post-sale aspirations Links from the show Episode 244 | Competition, Transparency and Funding with Baremetrics Founder Josh Pigford Baremetrics: Subscription Analytics &amp; Insights for Stripe, Braintree, Recurly &amp; more! I sold Baremetrics -...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob talks with Josh Pigford in a first appearance since the sale of Baremetrics for $4m. They discuss his seven-year journey to build Baremetrics, the details of the sale, and Josh's post-sale, non-software aspirations. The topics we cover [02:42] Intros [04:26] Avoiding capital gains via qualified small business stock. [09:08] Josh's post-sale purchases and other dramatic life shifts [13:46] Changes at Baremetrics after sale [18:32] Weeks of cash to profitable in 8 months [23:20] Breaking through plateaus and product vs marketing for growth out of plateaus [30:13] What motivated Josh to start thinking about selling [32:58] Launching a new feature called Intros in 2020 [39:11] Laser tweets and post-sale aspirations Links from the show Episode 244 | Competition, Transparency and Funding with Baremetrics Founder Josh Pigford Baremetrics: Subscription Analytics &amp; Insights for Stripe, Braintree, Recurly &amp; more! I sold Baremetrics - Baremetrics Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)&nbsp;(mentioned at 04:26) Four Percent Rule How we went from weeks of cash left in the bank to profitable in 8 months&nbsp;(mentioned at 18:42) Revenue Dashboard - Baremetrics Demo I almost sold Baremetrics for $5m - Baremetrics Laser Tweets: Wooden Laser Etched Tweets If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob talks with Josh Pigford in a first appearance since the sale of Baremetrics for $4m. They discuss his seven-year journey to build Baremetrics, the details of the sale, and Josh's post-sale, non-software aspirations. The topics we cover [02:42] Intros [04:26] Avoiding capital gains via qualified small business stock. [09:08] Josh's post-sale purchases and other dramatic life shifts [13:46] Changes at Baremetrics after sale [18:32] Weeks of cash to profitable in 8 months [23:20] Breaking through plateaus and product vs marketing for growth out of plateaus [30:13] What motivated Josh to start thinking about selling [32:58] Launching a new feature called Intros in 2020 [39:11] Laser tweets and post-sale aspirations Links from the show Episode 244 | Competition, Transparency and Funding with Baremetrics Founder Josh Pigford Baremetrics: Subscription Analytics &amp; Insights for Stripe, Braintree, Recurly &amp; more! I sold Baremetrics - Baremetrics Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) (mentioned at 04:26) Four Percent Rule How we went from weeks of cash left in the bank to profitable in 8 months (mentioned at 18:42) Revenue Dashboard - Baremetrics Demo I almost sold Baremetrics for $5m - Baremetrics Laser Tweets: Wooden Laser Etched Tweets If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob speaks with Adii Pienaar, a multi-time founder with multiple exits under his belt. They discuss life probability and the importance of measuring your entrepreneurial success by the things that matter the most to you and your life. The topics we cover [4:36] What motivated Adii to write the book[10:17] Life probability defined[12:45] Work-life balance is not the solution[29:21] Choosing to go back into the SaaS trenchesIf you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back to Startups for the Rest of Us. It's me, your host, Rob Walling. Thanks for joining me this week....Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob speaks with Adii Pienaar, a multi-time founder with multiple exits under his belt. They discuss life probability and the importance of measuring your entrepreneurial success by the things that matter the most to you and your life. The topics we cover [4:36] What motivated Adii to write the book [10:17] Life probability defined [12:45] Work-life balance is not the solution [29:21] Choosing to go back into the SaaS trenches If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob speaks with Adii Pienaar, a multi-time founder with multiple exits under his belt. They discuss life probability and the importance of measuring your entrepreneurial success by the things that matter the most to you and your life. The topics we cover [4:36] What motivated Adii to write the book [10:17] Life probability defined [12:45] Work-life balance is not the solution [29:21] Choosing to go back into the SaaS trenches If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob sits down with John Warrillow, author of multiple bestselling books and someone who has years of experience in building and selling companies. They discuss when to sell, how to create leverage, the importance of hiring an expert, and more. The topics we cover [7:30] The right time to sell a company[15:06] Gaining leverage when negotiating[20:59] Sell-side processes for founders[29:14] The 5/20 rule[31:41] Things to look out for from potential acquirers Links from the show The Art of Selling Your Business Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You Built to Sell Radio The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top Before The Exit: Thought Experiments For Entrepreneurs If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob sits down with John Warrillow, author of multiple bestselling books and someone who has years of experience in building and selling companies. They discuss when to sell, how to create leverage, the importance of hiring an expert, and more. The topics we cover [7:30] The right time to