Rogue Startups Podcast

What is going on with these VC companies? How do you weed out the riff-raff when you offer free trials? Are you a SaaS owner and have you done an audit on your expenditures? Has it really been a couple of months since our last update? Dave and Craig are back with company updates and industry […]

Dave flies solo today, talking with Jim Breese of AppHub.com, an ecommerce app aggregator.  Jim discusses the business model of aggregation in the ecommerce space, and together, Dave and Jim riff on some email marketing tactics that are uncommonly effective (and still underused by 95% of all SaaS and ecommerce marketers according to Dave). Do […]

Who are you? Who is your company? Who does your company serve? Positioning is important for a number of reasons. It gives you and your company a sense of purpose and direction. But finding your niche isn't as easy as it may seem. Dave and Craig are back! Today they're talking about all of the […]

What is the difference between a CEO's mindset and an operator's mindset? What are lessons you've learned about hiring good developers? How do you do a technical evaluation for possible developers? As Dave nears his one-year reunion as a full-time entrepreneur with Recapture, he shares some of the lessons and realizations he had learned in […]

How do you take your SaaS idea and turn it into a successful business? How do you build a SaaS business from scratch?  In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave is chatting with email marketing guru, Chase Dimond. Today, he joins Dave to talk about his new platform, EmailUp. EmailUp is Canva for email. He […]

Did you attend MicroConf 2022? What is it like to go to a convention after the pandemic? On today's episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig break down their experiences at MicroConf 2022. After a few years of attending the conference, their priorities and perspectives have changed when it comes to what they're looking for […]

In this episode, after a hiatus that was waay too long, Craig and Dave talk about Dave’s recent experience with customer interviews. There’s always a balance between taking customers’ input into your product process and having that founder level intuition to drive the product (and business) forward. Craig gives updates on his bigger picture goals […]

Today Dave chats with Chase Clymer about Chase's journey from being in a band to running Electric Eye, a successful Shopify strategic consulting agency. In addition to role clarification, Chase discovered a lot about himself when he transitioned from freelancer to the head of his own agency.  Chase talks about his struggles, his mistakes, and […]

What do you look for when you're searching for a developer? Which is more stressful: building a new house or moving to a different country? Are you working on the business or in the business? Dave and Craig are back after a holiday hiatus. Between Dave's household being bombarded with sickness and Craig moving back […]

Dave and Craig talk about cold calling, AWS outages, steady growth during the winter, and the hiring-process struggle bus.  What are your thoughts about living overseas? What are your thoughts on full-time QA people? Do you have any tips on finding gems on Upwork? Do you agree that the half-life of your marketing strategy is […]

How does quality control testing work in e-commerce? In the podcasting world and with abandoned cart recovery, it can be a hassle for smaller companies. In this episode of the Rogue Startups podcast, Dave and Craig talk about what they do to overcome the challenge of optimizing quality versus releasing updates and features in a […]

How do you define execution? What are you doing differently than your competitors? Do you think growth stacks and compounds? On today's episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig are going over Asia Orangio's essay, “13 Brutal truths about growth I wish every SaaS founder knew.” They go over a few highlights that stuck out […]

How do you play product offense? In the decision-making process, how can you tell the differences between elective decisions and core features? Customer retention. Customer experience. Team priorities. Everything is affected by the product process.  Today, host Craig Hewitt is talking with Craig Zingerline about the product process, which is a process both Craigs feel […]

There have been a number of WordPress acquisitions this year. Today's hot button topic is all about the Sandhills Development acquisition. It's brought questions to the minds of everyone in the SaaS community. What are the alternatives to selling at certain points? Why not stay and go public? When do you sell your business? What […]

Dave and Craig are back behind the mic to talk about refreshing their own personal brands, virtual versus in-person conferences, and goals. Dave goes over the bleak trends and headwinds for eCommerce. In more upbeat news, they also chat about Craig's newest team members, how customer service and sales affect one another, and OKRs (objectives […]

Dave and Craig are behind the mic again. After a brief discussion about vaccines, regulations, and balancing personal and professional issues, they dive deep into sales. Craig talks about new hires and about being at an exciting but nerve-wracking place in his business. Dave shares his marketing woes and a little insight on what it […]

What is the ultimate test of your business' infrastructure? Have you been doing anything to relax and unwind this summer? What is a healthy balance of “weird” and “sustainable” in terms of work schedules? Today is all about summer vacations, schedules, and sales. Dave and Craig talk about soccer camps, recharging their batteries, camping, and […]

