What happens when AI starts competing with your open source business? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Adam Wathan, co-founder of Tailwind CSS, for a candid conversation about the dramatic revenue decline that forced Tailwind Labs to lay off most of their team. Adam shares the hard lessons learned from running a business based on one-time purchases, why he didn't see the slowdown coming, and how an honest podcast episode accidentally turned everything around. Then they switch gears entirely to talk about founder fitness: how Adam lost 70 pounds, his 15-minute weighted vest workouts, and why tracking strength gains can be more motivating than watching the scale. Episode Sponsor: Hiring engineers right now is kinda broken. AI resumes, fake profiles, people who look senior on paper but can't ship anything real. G2i cuts through all of that. They've pre-vetted over 8,000 engineers- not "we glanced at their GitHub" vetted, actually tested with live technical interviews. Contract or full-time- just tell them what you need and within days you're reviewing real candidates. And you get a risk-free trial. If it's not a fit, they'll replace the dev in 24 hours. G2i is trusted by companies like Meta, 1Password, and countless bootstrapped founders who need to move fast without making expensive mistakes. Get a 7-day free trial and $1,500 off when you mention Startups for the Rest of Us at https://www.g2i.co/rob  ️ Want to attend their AI Miami in April? Use promo code use Rob50Off Topics we cover: (4:43) – Adam's history with Tailwind CSS (5:17) – Revenue decline and the "boiling frog" problem (8:30) – Making the hard decision to lay off the team (11:39) – The viral podcast episode and unexpected sponsors (13:07) – Should Tailwind have used recurring revenue? (21:20) – Enterprise pricing and team licenses (25:47) – What's next: Ui.sh and swimming downstream with AI (27:40) – Founder fitness: 15-minute weighted vest circuits (33:01) – Tracking strength gains as motivation (39:13) – Did getting fit make Adam a better founder? Links from the show: MicroConf Europe ┃Reykjavik, Iceland · Sept 21–23, 2026 Tailwind CSS Tailwind Labs ui.sh  Adam's Morning Walk Podcast  My Body Tutor  Adam Wathan (@adamwathan)┃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: iTunes | Spotify

What do you do when a collaborator takes your idea and builds a competing product? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by fan favorite Jordan Gal to answer listener questions on some of the trickiest challenges founders face. They cover financing decisions like using debt to bridge cash flow gaps, competing in markets flooded with vibe-coded apps, and what to do when a collaborator takes your idea and runs with it. Want to get your question answered? Submit it here for a future episode. Episode Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by Mercury Mercury is the banking solution I use across my businesses, from my personal single-member LLC to MicroConf and TinySeed. Traditional banking forces you to duct-tape tools together and work around slow, clunky processes. Mercury gives me a clean dashboard that shows exactly where each business stands at a glance. The interface is simple enough for daily banking and paying invoices, but powerful enough to handle multi-step approval workflows for large transfers. There's a reason more than 300,000 entrepreneurs have made the switch. It's free to get started with no in-person visits and no minimum balance. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. Topics we cover: (3:50) – Jordan Gal on Rosie's multichannel launch (8:01) – Investing cash in slow-moving healthcare markets (10:32) – Using debt or credit against signed contracts (16:48) – Competing in crowded markets with vibe-coded apps (24:34) – Should you offer advisory shares to design partners? (30:38) – Selling to problem-aware but not solution-aware audiences (37:35) – When a collaborator steals your startup idea Links from the show: TinySeed SaaS Institute Stripe Capital The Play Bigger Book The SaaS Playbook Rob Walling's Books Rob Walling's Newsletter Rosie AI Jordan Gal (@JordanGal) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

Is AI really killing B2B SaaS, or is it just subscription software by another name? In this Hot Take Tuesday, Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn dig into the market panic around SaaS stocks, whether AI models are actually getting better, ChatGPT's move into advertising (and Anthropic's spicy response), and the explosion of OpenClaw. They also tackle QSBS and when SaaS acquisitions shift from asset to stock purchases. Episode Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by Mercury Mercury is the banking solution I use across my businesses, from my personal single-member LLC to MicroConf and TinySeed. Traditional banking forces you to duct-tape tools together and work around slow, clunky processes. Mercury gives me a clean dashboard that shows exactly where each business stands at a glance. The interface is simple enough for daily banking and paying invoices, but powerful enough to handle multi-step approval workflows for large transfers. There's a reason more than 300,000 entrepreneurs have made the switch. It's free to get started with no in-person visits and no minimum balance. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. If you’ve got a strong vision but no technical partner, you need more than a “vibe-coded” MVP, you need a real foundation. That’s where Designli comes in. Their two-week SolutionLab Prototyping Sprint pairs you with a product owner, designer, and developer to turn your idea into a beautiful, clickable prototype you’ll be proud to show investors or early users. Right now, Startups for the Rest of Us listeners get $3,800 off their sprint. Get started at designli.co/fortherestofus Topics we cover: (3:52) – M&A guide for B2B SaaS founders (6:35) – QSBS and asset vs. stock purchase thresholds (9:25) – Is AI killing B2B SaaS? (16:27) – Are AI models noticeably better than a year ago? (17:27) – ChatGPT vs. Claude: real-world experiences (26:17) – ChatGPT ads and Anthropic's Super Bowl response (29:34) – The opportunity for SaaS founders in new ad networks (32:29) – OpenClaw: hype or substance? Links from the show: MicroConf US April 12-14, 2026 · Portland, Oregon Discretion Capital’s M&A Guide TinySeed SaaS Institute AI is Killing B2B SaaS by Namanyay Goel OpenClaw is What Apple Intelligence Should Have Been by Jake Quist Rob Walling @robwalling | X Einar Vollset @einarvollset | X Tracy Osborn (tracymakes) | Blue Sky If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear...

Should you build your SaaS with no-code tools, or is AI coding the better path forward? In this episode, Rob is joined by fan favorite Derrick Reimer to tackle listener questions on no-code vs. AI vibe coding, when to take small funding early vs. pure bootstrapping, whether SaaS margins will compress as AI makes building cheaper, and how to get truly useful feedback from your customers. Want to get your question answered? Submit it here for a future episode. Episode Sponsor: Hiring engineers right now is kinda broken. AI resumes, fake profiles, people who look senior on paper but can't ship anything real. G2i cuts through all of that. They've pre-vetted over 8,000 engineers- not "we glanced at their GitHub" vetted, actually tested with live technical interviews. Contract or full-time- just tell them what you need and within days you're reviewing real candidates. And you get a risk-free trial. If it's not a fit, they'll replace the dev in 24 hours. G2i is trusted by companies like Meta, 1Password, and countless bootstrapped founders who need to move fast without making expensive mistakes. Get a 7-day free trial and $1,500 off when you mention Startups for the Rest of Us at https://www.g2i.co/rob  ️ Want to attend their AI Miami in April? Use promo code Rob50Off Topics we cover: (2:18) – No-code vs. AI vibe coding for SaaS (7:55) – What Rob would do as a non-developer today (11:10) – Will you have to rewrite AI or no-code apps later? (17:08) – Taking small funding early vs. bootstrapping (21:29) – De-risking before taking funding (27:42) – Will AI compress SaaS margins? (31:32) – Why brand and positioning still win (37:38) – Expanding your value chain with AI (39:47) – Getting actionable feedback from customers Links from the show: MicroConf Europe 2026 – Join us in Reykjavík, Iceland (Sept 21–23)  Discretion Capital - M&A Advisory for B2B SaaS with $2-25m ARR SavvyCal SavvyCal Appointments TinySeed Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

Is founder-led marketing right for your SaaS, or just a distraction? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, to explore founder-led marketing. They dig into how Jay overcame his own limiting beliefs about creativity, why most SaaS founders probably shouldn't pursue content creation, and how to evaluate whether building an audience makes sense for your specific business. This is part one of a two-part conversation. Head to the Creator Science podcast to hear Jay interview Rob about SaaS, being a creator, and how he prioritizes his time. Episode Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by Mercury Mercury is the banking solution I use across my businesses, from my personal single-member LLC to MicroConf and TinySeed. Traditional banking forces you to duct-tape tools together and work around slow, clunky processes. Mercury gives me a clean dashboard that shows exactly where each business stands at a glance. The interface is simple enough for daily banking and paying invoices, but powerful enough to handle multi-step approval workflows for large transfers. There's a reason more than 300,000 entrepreneurs have made the switch. It's free to get started with no in-person visits and no minimum balance. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. Need to ship faster without expanding your team? Gearheart is an AI-powered product studio that helps startups build B2B SaaS apps and AI agents, fast. Their team ships at twice the speed of traditional dev shops and understands how to work within startup constraints. Whether you need a fractional CTO or experienced engineers to accelerate development, Gearheart plugs directly into your workflow and delivers. They’ve built 70+ products, including SmartSuite, which raised $38M and is used by companies like Capital One. As a listener, you get the first 20 hours of development free when you mention the podcast. gearheart.io Topics we cover:  (3:17) – What is Creator Science and who it serves (6:49) – “I’m not creative”: Jay’s mindset shift + advice for founders (11:38) – Examples of ultra-niche creator businesses  (13:54) – Why founders should create content for customers (not other founders) (19:02) – Discovery vs. relationship channels: where attention actually comes from (20:10) – Who Should Pursue Founder-Led Marketing?  (24:17) – Picking platforms based on where your customers already are (31:43) – Founder-involved vs. founder-led marketing Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe┃Reykjavik, Iceland · Sept 21-23 Creator Science Creator Science Podcast (Part two of this conversation) Jay Clouse┃LinkedIn

When do you finally quit your day job and go all-in on your startup? In this solo episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about when it’s worth taking funding to speed up your path to full-time, how to think about equity when a co-founder joins late, and whether A.I. is shifting startup risk from market risk to feasibility risk. He also breaks down how to treat a low-priced, high-churn plan as “cheapium,” when to kill it, and how to test freemium without making a decision you can’t undo. Want to get your question answered? Drop it here. Episode Sponsor: Hiring engineers shouldn’t feel like sorting through AI-polished resumes. G2i cuts through all of that. They’ve pre-vetted over 8,000 engineers, all with 5+ years of real experience, and they run live, human-led technical interviews to verify actual skills. No time wasters. No guesswork. Just solid developers who can deliver. G2i is trusted by companies like Meta, Microsoft, and countless bootstrapped founders who need to move fast without making expensive mistakes. Get a 7-day free trial and $1,500 off when you mention Startups for the Rest of Us at https://www.g2i.co/rob  Topics we cover:  (2:48) – When is it time to quit your day job, and should you raise funding to do it faster? (4:35) – The “emotional runway” problem (and why bootstrappers burn out) (10:06) – Equity splits: when to talk about it, and what actually matters (13:57) – Late co-founder vs. business partner: how traction changes the % (18:34) – Is A.I. increasing feasibility risk (aka tech risk) for startups? (25:01) – Should a cheap, high-churn plan be treated like a marketing channel? (26:19) – “Cheapium” pricing: when to keep it, kill it, or test freemium Links from the Show:  Apply to TinySeed - Applications are until Feb 17th, 2026 The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling MicroConf  - Community for SaaS Founders Slicing Pie by Mike Moyer Die With Zero by Bill Perkins 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Could your business structure quietly cost you millions when you sell? In this solo episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about when QSBS might justify a C Corp (vs. staying an S Corp or LLC), why SaaS exits are often discussed in ARR multiples rather than EBITDA, and how the profitability/growth tradeoff impacts valuation. He also shares thoughts on GMV-based pricing and where developers can learn practical, non-fluffy marketing skills. Episode Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by Mercury Mercury is the banking solution I use across my businesses, from my personal single-member LLC to MicroConf and TinySeed. Traditional banking forces you to duct-tape tools together and work around slow, clunky processes. Mercury gives me a clean dashboard that shows exactly where each business stands at a glance. The interface is simple enough for daily banking and paying invoices, but powerful enough to handle multi-step approval workflows for large transfers. There's a reason more than 300,000 entrepreneurs have made the switch. It's free to get started with no in-person visits and no minimum balance. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC. If you’ve got a strong vision but no technical partner, you need more than a “vibe-coded” MVP, you need a real foundation. That’s where Designli comes in. Their two-week SolutionLab Prototyping Sprint pairs you with a product owner, designer, and developer to turn your idea into a beautiful, clickable prototype you’ll be proud to show investors or early users. Right now, Startups for the Rest of Us listeners get $3,800 off their sprint. Get started at designli.co/fortherestofus Topics we cover:  (3:30) – How the QSBS tax benefit can save you millions (7:40) – C Corp vs. S Corp: which structure makes sense for founders (9:39) – Why ARR multiples matter more than EBITDA in SaaS (13:13) – Profitability as a drain on growth (17:48) – Should co-founders join the same mastermind? (19:16) – How to leverage GMV-based pricing in SaaS (22:48) – The best way for developers to learn real marketing skills (31:28) – Why every founder should master sales and marketing early Links from the Show:  TinySeed Applications Live Q&A - February 11th, 10:00 AM EST Apply to TinySeed - Applications are until Feb 17th, 2026 The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling MicroConf  - Community for SaaS Founders Conversion Factory TinySeed Mentors Rob Walling on X (@robwalling) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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:

Is perfectionism quietly sabotaging your career or startup dreams? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with his brother, Russ Walling, about the mindset and habits that shape long-term success from overcoming perfectionism to building resilience and learning to make tough calls without all the answers. They discuss how growing up with a shared emphasis on hard work, sports, and achievement created both strengths and struggles and how lessons learned in construction, poker, and entrepreneurship still apply to building great companies today. Episode Sponsor: Hiring engineers shouldn’t feel like sorting through AI-polished resumes. G2i cuts through all of that. They’ve pre-vetted over 8,000 engineers, all with 5+ years of real experience, and they run live, human-led technical interviews to verify actual skills. No time wasters. No guesswork. Just solid developers who can deliver. G2i is trusted by companies like Meta, Microsoft, and countless bootstrapped founders who need to move fast without making expensive mistakes. Get a 7-day free trial and $1,500 off when you mention Startups for the Rest of Us at https://www.g2i.co/rob  Topics we cover:  (04:10) – How early lessons in hard work and sports shaped mindset (07:46) – Learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable (12:03) – The dark side of perfectionism (16:51) – Overcoming fear of failure and learning to take risks (19:04) – What poker taught Russ about risk and decision-making (21:52) – The Armageddon Beer story  (28:53) – Why both brothers chose entrepreneurship (31:08) – Redefining leadership: collaboration over fear (35:24) – The three traits that drive lasting success (43:45) – Why hard work is still the ultimate differentiator Links from the Show:  Discretion Capital M&A Advisory for SaaS Founders doing $2-25M The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling 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: iTunes | Spotify

How would a 2x unicorn founder build his next startup with AI? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Jason Cohen, founder of SmartBear and WP Engine, to talk about building billion-dollar businesses, the future of AI for founders, and what makes small companies thrive even when the odds are stacked against them. They dig into the early days of WP Engine, how Jason develops his frameworks, why execution beats ideas, and Jason’s framework for identifying “hidden multipliers” small, systematic changes that make an outsized impact. Episode Sponsor: Hiring engineers shouldn’t feel like sorting through AI-polished resumes. G2i cuts through all of that. They’ve pre-vetted over 8,000 engineers, all with 5+ years of real experience, and they run live, human-led technical interviews to verify actual skills. No time wasters. No guesswork. Just solid developers who can deliver. G2i is trusted by companies like Meta, Microsoft, and countless bootstrapped founders who need to move fast without making expensive mistakes. Get a 7-day free trial and $1,500 off when you mention Startups for the Rest of Us at https://www.g2i.co/rob  Topics we cover:  (03:45) – The core idea behind Hidden Multipliers (09:24) – Writing as a way of thinking (12:34) – Why sharing your frameworks matters (14:14) – The origin of “Designing the Ideal Bootstrap Business” (18:10) – The hidden weak links in every startup (21:25) – De-risking and niching down effectively (24:56) – Why narrowing your focus expands your reach (26:24) – Building WP Engine in a commodity market (29:37) – Out-executing funded competitors (31:52) – Finding product–market resonance through pricing (32:40) – How brand actually develops (37:54) – Building in the age of AI: pitfalls and opportunities (41:52) – The three categories of AI startups today (46:02) – Why 10x improvement is the new baseline for differentiation (49:19) – The real moat in the age of AI Links from the Show:  MicroConf US 2026 – Portland, April 14–16, 2026  Promo Code: Rob50 for $50 off The SaaS Playbook PREORDER Hidden Multipliers by Jason Cohen Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen A Smart Bear Blog Jason Cohen (@asmartbear) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

Have you ever pushed so hard on an idea that you missed the signal to change direction? In this solo episode, Rob Walling covers a wide range of topics and dives into three areas every founder should master: how to develop an editorial eye (or “taste”), the difference between persistence and obstinance, and why focus, not diversification remains the hardest, most valuable entrepreneurial skill. Episode Sponsor: Hiring engineers shouldn’t feel like sorting through AI-polished resumes. G2i cuts through all of that. They’ve pre-vetted over 8,000 engineers, all with 5+ years of real experience, and they run live, human-led technical interviews to verify actual skills. No time wasters. No guesswork. Just solid developers who can deliver. G2i is trusted by companies like Meta, Microsoft, and countless bootstrapped founders who need to move fast without making expensive mistakes. Get a 7-day free trial and $1,500 off when you mention Startups for the Rest of Us at https://www.g2i.co/rob Topics we cover:  (1:55) – How to develop an “editorial eye” (and why it matters for founders) (7:03) – When to get out of the way and let true experts lead (8:07) – Why your product must start with a real problem (not just an idea) (9:11) – Paul Graham’s The Right Kind of Stubborn: persistence vs. obstinance (12:03) – Are you attached to your goal or just your first idea? (13:44) – How great founders adapt to new data without losing momentum (14:44) – Sam Parr on why “constant switching will kill you” (16:30) – Focus as a founder’s hardest and most valuable skill (16:49) – Why “Triple, Triple, Double, Double” isn’t dead (despite VC takes) (18:34) – The problem with clickbait startup advice Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe 2026 – Join us in Reykjavík, Iceland (Sept 21–23) - Promo Code: ROB50 The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick Paul Graham: “The Right Kind of Stubborn” Sam Parr (@thesamparr) | X  Harry Stebbings (@HarryStebbings) | X Rob Walling YouTube Channel 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 & Review: iTune...

Can your 9-to-5 job secretly prepare you to be a founder? In this solo episode, Rob Walling shares 11 unexpected lessons from his own day jobs, from courier to electrician to engineering manager, and how each role quietly taught him skills that shaped his success as a SaaS founder. He dives into the value of curiosity, self-education, and learning to lead before you ever start a company. Episode Sponsor: If you’ve got a strong vision but no technical partner, you need more than a “vibe-coded” MVP, you need a real foundation. That’s where Designli comes in. Their two-week SolutionLab Prototyping Sprint pairs you with a product owner, designer, and developer to turn your idea into a beautiful, clickable prototype you’ll be proud to show investors or early users. Right now, Startups for the Rest of Us listeners get $3,800 off their sprint. Get started at designli.co/fortherestofus Topics we cover:  (2:03) – Why every day job can teach entrepreneurial skills (4:44) – Lesson #1: Figuring things out when instructions are unclear (7:27) – Lesson #2: Learning to respect other people’s time (9:05) – Lesson #3: How early self-education compounds over time (11:33) – Lesson #4: Embracing hard, unglamorous work (14:09) – Lesson #5: Why experience always beats credentials (16:42) – Lesson #6: Letting the buck stop with you (17:44) – Lesson #7: Knowing when to cut corners (and when not to) (20:11) – Lesson #8: Finding the right people to work with (21:33) – Lesson #9: Managing and motivating people as a learned skill (23:53) – Lesson #10: Turning hiring and firing into Founder superpowers (26:11) – Lesson #11: The value of exposure to well-run systems Links from the Show:  MicroConf Mastermind Matching – Apply before January 16th The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Good to Great by Jim Collins Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill MicroConf 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:

What’s it take for a bootstrapped SaaS to beat a competitor with $10M in venture funding? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Laura Roeder, founder of Paperbell, about how her lean, fully-bootstrapped team outlasted and outperformed a VC-funded rival. They discuss what the venture-backed company got wrong, how Paperbell focused on the right customers, and why efficiency still beats funding. Topics we cover:  (3:52) – Competing against a $10M-funded startup (8:45) – Why “self-serve SaaS on hard mode” was worth it (14:36) – How over-investing in engineering killed their competitor (19:04) – The real problem with under-investing in marketing (21:19) – Why some SaaS markets can’t scale upmarket (24:13) – Why some markets are perfect for bootstrappers (28:42) – How big funding rounds create false signals (30:24) – The behind-the-scenes of a potential acquisition deal (33:26) – How Paperbell became the market leader Links from the Show:  MicroConf Mastermind Matching The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling Paperbell Laura Roeder (@lkr) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

How will AI, SEO, and market shifts change SaaS next year? In this solo episode, Rob Walling revisits his predictions for 2025, what he got right, what he totally missed and shares nine new predictions for 2026. He reflects on trends shaping bootstrapped SaaS, from the rise of AI-first startups to the challenges facing horizontal SaaS founders.  Interested in Sponsoring this Podcast? If your product or service helps SaaS founders, bootstrappers, or indie entrepreneurs, you can reach thousands of listeners each week through Startups for the Rest of Us. Email us at sponsors@startupsfortherestofus.com Topics we cover:  (1:09) – Lessons from common SaaS plateaus and the Core Four framework (4:39) – Rating his 2025 predictions: what came true (and what didn’t) (12:46) – Prediction #1: Horizontal SaaS will face major headwinds (15:56) – Prediction #2: Overreliance on SEO will hurt SaaS founders (16:26) – Prediction #3: Top brands will dominate as AI narrows discovery (21:04) – Prediction #4: The AI VC bubble won’t burst in 2026 (21:47) – Prediction #5: Open source AI models will double in usage (22:28) – Prediction #6: A major no code platform will struggle or shut down (23:33) – Prediction #7: M&A for small SaaS startups will accelerate (24:31) – Prediction #8: Bitcoin will hit a new all-time high (25:31) – Prediction #9: Stripe will not go public (again) (26:26) – Reflections on MicroConf and TinySeed milestones Links from the Show:  MicroConf US – Portland, April 2026 Rob Walling YouTube Channel Apply to TinySeed TinySeed Portfolio The SaaS Playbook 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

After funding 210+ B2B SaaS companies, what patterns have emerged? In this episode, Rob Walling shares the 2025 State of TinySeed, from its first fund in 2018 to a global portfolio of over 210 B2B SaaS companies. He reflects on TinySeed’s growth, what the data reveals about today’s founders, funding trends, and the rise of AI-first startups. Topics we cover:  (1:46) – How TinySeed began and the doubts it faced  (3:51) – Growing to 210+ portfolio companies and $60M raised (11:15) – The rise of AI-first startups and “vibe-coded” apps (13:09) – Record application numbers and founder trends in 2025 (19:58) – Why vertical SaaS is outperforming horizontal SaaS (21:59) – The importance of founder community and shared experience (25:06) – How TinySeed and MicroConf create long-term founder connections Links from the Show:  Apply to TinySeed Invest in TinySeed TinySeed MentorsAccelerator Program Details — TinySeed TinySeed Portfolio The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling MicroConf - Community for Bootstrapped SaaS 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

How do you step back from daily decisions without losing control of your SaaS? In this episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about when to delegate key founder skills, whether great founders can succeed with any idea, and the limits of no-code or “vibe-coded” apps.  To help answer one question, he calls up Ruben Gamez to get his insights on what “good” freemium retention really looks like and why the shape of your retention curve matters more than the number itself. Want to get your question answered? Drop it here. Episode Sponsor: Struggling to make Google Ads work for your SaaS? You’re faced with an impossible choice: spend thousands on an agency or waste months learning from outdated YouTube videos. That’s why Max Sinclair, a five-year MicroConf attendee, built SaaS Ads Studio  a software platform that combines AI with proven ad agency expertise to help SaaS founders launch, write, and optimize Google Ads campaigns. Think of it as an agency team in a box that gets you to a profitable Google Ads engine in about six months. Start for free at saasadsstudio.com and be one of the first 50 listeners to use code ROBWALLING for 50% off your first year.  Topics we cover:  (2:51) – What’s a “good” freemium retention rate? (4:59) – How freemium retention differs for mobile vs. SaaS apps (9:51) – When to start delegating the Core Four SaaS skills (12:53) – How to hand off sales, marketing, product, and dev the right way (23:28) – Can great founders succeed with any product idea? (29:34) – Should founders avoid building on no-code or third-party platforms? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect  TinySeed SaaS Institute The SaaS Playbook SaaS Launchpad SignWell Ruben Gamez | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How much design polish is really enough? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by fan favorite Derrick Reimer for a new round of listener questions. They dig into the best AI coding stacks right now, how to ship fast without losing polish, whether AI is changing the kind of risk founders face, and when to start taking security seriously. Episode Sponsor: Are you a non-technical founder with solid revenue and real traction, but your technology is holding you back? You should check out today's sponsor, Designli. They specialize in helping founders like you who are stuck with messy code, unclear roadmaps, or a dev team that just doesn’t get it. And for listeners of the pod, Designli is offering their Impact Week completely free. That’s a one-week, no-obligation audit where their team dives into your code, your design system, and your product roadmap to show you exactly what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to happen next. If it’s a fit, you can move on to SolutionLab, a three-week sprint where Designli takes over your codebase and architects a real roadmap for growth, led by a full-time, cross-functional team. If your tech is the bottleneck to your next stage of growth, check them out at https://designli.co/fortherestofus.  Topics we cover:  (2:03) – What’s the best A.I. coding stack for developers right now? (11:14) – How can solo founders ship fast without sacrificing polish? (21:55) – Is A.I. shifting startup risk from market fit to feasibility? (31:44) – When should SaaS founders start worrying about security? (44:30) – SavvyCal’s latest product expansion Links from the Show:  Call for Speakers – Apply to speak at MicroConf US in Portland Claude Code Windsurf Cursor GitHub Copilot VS Code Visual Studio SavvyCal Appointments Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

What are the can't-miss AI tools for SaaS founders? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos, to dive deep into Craig’s “100 Days of AI” YouTube series. They discuss the lessons learned from exploring the latest AI tools for founders, why ChatGPT might not be the best option for SaaS entrepreneurs, and which AI platforms are actually moving the needle.  Rob and Craig also chat about the realities of AI agents, the challenges of building a second product after hitting a growth plateau, and Craig’s approach to evaluating new opportunities as he looks to expand beyond podcast hosting. Episode Sponsor: AI is transforming how people discover brands and Ahrefs is helping SaaS companies stay ahead. They’ve just launched Brand Radar, a new tool that lets you track your visibility in AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. See how you stack up against competitors, monitor reputation, and build authority across search, social, and AI. No more cobbling together tools. Ahrefs brings it all into one powerful SaaS marketing platform, backed by 15+ years of real-world web data and marketing-savvy AI. Try it free at ahrefs.com/awt. Topics we cover:  (03:28) – 100 Days of AI YouTube series, biggest surprises and key takeaways (08:20) – Claude Code, ChatGPT, and Manus: Which AI tools work best for founders (13:00) – Practical AI workflows in content production and automation (18:35) – AI agent cuts customer support in half (21:27) – Burnout and breakthroughs from publishing 100 videos in 100 days (25:43) – Craig’s new AI projects and what’s next (30:14) – Three new product ideas under evaluation (33:09) – The pros, cons, and emotions behind launching a second product Links from the Show:  MicroConf US 2026- April 12-14, 2026 · Portland US TinySeed’s SaaS Institute Claude Code (by Anthropic)  Manus  Creator Hooks Cursor HelpScout DocsBot LinkBerry.ai – Craig’s new tool for LinkedIn content creation Castos Craig Hewitt | YouTube Craig Hewitt | LinkedIn Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

Is it time to sell, autopilot, or double down on your plateaued SaaS business? In this episode, Rob Walling tackles listener questions and shares practical frameworks for what to do when your product hits a plateau, explains why “autopilot” often leads to decline, and outlines when founders should seriously consider SOC 2 compliance. Rob also talks about balancing a startup with a newborn, the real value of open source and IP, and the risks and rewards of building MVPs in exchange for equity. Want to get your question answered? Drop it here. Episode Sponsor: Need to ship faster without expanding your team? Gearheart is an AI-powered product studio that helps startups build B2B SaaS apps and AI agents, fast. Their team ships at twice the speed of traditional dev shops and understands how to work within startup constraints. Whether you need a fractional CTO or experienced engineers to accelerate development, Gearheart plugs directly into your workflow and delivers. They’ve built 70+ products, including SmartSuite, which raised $38M and is used by companies like Capital One. As a listener, you get the first 20 hours of development free when you mention the podcast. gearheart.io Topics we cover:  (2:34) – What to do with a plateaued $500k B2C app (4:28) – Founder motivation, business longevity, and the myth of autopilot (13:15) – Should you offer MVP development in exchange for equity? (14:04) – Equity risks, upside, and how to protect yourself (18:00) – When SOC2 compliance actually matters for founders (21:08) – Balancing a new baby, a job, and SaaS ambitions (24:38) – Can open source IP help bootstrappers stand out? (25:25) – Why differentiation and marketing matter more than patents or code Links from the Show:  Discretion Capital – M&A Advisory for B2B SaaS with $2-25m ARR MicroConf Connect TinySeed SaaS Institute If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Is hiring a sales and marketing co-founder the secret sauce for technical SaaS founders? In this solo episode, Rob Walling tackles a fresh batch of listener questions, starting with one of the most common dilemmas for technical founders: should you hire a sales and marketing co-founder or go it alone? He introduces his “Core Four” mental model, the essential skills every SaaS team needs early on, and shares insights on dealing with enterprise clients who keep moving the goalposts, handling a flood of non-ICP users, and a heartfelt message from a listener who just exited their startup. Want to get your question answered? Drop it here. Episode Sponsor: Are you looking to hire world-class engineering talent without the headache? You should check out today’s sponsor, G2i. They give you access to over 8,000 pre-vetted developers, no AI-generated resumes, no time wasters, just experienced engineers with at least five years of proven results. G2i handles the vetting for you, including customized live technical interviews so you can see how a candidate would actually work with your team. Trusted by companies like Meta, Microsoft, and Shopmonkey, and especially helpful for first-time founders who need to get hiring right the first time. As a listener, you’ll get a 7-day free trial plus $1,500 off your first invoice when you mention this podcast. Head over to https://www.g2i.co/microconf  to get started. Topics we cover:  (3:11) – Should you find a co-founder for sales and marketing? (5:29) – What are the Core Four SaaS Skills? (11:41) – Can you succeed without mastering all four, or should you outsource? (16:39) – Why sales-led growth might outperform self-serve SaaS (21:48) – Dealing with big companies who change your contract terms (27:06) – What to do with thousands of unqualified signups Links from the Show:  Discretion Capital – M&A for B2B SaaS Exit Strategy by Sherry & Rob Walling  MicroConf - SaaS Community TinySeed - SaaS Institute If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Can a small team really bootstrap to $8M ARR in a crowded SaaS market? In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Philippe Lehoux about how he and his co-founders bootstrapped Missive, a collaborative email and team inbox tool. They deep dive into landing early customers, unique horizontal positioning, content-driven growth, enterprise sales, and how to compete with VC-backed competition.  Episode Sponsor: Are you a non-technical founder with solid revenue and real traction, but your technology is holding you back? You should check out today's sponsor, Designli. They specialize in helping founders like you who are stuck with messy code, unclear roadmaps, or a dev team that just doesn’t get it. And for listeners of the pod, Designli is offering their Impact Week completely free. That’s a one-week, no-obligation audit where their team dives into your code, your design system, and your product roadmap to show you exactly what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to happen next. If it’s a fit, you can move on to SolutionLab, a three-week sprint where Designli takes over your codebase and architects a real roadmap for growth, led by a full-time, cross-functional team. If your tech is the bottleneck to your next stage of growth, check them out at https://designli.co/fortherestofus.  Topics we cover:  (2:05) – Missive’s $8M ARR journey and email pivot (6:02) – Early idea and first customers (11:16) – Unique positioning: horizontal vs. vertical (13:41) – How they prioritize features (15:39) – Why they stayed bootstrapped and decline funding (20:25) – Content strategy and “vs” pages (21:39) – Affiliate program driving 30% of growth (25:24) – Challenges and benefits of being horizontal (30:28) – Enterprise sales and pricing (32:06) – Scaling with SOC 2 compliance Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute  MicroConf YouTube channel Missive Philippe Lehoux | LinkedIn Philippe Lehoux (@plehoux) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