sell a company [15:06] Gaining leverage when negotiating [20:59] Sell-side processes for founders [29:14] The 5/20 rule [31:41] Things to look out for from potential acquirers Links from the show The Art of Selling Your Business Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You Built to Sell Radio The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top Before The Exit: Thought Experiments For Entrepreneurs If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob sits down with John Warrillow, author of multiple bestselling books and someone who has years of experience in building and selling companies. They discuss when to sell, how to create leverage, the importance of hiring an expert, and more. The topics we cover [7:30] The right time to sell a company [15:06] Gaining leverage when negotiating [20:59] Sell-side processes for founders [29:14] The 5/20 rule [31:41] Things to look out for from potential acquirers Links from the show The Art of Selling Your Business Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You Built to Sell Radio The Automatic Customer: Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top Before The Exit: Thought Experiments For Entrepreneurs If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 531, Rob talks with Colin Gray, the founder of The Podcast Host and Alitu. Join us for this great conversation as we talk about Colin's early days of building a hobby project in podcast hosting, hiring a freelancer to start producing shows. and building a SaaS app on top of an audience. The topics we cover [7:05] Launching The Podcast Host[16:10] Growing and launching eight businesses at once[21:08] Making the switch to SaaS[30:49] Temptations of shutting down vs. accelerating growth Links from the show The Podcast Host Alitu Hostile Worlds Product/Founder Fit If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In Episode 531, Rob talks with Colin Gray, the founder of The Podcast Host and Alitu. Join us for this great conversation as we talk about Colin's early days of building a hobby project in podcast hosting, hiring a freelancer to start producing shows. and building a SaaS app on top of an audience. The topics we cover [7:05] Launching The Podcast Host [16:10] Growing and launching eight businesses at once [21:08] Making the switch to SaaS [30:49] Temptations of shutting down vs. accelerating growth Links from the show The Podcast Host Alitu Hostile Worlds Product/Founder Fit If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 531, Rob talks with Colin Gray, the founder of The Podcast Host and Alitu. Join us for this great conversation as we talk about Colin's early days of building a hobby project in podcast hosting, hiring a freelancer to start producing shows. and building a SaaS app on top of an audience. The topics we cover [7:05] Launching The Podcast Host [16:10] Growing and launching eight businesses at once [21:08] Making the switch to SaaS [30:49] Temptations of shutting down vs. accelerating growth Links from the show The Podcast Host Alitu Hostile Worlds Product/Founder Fit If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this week's episode, Rob sits down with Derrick Reimer to answer listener questions. They discuss whether they have any regrets about selling Drip, protecting against web scraping, making the leap from side project to full-time, and making decisions as a development team. The topics we cover [2:10] How development teams think about decisions together[13:42] Do you ever regret selling Drip to Leadpages?[21:00] Preventing against web scraping[27:16] Jumping ship from a full-time job[37:20] Advice on starting a mastermind group in 2021 Links from the show The Mom Test The Personal MBA The Ultimate Sales Letter Traction The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together Start Small Stay Small The Art of Product If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this week's episode, Rob sits down with Derrick Reimer to answer listener questions. They discuss whether they have any regrets about selling Drip, protecting against web scraping, making the leap from side project to full-time, and making decisions as a development team. The topics we cover [2:10] How development teams think about decisions together [13:42] Do you ever regret selling Drip to Leadpages? [21:00] Preventing against web scraping [27:16] Jumping ship from a full-time job [37:20] Advice on starting a mastermind group in 2021 Links from the show The Mom Test The Personal MBA The Ultimate Sales Letter Traction The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together Start Small Stay Small The Art of Product If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this week's episode, Rob sits down with Derrick Reimer to answer listener questions. They discuss whether they have any regrets about selling Drip, protecting against web scraping, making the leap from side project to full-time, and making decisions as a development team. The topics we cover [2:10] How development teams think about decisions together [13:42] Do you ever regret selling Drip to Leadpages? [21:00] Preventing against web scraping [27:16] Jumping ship from a full-time job [37:20] Advice on starting a mastermind group in 2021 Links from the show The Mom Test The Personal MBA The Ultimate Sales Letter Traction The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together Start Small Stay Small The Art of Product If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob chats with John Howard, a MicroConf Connect member and founder of Slingshot. They unpack the business model of measurable swag giveaways and then dive deep into John's pricing strategy and explore alternatives as well as opportunities to move into a subscription-based model. The topics we cover [9:26] Starting a physical product business[24:53] Previous pricing models[30:48] Customer acquisition[39:41] Removing setup fee or raising prices Links from the show Slingshot Black Airplane MicroConf Masterminds If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome to this...