In this post-July 4th episode, everything feels a little bittersweet because of the responsibilities of the upcoming school year. But for some good news, Castos has closed funding rounds in order to pursue the private podcasting market. Dave also shares the latest news about Recapture and Jilt. Dave and Craig also talk about sales, affiliate […]

Dave and Craig are back with some interesting updates on their business and in their respective industries. Dave has had a bit of excitement since a competitor shut down. Craig talks about new integrations, new customizations, and making rich features for customers. They also discuss the ideas of cold outreach, sales, the high stickiness of […]

Dave and Craig are back again with updates on working full-time and new developments in Castos. Since his decision to go full-time with Recapture, Dave has seen a number of wonderful changes in his life. He goes over that, as well as the feedback he has received since announcing his big decision, and the power […]

Dave and Craig are doing fan-freakin-tastic in today's episode of the Rogue Startups podcast. Craig talks about the newest member of the Castos team. Dave has narrowed down his writer search. He shares his big announcement, which is both big news & good news, and will lead to great things for Dave and Recapture. It […]

In today’s episode, Dave and Craig talk about everything from the awkward teenage years of podcasting to Castos’ latest acquisitions (3 Clicks and Podient). They also go over shiny object syndrome and updates on Recapture’s content writer applicants.  What are the most important aspects of acquisitions and partnerships? How do you stay focused in the […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig catch up on the past week: Craig’s trip home, vaccines, and updates with Recapture and Castos. Dave talks about his decision with last week’s pricing problem. Craig talks about the new writer he hired and goes over his hiring process. They also discuss the differences between […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about some personal updates as well as some updates in business. Today it’s all about branding, marketing, and pricing. Dave dives in with a deep topic: pricing. While companies price on a lot of different dimensions, there are three popular dimensions for email/SMS marketing: per […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Craig is stateside while his family gets the vaccine and gets a bit of vacation time in. Dave and Craig discuss the chaos that is vaccine distribution in Europe and in other countries as well as “BigSummer”, and working in different time zones and during different times of the […]

Where should you hire writers? How much should you pay them? Craig and Dave talk about making content marketing hiring and system mistakes, while looking for the right fit.  Dave made progress on Recapture’s SMS launch, but feels like he is falling behind on paid acquisition. He’s not getting as much feedback or tight integration […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig share the latest news in the SaaS world, like the recent changes and trends in the discussion of Easy Digital Downloads versus WooCommerce. On the business side, Dave discusses some freelance adventures. Meanwhile, Craig dives deep into streamlining his hiring process. He talks about taking steps […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about skiing, seasonal affective disorder, the evolution of EOS at Castos, Recapture’s content struggles, integration news. They also talk about the big news involving Indie.VC shutting down it’s fund. What does this mean for the industry? Is this the future for other funds? If you […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about what Q1 has looked like for both Recapture and Castos. In addition to that, they cover a wide array of topics in this episode. As the vaccine rolls out, what is going to happen to office spaces and remote working? What does the growth/outlook […]

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about the 2021 BigSnow “conference”, marketing and conversion spreadsheets, an update on Dave’s investment journey, Q1 rocks, and Craig’s horrible internet connection. They also talk about the concept of kaizen (making little changes) in business and for your health. What are your thoughts? Do you […]

Today, Craig is talking with his coach Adii Pienaar about life profitability. Adii is a successful SaaS entrepreneur with three SaaS companies and two successful exits under his belt.  In this episode, Craig and Adii talk about what it’s like being and having a coach. What are the benefits of having a coach? What should […]

This week’s episode is all about goal setting and making priority lists. Craig starts the podcast off with an app suggestion for people who like to (or need to) work off of to-do lists. Dave talks about updates on Recapture. They also talk about short-term and long-term goals. What do you need to do in […]

Do you use the EOS system? How do you gauge when to give your team a little bit of downtime? What are your 2021 goals and initiatives? What are your online and offline businesses and how do each of those marketing and business skills transfer over? In today’s episode, Dave and Craig are talking about […]

In this episode, Dave and Craig try to reflect on the good parts of 2020. They’re sharing eggnog stories as well as other holiday drinks and Christmas traditions that 2020 tried to ruin. Today, they tried to stay positive by talking about how the year allowed them to find time to exercise and bond with […]

In today’s episode Dave and Craig are talking about surviving Black Friday, busy schedules, churn, and marketing initiatives around the holidays. How and when do you market around the big holiday push?  Today’s big topic is all about business finance and their thoughts on how they spend money on their businesses. Craig talks about what […]

In this episode, Dave and Craig are talking about what they’ve been up to for the past few weeks. They’re catching everyone up on Recapture and Castos as well as sharing their Black Friday/Cyber Monday stories, including Black Friday deals on Business Directory plug-ins. Craig touches on Giving Tuesday and giving back to the community. […]

In this episode (recorded on Election Day), Dave and Craig are talking about the big topics: elections in the United States and Black Friday. This 2020 election has been about straddling lines: blue versus red, mail-in ballots versus in-person voting, etc. Craig talks about explaining the electorate voting system to adults and how difficult that […]

In this episode Dave and Craig talk through Dave’s recent founder retreat and his realizations about implementing EOS in his business and the changes that need to come about as a result.

In this episode of the Rogue Startups Podcast, Craig is joined by Steve Mcleod from the Bootstrapped podcast. Steve is also the founder of Feature Upvote and the acquirer of Saber Feedback. Bootstrapped has been creating helpful episodes for software bootstrappers since 2013. The formatting of the show consists of episodes which are interviews with […]

Dave and Craig are back behind the mic. This week they’re talking about being pulled in different directions, bookkeepers, and perseverance. How long is too long when it comes to being persistent? They’re also covering updates on Castos and Recapture, along with Dave’s Tweetstorm about luck surface area.  We would love to hear stories about […]

On this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about the newest member to the Castos team, expanding time zones and work hours for customers, integrations and plug in news for Recapture, Black Friday, and unplugged time. After talking with some of the people from Big Snow, Dave ponders over EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System).  […]

In this episode, Craig and Dave are back talking about their current state of affairs. They’re going over everything from kids going back to school, to “Members Only” jackets, to updates with their businesses. Today’s topics include integration, the hiring process, the role of communication in remote roles, developer stories, and affiliate programs. We’d love […]

In this episode, Craig and Dave are back behind the mic talking about work hours, quality time with automations, Dave’s emotions after selling, and the benefits of working with a full plate. They also explore private podcasting with Castos, the limits of not having $10 million in the bank, infrastructure changes with Recapture, as well […]

In this episode Dave has some big news to announce. He has sold his two WordPress plugins: Business Directory and AWPCP In this episode Dave and Craig talk through: The process of getting the plugins ready for sale Where and how to list them Working with the right broker for the business you’re selling The […]

In this episode, Craig sits down with Alex Theuma (Founder and CEO of SaaStock). They go over conferences, the SaaS industry, and how the coronavirus is affecting everything.  Alex talks about the perks and pitfalls of online conferences. He summarizes some of the lessons when transitioning from in-person conferences to online conferences. They also chat […]

In this episode Dave and Craig talk through a few updates in their businesses. For Craig the big news is that the PodcastMotor brand has officially been merged into the Castos business. Over time both brands will continue to become one but that migration takes some time to complete. Castos also hired Matt Medieros of […]

In this episode I sit down with Ruben Gamez, founder of both Bidsketch and Docsketch. Ruben has been running Bidsketch for some time now, and along the way he’s developed quite a savvy approach to marketing and content marketing in some unconventional ways. Now with getting Docsketch off the ground in a competitive market Ruben […]

In this episode Craig sits down for a chat with Rob Walling, founder of TinySeed and previously founder at Drip. In this conversation Craig and Rob talk through how things at TinySeed are going here in the second cohort, what things he’s learned along the way in running the accelerator, and what they’re doing differently […]

In this episode Craig talks with Christopher Gimmer, co-founder of Snappa about how they approach content marketing and SEO as a primary growth engine in their business. With recent developments in competitor companies, Christopher and Craig talk through how news like massive funding rounds or buyouts make them feel about the path that their respective […]

In this episode Craig is joined by Ward Sandler, cofounder of MemberSpace. Here Craig and Ward talk through how the Memberspace team is organized, how the run the business, and what successes they’ve seen in growth in the past few years, especially during the Covid crisis. Ward is a firm believer that EVERY business should […]

After a few weeks away to process what is going on in our lives between the Covid-19 pandemic, a crumbling economy, and police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement we’re back to talk through how all of this has affected us. Also in the startup news cycle this week was Basecamp’s “Hey” email client, […]