How much does your startup idea matter compared to your execution? In this solo episode, Rob Walling covers several founder-focused topics: the difference between gatekeeping and paying your dues, why raw material beats polish, and why successful people don't mind others winning. He also shares a listener's exit story, discusses optimism in founder communities, and talks about the mix of luck, skill, and hard work needed to build something that lasts. Episode Sponsor: AI is transforming how people discover brands and Ahrefs is helping SaaS companies stay ahead. They’ve just launched Brand Radar, a new tool that lets you track your visibility in AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. See how you stack up against competitors, monitor reputation, and build authority across search, social, and AI. No more cobbling together tools. Ahrefs brings it all into one powerful SaaS marketing platform, backed by 15+ years of real-world web data and marketing-savvy AI. Try it free at ahrefs.com/awt.  Topics we cover:  (2:00) – Gatekeeping vs. Paying dues as a new founder (9:56) – How “raw material” transforms into high-value skills (and startups) (16:36) – A bootstrapped listener shares a quiet, life-changing exit (18:17) – People who are winning don’t mind if others win too (20:09) – The critical importance of who you surround yourself with Links from the Show:  MicroConf Remote - Nov 5th, 2025 | Use promo code STARTUPS15 for $15 off your ticket. The SaaS Playbook 1000-Gram Iron Bar Analogy  If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Can bootstrapped founders really invent a new category with AI or is it a trap? In this solo episode, Rob Walling answers a fresh batch of listener questions covering SaaS marketing, global expansion, and strategic positioning. He shares advice on whether inventing a new product category is ever worth it and the nuances of updating your positioning after launch. Want to get your question answered? Drop it here.  Topics we cover:  (2:53) – Vertical vs. horizontal vs. orthogonal positioning as a bootstrapper (12:37) – Is AI making it easier to create a new category? (21:19) – How to break through mental blocks and actually launch (28:36) – Local vs. global marketing for SaaS (33:01) – Self-driving cars: Rob’s past prediction and what reverse statistics can teach founders Links from the Show:  MicroConf Remote - Nov 5th, 2025 | Use promo code STARTUPS15 for 15% off your ticket. TinySeed - SaaS accelerator for ambitious B2B founders Invest in TinySeed  Episode 783 | Bootstrapping ScrapingBee to $5M ARR and an 8-Figure Exit Episode 728 | Bootstrapping Gymdesk to a More Than $32.5M Exit If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

What's it really like to attend MicroConf? In this episode, Rob Walling and Laura Sprinkle, founder of Rootabl, recap MicroConf Europe 2025 in Istanbul. They discuss the MicroConf vibe, standout talks on AI, affiliate marketing, and SaaS growth, as well as the value of networking and connecting while getting outside the conference room.   Topics we cover:  (5:01) – The friendly, diverse MicroConf crowd (8:06) – Impressions on Istanbul (9:24) – Marc Thomas on lifecycle marketing (11:34) – Michelle Hansen & John Knox on networking  (13:04) – MicroConf Excursions (16:45) – Einar Volset on SaaS Buyers (20:27) – Rob’s AI talk (23:27) – Laura’s talk about affiliate programs (24:47) – Jesse Schoberg on ranking in ChatGPT and Google's AI (26:31) – Attendee-Led Workshops (27:58) – Kevin Sahin’s unfiltered lessons scaling to $2M (31:12) – James Mooring’s journey to $2M ARR Links from the Show:  Get your Ticket for MicroConf - Portland, Oregon, on April 12 -14, 2026 | Use promo code ROB50 for $50 off your ticket. TinySeed Join MicroConf Connect Deploy Empathy by Michelle Hansen The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz There’s ONLY 5 Ways to Use AI in SaaS (prove me wrong) Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Rootabl Laura Sprinkle | LinkedIn Laura Sprinkle (@imlaurasprinkle) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

Where’s the best place to publish if you’re starting content from scratch? In this episode, Rob Walling flies solo, answering your questions on marketing and audience building. He covers what to do when your channels stop scaling, where to publish early on, and the "media company first" approach. Episode Sponsor: Are you a non-technical founder with solid revenue and real traction, but your technology is holding you back? You should check out today's sponsor, Designli. They specialize in helping founders like you who are stuck with messy code, unclear roadmaps, or a dev team that just doesn’t get it. And for listeners of the pod, Designli is offering their Impact Week completely free. That’s a one-week, no-obligation audit where their team dives into your code, your design system, and your product roadmap to show you exactly what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to happen next. If it’s a fit, you can move on to SolutionLab, a three-week sprint where Designli takes over your codebase and architects a real roadmap for growth, led by a full-time, cross-functional team. If your tech is the bottleneck to your next stage of growth, check them out at https://designli.co/fortherestofus. Topics we cover:  (1:50) – Can a SaaS founder exit through a management buyout? (6:46) – What to do when your marketing isn't scaling anymore (16:28) – How to market a product while searching for product-market fit (23:27) –  Where to publish content when building an audience from scratch (27:38) – Should you build a media company before launching your SaaS? Links from the Show:  Get your Ticket for MicroConf Remote - November 5, 2025 Exit Strategy The SaaS Playbook Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Episode 576 | Don’t Become a Media Company (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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Can churn ever be good in SaaS? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by fan favorite Derrick Reimer for a listener Q&A. They break down what it takes to compete with well-funded incumbents, how to decide whether to pivot or push forward, when a technical co-founder is truly necessary, the right time to think about trademarks, and the difference between “good churn” and “bad churn” especially when customers fall outside your ICP. Episode Sponsor: AI is completely changing how people discover brands and content online, and Ahrefs has built a full-blown SaaS marketing platform to help you stay ahead. With over 15 years of real-world web data, and AI that actually understands marketing, Ahrefs helps you measure your brand presence, build authority, and monitor reputation across search, social, and AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AIOs, Perplexity, and more. You can also dig into what’s driving your competitors’ visibility and spot market gaps before they do, helping you create content that ranks and drive new traffic to your business. There's no need to juggle a bunch of disconnected tools- get Ahref’s all-in-one platform to make your brand unmissable in a fast-moving world.  Try it free at ahrefs.com/awt. Topics we cover:  (3:35) – Competing with well-funded incumbents (12:47) – Should you focus on competitors or customers? (20:20) – Pivot, press on, or move on: how to decide (29:09) – Finding and vetting a technical co-founder or partner (39:04) – When should you pursue trademarks? (44:24) – Is churn ever good for a startup? Links from the Show:  MicroConf US 2026 - Portland, Oregon - Use Promo Code ROB50 for $50 off. MicroConf Connect BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) SavvyCal Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

What if you could get all 15 years of this podcast bundled up into one episode?  In episode 800, Rob Walling goes solo for a special milestone installment of Startups For the Rest of Us. He covers the 12 foundational commandments that shape his approach to SaaS, hard-won lessons forged from years of building, investing in, and advising startups. Topics we cover:  (3:46) – #1: Nuance beats absolutes (6:52) – #2: Make hard decisions with incomplete information (9:16) – #3: Avoid the classic traps (12:22) – #4: Don't build without real evidence (15:14) – #5: Marketing beats product (19:08) – #6: Fewer customers, better customers (21:01) – #7: Respect (and fear) the platform (24:04) – #8: Build your network, not just your audience (26:30) – #9: Overnight success takes a decade (28:45) – #10: Stack small wins (31:22) – #11: Be careful who you listen to (33:15) – #12: The hardest battles are in your own head Links from the Show: MicroConf US 2026 - Portland, Oregon - Use Promo Code ROB50 for $50 off. Invest in TinySeed Fund Three SaaS Playbook The Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together Exit Strategy Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do Episode 700 | Playing the Long Game Episode 735 | The 8 Levels of SaaS Platform Risk If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

What's next for OutboundSync? In the Season 5 finale of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling talks with Harris Kenny as OutboundSync blows past $500k ARR. Harris shares the wins and struggles of getting here, from choosing not to raise funding (for now), to planning a laser tag event no committee would approve, to what comes next on the road to $1M. Topics we cover:  (1:49) – Crossing $500k ARR and building personal health habits (5:36) – The big levers behind OutboundSync’s growth (6:39) – Laser tag, not hotel happy hours (13:01) – Deciding not to raise more funding (for now) (16:25) – An overbuilt tech stack  (17:57) – Competitors, copycats, and growing a brand (19:06) – The next chapter for OutboundSync (23:29) – Ambition, TinySeed, and channeling energy (25:14) – Harris’s advice for founders still grinding Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed Fund Three Coaching Call Bonus OutboundSync Harris Kenny | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you bootstrap a SaaS to $1 million+ ARR? In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Colin Bartlett about how he and his co-founder Andy transformed a side project monitoring tool into a seven-figure ARR business that now serves as an early warning system for outages across 6,000+ services.  From nearly abandoning the product during three stagnant years to discovering their killer differentiation, Colin's journey is a masterclass in patient iteration, finding product-market fit the hard way, and why sometimes the most boring infrastructure businesses make the best SaaS companies. Episode Sponsor: You’ve probably heard that ChatGPT can do all of your marketing. But that’s nonsense unless your strategy is blindly following tired, recycled, outdated strategies.  If you care about systematically creating a marketing engine that converts, not just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, you need real humans who actually understand positioning, persuasion, and modern customer acquisition playbooks.  That’s Conversion Factory. They’re a SaaS marketing and design agency that have worked with over 50 startups, including several TinySeed companies.  Book a call at conversionfactory.co and mention this podcast for $1,000 off your first month. And if you’re at MicroConf Europe next week, make sure to connect with Corey Haines in the hallway track.  Topics we cover:  (3:08) – How StatusGator detects outages (and why users are part of the signal) (6:23) – From side project to SaaS: the early days of building StatusGator (8:46) – Shifting the ICP: Why developers weren’t the buyers (11:44) – SEO as the engine behind thousands of trials (17:00) – Hitting early MRR milestones and hiring the first marketer (25:12) – How TinySeed funding unlocked a full product redesign (32:05) – Building a dual funnel to boost ACV and win enterprise deals (38:00) – Advice for other SaaS founders playing the long game Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed Fund Three MicroConf Mastermind Matching - Applications open until September 24th StatusGator Colin Bartlett | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

OutboundSync just hit $35k MRR—but the decisions are only getting harder.  In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling and Harris Kenny dive into the messy middle of SaaS growth, where every opportunity comes with a trade-off. They explore the tension between raising funds you don't need, staying focused when good ideas keep coming, and building a business while raising a family. Topics we cover:  (2:28) – From $20k to $35k MRR in three months (2:53) – The bets that moved the needle (4:56) – Infinite runway, SOC 2 wins, and building trust (8:29) – Saying no to good ideas with limited bandwidth (10:00) – Decision-making, value-driven growth, and agency DNA (13:14) – Should Harris raise more funding or stay focused? (15:52) – Why boring “pipes” matter in an AI world (20:25) – Trade-offs, mindset, and building for scale (25:35) – Hiring a sales coach and focusing on what works (27:52) – Balancing startup stress with parenting Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute Coaching Call Bonus OutboundSync Harris Kenny | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

What if your SaaS isn’t growing because of the product, not the marketing? In this solo adventure episode, Rob Walling unpacks why SaaS marketing feels harder than ever and why most advice out there will waste your time. He shares how he’d approach things if growth has stalled, the questions he’d ask first, and why real progress comes from proven fundamentals. Episode Sponsor: Is your engineering team stretched too thin? Gearheart provides growing companies with AI-powered engineering talent that ships 2 times faster.  CTOs and engineering managers trust them to deliver critical features end-to-end with minimal oversight, whether it's fixing scaling failures, broken integrations, or system instability.  With 13 years of experience building sophisticated B2B platforms, they plug in fast and deliver results. They've helped build platforms like SmartSuite, which has scaled to thousands of organizations including industry giants like Capital One. Book your free strategy session at gearheart.io and mention this podcast to get 20% off discovery or embedded engineers for your team. That's gearheart.io. Topics we cover:  (2:20) – Why marketing is harder than ever, and what’s changed (3:40) – The Dunning-Kruger Effect  (11:30) – Marketing is not just convincing someone to buy what you've built. (16:30) – Validating vs. throwing dice at a wall (20:03) – Is there a ‘one right way’ to grow a business? (25:00) – Be careful who you listen to Links from the Show:  MicroConf Events MicroConf Mastermind Matching 75+ SaaS Marketplaces  The SaaS Playbook TinySeed 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: iTunes | Spotify

Harris hit $20k MRR. It’s real. What’s next? In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling celebrates with Harris Kenny after OutboundSync crosses $20k MRR ahead of schedule. They talk about why hitting a milestone can feel both exciting and overwhelming, the arrival fallacy, and how simple, consistent execution may be all it takes to reach $30k. Harris shares the bets that moved the needle, including Salesforce, SOC 2, and what hidden demand taught him about building integrations before anyone asked. Topics we cover:  (1:32) – Crossing $20k MRR and aiming for $30k (6:29) – The Salesforce bet (8:17) – Runway, burn, and pricing upmarket (10:34) – Raise capital or keep bootstrapping (15:03) – SOC 2 as a sales unlock (20:11) – Marketplace credibility and AppExchange (22:05) – Hidden demand for Salesforce (26:11) – The push to $30k and parity Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed Fund 3 Coaching Call Bonus MicroConf Events OutboundSync Harris Kenny | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

B2C, low price point, one-time payments… not the typical recipe for a life-changing exit.   In this episode, Rob Walling talks with longtime listener Zamir Khan, founder of VidHug (now Memento). Zamir’s story broke a lot of SaaS “rules”: B2C, low price point, one-time payments, and years of slow growth. He shares how he nearly gave up, the pandemic surge that changed everything, and the emotional ride that led to a life-changing exit. Episode Sponsor: AI is completely changing how people discover brands and content online, and Ahrefs has built a full-blown SaaS marketing platform to help you stay ahead. With over 15 years of real-world web data, and AI that actually understands marketing, Ahrefs helps you measure your brand presence, build authority, and monitor reputation across search, social, and AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AIOs, Perplexity, and more. You can also dig into what’s driving your competitors’ visibility and spot market gaps before they do, helping you create content that ranks and drive new traffic to your business. There's no need to juggle a bunch of disconnected tools- get Ahref’s all-in-one platform to make your brand unmissable in a fast-moving world.  Try it free at ahrefs.com/awt. Topics we cover:  (3:47) — From podcast listener to SaaS founder (7:59) — The role of luck, timing, and the pandemic in growth (18:37) — A birthday gift becomes a product (23:54) — Charging early and surviving slow growth (30:47) — From $1k a month to 80k daily users (39:58) — Support load, stress, and the edge of burnout (48:58) — Deciding to sell (and why timing mattered) (52:57) — Life after the exit: slowing down and finding balance Links from the Show:  TinySeed – Applications close tonight! MicroConf Connect – The community for SaaS founders The SaaS Playbook  Memento (formerly VidHug) Zamir Khan (@zam1rkhan) | X Zamir Khan  | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

What happens when momentum hits and your biggest challenge becomes keeping up? In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling catches up with Harris Kenny, founder of OutboundSync. Revenue is growing, the team is moving fast, and enterprise leads are coming in. But with success comes complexity: support load, pricing strategy, and product demands are all increasing. Harris is hiring again, learning to say no, and figuring out how to keep the momentum without losing focus. Topics we cover:  (1:40) – Closing his biggest deal ever and what it unlocked (4:26) – Learning how to do enterprise sales (6:20) – How SOC 2 made the product stronger (12:18) – New hires are paying off (18:23) – Building the Salesforce integration (22:13) – Getting pull from the market, not pushing (24:10) – Taking customers from unicorns  Links from the Show:  TinySeed SaaS Accelerator - Applications close on September 9th Coaching Call Bonus Invest in TinySeed YNAB (You Need A Budget) Dynamite Jobs OutboundSync Harris Kenny | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Is GPT-5 a real risk for SaaS founders, or just the beginning of a new chapter? In this Hot Take Tuesday, Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn dig into GPT-5’s mixed reviews, signs of stress in the A.I. bubble, and how Windsurf’s $2.4B exit left early employees with nothing. They also unpack why returning a VC fund is such a rare (and big) deal. Episode Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Gearheart.io, which specializes in helping early-stage founders validate ideas, prototype SaaS products, and build AI-powered MVPs with real user testing, so your code won’t crumble when your first customers show up. Founded by entrepreneurs who’ve launched and exited their own startups, Gearheart has helped launch over 70 B2B SaaS products, including SmartSuite (which raised $38 million). They get where you’re at. Book your free strategy session at gearheart.io and mention Startups for the Rest of Us to get 20% off discovery, validation, or prototyping services. Topics we cover:  (3:12) – TinySeed returns Fund One (9:40) – GPT-5: Upgrade or letdown? (19:19) – Are we in an AI bubble? (24:09) – The Windsurf debacle: $2.4B exit, $0 for early employees (31:06) – The bigger problem: Are startups forgetting to share the upside? (40:05) – Lifestyle vs. Ambitious Bootstrapping Links from the Show:  TinySeed Fall 2025 Applications Live Q&A - Join us Wednesday September 3rd TinySeed SaaS Accelerator - Applications are Open! Invest in TinySeed MicroConf SaaS Institute Discretion Capital  Einar Vollset | LinkedIn Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Tracy Osborn  Tracy Osborn | LinkedIn Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling reconnects with Harris Kenny, founder of OutboundSync, to explore the rapid evolution of his SaaS business just months after transitioning from agency work. Harris shares how niching down to outbound-focused agencies unlocked sales momentum. He talks about hiring, his Salesforce breakthrough, SOC 2 prep, and why finally spending his TinySeed funding changed everything. Topics we cover:  (2:27) – Launching a lower-priced version and building expansion revenue (6:40) – How lead-gen shops are outpacing legacy rev ops (12:01) – Hiring full-time: Dev speed, onboarding load, and customer success firepower (18:15) – A surprise Salesforce breakthrough and what it means for product strategy (24:42) – SOC 2 prep, pricing confidence, and finally spending the TinySeed check Links from the Show:  Join the TinySeed Mailing List Apply for TinySeed - Applications reopen September 1, 2025 OutboundSync Harris Kenny | LinkedIn Coaching Call Bonus Dynamite Jobs Vanta If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How can you scale yourself as a founder? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Yaniv Bernstein (co-founder and CTO of Vera, former COO, VP of Engineering, and Google leader) to unpack how a founder’s role must change as the company grows. From writing the code yourself to leading managers of managers, they dig into the tough transitions every founder faces, and what happens if you don’t adapt. Topics we cover:  (3:27) – How the founder/CEO role changes as your SaaS scales (8:44) – The turning point where systems and processes matter (14:49 – When to hand off marketing, sales, or product as a founder (19:44) – Why setting context is your #1 job as a founder-CEO (28:19) – Why hiring right (and firing fast) makes or breaks scaling Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute MicroConf | The community for SaaS founders MicroConf YouTube Channel People Engineering  The SaaS Playbook  Yaniv Bernstein | LinkedIn Yaniv Bernstein (@ybernsteindig) | X The Startup 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Welcome to Season 5 of TinySeed Tales, the documentary-style series where we follow one SaaS founder’s journey over 12 months to hear about the wins, the missteps, and everything in between. In this season premiere, Rob Walling introduces Harris Kenny of OutboundSync. After running a successful agency, Harris makes the leap to go all-in on SaaS. It’s a high-stakes transition that many agency owners are never able to make.  Topics we cover:  (2:25) – From agency owner to TinySeed-backed SaaS (6:38) – Walking away from consistent agency revenue to go all-in on SaaS (13:51) – Going all-in vs. splitting focus (16:13) – Why most agencies fail at SaaS (28:15) – What’s working, what’s not, and what’s next Links from the Show:  Join the TinySeed Mailing List - Applications reopen in September 2025 Apply for TinySeed Coaching Call Bonus MicroConf Connect OutboundSync The SaaS Playbook Harris Kenny | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

What are the real risks of AI-generated code and “vibe coding”? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined once again by fan-favorite Derrick Reimer to answer a fresh batch of listener questions. They dig into solo vs. co-founder trade-offs, managing scope creep, and how integrations can shape early traction. Want to get your questions answered? Drop them here. Topics we cover:  (2:33) – Do you need a co-founder to succeed in SaaS? (5:18)  – The Risks of AI-Generated Code and “Vibe Coding” (13:50) – How to manage scope creep as a solo founder (23:32) – Finding and retaining great contractors (39:43) – How to build a startup culture with a bias for action Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe | Istanbul, Sep 28-30, 2025 TinySeed Tales Podcast MicroConf Connect TinySeed Fund SavvyCal Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

How do you know it’s time to move on from a product that’s growing? In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Braden Dennis, co-founder of Fiscal.ai (formerly FinChat), about a rare founder journey: bootstrapping, catching lightning in a bottle, and choosing to go big with venture capital. They dive into the emotional and strategic weight of shutting down a $1.5M ARR product, what shifts when you scale past 40 people, and why Braden prioritized long-term vision over short-term revenue. Topics we cover:  (2:30) – From FinChat to Fiscal.ai: rebranding and repositioning (6:50) – Why they raised a $10M Series A (13:09) – From bootstrapped to venture-backed: what changes? (19:56) – Becoming a real CEO at 25 employees (26:44) – Why they shut down a $1.5M product (30:30) – Lessons from having four co-founders (33:13) – The benefits of joining TinySeed Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect The Great CEO Within TinySeed: SaaS Institute Fiscal.ai (formerly FinChat) Braden Dennis (@BradoCapital) | X Braden Dennis | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you really know when you’ve hit product-market fit? In this episode, Rob Walling welcomes back Kevin Wagstaff, co-founder of Spectora, to answer listener questions about early traction in Facebook groups, finding product-market fit, handling criticism, and what it really took to bootstrap to a $90M exit. Want to get your questions answered? Drop them here. Topics we cover:  (3:15) – Early traction using Facebook groups (7:17) – The tradeoff between growth and work-life balance (12:26) – Participating inside Facebook groups run by rivals (14:39) – Ranking for niche SEO terms (19:06) – Funding the early days through consulting (25:14) – Surviving churn in a seasonal, high-turnover market Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute Mark Cuban Blog Post Kevin Wagstaff | LinkedIn Kevin Wagstaff (@KevinWagstaff3) | X Spectora If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you choose between multiple product ideas? In this solo episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about picking between two SaaS ideas, product positioning, and how to know when to stop working on a project. Want to get your question answered? Drop them here. Topics we cover:  (3:06) – Choosing between two AI products (9:38) – Will early niche positioning hurt future growth? (14:51) – At what point would you consider lowering prices? (22:35) – Narrowing your ICP and product focus (28:07) – How do you spec agency projects? (30:10) – Should you keep building on a changing platform? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe | Istanbul, Sep 28-30, 2025 SaaS Launchpad TinySeed The SaaS Playbook  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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

What’s the real roadmap to lasting financial freedom? In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Nick Maggiulli about his new book, The Wealth Ladder. Nick explains how to identify your current financial stage and what it really takes to move up. They dig into how wealth changes your spending habits, why exits (not salaries) drive significant changes in net worth, and how your definition of freedom might evolve over time. Topics we cover:  (6:07) – Defining the six levels of wealth (11:49) – Why earning more isn’t enough (14:17) – How entrepreneurs build wealth (15:15) – The “0.01%” spending rule (31:13) – Can money actually make you happier? Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed Of Dollars And Data  The Wealth Ladder by Nick Maggiulli Just Keep Buying by Nick Maggiulli The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber  Nick Maggiulli | LinkedIn Nick Maggiulli (@dollarsanddata) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

When is the right time to sell your profitable SaaS? In this week's episode, Rob Walling talks with Pierre de Wulf, co-founder of ScrapingBee, about how they mostly bootstrapped their web scraping SaaS to $5 million ARR and an eight-figure all-cash exit. They explore the pivotal shift that took them from $7K MRR to nearly $1M ARR in just 15 months, what Pierre splurged on post-exit, and the emotional, legal, and strategic complexities of selling a company. Topics we cover:  (3:31) – Why they chose to sell (5:41) – Post-exit emotions and celebrations (9:57) – Lessons from failed startups before ScrapingBee (13:16) – From 8k to $1m ARR in 15 months (17:14) – Building a scalable SEO content engine (29:19) – Handling a major cease-and-desist Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect MicroConf Talk by Pierre de Wulf The Java Web Scraping Handbook ScrapingBee Blog TinySeed Discretion Capital Pierre de Wulf (@PierreDeWulf) | X Pierre de Wulf | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Looking back on your entrepreneurship journey, which decisions made the biggest impact? In this solo episode, Rob Walling breaks down the 10 decisions that shaped his success, like choosing action over perfection, learning fast from failure, and building a financial cushion to take smarter risks. It’s an honest look at what worked and the choices that made the biggest difference. Topics we cover:  (2:53) – Stop reading, start shipping (4:48) – Learn from mistakes and change course (6:47) – Build a financial cushion (8:38) – Write publicly about your journey (13:04) – Make bigger, but manageable bets (15:21) – Embrace the unsexy, grindy work (18:05) – Identify blind spots to grow faster (19:39) – Set clear goals and stick to them (21:26) – Know when to persist, pivot, or quit (24:40) – Don’t make decisions in emotional moments Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Start Small, Stay Small Comic Lab Podcast  TinySeed Institute If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Are you repeating any of these mistakes in your business?  In this episode, Rob Walling walks through his ‘founder regret list’, detailing 12 key mistakes from his 20-year entrepreneurial journey. In this very personal episode, he tells some stories he’s never shared publicly before. Topics we cover:  (4:17) – Thinking venture capital was the only path (6:12) – Launching without validating the idea (9:26) – Choosing ideas that couldn’t be bootstrapped (12:48) – Relying too much on books (16:36) – Trying to do everything solo (21:10) – The arrival fallacy (23:19) – Delaying email list growth (25:51) – Taking random advice too seriously (28:43) – Overestimating skills after early wins (30:29) – Letting anxiety steal the joy from success (32:34) – Not letting wins build confidence (33:50) – Holding onto a scarcity mindset Links from the Show:  TinySeed Institute Sponsor the Podcast or MicroConf Start Small, Stay Small The SaaS Playbook Zero to Sold by Arvid Kahl If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

What if your biggest growth blocker isn’t the market, but the story you’re telling yourself? In this episode, Rob Walling welcomes back fan favorite Ruben Gamez, founder of SignWell, to debunk common bootstrapper myths. They discuss misconceptions like never needing to sell your company or market your product, and emphasize the realities of growth plateaus, business valuation, and exit strategies. Topics we cover:  (4:50) – I’ll never sell my company (11:40) – I can just coast on profit forever (21:48) – I’m built differently, so I don’t need to market (31:54) – Building many tiny projects is a strategy (34:46) – It’s all about luck Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed Fund 3 Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X SignWell Ruben Gamez | LinkedIn 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Are common SaaS myths sabotaging your success? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with SaaS growth expert (and TinySeed Institute coach) Marc Thomas to break down ten persistent and damaging myths believed by many SaaS founders and why challenging them is key to scaling smart. Topics we cover:  (4:52) – “I’m not good at marketing” is a lie (8:48) – Top-of-funnel obsession (13:12) – Lifetime affiliate payouts = profit killers (18:21) – Hiring a marketing team too soon (21:52) – Chasing new markets too early (25:08) – Fear of sending more email (27:36) – Chasing shiny growth hacks like programmatic SEO (31:14) – Dismissing sales in favor of only self-serve (35:10) – Avoiding competitor content out of fear Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe – September 28–30 · Istanbul, Türkiye TinySeed SaaS Institute Positive Human Marc Thomas | LinkedIn Marc Thomas’ LinkedIn post on 10 SaaS Myths If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you price pilot projects and niche down without hedging your bets? In this episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about pricing pilots, choosing niches, and skipping steps on his Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping.  Want to get your question answered? Drop them here. Topics we cover:  (3:25) – Feedback on Season 4 of TinySeed Tales (8:55) – How do you price pilot projects? (15:11) – How to niche down and de-risking a new SaaS? (22:40) – What does it really take to build a hit open-source tool? (29:53) – Can you skip straight to SaaS or is that a trap? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect: Online community of SaaS founders TinySeed Tales Podcast Startup Stories Podcast Stair Step Method of 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

What if the traditional dream of retirement is actually a trap for entrepreneurs? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Derek Coburn, author of Let’s Retire Retirement: How to Enjoy Life to the Fullest, to challenge the long-held belief that early retirement is the ultimate goal. They explore why many entrepreneurs feel unfulfilled after retiring and how shifting toward purpose-driven work can create more freedom, meaning, and longevity. Topics we cover:  (2:17) – Why traditional retirement often leads to boredom and regret (6:44) – How working longer can drastically reduce your savings burden (11:05) – The power of $50K moments and appreciating time with loved ones (17:03) – Prioritizing health and well-being as a long-term strategy (21:42) – Smarter and more flexible alternatives to full retirement Links from the Show:  MicroConf Europe – September 28–30 · Istanbul, Türkiye TinySeed – Invest Let’s Retire Retirement – Book on Amazon Derek Coburn’s Website Derek Coburn | LinkedIn Derek Coburn (@cadredc) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

What’s it take to bootstrap a niche SaaS to $90M without raising a dime? In this episode, Kevin Wagstaff joins Rob Walling to share how he and his brother bootstrapped Spectora from a scrappy MVP to a $90M valuation. It’s a masterclass in finding traction in unsexy markets, building with empathy, and making smart bets like embedded payments. Topics we cover:  (4:39) – The surreal moment Kevin and his brother became multimillionaires (9:14) – Why a mobile-first approach won in an outdated, overlooked niche (17:39) – How adding payments created a second revenue stream and bigger valuation (20:36) – The early hustle: trade shows, 6 AM demos, and Facebook group tactics Links from the Show:  SaaS Launchpad Course MicroConf Kevin Wagstaff | LinkedIn Kevin Wagstaff (@KevinWagstaff3) | X Spectora Kevin’s Built to Sell Radio 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

What shortcuts are actually worth taking when you're building a SaaS? In this episode, Rob Walling and fan favorite Derrick Reimer delve into listener questions about startup development. They discuss the impact of AI coding tools on building minimum viable products (MVPs) and the importance of user experience (UX) with advice on balancing UX investment based on the product's nature.  You’ll also hear a breakdown of the real costs of leaving the cloud, plus tips on email deliverability and validation. Throughout, they highlight how validating ideas through user feedback and research is still critical, no matter how fast you build. Episode Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by Mercury. I've been banking with Mercury for years and whenever I set up a new account, I'm reminded why traditional banking feels stuck in the past.  When our previous bank faced solvency issues, we needed to spin up new accounts quickly that could handle millions in funds across multiple businesses. Mercury had us up and running almost immediately. I manage half a dozen different Mercury accounts across a wide range of companies – from my personal, single-member LLC to MicroConf, our 7-figure global events and education platform, to TinySeed, our venture fund and accelerator. Mercury easily handles them all. The interface is elegantly simple for daily banking, paying invoices, and sending and receiving international wires, yet powerful enough to handle the multi-step approval processes we needed to put in place when funding founders with large transfers.  Anytime founders ask me who they should set up their accounts with, I send them to mercury.com. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. Topics we cover:  (4:55) – How AI coding tools are changing the MVP timeline (16:11) – When UX design actually matters (and when it doesn’t) (23:47) – Should you ditch cloud hosting for your own servers? (32:38) – Pro tips on email deliverability and keeping out of spam folders Links from the Show:  SaaS Launchpad Course MicroConf Remote | May 21, 2025 Windsurf AI Editor SavvyCal Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Noah Tucker, the non-technical founder behind Social Snowball, an affiliate marketing SaaS built for Shopify. Noah bootstrapped the company to $5M+ in ARR, navigating technical roadblocks, team-building hurdles, and a crumbling codebase, while leveraging bold growth tactics like influencer partnerships to scale fast. Topics we cover:  (3:26) – Spotting the gap in affiliate tools for creators (7:09) – The agency MVP failure and early dev misfires (11:15) – Losing a CTO to priesthood  (16:33) – How influencer partnerships fueled fast early growth (30:12) – Hiring a world-class CTO and engineering team Links from the Show:  Discretion Capital MicroConf Remote | May 21, 2025 TinySeed Noah Tucker | LinkedIn Noah Tucker (@noatuck) | 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: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode, Rob Walling and Maja Voje, author of Go to Market Strategist, dive into early customer profiles (ECPs) and why they matter more than ideal customer profiles (ICPs) early on. They explore practical, scrappy marketing tactics for B2B SaaS founders and share real-world advice on customer acquisition, community building, and staying authentic while growing. Episode Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by Mercury. I've been banking with Mercury for years and whenever I set up a new account, I'm reminded why traditional banking feels stuck in the past.  When our previous bank faced solvency issues, we needed to spin up new accounts quickly that could handle millions in funds across multiple businesses. Mercury had us up and running almost immediately. I manage half a dozen different Mercury accounts across a wide range of companies – from my personal, single-member LLC to MicroConf, our 7-figure global events and education platform, to TinySeed, our venture fund and accelerator. Mercury easily handles them all. The interface is elegantly simple for daily banking, paying invoices, and sending and receiving international wires, yet powerful enough to handle the multi-step approval processes we needed to put in place when funding founders with large transfers.  Anytime founders ask me who they should set up their accounts with, I send them to mercury.com. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. Topics we cover:  (3:02) – What Go-to-Market actually means for bootstrapped founders (7:14) – Early Customer Profile (ECP) vs. Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) (10:30) – Common mistakes founders make when choosing their ECP (13:48) – Real-world B2B SaaS examples of successful ECP launches (18:29) – Why GTM actions must come before GTM motions for scrappy startups (21:52) – Warm outreach and fishing in the right forums: practical tactics for early traction Links from the Show:  MicroConf Growth Retreat | London, UK - May 14-16, 2025 Invest in TinySeed Maja Voje | LinkedIn GTM Strategist Go-To-Market Strategist: (Maja's book) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you position your SaaS for success? In episode 772, Rob Walling talks with Anthony Pierri of Fletch about a proven approach to product positioning. They discuss key lessons from 400+ startups, focusing on workflows, competitive alternatives, and why narrowing your audience matters. Topics we cover:  (6:59)  – What is positioning, really? (11:16)  – Why your homepage matters more than your pitch deck (14:17) – Workflow-based segmentation vs. firmographics (17:39) – Positioning against competitive alternatives (31:13) – The #1 mistake founders make with positioning Links from the Show: MicroConf Growth Retreat | London, UK - May 14-16, 2025 Invest in TinySeed Get Access to Anthony’s MicroConf New Orleans Talk Anthony Pierri (@anthonypierri) | LinkedIn Anthony Pierri (@apierriPMM) | X Fletch If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Can SaaS companies survive the rise of AI Agents? In episode 771, Rob Walling is joined by Craig Hewitt to answer listener questions. They discuss the changes that happen while transitioning from a small startup to a multi-million dollar SaaS, competing against larger competitors, and maintaining startup culture as teams grow. They also share thoughts on AI agents in the SaaS space and the relevance of patents for bootstrapped businesses. Episode Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by Mercury. I've been banking with Mercury for years and whenever I set up a new account, I'm reminded why traditional banking feels stuck in the past.  When our previous bank faced solvency issues, we needed to spin up new accounts quickly that could handle millions in funds across multiple businesses. Mercury had us up and running almost immediately. I manage half a dozen different Mercury accounts across a wide range of companies – from my personal, single-member LLC to MicroConf, our 7-figure global events and education platform, to TinySeed, our venture fund and accelerator. Mercury easily handles them all. The interface is elegantly simple for daily banking, paying invoices, and sending and receiving international wires, yet powerful enough to handle the multi-step approval processes we needed to put in place when funding founders with large transfers.  Anytime founders ask me who they should set up their accounts with, I send them to mercury.com. Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. Topics we cover:  (2:41) – Marketing and sales strategies while scaling (9:31) – Keeping the startup culture through growth (14:50) – Can SaaS survive autonomous agents? (21:03) – AI wrapper tools (25:15) – Patent strategy for startups (29:30) – Competing against VC-backed companies Links from the Show:  MicroConf Remote: Early-Stage SaaS Sales Invest in TinySeed Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | X Craig Hewitt (@craighewitt.com) | Bluesky Rouge Startups Castos Omar Zenhom Omar Zenhom’s MicroConf Talk AI Agents vs SaaS - Who Wins the Future of Software? Episode 542 | 10x in Two Years, Past $3M ARR with SquadCast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your quest...

Is it more important for entrepreneurs to focus on revenue or profit? In episode 770, Rob Walling goes solo to explore the relationship between revenue and profit in SaaS, and the dangers of waiting for permission. He also draws inspiration from Mike Tyson’s work ethic and George Lucas’ visionary mindset to encourage entrepreneurs to push through obstacles and innovate. Topics we cover:  (2:41) – MRR versus ARR (8:04) – Don’t ask for permission, don’t give in to defeatism (14:38) – Inventing to pursue novel visions (18:48) – Mike Tyson’s training regimen  (20:48) – You don’t need to be the best in the world Links from the Show:  MicroConf Growth Retreat Discretion Capital Email Einar Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Rob Walling | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Did you miss out on MicroConf US in New Orleans? In episode 769, Rob Walling welcomes Derrick Reimer back to share highlights from MicroConf New Orleans. They dive into the event's vibrant atmosphere, standout founder talks, and the energizing mix of new and familiar faces that made this gathering in the Big Easy truly special. Topics we cover:  (1:40) – MicroConf New Orleans audience breakdown (5:50) – Upcoming MicroConf events (9:05) – 5 Lessons That Exits Teach Us About Running Our Business (12:35) – Anthony Pierri’s talk about homepage positioning (15:16) – 4 New Orleans excursions (17:17) – Talks on copywriting, pricing, and LinkedIn outreach (25:57) – Reviewing attendee feedback Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Applications Open Until April 9th MicroConf Growth Retreat MicroConf Europe 2025 MicroConf Remote Exit Strategy by Sherry Walling, PhD & Rob Walling Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X Derrick Reimer(@derrickreimer.com) | Bluesky SavvyCal Episode 737 | Key Takeaways from MicroConf Europe 2024 (With Derrick Reimer) Anthony Pierri (@apierriPMM) | X Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy.com) | Bluesky Street Pricing by Marcos Rivera Episode 765 | TinySeed Tales s4e9: Making the hardest decision If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Do you disagree with any of these controversial takes about bootstrapping? In episode 768, Rob Walling unpacks a series of semi-controversial beliefs about bootstrapping from ScrapingBee’s Pierre de Wulf. Rob evaluates each point from Pierre's tweet, discussing topics like rebranding your SaaS, the hidden problem of affiliate marketing, and the realities of scaling a SaaS business. Topics we cover:  (1:21) – Pierre’s semi-controversial bootstrapping beliefs  (4:35) – Don’t waste time on a rebrand (7:24) – No one cares about your domain extension    (9:06) – Affiliate marketing won’t fix your acquisition issues (11:51) – There is no silver bullet for growth (13:42) – Copy what works best (14:59) – Double down on acquisition channels that work (16:53) – Hire specialists (19:34) – Never offer a plan with unlimited features (20:22) – Don’t offer a cheap plan if you can’t support it (20:47) – Don’t add social logins to your signup page (21:27) – Read competitors’ reviews several times a year (21:59) – $10k MRR doesn’t guarantee $100k MRR (22:28) – You will get copied if you share success (23:02) – “Build this feature…” (24:10) – The Mom Test (24:56) – Provide value for your target demographic for free (25:47) – Don’t overthink Product Hunt (26:00) – You’ll never sell your SaaS for 10x Links from the Show:  MicroConf Growth Retreat in London Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Pierre de Wulf (@PierreDeWulf) | X ScrapingBee (@ScrapingBee) | X ScrapingBee Pierre’s semi-controversial bootstrapping beliefs TinySeed Rob Walling.com Rob Walling | LinkedIn SaaS Institute Exit Strategy by Sherry Walling, PhD & Rob Walling Episode 705 | From Bootstrapped to Mostly Bootstrapped to Venture Backed The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick Deploy Empathy by Michele Hansen The SaaS Playbook 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 questi...

Is product management more of an art, or a science? In episode 767, Rob Walling is joined again by Brendan Fortune to answer listener questions focused on product management. They discuss identifying your ideal customer profile, prioritizing feature requests, and positioning against competitors. They also weigh in on how product managers should focus their time. Topics we cover:  (2:50) – Is your ideal customer always your highest paying one? (8:11) – Finding just one ICP can be difficult (14:56) – How do you prioritize feature requests? (19:24) – Product management is art and science (26:02) – Competing with competitors on value, not price (32:21) – How should product managers focus their time? (37:20) – How do PMs manage roadmaps and user feedback? Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed MicroConf Mastermind Applications close March 31st MicroConf Growth Retreat The SaaS Playbook Brendan Fortune | LinkedIn Customer.io Episode 756 | Why Great Product Management Is Critical for Your Startup Product Flywheel + Pricing + Org Strategy (Miro) Savio If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you achieve both success and longevity in SaaS? In episode 766, Rob chats with Steli Efti about growing Close.com to over $40 million in ARR. Steli shares insights into the importance of maintaining strong co-founder relationships over 12 years, navigating crises, and the importance of emotional resilience in entrepreneurship. They also dive into Close's recent pricing shift to introduce a lower entry-level plan. Topics we cover:  (2:08) – Reflecting on 12 years of SaaS at Close (3:50) – Strong co-founder relationships (11:24) – Longevity and consistently showing up (20:23) – Surviving moments of crisis (29:27) – Launching a more affordable pricing tier (34:40) – Getting back into the content game Links from the Show:  Exit Strategy by Sherry Walling, PhD & Rob Walling Close Close Sales Guides Episode 498 | Selling During a Pandemic with Steli Efti The 0 to $30 Million Blueprint Steli Efti (@Steli) | X Steli Efti | LinkedIn If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Is it time to shut down for good?  In this season finale of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling sits down with Colleen Schnettler, founder of Hello Query, to reflect on her journey over the past few years. Colleen candidly shares the challenges she faced while trying to grow her SaaS business, including the difficult decision to shut it down after struggling to find traction. Moving past a painful part in her founder journey, Colleen is excited about her new venture where she’s already seeing early success. Join us for this honest look into the final days of Hello Query and to hear Colleen's resilience in the startup world. Topics we cover:  (1:07) – Difficulty in finding and onboarding customers (5:32) – Why didn’t it work?  (9:29) – How did the co-founder split affect the business? (13:11) – Founder regrets (18:49) – Reflecting on the decision (22:38) – Anything that you would have done differently? (25:21) – Moving forward to founder coaching and marketing Links from the Show:  Join the TinySeed Mailing List Apply for TinySeed SaaS Marketing Gym Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Hello Query The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

How do you build an MVP for an AI-enabled SaaS?  In episode 764, Rob Walling interviews Jordan Gal, co-founder of Rosie, to learn about how he pivoted from Rally to build an AI-driven product for small business owners. Jordan shares insights into the challenges of finding product-market fit, the importance of trial and error, and the rapid growth Rosie has experienced since its launch. They delve into the significance of effective onboarding, and how building an MVP changes in the face of AI.  Topics we cover:  (2:38) – From CartHook to Rally to Rosie (6:28) – Deciding to pivot and feeling product-market fit (12:55) – Coming up with a feature set (16:50) – Building an MVP quickly (19:29) – Competition when developing with AI  (24:52) – Removing features and flexibility in software (29:59) – Incredibly fast onboarding (33:22) – Balancing a “better business” with a “faster business” Links from the Show:  Applications for MicroConf Mastermind Matching are Open through March 31st SaaS Institute Rosie Jordan Gal (@JordanGal) | X Rosie (@heyrosieai) | X Episode 549 | Hiring vs. Outsourcing, E-commerce SaaS, and More Listener Questions with Jordan Gal If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Is it time to set a deadline for when to quit your startup? In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling reconnects with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she tries to achieve product-market fit on a deadline. Colleen reveals the struggles of cold outreach and the overwhelming data landscape while testing a potential solution. With a clearer vision and two paying customers, she reflects on the importance of defining her value proposition, and the critical timeline she has set for herself to gain traction before her runway ends. Topics we cover:  (1:43) – Debating becoming a data aggregator  (6:30) – Finding a new direction (8:21) – Running out of runway (10:39) – When is it time to quit? Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad Quit by Annie Duke TinySeed Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Hello Query If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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

Are public deadlines a double-edged sword for startup founders? In episode 762, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers several topics. Rob breaks down Paul Graham's essay, "Doing Great Work" and focuses on how the steps apply to building real businesses for real customers. He also discusses the hierarchy of skills necessary for success in the SaaS space, sharing his thoughts on the critical roles of marketing, product development, engineering, and effective team management. Topics we cover:  (2:07) Doing great work (5:20) Identify the gaps (11:51) The SaaS skillset hierarchy (18:28) Publicly committing to a feature release (23:05) Maintaining enough rigor to hit deadlines Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Applications are open now through March 5th How to Do Great Work by Paul Graham Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling Episode 756 | Why Great Product Management Is Critical for Your Startup If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she discusses finding customer pain points. Colleen, now solo, navigates the challenge of refining her product vision. After a period of introspection, Colleen shares her decision to pivot from targeting engineering managers to focusing on marketing data analysts. She discusses the insights gained from hiring a marketing coach and the excitement of landing her first paying customer, despite some critical feedback on her product's UI. Topics we cover:  (1:50) – Early product excitement fizzles out (5:14) – When is it time to move on from an idea? (8:57) – Helping marketers build better reports (13:03) – Setting early pricing (14:02) – Determining how much to polish an MVP (17:36) – Predicting what’s ahead Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute TinySeed Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Hello Query If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 760, join Rob Walling as he takes on some listener questions in another solo adventure. He offers insights on balancing custom-built solutions versus white-labeled components, and the impact white labeling has on company valuation and growth. He also discusses strategic hiring, founder mindsets, and tools for tracking your SaaS success. Topics we cover:  (2:30) – Considerations when white-labeling within your SaaS (9:03) – Does relying on other SaaS affect our valuation? (10:10) – Tools for tracking SaaS metrics to enable scaling (17:03) – Do founder mindsets change at MRR milestones? (21:34) – Mistakes founders make in their mindset (25:27) – Forcing an onboarding step (27:29) – Determining team composition Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad The SaaS Playbook Episode 735 | The 8 Levels of SaaS Platform Risk (A Rob Solo Adventure) Invest in TinySeed Episode 685 | 7 Things You Should Never Do (A Rob Solo Adventure) Episode 722 | Bootstrapping a Vertical SaaS to 7-Figures in 18 Months If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling speaks with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she shares her latest startup journey pivot. After reigniting her “shipping muscle” while briefly dabbling in an AI-based project, Colleen refocuses on her newest pivot of Hello Query. She shares the challenges of determining the market viability of an AI-assisted SQL report builder. She stands at a crossroads, torn between catering to internal BI teams or exploring marketing analytics. Topics we cover:  (1:25) – Reflecting on the co-founder breakup (2:42) – Trying a scratch-your-own-itch project (6:27) – Unfair advantages inform another pivot (15:07) – Respecting the “emotional runway”   (19:23) – Marketing insights vs. an internal BI tool (23:01) – The curse of the audience Links from the Show:  Applications for TinySeed are Open Through Feb 23rd Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Hello Query If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 758, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer to tackle a variety of listener questions. They discuss strategies for entering a market with established competitors, including how to position your product without directly attacking rivals. They also reflect on the challenges of free trials, weighing the pros and cons of extending trial periods versus incentivizing onboarding. Episode Sponsor: Most marketing agencies promise growth but never move the needle. But Corey Haines and the team at Conversion Factory? They know how to deliver results.  Derrick Reimer said that "Under Corey's marketing leadership, SavvyCal broke into the market with a successful launch and steadily grew to several thousand customers." And Eunice Koo of Less Annoying CRM said that their “first A/B test with Conversion Factory, delivered a 20% increase in visitor to trial conversions within the first two months.” Imagine having a senior copywriter, designer, and web developer at your disposal to turn every marketing idea into a reality. Head to conversionfactory.co and mention this podcast when you book a call for $1,000 off your first month.  Topics we cover:  (1:18) – How to launch a SaaS product in a market with an established competitor (6:21) – Do I call out competitors by name? (14:24) – How do you really identify what moves the needle in your Saas? (19:59) – Breaking down the “one thing” (23:32) – Selling and marketing SaaS before building (30:36) – What is the goal of your free trial? (39:10) – On the fence between B2B, B2C Links from the Show:  TInySeed Applications are open until Feb 23rd Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer.com) | Bluesky SavvyCal 757 | TinySeed Tales s4e5: Founder Breakups, Crushing Failures, and the Future TinySeed MicroConf Connect SaaS Institute Start Marketing The Day You Start Coding 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 & Review: iTunes |

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling chats with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she navigates the complexities of her startup journey.  After a challenging period with her co-founder Aaron, Colleen reflects on their decision to part ways and the emotional toll it has taken on her. She shares her feelings of crushing failure, the uncertainty of moving forward alone, and the realization that their initial product vision may not align with market needs.  Topics we cover:  (0:49) – Colleen and Aaron make a tough decision (4:09) – Voice memo, “Crushing Failure” (7:59) – What if you hadn’t raised money? (11:44)  – Colleen weighs her remaining options Links from the Show:  Applications for TinySeed are Open Through Feb 23rd Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Hello Query If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 756, Rob Walling interviews Brendan Fortune, Director of Product Management at Customer.io, to explore the skills and frameworks for effective product management. Brendan shares his journey and discusses the importance of understanding customer behavior to drive product decisions. They delve into the concept of the flywheel and how it can be leveraged to enhance user success and optimize pricing strategies. Topics we cover:  (2:46) – What does a product manager do? (10:36) – When should a SaaS company designate a full time product manager? (15:33) – Pricing and and creating a flywheel (22:41) – Deciding on your “fair” value metric (30:01) – Pricing experimentation in the early days Links from the Show:  Applications for TinySeed Spring 2025 are Open! Invest in TinySeed Ask a product question on Startups For the Rest of Us Brendan Fortune | LinkedIn Customer.io Product Flywheel + Pricing + Org Strategy (Miro) Your Pricing is WRONG (even Sam Altman Made This Mistake) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she shares the latest developments in her startup journey.  Colleen shares the insights gained from recent customer interviews that led to a significant pivot in their product strategy. Hello Query is now focused on embedding custom reporting features within other SaaS applications and Colleen reflects on balancing product quality with minimal v1 features. Her excitement is building to get their solution into users' hands. Topics we cover:  (1:32) – Digging into customer interviews (3:54) – Filtering out the noise to achieve confidence (5:31) – Other competitors in the space (8:53) – How Colleen prepares for and sources customer conversations (12:11) – Is the technical implementation coming along? Links from the Show:  Invest in TinySeed Episode 748 | The Ins and Outs of Startup Investing Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Hello Query If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 754, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he tackles listener questions on a variety of topics. He discusses strategies for converting free users to paid customers, the implications of AI advancements on the SaaS landscape, and how to navigate platform risks when larger players enter your market. Rob also shares insights on breaking through growth plateaus. Topics we cover:  (3:12) – When in doubt, don’t try freemium (6:44) – Different levers you can pull to make freemium work (8:53) – How will SaaS be affected by the exponential growth of AI? (14:09) – Big players launching features is a form of platform risk (17:24) – Should I spin out a portion of my product into a new product? (20:05) – Thinking through plateaus in your business growth Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Applications are open through Feb 5th Ask a Question on Startups For the Rest of Us TinySeed Episode 663 | 5 Insights SaaS Founders Should Know About A.I. (Ignore at Your Peril) Episode 735 | The 8 Levels of SaaS Platform Risk (A Rob Solo Adventure) 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling reconnects with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hammerstone, as she shares the latest developments in their startup journey. Colleen opens up about the emotional challenges of co-founder conflicts with Aaron, highlighting the importance of communication and alignment in their partnership. They also discuss the significant pivot from their initial product offering to the newly rebranded Hello Query, a SaaS solution focused on internal reporting for teams. Topics we cover:  (0:59) – Breaking up with a co-founder (7:39) – How could this conversation have been different? (9:49) – Navigating a major pivot (14:37) – Changing the name (16:56) – Getting closer to finding product-market-fit (19:39) – Competing in a competitive market Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute TinySeed Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Aaron Francis (@aarondfrancis) | X Aaron Francis (@aaronfrancis.com) | Bluesky MicroConf Recap, Episode 59 – The Hammerstone Podcast Hello Query If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 752, Rob Walling interviews Lars Lofgren to discuss the current state of SEO. Lars shares insights on how SEO has drastically changed, especially with the rise of AI and the volatility brought on by Google’s evolving algorithm. They cover the challenges of ranking for terms, the impact of AI content, and the rise of "parasite SEO."  Topics we cover:  (2:16) – SEO traffic that generates $7.2M annual revenue (4:54) – Changes in Google’s algorithm (9:46) – How to approach SEO as a bootstrapper (15:45) – SEO has changed considerably (19:48) – AI and SEO (25:54) – The advent of AI Overviews (31:19) – Parasite SEO and the importance of brands Links from the Show:  Get Your Tickets for MicroConf US by Jan 31st Larslofgren.com Lars Lofgren (@LarsLofgren) | X Lars Lofgren at MicroConf TinySeed.com 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling catches up with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hammerstone, about the progress her team has made since their initial check-in.  Colleen describes the tough decision to focus on one product stack, and their recent pivot toward building a reporting MVP. They also discuss Colleen’s shift into a more managerial role. Topics we cover:  (2:10) – Motivations behind building additional functionality (7:07) – Repositioning the reporting dashboard (10:08) – Focusing in on the successful part of the product (14:30) – How shifting focus affects the team dynamic (16:19) – ”Hiring is horrible” (22:20) – What has management been like? (26:11) – Growing as a manager Links from the Show:  Invest with TinySeed Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Refine by Hammerstone Hello Query Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell  Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, Tahl Raz If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 750, Rob Walling is joined by Laura Roeder, founder of Paperbell, to answer intermediate listener questions. They discuss making your first hire with limited funds, testing pricing models with existing customer bases, and more. Laura also provides some great advice on content marketing, drawing from her past experience at MeetEdgar. Topics we cover:  (3:14) – Building a team before you can afford your first, full time hire (11:11) – Testing pricing with existing customer bases (19:00) – What type of content should you focus on? (25:20) – Growing a pipeline of leads with limited resources (31:00) – Who are your 100 best customers? Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute TinySeed TinySeed Tales is Back: S4E1 Lauraroeder.com Laura Roeder (@lauraroeder.bsky.social) | Bluesky Paperbell Episode 473 | Managing Annual Subscriptions, Low-price vs. High, Being a Non-Developer Founder, and More Listener Questions with Laura Roeder Exactly How I Cold Emailed My Way to A Life-Changing Exit (And You Can Too) by Laura Roeder The SaaS Playbook Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell If I Started SaaS in 2024, Here’s My B2B Content Strategy for $1M ARR 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Welcome to Season 4 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the founders of one SaaS startup throughout a few years as they share their struggles, victories, and failures. In the first episode of Season 4, Rob introduces us to Colleen Schnettler, the cofounder of Hammerstone. Colleen is a self-taught Rails developer, and this season will follow how Hammerstone eventually becomes Hello Query – an AI-powered chatbot that runs custom reporting on your data. Colleen is one of 27 startup founders from TinySeed’s Fall 2022 accelerator batch. Topics we cover:  (2:16) – TinySeed Tales Season 4 with Colleen Schnettler (3:57) – Custom reporting in Laravel and Rails (7:05) – Becoming an “atypical founder” (14:11) – Entrepreneurship as a military spouse (16:17) – Motivations for joining TinySeed (19:15) – A recent low point, and high point in the business (25:00) – Big plans and risky moves ahead Links from the Show:  TinySeed Applications open on February 10th Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky Refine by Hammerstone Hello Query Software Social Podcast TinySeed Tales | Season 1 | Castos TinySeed Tales | Season 2 | Gather TinySeed Tales | Season 3 | 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 748, Rob Walling sits down with Einar Vollset, co-founder of TinySeed, to discuss the ins and outs of startup investing. They explore the differences between VC and angel investing, the importance of deal flow, and the challenges of valuation. Rob and Einar also highlight how TinySeed’s approach differs from traditional VC, including their focus on capital efficiency and why it’s been working for ambitious B2B SaaS companies. Topics we cover:  (2:37) – The stigma of bootstrapper funding is waning (6:44) – What success looks like in venture funding (10:45) – Breaking down the math and deal flow (17:54) – How valuations work (26:21) – Keeping optionality (29:58) – Evaluating markups (35:18) – Raising TinySeed’s next fund Links from the Show:  MicroConf Connect Applications open until January 15th TinySeed Invest with TinySeed Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Episode 744 | Bluesky, TinySeed is Raising, YC Backs Competitors, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics Discretion Capital How To Invest In Startups by Sam Altman If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 747, Rob Walling interviews Jane Portman, co-founder of Userlist, to discuss the evolution of their SaaS customer success strategy. Jane shares the four stages of Userlist’s customer success journey, from the early days of trial and error to implementing done-for-you services. They also discuss the challenges of customer onboarding for complex products. Topics we cover:  (2:20) – How customer success works at Userlist (5:27) – Dealing with upfront onboarding friction  (9:51) – Stage 1, “young and naive” (12:16) – Stage 2, “hire someone” (19:06) – Stage 3, “done for you services” (25:47) – Leveraging the Userlist blog (29:26) – Stage 4, “developing your own frameworks” Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute TinySeed Jane Portman (@uibreakfast) | X Jane Portman (@uibreakfast.com) | Bluesky Userlist Episode 471 | Fighting to Gain Traction in a Crowded Space with Jane Portman of Userlist Episode 742 | Normalizing Hard Things, Facing Your Biggest Threat, and Making it Fast (A Rob Solo Adventure) Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore Userlist Closes a Pre-Seed Round with 21 Angel Investors SaaS Email Marketing Strategy: Everything You Need to Know 20+ “Invite Your Team” Email Examples Atomic Emails: Our Proven Method for Writing Email Campaigns If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 746, Rob Walling looks ahead to 2025 with nine startup predictions, exploring trends in no-code tools, search, autonomous vehicles, AI, and an increase in platform risk for bootstrapped founders. Topics we cover:  (1:52) – Carrying forward predictions from 2024 (3:09) – Search volume for Google organic SEO  (6:34) – Ads in AI interfaces (7:50) – Google’s revenue drops, bootstrapper opportunities (10:07) – “AI” use in  H1’s  (14:01) – Self-driving taxis (19:28) – Platform risk intensifies Links from the Show:  Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024 Episode 725 | SEO in the Age of AI, Freemium, When Brand Becomes Important, and More Advanced Listener Questions (with Ruben Gamez) LINKLO TinySeed Episode 735 | The 8 Levels of SaaS Platform Risk (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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 745, Rob Walling goes solo to reflect on 2024. He revisits key concepts and frameworks introduced on the podcast, including the 2-20-200 Validation Framework, Orthogonal SaaS, and the eight levels of platform risk. Rob also looks back at his top five favorite episodes and reviews his predictions for the year—some of which came to pass, and others that didn’t. Topics we cover:  (2:05) – Looking back at concepts and frameworks from past 12 months (8:50) – Rob’s 5 favorite episodes (11:56) – Reflecting on 2024 accomplishments (19:47) – TinySeed Tales Returns in 2025 (21:18) – Evaluating 2024 predictions Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad – Start Free with “The DNA of a Great SaaS Idea” MicroConf YouTube Channel Episode 706 | 2/20/200 Validation, Prior Art, and Designing by Committee (A Rob Solo Adventure) TinySeed Vertical SaaS vs Horizontal SaaS - Which is More Profitable? Episode 735 | The 8 Levels of SaaS Platform Risk (A Rob Solo Adventure) The SaaS Playbook Episode 728 | Bootstrapping Gymdesk to a More Than $32.5M Exit Episode 706.5 | Rethinking My Most Common Advice Episode 729 | 9 Things I’ve Learned Investing in 170+ SaaS Companies Episode 709 | The 7 Greatest Investments of My Life Episode 694 | 2023 In Review: Amazing Growth & Fighting Burnout How Ben Chestnut Bootstrapped Mailchimp to a $12 Billion Exit MicroConf New Orleans 2025 Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret TinySeed Tales

In episode 744, Rob Walling is joined by Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset to give their hot takes on some recent news. They cover the recent rise of Bluesky, kicking off a 4-figure bet between Tracy and Einar. Then they discuss TinySeed’s third fund, YC Combinator backing competitors, dealing with imposter syndrome, and finally government involvement in banning social media. Topics we cover:  (1:49) – Will Bluesky survive and thrive? (9:07) – The bet on Bluesky growth (13:46) – TinySeed is raising a third fund (17:25) – Y Combinator backs duplicates (22:18) – Dealing with Imposter Syndrome (27:46) – Australia's social media ban Links from the Show:  The SaaS Launchpad – Start Free with “The DNA of a Great SaaS Idea” Invest in TinySeed Rob Walling (@robwalling.com) | Bluesky TinySeed (@tinyseed.com) | Bluesky Tracy Osborn (tracymakes) (@tracyosborn.com) | Bluesky Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X Y Combinator often backs startups that duplicate other YC companies, data shows Procrastination and the Fear of Not Being 'Good Enough' by Swapnil Chauhan Startup Founders, Do THIS to Beat Imposter Syndrome Australia proposes 'world-leading' ban on social media for children under 16 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 743, Rob Walling and Dr. Sherry Walling read the first chapter of their new book, Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Selling Your Company Without Regret. They discuss the emotional and psychological challenges of selling a business, and why it’s often harder than founders expect. They offer insights on how to prepare for a sale, protect your mental health, and how to best navigate this major life change that few others understand. Back the book on Kickstarter 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:  (1:49) – Exit Strategy Introduction (6:56) – Exits are complicated (11:16) – One of the hardest things you’ll ever do (15:57) – Your business is your baby  (18:35) – Entering the unknown (26:49) – Six factors that shape how you feel about an exit (31:03) – Making it real Links from the Show:  Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret Back the book on Kickstarter MicroConf Connect Applications Close Today, December 10th Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Dr. Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X The SaaS Playbook Built to Sell by John Warrillow Touching Two Worlds by Dr. Sherry Walling The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together by Sherry Walling, PhD, Rob Walling If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your quest...

In episode 742, Rob Walling goes solo to explore normalizing doing hard things and facing your biggest threats. He also discusses a framework for founders looking to scale without cutting corners – making things work, making them right, and then making them fast. Exit Strategy Kickstarter ends on December 12! Topics we cover:  (2:39) – Normalizing doing hard things (6:54) – The “hard things” in your startup (10:27) – Walking into the storm (16:21) – ”Make it work, make it right, make it fast” (22:04) – Building your “Founder Gut” (25:42) – Think in years, not months Links from the Show:  Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret MicroConf Masterminds Applications Close on December 4th Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Dr. Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X The Comic Lab Podcast The SaaS Playbook The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping This Took 11 Years to Be An "Overnight Success" - SaaS Exit Strategy If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 741, Rob Walling talks to Wes Bush, CEO and Founder of ProductLed, about the nuances and misconceptions of product-led growth. Wes debunks common myths and explains how companies can leverage their product to drive user acquisition, engagement, and growth. They dive into a real-world example and explore how founders can avoid the trap of thinking the product will “sell itself” while contrasting PLG and sales-led strategies. 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:  (2:01) – Defining product-led growth (6:07) – Are users able to get value for free?  (11:38) – Hybrid: both product-led and sales-led (14:52) – Determining the main outcome of your free model (19:23) – Misuse of the PLG terminology (22:00) – The benefits of PLG over sales-led growth (24:08) – Workshopping SavvyCal’s product-led strategy Links from the Show:  Mastermind Applications are open until December 4th Wes Bush (@wes_bush) | X ProductLed (@productled) | X ProductLed Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself by Wes Bush The Product-Led Playbook: How to Unlock Self-Serve Revenue and Dominate Your Market (With a Tiny Team) by Wes Bush Free Audiobook of The Product-Led Playbook Product-Led Onboarding by Ramli John TinySeed SparkToro SavvyCal If you have questions about starting or scaling a software 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 740, Rob Walling speaks with Dr. Sherry Walling about their new book, "Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret." They explore the emotional, psychological, and practical aspects of selling a business, emphasizing the universal challenges entrepreneurs face. The book draws on both Rob and Sherry’s unique experiences that they’ve shared with countless founders throughout their careers. Exit Strategy is now live on Kickstarter! Topics we cover:  2:01 – Not just a book for those selling SaaS 8:13 – The Kickstarter for the book is live today 12:16 – Before, during, and after the exit 14:55 – Why exiting is so hard 20:39 – Life after the exit 25:10 – A few traps await founders shortly after exit 26:24 – What do you do with a big pile of money? Links from the Show:  MicroConf Remote Goes Live November 20th! Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret Rob Walling (@robwalling) | X Dr. Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X Zen Founder Zen Founder Podcast The SaaS Playbook The Art of Selling Your Business by John Warrillow Before the Exit by Dan Andrews  Finish Big by Bo Burlingham MicroConf TinySeed Touching Two Worlds by 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 739, Rob Walling interviews Andy Kim, co-founder of Trotto, about his unique journey into SaaS. Andy shares how “go links” work, and why they are so valuable for internal, enterprise use despite their relative obscurity. They also explore the marketing hurdles and customer adoption challenges in a business like Trotto. 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:  3:13 – Go links, URL shorteners for enterprise 6:14 – History of the problem and core users 9:44 – Customer education and growth opportunities 15:37 – Finding the repeatable marketing funnel 21:07 – Buying into a co-founder role at Trotto 24:42 – What’s the hardest part of running Trotto? Links from the Show:  Exit Strategy: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret MicroConf Masterminds - Applications close on December 4th, 2024 Trot.to Trotto go links (@TrottoHQ) | X TinySeed How did go links start and evolve at Google? Quiet Light If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 738, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he answers listener questions. He explores how to target larger, enterprise deals after achieving product-market fit, and why word of mouth marketing can be great, yet is tricky to control. Rob also answers a later-stage question and cautions against trying to educate the market as a bootstrapper. Topics we cover:  1:58 – Expanding to enterprise deals after product-market fit 6:39 – Word of mouth marketing is tricky for B2B SaaS 14:36 – Educating the market as a bootstrapper 20:07 – Selling integrations through incubators and accelerators 24:38 – Developing a profit sharing model Links from the Show:  Register for MicroConf Remote before Nov. 7th for Early Bird pricing & extras Ask a Question at Startups For the Rest of Us The SaaS Playbook TinySeed Adjacency Matrix: How to expand after PMF by Jason Cohen F5Bot Syften Podscan Veed Devising a profit sharing program for micro-multinationals by Peldi Guilizzoni If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 737, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer to recap the experience from MicroConf Europe 2024 in Dubrovnik. They discuss the differences between MicroConf US and MicroConf Europe, some small programming tweaks over the years, and they revisit the highlights from the talks at this event.  If you missed the event and had some MicroConf FOMO, get your tickets now for our New Orleans event! 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:  2:47 – MicroConf Europe vs. MicroConf US 6:44 – Adding “excursions” to the programming 11:29 – From Maker to Founder to Owner to Entrepreneur with Peldi Guilizzoni    18:55 – Thinking big and small: Data-driven growth strategies to grow your business with Andrew Davies 20:45 – Contributing factors to the success of this event in particular 23:47 – 10 Lessons Learned in 10 Years of Starting, Growing, and Selling WebinarNinja with Omar Zenhom  26:40 – Bootstrapping Our Freemium Form Builder: From Zero to $1.5M ARR with Marie Martens 30:37 – 3 mistakes I won’t repeat after growing my business to +35M and selling it with Tim Vandecasteele 33:50 – Breaking Through the 7 SaaS Growth Plateaus with Rob Walling Links from the Show:  Get Tickets for MicroConf US 2025, New Orleans Signup for the MicroConf newsletter Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X SavvyCal Peldi from Balsamiq (@peldi) | X The SaaS Playbook Omar Zenhom (@TheOmarZenhom) | X Episode 717 | Bootstrapping to $1.3M ARR and 300,000 Free Users If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please

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 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 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: 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 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:  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 & 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.  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 BlogMaker

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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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-  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...