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob chats with John Howard, a MicroConf Connect member and founder of Slingshot. They unpack the business model of measurable swag giveaways and then dive deep into John's pricing strategy and explore alternatives as well as opportunities to move into a subscription-based model. The topics we cover [9:26] Starting a physical product business [24:53] Previous pricing models [30:48] Customer acquisition [39:41] Removing setup fee or raising prices Links from the show Slingshot Black Airplane MicroConf Masterminds If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob chats with John Howard, a MicroConf Connect member and founder of Slingshot. They unpack the business model of measurable swag giveaways and then dive deep into John's pricing strategy and explore alternatives as well as opportunities to move into a subscription-based model. The topics we cover [9:26] Starting a physical product business [24:53] Previous pricing models [30:48] Customer acquisition [39:41] Removing setup fee or raising prices Links from the show Slingshot Black Airplane MicroConf Masterminds If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In today's episode, Rob and Mike Taber review and rank their past yearly predictions and then make big, bold projections for 2021 with bets ranging from extraterrestrial life, VR becoming mainstream, the end of commercial real estate, and more. The topics we cover [2:45] Reviewing our predictions for 2019[7:42] Predictions for 2021If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome back once again to Startups For the Rest of Us. This week's episode was quite a challenge, I have to admit. The show must go on. Mike Taber and I attempted to record a live episode on MicroConf On Air’s live stream, and...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In today's episode, Rob and Mike Taber review and rank their past yearly predictions and then make big, bold projections for 2021 with bets ranging from extraterrestrial life, VR becoming mainstream, the end of commercial real estate, and more. The topics we cover [2:45] Reviewing our predictions for 2019 [7:42] Predictions for 2021 If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In today's episode, Rob and Mike Taber review and rank their past yearly predictions and then make big, bold projections for 2021 with bets ranging from extraterrestrial life, VR becoming mainstream, the end of commercial real estate, and more. The topics we cover [2:45] Reviewing our predictions for 2019 [7:42] Predictions for 2021 If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In today's episode, Rob is joined by Courtland Allen as they answer listener questions. They talk about equity splits, the best cities for bootstrappers, splitting brands, and where to look for business ideas. The topics we cover [2:03] Splitting brands between agency and SaaS[10:55] What percent equity split when co-founding an app[18:52] Where to look for ideas[31:02] Best city for bootstrappers Links from the show From $0 to $5M Without Writing Any Code with Tara Reed of Apps Without Code Bootstrapping to $1 Million in Two Years as a Non-Technical Founder with Christy Laurence of Plann Cities and Ambition Tropical MBA podcast If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In today's episode, Rob is joined by Courtland Allen as they answer listener questions. They talk about equity splits, the best cities for bootstrappers, splitting brands, and where to look for business ideas. The topics we cover [2:03] Splitting brands between agency and SaaS [10:55] What percent equity split when co-founding an app [18:52] Where to look for ideas [31:02] Best city for bootstrappers Links from the show From $0 to $5M Without Writing Any Code with Tara Reed of Apps Without Code Bootstrapping to $1 Million in Two Years as a Non-Technical Founder with Christy Laurence of Plann Cities and Ambition Tropical MBA podcast If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In today's episode, Rob is joined by Courtland Allen as they answer listener questions. They talk about equity splits, the best cities for bootstrappers, splitting brands, and where to look for business ideas. The topics we cover [2:03] Splitting brands between agency and SaaS [10:55] What percent equity split when co-founding an app [18:52] Where to look for ideas [31:02] Best city for bootstrappers Links from the show From $0 to $5M Without Writing Any Code with Tara Reed of Apps Without Code Bootstrapping to $1 Million in Two Years as a Non-Technical Founder with Christy Laurence of Plann Cities and Ambition Tropical MBA podcast If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 526 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob chats with a long-time friend, Justin Vincent about his startup successes and failures and the importance of taking small steps when starting as a founder. They also talk about Justin's latest project, Nugget, a startup bootcamp and academy. The topics we cover [4:04] Building Plugg.io[10:30] Enthusiasm half-life[16:03] Nugget Startup Academy[25:54] Founder context Links from the show Techzing Nugget Plugg.io Is it Keto? Michael Lynch Justin Vincent If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher Transcript Rob: Welcome to this week's episode of...