Startups For the Rest of Us

Latest Episodes:

Episode 746 | 9 Startup Predictions for 2025 Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 745 | Reflecting on 2024: Revisiting My Predictions, The Best Episodes, My Favorite Frameworks, and More (A Rob Solo Adventure) Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 744 | Bluesky, TinySeed is Raising, YC Backs Competitors, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics Dec 17, 2024

Show notes

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 743 | How to Sell Your Business Without Regret Dec 10, 2024

Show notes

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 question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 742 | Normalizing Hard Things, Facing Your Biggest Threat, and Making it Fast (A Rob Solo Adventure) Dec 03, 2024

Show notes

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 741 | What Actually is Product Led Growth? (with Wes Bush) Nov 26, 2024

Show notes

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:

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 740 | My New Book! The Entrepreneur's Guide to Selling Your Business Without Regret Nov 19, 2024

Show notes

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

Episode 739 | Selling SaaS to Customers Who Don't Know They Have a Problem Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

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:

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Episode 738 | Encouraging Word of Mouth, Educating a Market, and More Listener Questions (A Rob Solo Adventure) Nov 05, 2024

Show notes

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

Episode 737 | Key Takeaways from MicroConf Europe 2024 (With Derrick Reimer) Oct 29, 2024

Show notes

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:

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify