Startups For the Rest of Us

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

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

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

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 Transcript: Rob...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 isn't a SaaS founder or someone who wrote a book for founders.Instead, you'll learn about the systems, processes, and discipline that Tom has set up so that he can be such a prolific creator. You'll also learn more about his innate ability to summarize complex situations and then talk about both sides in a fair and balanced way. Topics we cover:  3:13 - Tom's decision to go into business for himself in 2013 7:10 - Being an early adopter of Patreon 9:29 - Dealing with the emotional aspect in the early days 10:40 - The hardest parts of launching a daily show in the early days 13:01 - Tom's approach to dealing with public criticism 19:07 - Tom's process for shipping new content every day...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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

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

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

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

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 Transcript: Rob...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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

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

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 Transcript: Rob Walling: It's a bird, it's a plane. It's...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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 Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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 19:32 - Prioritizing marketing vs. development...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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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 Transcript Rob...Read more... »Click the icon below to listen.  

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

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

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

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