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 & 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 & 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 & 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.  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 & 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

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 – 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 & 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 & 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.  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 & 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.  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.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages & 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.  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.  They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience. Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages & 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.  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 & 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.  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 & 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 & 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.

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 & 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:  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 & 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.  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.  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.  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:  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.  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 & 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:  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.  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,  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, & 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 & 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 & 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:  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.  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 & 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:  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 & 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:  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 & 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  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.  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:  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:  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 & 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:  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 & 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.  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 & 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 & 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 & 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, & 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 & 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:  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 & 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:  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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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:  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.  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 & 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:  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 & 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:  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 & 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 & 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:  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 & 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:  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&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 & 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 & 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 & 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:  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 & 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:  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 & 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 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 & 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/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 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 & 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/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 & 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 & 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 & Secret Hacks For Exiting on Top Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide to Interviewing Customers  The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers & 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 & 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/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 & 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/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 & 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 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 & 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 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 & 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 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 & 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 If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 | 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 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 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 & 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 & 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 & 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/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 & 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 you. Subscribe & 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/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 & 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 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 | 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/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  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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In this bonus episode, we are playing back the audio from yesterday’s TinySeed Application Q&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&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/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&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 & 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 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 ProcurementExpress TinySeed Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen ​​How to Stop Giving Demos & 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 & 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 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 & 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/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 & 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 & 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/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 & 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 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 & 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. Subscribe & 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 & 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/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 & 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/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 & 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, 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 & 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/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 & 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/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 & 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/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 & 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/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 & 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.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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 have questions about starting or scaling a software 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- 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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% 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:  [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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 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. 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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/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 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

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 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 & 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-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. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business 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 | 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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/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 & 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 & 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, & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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&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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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.

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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 & 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 & 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In Episode 546, Rob Walling flies solo for a Q&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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & Insights for Stripe, Braintree, Recurly & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 & 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 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 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Join Rob as he chats with Brian & 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 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & 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

In this episode, Rob talks with the founder of SegMetrics, Keith Perhac. SegMetrics is a SaaS product that helps users get clarity on where their leads come from, how they act, and how much their marketing is worth. We dive into the difference between SegMetrics and other options for attributing sales and revenue to traffic channels. We also go through Keith's background and learn about why he shut down his million-dollar marketing agency to double down on his SaaS. The topics we cover [04:28] Where does SegMetrics fit within the analytics and attribute market? [09:35] Why build a SaaS when you are running a 7 figure agency [12:56] Dealing with a growth plateau [21:28] Shifting focus to work on SegMetrics full-time [28:05] Frugality as a bootstrapper (and how it can backfire) Links from the show SegMetrics | Twitter SegMetrics | Website Keith Perhac | 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Today's episode was recorded after the COVID-19 shelter in place orders went into effect. We talk with Brian and Scottie about how the pandemic has affected Gather as well as their life beyond the scope of their business. The topics we cover [01:10] How the pandemic has affected their lives beyond the scope of their business. Brian and Scottie live in Mexico Living in almost what feels like two worlds here. The ex-pat community is very tuned into what's happening in the US and sheltering in place [03:11] Current financial situation Our situation hasn't changed financially. I think that at the time we had hopes that we could raise some money or at least get alone. We're not even pursuing that at this point We're certainly used to bootstrapping and feeling that stress and coming up with interesting solutions to our cash problems. [05:57] High point or biggest wins since the last episode We have had a couple of requests for enterprise plans, one existing customer that has a lot of data that they need to be migrated over and they have a custom feature that they want Then a new customer who has a custom feature in data migration. It's unexpected. Feasibly you think they're going to cut back expenses, but larger deals are coming your way. The churn that we have had has been largely solo designers and smaller firms One of the things of going upmarket, the typical pattern is there price sensitive, they churn less. We've had a lot of inbound interest and a lot of them are saying things like now that we're home working remotely, we're sort of investigating better ways to work online [09:21] Impacts from the COVID-19 crisis and biggest setbacks so far Across the portfolio of companies that are part of TinySeed, there is about 15% that are having real struggles with the impact of the pandemic on the industry they serve. Another 70% are waiting to see what happens, perhaps cutting back on expenses and generally seeing a growth plateau. Then, there's the 15% of companies for whom remote work is a boon and their growth is accelerating faster than ever. Gather has had to cut their developer contract in half Big features are kind of on hold for a little while Staying focused has just been difficult [13:54] Fears and hopes for the future I think my biggest fear is that the trend that we've seen this month as being a big uptick in sales and opportunities is just a flash in the pan. In different times, we might be able to pivot if we needed to, but because of our financial situation it's going to be hard for us to pivot out of it Looking forward to seeing how these enterprise deals play out Trying to figure out ways that we could get customers to pay for some of the features that we'd like to build 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.

On this episode, Rob talks through profit sharing, stock options, and equity and makes a comparison between these various approaches. If you are thinking of ways to incentivize team members as a bootstrapper, this episode is for you. The topics we cover [04:34] Bonuses [07:52] Equity Grants [11:47] Stock Options [20:09] Profit Sharing [26:09] Which is best for your SaaS? Links from the show Trends.vc Peldi Guilizzoni's Profit-Sharing Plan Rob Walling | 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. On this episode, Brian and Scottie share with us an update on their unexpected MRR growth, the psychology of raising prices, and the difficulty of making decisions amidst a mountain of unknowns. The topics we cover 01:07] Update on MRR growth since we last spoke Had a goal to grow a thousand dollars of MRR in a single month. Trailing 30 days is like $1,006. MRR is currently $8,200. Get caught up in the day to day to actually celebrate. Is good for us to stop and recognize that we have made a lot of progress. We're still burning more cash than we're making. [03:53] Closing a large 20-person enterprise deal They did do a trial. Then they bumped up to an enterprise plan. You can have your sights set on a goal and before long you might achieve it. But that's not the end of your journey. You're onto the next hurdle. This is one of the things I've found so difficult about starting this kind of company, your to do list is never clear and things don't end until you put someone in charge of the company or you sell it. [05:47] Raising prices, again. We've even raised twice. Don't get a lot of price objections. We have had to reject our previous customer avatar. Lower prices send a bad signal to them. The psychology of pricing, both at the founder level and also at the buyer level. This is a tried and true SaaS playbook. You start at the bottom of the market because you don't have a brand and no one's heard of you and your product is really early, and you don't have the features that you need. You price yourself pretty low. You get a little bit of ttraction, use that to make a better product. You'll find your positioning. You learn more about the market, and then you just go up, up, up from there. Lower price points, higher churn. A lot of people don't realize product market fit is not just building a product that people want and are willing to pay for. It's also having a good idea about your positioning and pricing and some idea of channels where you can reach future customers. You're making a lot of decisions quickly with incomplete information and you only know which ones work in retrospect. [12:21] Biggest wins so far and looking to the future In the beginning it felt a little bit scary and unknown when we were leaving, seeing the small teams. Biggest win: validating with these larger teams. Biggest win: we are selling into the kinds of firms that we hypothesized we could sell into. Doing these sales over the last couple of months has just taught me how to sell. [15:33] Biggest fear right now That we're going to run out of money. It's scary to see the bank account dwindle. Just figuring out how we can keep going and keep growing and even accelerate growth. How are we going to cross this bridge? Because we can see the green pastures on the other side. Navigating a world that I don't quite understand yet should be the title and subtitle and every subheading of being an entrepreneur. I'm most excited to see how we deal with this cash crunch that we're heading into. 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 wh...

Episode 518 of Startups For the Rest of Us is an experimental format where Anthony Blatner, a LinkedIn expert, live consults with John Samuelson, a B2B SaaS founder on advertising a SaaS business on LinkedIn. There's a wealth of knowledge in today's episode so if you are considering or have thought about LinkedIn ads, this episode is worth a listen. We'd love your feedback on this new format. Was it helpful? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@startupspod)! [BONUS] Download a LinkedIn campaign brief PDF developed during this episode The topics we cover [04:29] Should a B2B SaaS founder consider LinkedIn? [07:33] Scatterspoke's ideal customer profile [13:12] Ideal company size for Scatterspoke [21:16] Looking at adds other companies are running [24:43] Putting this together into a campaign [30:36] Audience size and example ads [36:19] Setting a budget for ads [22:59] Free trials on LinkedIn Links from the show Episode 517 | Married Co-founders Who Turned a Free Tool Into a Fast-Growing SaaS Product 2021 State of Independent SaaS Survey Modern Media Scatterspoke Scatterspoke,Modern Media | Twitter Scatterspoke,Modern Media | Website Anthony Blatner | 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

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On Episode 5 of TinySeed Tales, we learn about the success of their recent outbound email campaign. We also hear about their progress with raising their prices and transitioning away from Gather's solo pricing tier. The topics we cover [02:00] Checking in on the past few weeks A little bit of an emotional roller coaster We have definitely made some inroads with teams We haven't had the growth that we were hoping for Feeling a a little anxious about how it's all gonna play out. There's a time here where it's very uncertain because you're kind of leaving the solo practitioners behind, but you haven't quite reached product market fit. There's also a little bit of insecurity with the product It's a huge mind shift all together selling into these teams We were hoping for more of a spike and it's just been this slow, steady growth, which is not bad. It's growing as usual, but that's not helpful when you had to take all this risk [05:51] Patience can be dangerous Going forward Gather will be dropping their solar plan altogether. Half of their signups in the last month have come from their new cold email outreach campaign that's focused on larger teams. Had success from a customer development standpoint early on in the product before we ever even built anything. Brian was emailing tons of people and talking to them as much as I could We actually had quite a bit of traffic last month but the conversion rate was half what we usually have, so it just speaks to the fact that we aren't speaking to the right people right now. [07:31] Yet another pricing increase Currently they offer a tier at $99 a month and one at $159 a month, as well as a custom enterprise plan. That's way up from $39 a month, which was their lowest price plan when they joined TinySeed. My feeling is that price is not really an objection when we're selling to new people It'll be interesting to see, you know, if we do start getting price objections from at least the solo people, we kind of predict that we will. Next month we're planning on doing another potentially really big price jump. Raising prices is increasing the speed of learning and if it works, although it's a big gamble, the payoff is pretty In order to keep this up, like we would eventually need to hire some sales reps and some account executive types. But when we move into this double triple price thing, you know, like into the, let's say $250 average revenue per customer, Then the whole model shifts and changes and it looks way more interesting. [15:19] High points from last week We did have to literally within five minutes of each other team annual signups. Both of them were from our cold email outreach and they had both had demos and that felt really good We had an existing customer that's requested pricing for 20 teammates, so we provided a custom quote for them. But if they do decide to go ahead and sign on that, that will become our single largest customer, both in number of users in revenue as well. Links from the show Gather | Website Brian Elliott | Twitter

We're joined in this episode by the founding team of Scatterspoke, John Samuelson and Colleen Johnson. What started as a lark to learn new technology has now turned into a successful business with more than $12k MRR. In this episode, we learn how they turned a side project into a successful fulltime business. The topics we cover [02:09] The launch story behind Scatterspoke [10:02] Shifting to enterprise customers [16:17] The toll of working fulltime while trying to bootstrap Scatterspoke [18:01] Hiring out for development [26:00] Free plan and raising prices Links from the show Scatterspoke | Twitter Scatterspoke | Website Colleen Johnson | Twitter

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Today we're going to dive into the stress that comes with entrepreneurship and how it shows up in their personal lives. Moving up from one customer segment to another is hard. Each customer segment is like an Island with a body of water between them. They're crossing that body of water from servicing one and two-person teams to serving larger architecture firms with 20 person teams. We hear how they are managing this difficult and stressful moment both as co-founders and as married partners. The topics we cover [01:40] Leveraging testimonials when moving upmarket It's an approach you should explore as early as possible when trying to move into a new segment of the market One of the reasons why trials are kind of a little bit lower this month is because some of the traffic that we've been getting is probably more geared towards the residential side and they're seeing this new messaging. You have two islands and a body of water in between them and its messaging and sales process and pricing and positioning and all that around going after one person, two-person teams versus a 10 person team and those are the two different islands. [06:09] Cold email experiments to attract larger teams Averaging 12-15 demos per week (initial goal was to get to 10) Finding one repeatable channel at this stage is huge Cold email has been the channel that has worked the best for Brian & Scottie Most businesses that start B2C end up transitioning to B2B and end up raising prices. Means less churn, fewer flakes for demos, better conversion.' Demo to trial isn't as high as they'd like it to be. One reason for this could be due to the longer sales process [11:27] Cashflow management We had a really good month last month -- the best month we've ever had. The biggest stress is just around the channels that we're investing in and wondering if they are going to perform like we want them to. These are challenges with going upmarket. First, you have to figure out if you have product-market fit with teams. Then you have to find a channel or two that work. If the channel works, do the people stick around and can you find enough people who sign up and stick around? Can you find them fast enough with the channels you have such that you don't run out of cash At the current burn rate we have about 6 months cash in the bank If pushed, would consider debt-equity or debt financing as a fallback option Founders do all sorts of things to maintain their runway, including credit card debt, personal loans, raising funding, even borrowing from their 401k. But with each of these, you have to weigh the risks to the business, as well as your personal financial situation. [18:09] Dealing with stress as entrepreneurs and a married couple The situation causes us to feel a little bit on edge and we have no one else to take it out on. Now we're being much more conscious of our personal spending ad so I think that has also manifested itself just a little bit in some additional stress because we're really tracking all of our expenses really tightly and we're making sure that we don't spend foolishly. No silver bullet for stress, but certainly meditation, exercise, and being aware that you are stressed. Even though there is this sort of stress and there's sort of some existential risks to this experiment that we're running, it also feels aligned with where we want to go as a family and as an exit plan from work life at some point. Links from the show

Matt Wensing returns for his third appearance on the podcast. He is the founder of Summit and was in TinySeed Batch 1. We dive into Matt's decision-making process for re-writing the entire codebase. We talk about choosing the right features to build, talking to your customers, starting with a blank slate vs templates, and much more. The topics we cover [06:48] How to handle customers that are not engaging [11:35] Figuring out the right features to build [19:24] Making the decision to re-write the codebase [31:27] The value of forecasting [33:18] Designing a sparse SaaS homepage Links from the show Out of Beta Things You Should Never Do, Part I Episode 450 | Founder Hotseat: Matt Wensing of SimSaaS on Making Consistent, Needle-Moving Progress Episode 491 | Hard Lessons Learned, Reaching High-Touch Prospects, Finding Advisors, and More Listener Questions Episode 489 | 15 Years to a SaaS Exit (Plus Why Forecasting is Crucial) Summit | Twitter Summit | Website Matt Wensing | 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. Today, Rob chats with Brian & Scottie about their new hires, setting ambitious revenue goals, and managing stress and anxiety as entrepreneurs. The topics we cover [01:01] Update on hiring, new sales, and more Hired a VA Hired an industry expert to help with marketing/copywriting Scottie & Brian now focused on documenting the processes Had their first "team plan" subscription One thing you'll notice as an entrepreneur is that when you start to expand your team beyond just the founders, new hires, propel you to get more organized, creating standard operating procedures like Brian & Scottie are now doing is a big step towards cementing the continuity and value of the business. [03:18] Attending the TinySeed retreat and setting ambitious revenue goals Brian and Scottie attended their first in-person retreat for their TinySeed batch Setting batch goals are less of a punitive thing and more of a "let's do this together and let's be ambitious together" Once we started talking about specific numbers, it forces you to reevaluate how you are thinking about pricing There are a number of levers that we have at our discretion to pull. That number gave us, like, it allowed me to think about the numbers that mattered the most and the ones that would provide the most leverage. [13:13] Anxiety, stress, and entrepreneurs We had a pretty high churn month Because we are now starting to carve that path to that new type of customer, our features are no longer speaking to the other subset of customers The fear is that this (churn) happens every month Whether you're going upmarket, whether you're changing from one vertical to another, whether you're expanding into other verticals going from vertical to horizontal, there are all these changes you can make that are really scary while you're doing them. It's important to look a few months ahead and imagine what it will look like if it succeeds 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.