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 526 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob chats with a long-time friend, Justin Vincent about his startup successes and failures and the importance of taking small steps when starting as a founder. They also talk about Justin's latest project, Nugget, a startup bootcamp and academy. The topics we cover [4:04] Building&nbsp;Plugg.io [10:30] Enthusiasm half-life [16:03] Nugget Startup Academy [25:54] Founder context Links from the show Techzing Nugget Plugg.io Is it Keto? Michael Lynch Justin Vincent If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 526 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob chats with a long-time friend, Justin Vincent about his startup successes and failures and the importance of taking small steps when starting as a founder. They also talk about Justin's latest project, Nugget, a startup bootcamp and academy. The topics we cover [4:04] Building Plugg.io [10:30] Enthusiasm half-life [16:03] Nugget Startup Academy [25:54] Founder context Links from the show Techzing Nugget Plugg.io Is it Keto? Michael Lynch Justin Vincent If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

This episode is a walk down memory lane as Rob shares the story of acquiring his first product 15 years ago. We hear how Rob navigated the purchase of the product, a potential partnership with a trusted friend, and pushing through when his back was against the wall.Hopefully, this episode will inspire you to take action and keep shipping. The topics we cover [5:03] Three levels to making money online[6:36] Discovering the original version of DotNetInvoice[11:34] The business proposition[15:10] The counteroffer from Rob's trusted friend[18:41] Business plan vs boots on the ground[20:49] Buying DotNetInvoiceIf you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

This episode is a walk down memory lane as Rob shares the story of acquiring his first product 15 years ago. We hear how Rob navigated the purchase of the product, a potential partnership with a trusted friend, and pushing through when his back was against the wall. Hopefully, this episode will inspire you to take action and keep shipping. The topics we cover [5:03] Three levels to making money online [6:36] Discovering the original version of DotNetInvoice [11:34] The business proposition [15:10] The counteroffer from Rob's trusted friend [18:41] Business plan vs boots on the ground [20:49] Buying DotNetInvoice If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

This episode is a walk down memory lane as Rob shares the story of acquiring his first product 15 years ago. We hear how Rob navigated the purchase of the product, a potential partnership with a trusted friend, and pushing through when his back was against the wall. Hopefully, this episode will inspire you to take action and keep shipping. The topics we cover [5:03] Three levels to making money online [6:36] Discovering the original version of DotNetInvoice [11:34] The business proposition [15:10] The counteroffer from Rob's trusted friend [18:41] Business plan vs boots on the ground [20:49] Buying DotNetInvoice If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob chats with Michele and Mathias Hansen, the married co-founders of Geocodio.We talk about bootstrapping into a commoditized space and how they've grown their SaaS app from a side project to full-time over the past 6.5 years. The topics we cover [01:38] What is Geocodio?[10:29] Innovating in a commoditized market[16:07] How they defined their product roadmap[18:06] Launching a HIPAA compliant enterprise pricing tier Links from the show Show HN: Ridiculously cheap bulk geocoding Geocodio | Website Geocodio | Website Michele Hansen | Twitter Mathias Hansen | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!Subscribe &amp; Review: ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In this episode, Rob chats with Michele and Mathias Hansen, the married co-founders of Geocodio. We talk about bootstrapping into a commoditized space and how they've grown their SaaS app from a side project to full-time over the past 6.5 years. The topics we cover [01:38] What is Geocodio? [10:29] Innovating in a commoditized market [16:07] How they defined their product roadmap [18:06] Launching a HIPAA compliant enterprise pricing tier Links from the show Show HN: Ridiculously cheap bulk geocoding Geocodio | Website Geocodio | Website Michele Hansen | Twitter Mathias Hansen | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this episode, Rob chats with Michele and Mathias Hansen, the married co-founders of Geocodio. We talk about bootstrapping into a commoditized space and how they've grown their SaaS app from a side project to full-time over the past 6.5 years. The topics we cover [01:38] What is Geocodio? [10:29] Innovating in a commoditized market [16:07] How they defined their product roadmap [18:06] Launching a HIPAA compliant enterprise pricing tier Links from the show Show HN: Ridiculously cheap bulk geocoding Geocodio | Website Geocodio | Website Michele Hansen | Twitter Mathias Hansen | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In episode 523, Rob hosts a rapid-fire lightning round of listener questions ranging from whether to focus on one or multiple businesses, finding the right amount of customer research, breaking through slow growth, and teaching entrepreneurship to kids. The topics we cover [4:38] If you were starting a business today and you were earlier on in your career, would you try multiple business ideas at once or go all-in on one?[8:11] If building your first tiny product, like a WordPress plugin, what level of customer research should you do?[10:56] What advice would you give to someone entering a somewhat competitive market?[15:55] What questions would you be asking yourself if you had a slow-growing 12k MRR B2B SaaS?[18:22] How would you go about offloading tier-one customer support?[20:28] How do you feel about entrepreneurship being taught to children?[22:24] What are things you noticed that bootstrappers commonly overlooked that are preventing them from...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

In episode 523, Rob hosts a rapid-fire lightning round of listener questions ranging from whether to focus on one or multiple businesses, finding the right amount of customer research, breaking through slow growth, and teaching entrepreneurship to kids. The topics we cover [4:38] If you were starting a business today and you were earlier on in your career, would you try multiple business ideas at once or go all-in on one? [8:11] If building your first tiny product, like a WordPress plugin, what level of customer research should you do? [10:56] What advice would you give to someone entering a somewhat competitive market? [15:55] What questions would you be asking yourself if you had a slow-growing 12k MRR B2B SaaS? [18:22] How would you go about offloading tier-one customer support? [20:28] How do you feel about entrepreneurship being taught to children? [22:24] What are things you noticed that bootstrappers commonly overlooked that are preventing them from achieving their goals? [23:18] What are some of the biggest takeaways you can see across your portfolio of early-stage SaaS companies? [25:01] Have you ever built a business that got a fairly large portion of its revenue from services instead of products, but not just you consulting? [26:56] How do you prepare financially or otherwise for your retirement? Links from the show MicroConf Connect SavvyCal Stay on Top of Your SaaS Metrics: Know What to Measure to Maintain Sustainable Growth – Craig Hewitt The 2020 State of Independent SaaS ZenFounder Indie Founder Bootcamp AudienceOps Castos Production (formerly Podcast Motor) If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

In episode 523, Rob hosts a rapid-fire lightning round of listener questions ranging from whether to focus on one or multiple businesses, finding the right amount of customer research, breaking through slow growth, and teaching entrepreneurship to kids. The topics we cover [4:38] If you were starting a business today and you were earlier on in your career, would you try multiple business ideas at once or go all-in on one? [8:11] If building your first tiny product, like a WordPress plugin, what level of customer research should you do? [10:56] What advice would you give to someone entering a somewhat competitive market? [15:55] What questions would you be asking yourself if you had a slow-growing 12k MRR B2B SaaS? [18:22] How would you go about offloading tier-one customer support? [20:28] How do you feel about entrepreneurship being taught to children? [22:24] What are things you noticed that bootstrappers commonly overlooked that are preventing them from achieving their goals? [23:18] What are some of the biggest takeaways you can see across your portfolio of early-stage SaaS companies? [25:01] Have you ever built a business that got a fairly large portion of its revenue from services instead of products, but not just you consulting? [26:56] How do you prepare financially or otherwise for your retirement? Links from the show MicroConf Connect SavvyCal Stay on Top of Your SaaS Metrics: Know What to Measure to Maintain Sustainable Growth – Craig Hewitt The 2020 State of Independent SaaS ZenFounder Indie Founder Bootcamp AudienceOps Castos Production (formerly Podcast Motor) If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

Rob welcomes back to the show a frequent guest, Craig Hewitt for a "Where Are They Now?" syle episode. Craig is the founder of Castos and has appeared many times on Startups For the Rest of Us. In this episode, they reconnect and talk about the latest with Castos, from hiring a growth marketer, merging brands, private podcasting, and so much more. The topics we cover [3:54] Reflections on hiring a growth marketer 1 year later[6:92] How did the free trial without asking for a credit card experiment work out?[8:92] Merging brands and moving into enterprise offers[19:91] Private podcasting[23:44] What's new and exciting at Castos Links from the show Episode 466 | Answering Listener Questions With Craig Hewitt Episode 493 | A Roundtable Discussion about COVID-19, Working From Home, Payroll Protection and More TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Castos Productions (formerly Podcast Motor) Rogue Startups The SaaS Podcast Award If you enjoyed this episode, let us...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

Rob welcomes back to the show a frequent guest, Craig Hewitt for a "Where Are They Now?" syle episode. Craig is the founder of Castos and has appeared many times on Startups For the Rest of Us. In this episode, they reconnect and talk about the latest with Castos, from hiring a growth marketer, merging brands, private podcasting, and so much more. The topics we cover [3:54] Reflections on hiring a growth marketer 1 year later [6:92] How did the free trial without asking for a credit card experiment work out? [8:92] Merging brands and moving into enterprise offers [19:91] Private podcasting [23:44] What's new and exciting at Castos Links from the show Episode 466 | Answering Listener Questions With Craig Hewitt Episode 493 | A Roundtable Discussion about COVID-19, Working From Home, Payroll Protection and More TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Castos Productions (formerly Podcast Motor) Rogue Startups The SaaS Podcast Award If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Rob welcomes back to the show a frequent guest, Craig Hewitt for a "Where Are They Now?" syle episode. Craig is the founder of Castos and has appeared many times on Startups For the Rest of Us. In this episode, they reconnect and talk about the latest with Castos, from hiring a growth marketer, merging brands, private podcasting, and so much more. The topics we cover [3:54] Reflections on hiring a growth marketer 1 year later [6:92] How did the free trial without asking for a credit card experiment work out? [8:92] Merging brands and moving into enterprise offers [19:91] Private podcasting [23:44] What's new and exciting at Castos Links from the show Episode 466 | Answering Listener Questions With Craig Hewitt Episode 493 | A Roundtable Discussion about COVID-19, Working From Home, Payroll Protection and More TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Castos Productions (formerly Podcast Motor) Rogue Startups The SaaS Podcast Award If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian &amp; Scottie Elliott are the husband &amp; wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app.Join Rob as he chats with Brian &amp; Scottie for the final episode of Season 2 of TinySeed Tales. In the last year, Gather managed to double their revenue and overcome most of the challenges they faced along the way.It's been about a month since we last spoke and during that time, their recent cash crunch has started to resolve itself.In this episode, we reflect on the past year and their success (and struggle) with moving upmarket. The topics we cover [01:01] Gather's recent cash crunch Cashflow is not our biggest concern anymore, which is a great relief. Since that time growth has been either sorta normal steady when you average it out or maybe a little slower the last month and a half. Small Business Association loan and PPP loan changed things for us,. One was the loans, the other was that Gather landed a bigger enterprise client who was...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

Brian &amp; Scottie Elliott are the husband &amp; wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Join Rob as he chats with Brian &amp; Scottie for the final episode of Season 2 of TinySeed Tales. In the last year, Gather managed to double their revenue and overcome most of the challenges they faced along the way. It's been about a month since we last spoke and during that time, their recent cash crunch has started to resolve itself. In this episode, we reflect on the past year and their success (and struggle) with moving upmarket. The topics we cover [01:01] Gather's recent cash crunch Cashflow is not our biggest concern anymore, which is a great relief. Since that time growth has been either sorta normal steady when you average it out or maybe a little slower the last month and a half. Small Business Association loan and PPP loan changed things for us,. One was the loans, the other was that Gather landed a bigger enterprise client who was willing to fund features and who was willing to put cash upfront for you to build them. That allowed us to ramp our developer up from the part-time back to full-time, which was great. [06:46] Looking forward a year from now I think we're just going to have a much more well-rounded product. I could easily see us doubling again, this coming year. I feel like we've just been learning a lot about where we're lacking, what could be better, and what would be. More valuable or what to add. [07:55] Did going upmarket save the business? No doubt. Previous, smaller clients are very cost-sensitive. With our larger firms, pricing doesn't seem to ever really come up. It's mostly about features. We're not adding a ton of customers per month, but each one that we add they're worth more and we're just not turning out the smaller folks. It was such a big gamble right at the start. When you go upmarket, you can charge more and churn is going to tend to be lower Sales cycles will be longer, but people stick around longer. There's more loyalty. We're excited about where those next five years are going to go because we think we're sort of just, even at the beginning of this journey, even though we're a bit into it already. [14:56] Advice for early-stage SaaS founders Relax into it. It doesn't mean that you can be complacent and that you can't pay attention, but just realize like you're on this path, you're on this journey and it's going to take however long it's going to take. It may not be the product that you're working on right now. Maybe the next one, it may be five products down the line, but whatever it is, it's just a matter of staying with it and being okay with the waves and roadblocks that come up around you and just go around them as gracefully as you can. Keep at it because the process is, for me, anyway, as much as the outcome. Links from the show Gather | Website Brian Elliott | Twitter Thanks for listening to another episode of TinySeed Tales. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Season 1 of TinySeed Tales where we follow the Saas journey with Craig Hewitt of Castos.

Brian &amp; Scottie Elliott are the husband &amp; wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Join Rob as he chats with Brian &amp; Scottie for the final episode of Season 2 of TinySeed Tales. In the last year, Gather managed to double their revenue and overcome most of the challenges they faced along the way. It's been about a month since we last spoke and during that time, their recent cash crunch has started to resolve itself. In this episode, we reflect on the past year and their success (and struggle) with moving upmarket. The topics we cover [01:01] Gather's recent cash crunch Cashflow is not our biggest concern anymore, which is a great relief. Since that time growth has been either sorta normal steady when you average it out or maybe a little slower the last month and a half. Small Business Association loan and PPP loan changed things for us,. One was the loans, the other was that Gather landed a bigger enterprise client who was willing to fund features and who was willing to put cash upfront for you to build them. That allowed us to ramp our developer up from the part-time back to full-time, which was great. [06:46] Looking forward a year from now I think we're just going to have a much more well-rounded product. I could easily see us doubling again, this coming year. I feel like we've just been learning a lot about where we're lacking, what could be better, and what would be. More valuable or what to add. [07:55] Did going upmarket save the business? No doubt. Previous, smaller clients are very cost-sensitive. With our larger firms, pricing doesn't seem to ever really come up. It's mostly about features. We're not adding a ton of customers per month, but each one that we add they're worth more and we're just not turning out the smaller folks. It was such a big gamble right at the start. When you go upmarket, you can charge more and churn is going to tend to be lower Sales cycles will be longer, but people stick around longer. There's more loyalty. We're excited about where those next five years are going to go because we think we're sort of just, even at the beginning of this journey, even though we're a bit into it already. [14:56] Advice for early-stage SaaS founders Relax into it. It doesn't mean that you can be complacent and that you can't pay attention, but just realize like you're on this path, you're on this journey and it's going to take however long it's going to take. It may not be the product that you're working on right now. Maybe the next one, it may be five products down the line, but whatever it is, it's just a matter of staying with it and being okay with the waves and roadblocks that come up around you and just go around them as gracefully as you can. Keep at it because the process is, for me, anyway, as much as the outcome. Links from the show Gather | Website Brian Elliott | Twitter Thanks for listening to another episode of TinySeed Tales. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Season 1 of TinySeed Tales where we follow the Saas journey with Craig Hewitt of Castos.

Episode 521 is a roundtable episode where Rob brings on a couple of guests to talk through topics today that relate to bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startup founders.Today, we have Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset joining us, as we talk through a potential impending recession, the Google anti-trust suit, Dropbox moving to permanent work from home, as well as a handful of other topics. The topics we cover [04:03] What do the revenue trends look like in 6-7 months from now?[13:36] Google anti-trust suit[19:23] Dropbox remote offices[27:29] SPACs and why it's so hard to go public in the US[39:35] A warning about Glassdoor Links from the show The 99 Investor Problem U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly Dropbox will let all employees work from home permanently as it turns its offices into WeWork-like 'collaborative spaces' The TinySeed Investment Thesis A Warning About Glassdoor Tracy Osborn | Twitter Einar Vollset | Twitter...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

Episode 521 is a roundtable episode where Rob brings on a couple of guests to talk through topics today that relate to bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startup founders. Today, we have Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset joining us, as we talk through a potential impending recession, the Google anti-trust suit, Dropbox moving to permanent work from home, as well as a handful of other topics. The topics we cover [04:03] What do the revenue trends look like in 6-7 months from now? [13:36] Google anti-trust suit [19:23] Dropbox remote offices [27:29] SPACs and why it's so hard to go public in the US [39:35] A warning about Glassdoor Links from the show The 99 Investor Problem U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly Dropbox will let all employees work from home permanently as it turns its offices into WeWork-like 'collaborative spaces' The TinySeed Investment Thesis A Warning About Glassdoor Tracy Osborn&nbsp;| Twitter Einar Vollset&nbsp;| Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please&nbsp;submit your question&nbsp;for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Episode 521 is a roundtable episode where Rob brings on a couple of guests to talk through topics today that relate to bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startup founders. Today, we have Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset joining us, as we talk through a potential impending recession, the Google anti-trust suit, Dropbox moving to permanent work from home, as well as a handful of other topics. The topics we cover [04:03] What do the revenue trends look like in 6-7 months from now? [13:36] Google anti-trust suit [19:23] Dropbox remote offices [27:29] SPACs and why it's so hard to go public in the US [39:35] A warning about Glassdoor Links from the show The 99 Investor Problem U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly Dropbox will let all employees work from home permanently as it turns its offices into WeWork-like 'collaborative spaces' The TinySeed Investment Thesis A Warning About Glassdoor Tracy Osborn | Twitter Einar Vollset | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you! Subscribe &amp; Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian &amp; Scottie Elliott are the husband &amp; wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app.Last time we spoke, they were bouncing back from the initial shock of the COVID-19 crisis with the potential to sign two large enterprise deals that could help them out with an ongoing cash crunch.In this episode, Rob talks with them about customer-funded development, always following up when doing outbound sales, and restarting a productized service. The topics we cover [01:14] Status on large enterprise deals One closed, one did not. The first touch with them was almost a year. They had a software proprietary software that they built internally and have been actively seeking a new tool Custom data migration and storage and it was also a bunch of custom development Win-win they got what they wanted and we got some new cool features Big win, I would say, to get paid, to build a feature that you expect other customers to be able to use. ...Read more...&nbsp;&raquo;Click the icon below to listen. &#160;

