Startups For the Rest of Us

Latest Episodes:

Episode 698 | How to Launch a Million Dollar Business (With Noah Kagan) Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

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:

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Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.

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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

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024 Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 696 | The Truth about Product-Market Fit + Doing Sales as an Introvert (With Ruben Gamez) Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

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

Episode 695 | Ideal Customers, Moving from B2C to B2B, and More Listener Questions (with Asia Orangio) Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

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

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.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 694 | 2023 In Review: Amazing Growth & Fighting Burnout Jan 02, 2024

Show notes

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.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 693 | Building a Mid-Six-Figure SaaS in Less Than 3 Years Dec 26, 2023

Show notes

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

Episode 692 | Learn the Rules Like a Pro So You Can Break Them Like an Artist (A Rob Solo Adventure) Dec 19, 2023

Show notes

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

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.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 691 | Freemium, High-touch vs. Low-touch, Selling as an Introvert, and More Listener Questions Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

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

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.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 690 | When Opt-in Email Could Be Spam, Collecting Customer Feedback, and More Listener Questions Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

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:

DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

Episode 689 | How to Keep Your Remote Team Motivated and Engaged Nov 28, 2023

Show notes

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

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.

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:

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d 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

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