Rob is joined by Anthony Eden from DNSimple as they answer your listener questions. They cover topics ranging from tax liabilities with contractors, getting feedback on a prototype, and finding a technical cofounder. If you have questions about starting or scaling a SaaS that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for the next episode. We’d love to hear from you! The topics we cover [01:26] Tax liabilities and managing international contractors [10:45] Starting when stair stepping isn't feasible [16:38] Getting better at sales as a solo founder [24:00] Finding a sales/marketing cofounder [30:28] Getting feedback on a prototype, finding the right developer co-founder, and protecting your startup idea [40:11] Considering a technical cofounder vs hiring a developer Links from the show Episode 509 | Revisiting the Six Stages of SaaS Growth with DNSimple Intellectual Property Agreement W-8BEN Episode 498 | Selling During a Pandemic with Steli Efti The Startup Chat with Steli & Hiten Episode 507 | Making Cold Email Work in B2B SaaS Indie Hackers Activity Messenger Jobs to be Done DNSimple | Twitter DNSimple | Website Anthony Eden | 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. Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Brian & Scottie Elliott are the husband & wife co-founders of Gather, an interior design project management app. On this episode, Rob chats with Brian & Scottie about taking their product upmarket, focusing on customer success, hiring consultants and contractors, and more! The topics we cover [01:43] Check in on how this week has been going Setting things in motion with some new hires MRR now growing off the chain but feeling good about accomplishments Shifting focus from growing while also building out process MRR growth is not everything [04:50] Scottie talks about hiring Looking at three potential hires right now: lead gen, VA, and an industry expert Consultant vs contractor. A contract shows up and performs a task, a consultant is an expert in the industry Moving from task-based hires to project-based hires With Tinyseed funding now have the opportunity to do more hiring [08:59] New business processes Scottie was initially doing customer support Now realizing needing to focus on customer success to help make sure the customer is successful [10:21] Challenging sales cycles and losing an enterprise deal Had a potential enterprise deal (40-50 seats) but the contract was pulled last minute based on the price The contract eventually went to 0 and the client ghosted Scottie & Brian Losing contracts is disappointing, but they'll continue to reach out until they get a "no". Going to dig into the "why" to understand if it was pricing, or something else. Founders need to decide between learning or hiring for specific skill sets Important to have a sales process in place before handing off to an outsider Lots of institutional knowledge within a business and sales process that needs to be documented [17:57] Technical setbacks from the week They had a complicated new feature about to ship when one of their developers raised an issue that ended up setting them back nearly a week. Links from the show TinySeed Tales Season 2 Episode 1 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.

Producer Xander Castro has been working on MicroConf since 2014 and is a long-time listener of the show, but this is his first time on the podcast. On this episode, we take an inside look at MicroConf Remote from a few weeks ago and discuss what worked well, what we'll do differently next time and the difficulties of translating events from in-person to remote. The topics we cover [03:26] Turning to virtual events [07:38] Stats & production technicalities for MicroConf Remote [17:12] What worked well: pricing, timezones, and programming [30:27] Things we learned from our first MicroConf Remote Links from the show MicroConf Remote Xander Castro | 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Welcome to Season 2 of TinySeed Tales, where we follow the founders of one SaaS startup week by week through their struggles, victories, and failures. On the first episode of this series, Rob introduces us to Brian & Scottie Elliott from Gather, an interior design project management app. Show Notes 1:30 Meet the Co-Founders of Gather, Brian Elliott, and Scottie Elliott Brian and Scottie have been working on Gather since late 2014 Scottie has 20+ years in the interior design industry Brian was looking for software to build and continued to hear Scottie's frustrations with current software in the interior design industry 6:02 Gather's current Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and why Brian & Scottie decided to join TinySeed MRR is $5,600 with 8% growth They were compelled by the three components of TinySeed (funding, mentorship, community) As opposed to mastermind groups, everyone in TinySeed is serious about their business They hadn't considered angel funding -- never felt like the right move. They wanted to continue to have control over their lifestyle. Meeting with venture capitalists tends to make you want to raise venture capital Bootstrapping doesn't have to be binary: either lifestyle or a moonshot startup. There is a third option between bootstrapping and moonshots, but the third option doesn't preclude taking funding. 13:36 Do Brian & Scottie still feel like they are bootstrappers after taking funding? All decisions are prioritized and based on being cost-effective They're still protecting the downside risk Going to continue to geo-arbitrage, and hire developers from developing countries 15:44 Biggest win of the week Last week nearly doubled prices and had 2-3 new signups at that level. Good validation. Raising prices is always a scary thing because you don't know what it's going to break When they raised their prices, they grandfathered existing customers. They want to reward their first customers for being early adopters Churn can often, over time, take care of grandfathered customers They over-index on relationships with users 19:54 Setback from the week A majority of the trial signups would disappear without much activity on the product Considering picking up the phone to call users to see why they didn't do anything on the product, but they also want to be respectful of the user's time. Improve the quality of leads at top of the funnel to possibly help with trial signup engagement with the product Often times, under the water for most startups, founders are kicking like a duck. Brian is the optimist & Scottie balances things out. So far, they've learned so much from building Gather that they will be happy with the outcome.

On today's episode of Startups For The Rest of Us, Rob Walling (@robwalling) talks with David Newell (@davidsnewell), a Senior Advisor at Quiet Light Brokerage, about the dos and dont's of SaaS valuations. The topics we cover 4:12 Running your business as if it were a sellable asset 5:15 Quiet Light deal count and other stats 8:53 SaaS valuations today and how SDE valuations work 17:50 How revenue valuations work 21:19 David Newell shares stories of dos and donts of valuations 29:52 What do the best buyers do? Links from the show ProfitWell ChartMogul Baremetrics Quiet Light Summit Resources for Buying and Selling Online Businesses How can I support the 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Join us for a Rob Solo Adventure version of Startups for The Rest of Us as Rob Walling talks about the power of optionality.  He explores the importance of having different paths and avoiding backing yourself into a corner and being constrained when making important life decisions. The topics we cover 1:27 The story of Gary Gygax and Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) 6:56 The Entrepreneurmobile 13:00 How to keep your options open 17:33 DotNetInvoice and fake reduction of options Links from the show Tactical Studies Rules Gary Gygax Factoring The Entrepreneurmobile Episode 510 | The Story of Startups.com Episode 496 | The Press Covers Exceptions, Don’t Compare Yourself to Slack or Zoom How can I support the 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Show Notes On today's episode, Rob chats with Mike Ritchie about how they got their first paying customer in 30 days of launch, listening to your customers, and doing a massive pricing revamp. SeekWell is looking for a freelance SEO marketer to help grow the top of their funnel. If you have experience in analytics and B2B SaaS marketing, please email Mike at mike@seekwell.io The topics we cover 2:35 How Mike Ritchie and his co-founder, Thabo Fisher of Seekwell discovered the need for their product 5:57 Deciding to not go down the venture capital path 8:08 Seekwell's typical customer profile 10:01 Getting the first paying customer within 30 days 14:26 Rewriting Seekwell's codebase and doubling down on what customer's love. 16:40 Applying for TinySeed 20:03 Raising prices and adjusting Seekwell's value metric 25:53 Examples of creative use cases for Seekwell 29:02 Since Seekwell launched, have there been any low points? Links from the show Seekwell Seekwell on Twitter Mike Ritchie on Twitter How can I support the 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

On today's episode, Rob chats Wil Schroter about the story behind Startups.com, the importance of output vs. hours, being specific about the kind of things you don't want to do in life, choosing venture capital, and much more. The topics we cover 2:43 How soon after first acquisition did Wil Schroter, CEO and founder of Startups.com, want to start the next thing? 5:42 Wil on building an incubator in the early days 8:55 History behind swapalease.com 11:22 On choosing if and when to take on venture funding and the origins for Startups.com 14:19 What is Startups.com and how much revenue does it generate? 19:41 Why Wil manages so many aspects of the business 23:41 The hardest part of building Startups.com 29:58 Wil's thought process on acquiring companies Links from the show Startups.com The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well) | Episode 486 Swapalease.com Virtucon Ventures Clarity.FM Launchrock.com Zirtual.com How can I support the 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Show Notes Today, we have a conversation between Rob and Anthony Eden from DNSimple as they revisit the six stages of SaaS growth starting with pre-launch and pre product-market fit to scaling and company building. Be sure to listen in until the end of the podcast as they talk about what lies beyond company building, the sixth stage of SaaS growth. The topics we cover 5:10 Stage 1 - Prelaunch 10:08 Stage 2: Pre Product-Market Fit 13:40 Stage 3: Product Market Fit 16:38 Stage 4: Escape Velocity 21:08 Stage 5: Scale 33:48 Stage 6: Company Building (and Beyond) 38:13 DNSimple and Acquisition Offers Links from the show MicroConf Remote MicroConf On Air: Connect Founder Spotlight with Anthony Eden Episode 35: When Co-Founders Fall Apart | Zen Founder Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth – Part 1 | Startups for the Rest of Us Episode 499.5 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth – Part 2 | Startups for the Rest of Us How can I support the 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Show Notes On today's episode, Rob is joined by Asia Orangio as they answer listener questions ranging from how to find the right marketing channel, how to build a brand for your business, as well as how to decide whether to start or join a startup. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for the next episode. We'd love to hear from you! The questions we cover 3:13 Mike Lollar - How to find the right marketing channel 10:47 Cole Hooey - Feedback on freemium pricing model for an HR app 16:18 Robert Brandl - Should I invest in branding? 26:25 Etan Efrati - Decision framework for choosing whether to start or join a startup Links from the show Asia Orangio | Twitter DemandMaven.io In Demand | Podcast How to Acquire Your First 100 Customers - Asia Matos | MicroConf Talk MicroConf On Air: How to Earn Your First 100 Customers | MicroCon On Air Moz Ahref WebsiteToolTester.com Regret Minimization Framework | Jeff Bezos Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work | Book How can I support the 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 & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

In the first episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us since our 500th milestone, Rob checks in with Mike Taber about his progress with Bluetick. It's been nearly 7 weeks since Rob last checked in (Episode 494) and a lot has happened in the world since then. They talk about business trajectory amidst COVID-19, the health of the sales pipeline and unique partnership opportunities, as well as technical debt and making decisions about code optimization. What we discuss with Mike Taber 6:38 Rob and Mike reflect on what made the podcast successful 12:05 Has Bluetick seen an uptick in interest since COVID-19? 16:58 Is Mike an optimist, or a pessimist (and what would Mike's wife say)? 18:55 The highs and lows from the past few weeks 20:41 Mike on driving new prospects for Bluetick 22:38 Bluetick and unique partnership opportunities 30:47 Managing technical debt and making decisions on optimizing your code Links from the show: Mythical Man-Month | Book Mike Taber on Twitter BlueTick How can I support the podcast? If you enjoyed this episode with Mike Taber, let him know by clicking on the link below and sending him a quick shout out on Twitter: Click here to thank Mike Taber on Twitter. Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode. Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

This is a big milestone episode for Startups for the Rest of Us. Episode 500. Since the very first episode nearly a decade ago we've had more than 10 million downloads, answered more than 1,500 listener questions, and shared more than 292 hours of startup content. Over the years, this podcast has developed a particular lens through which we view building and growing startups. We've focused on: Maintaining freedom, purpose, and relationships throughout the journey Diving deep into topics relating to building and growing startups, using an ambitious yet sane approach. Thinking in years, not months Not talking about the typical Silicon Valley startups (where fundraising is a goal in and of itself) Building real companies with real customers who pay us real money Not sacrificing our health or our relationships As we look to 1,000 episodes and beyond, we decided to highlight the stories from the community as they share how the past 500 episodes have made an impact on their path to starting and growing successful (and sane) startups. The cache of stories, lessons, real heartfelt moments are what really keep me coming back to Startups for the Rest of Us and why I recommend it to so many people. It's not just one particular episode or one particular lesson, it's the complete story arc of Rob, Mike, the team, and what they've built. It's an exciting time to be a small part of this journey. — Matt Medeiros Building a self-funded startup on the internet doesn't have to be complicated. We're making a thing, we're solving a problem. We're selling our solution to customers. Rinse and repeat. The more attempts at doing that, the more that we're going to learn and the more mistakes that we'll make, the more wins that we'll have. — Brian Casel What we discuss 2:26 - Launching MicroConf from the podcast 4:11 - The many types of episodes we've tried 7:18 - Why we think the show has worked 9:49 - How you can support the show 11:22 - Ian and Dan (Tropical MBA podcast) on the importance of the stairstep approach 13:33 - Ben Orenstein (Art of Product podcast) on the value of consistency 14:13 - Matt Medeiros (Matt Report podcast) says this podcast is the startup single source of truth 16:42 - Brian and Benedikt (Slow & Steady podcast) on small continuous progress over time 19:50 - Adrian Rosebrock (Listener) 20:16 - Jordan Gal (Bootstrapped Web podcast) speaks to the importance of perseverance 21:57 - Andy Baldacci (Effective Founder podcast) shares his experience with the stairstep approach 26:48 - Brian Casel (Bootstrapped Web podcast) on knowing there are "others just like me" 28:52 - Matt & Peter (Out of Beta podcast) on how they feel connected to the community 32:58 - Alvin (listener) loves the actionable, specific, and realistic feedback 34:58 - Shawn DeWolfe (Shawn DeWolfe Consulting) on how entrepreneurship feels attainable because of the podcast Links from the show: What is a Micropreneur | Episode 1 MicroConf The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping | robwalling.com...

This interview was recorded several months ago, but is still relevant despite the pandemic. Colin Nederkoorn, the co-founder of customer.io has taken a unique approach to building their company. Customer.io does marketing automation for the entire customer lifecycle. They have raised funding, but not traditional venture money, and they've run it more like a self-funded SaaS. Colin and his cofounder John left their jobs with no savings, and they set out to build an analytics tool. Their story is powerful because of their unconventional approach and ability to persevere through hard times. The finer points of the episode: 4:05 - The customer.io founder journey 5:23 - Their approach to selecting investors 7:01 - Reflecting on how Colin and John bootstrapped a SaaS app after leaving their jobs with no savings 8:02 - Why they pivoted from an analytics company to selling marketing solutions 13:15 - Finding the balance between innovation vs following the best practices 18:37 - How customer.io became a remote company, and the advantages/disadvantages of building a remote team 22:05 - What customer.io is doing to support the bootstrapping startup community (and why they care about bootstrappers) 24:30 - Marketing approaches that customer.io used in the earlier days 31:55 - The highs and lows of building customer.io Items mentioned in this episode: customer.io helpfounders.com hugo.team customer.io/bootstrapper Connect with Colin on Twitter

Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob along with Tracy Osborn , answer a number of listener questions on topics including founder hotseats, forgotten subscriptions, two-sided market places and more. Items mentioned in this episode: State of Indie SaaS Report Metcalfe's Law Stack Overflow GrowthHackers Tracy Osborn

Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob reflects back on his goals of 2019 and shares some lessons that are broadly applicable to founders/entrepreneurs. He also shares how he “unplugged” from the internet/devices while on a recent vacation with his family and the benefits he experienced. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf TinySeed The State of Independent SaaS Report

Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Brian Casel of Audience Ops, answer a number of listener questions on topics including assessing product market fit, finding a mastermind and more. Items mentioned in this episode: Bootstrapped Web Podcast The TMBA Podcast Dynamite Circle Productize Course MastermindJam

Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob talks with Jordan Gal of CartHook about his big move to stop his free trials, move to demos, and increase his prices. Items mentioned in this episode: CartHook Bootstrapped Web Podcast CartHook Pricing Change Blog Post Lincoln Murphy blog post about Qualification

Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob checks in with Mike Taber on his continued progress with Bluetick.  The final conclusion to the Google audit is revealed, and they check in with the .Net component problem, the podcast tour, and more. Items mentioned in this episode: Bluetick

Show Notes In this half episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob makes the biggest announcement in MicroConf history and talks about the future of the conference. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf

Show Notes On this final episode following Craig Hewitt of Castos, Rob checks in to get the results of the “no credit trial” decision, and to see whether or not the move increased conversions.

Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob talks with Brian Casel of Audience Ops, about recovering from a 40% decline in MRR.  They start the story back in 2016 and work through the decline, audience ops rebound, the start of Ops Calendar, and Brian's decision to learn how to code. Items mentioned in this episode: Bootstrapped Web MicroConf ProcessKit Codementor.io