Brian &amp; Scottie Elliott are the husband &amp; wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Last time we spoke, they were bouncing back from the initial shock of the COVID-19 crisis with the potential to sign two large enterprise deals that could help them out with an ongoing cash crunch. In this episode, Rob talks with them about customer-funded development, always following up when doing outbound sales, and restarting a productized service. The topics we cover [01:14] Status on large enterprise deals One closed, one did not. The first touch with them was almost a year. They had a software proprietary software that they built internally and have been actively seeking a new tool Custom data migration and storage and it was also a bunch of custom development Win-win they got what they wanted and we got some new cool features Big win, I would say, to get paid, to build a feature that you expect other customers to be able to use. Optimistic that maybe we can sort of like build the product that we want by closing these sorts of deals and move into the hospitality world Referred to as customer-funded development [06:51] Obstacles remain for moving upmarket Outbound is not going as well as it used to. Inbound has been fine. It's a little down this month over the previous. Always be following up. Never letting go until you're explicitly told to go away. Making sure you never lose track of someone is like a huge win. [10:03] Moving past uncertainty There is still uncertainty. I think there's always that whether there's a pandemic or not. When you're first getting started and plugging along, there's always that kind of like tension, wondering how this month is going to be. We have plenty of signals that people are willing to pay us quite a bit more than they were paying us. When we started there, we were charging $29 or $39 a month, which in retrospect is just, you know, terrifying that we were priced that low. If we can get to that traction where, you know, we are selling 10 new customers per month at the price points that we're doing right now like it's a game-changer. [13:49] Restarting a services venture Brian and Scotty decided to dip their toes into the world of services with a virtual coordinator that would complement their software. The idea was to bring in some high-value clients and make some extra cash. And although they had to shelve it due to the COVID crisis, there's been some renewed interest. Initially, we thought of the services side as a way to get some revenue fast. This is pretty high touch services but finding a team to help with the services side. And then of course we'd be using the software. To also manage the services, which could potentially drive some of the features that we build for the software. The most important piece and that is going to be the process of setting up SOP and figuring out how I can best. Manage the services side. [19:23] Last week of TinySeed Tales So much knowledge gained and relationships built. It was a great year. I think not being able to meet in person in the year together feels like it's still, like, there's no closure. It does feel just sort of finished, not finished. Links from the show Gather | Website Brian Elliott | Twitter Thanks for listening to another episode of TinySeed Tales. If you haven't already

Brian &amp; Scottie Elliott are the husband &amp; wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Last time we spoke, they were bouncing back from the initial shock of the COVID-19 crisis with the potential to sign two large enterprise deals that could help them out with an ongoing cash crunch. In this episode, Rob talks with them about customer-funded development, always following up when doing outbound sales, and restarting a productized service. The topics we cover [01:14] Status on large enterprise deals One closed, one did not. The first touch with them was almost a year. They had a software proprietary software that they built internally and have been actively seeking a new tool Custom data migration and storage and it was also a bunch of custom development Win-win they got what they wanted and we got some new cool features Big win, I would say, to get paid, to build a feature that you expect other customers to be able to use. Optimistic that maybe we can sort of like build the product that we want by closing these sorts of deals and move into the hospitality world Referred to as customer-funded development [06:51] Obstacles remain for moving upmarket Outbound is not going as well as it used to. Inbound has been fine. It's a little down this month over the previous. Always be following up. Never letting go until you're explicitly told to go away. Making sure you never lose track of someone is like a huge win. [10:03] Moving past uncertainty There is still uncertainty. I think there's always that whether there's a pandemic or not. When you're first getting started and plugging along, there's always that kind of like tension, wondering how this month is going to be. We have plenty of signals that people are willing to pay us quite a bit more than they were paying us. When we started there, we were charging $29 or $39 a month, which in retrospect is just, you know, terrifying that we were priced that low. If we can get to that traction where, you know, we are selling 10 new customers per month at the price points that we're doing right now like it's a game-changer. [13:49] Restarting a services venture Brian and Scotty decided to dip their toes into the world of services with a virtual coordinator that would complement their software. The idea was to bring in some high-value clients and make some extra cash. And although they had to shelve it due to the COVID crisis, there's been some renewed interest. Initially, we thought of the services side as a way to get some revenue fast. This is pretty high touch services but finding a team to help with the services side. And then of course we'd be using the software. To also manage the services, which could potentially drive some of the features that we build for the software. The most important piece and that is going to be the process of setting up SOP and figuring out how I can best. Manage the services side. [19:23] Last week of TinySeed Tales So much knowledge gained and relationships built. It was a great year. I think not being able to meet in person in the year together feels like it's still, like, there's no closure. It does feel just sort of finished, not finished. Links from the show Gather | Website Brian Elliott | Twitter Thanks for listening to another episode of TinySeed Tales. If you haven't already, be sure to check out