Startups For the Rest of Us

Latest Episodes:

Episode 583 | Finding Startup Ideas with Sam Parr Dec 28, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 583, Rob Walling chats with Sam Parr about about building an email list, selling to Hubspot, podcast growth, and how to spot business opportunities.

The topics we cover

[3:53] Building Hustle to 8 figures in revenue

[5:52] Growing an email list

[11:01] Selling to a B2B SaaS

[19:00] My First Million and growing podcasts

[23:45] TikTok marketing

[27:30] Spotting interesting opportunities

[34:70] Manifest cowboy

Links from the show

Sam Parr (@theSamParr) | Twitter

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

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Episode 582 | Enterprise Sales, Crowdfunding, Replacing Yourself, and More Listener Questions Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 582, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset to answer listener questions about enterprise sales, crowdfunding, replacing yourself, and things that every B2B SaaS founder should know.

The topics we cover

[1:26] Investing with Reg CF

[6:20] Enterprise plans and pricing

[13:31] Finding your replacement

[19:29] Best way to give software demos

[21:55] What fundamental things should startup founders should know

Links from the show

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

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Episode 581 | Inflation for Founders Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 581, Rob Walling discusses how to grow money sensibly while protecting the principle during inflationary times. He explores real estate, collectibles, crypto, stocks, bonds, and other strategies to consider as inflation and other economic changes occur.

The topics we cover

[2:00] Inflation is here

[7:20] Pricing flexibility with SaaS

[9:44] Rules when inflation goes up

[13:53] Inflation and home mortgages

[16:29] Emergency funds during inflation

[17:36] Bonds during inflationary times

[18:40] Growth stocks

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

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Episode 580 | Seven SEO Tips Every SaaS Can Use (with Ross Hudgens) Dec 07, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 580, Rob Walling chats with Ross Hudgins, an SEO expert, about seven common things that SaaS founders either do well or frequently get wrong.

The topics we cover

[4:42] Put your blog in a subfolder, not a subdomain.

[7:18] With keyword-focused content, make the URL exactly the main keyword.

[10:10] Be thoughtful about feature page keywords

[13:39] It’s really hard to rank for “best X software” queries

[16:24] Use on-page content marketing best practices

[20:50] Build passive link assets around keyword

[22:58] Answer keyword questions immediately, right after the H1

Links from the show

This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.

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

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Episode 579 | The SaaS Fundraising Landscape (+The TinySeed Syndicate) Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

In this special episode of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about not only the announcement of the TinySeed Syndicate but also the investment landscape for B2B SaaS today. Even if you don't think you'll raise funding, it's important to understand the dynamics of the investment and acquisition market as a bootstrapped founder.

The topics we cover

[1:40] Investment landscape for bootstrapped SaaS

[10:26] What is a syndicate?

[13:57] Introducing the TinySeed Syndicate

Links from the show

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

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Episode 578 | How Mike's Merger Panned Out Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 578, Rob Walling is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber for an update on his progress with Bluetick. Today we find out how Mike's merger that he has been working on for the past year has panned out.

The topics we cover

[3:55] Mike reflects on time and effort working on partnership

[7:20] What to do when a deal stalls

[9:00] Doubling down on Bluetick

[14:50] Differentiating Bluetick

[17:47] Moving fast as a startup

[19:03] Finding your intrinsic motivation

[26:10] Mike's 90 day plan

Links from the show

Bluetick.io
Mike Taber (@SingleFounder) | Twitter

This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.

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

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Episode 577 | Finding the Right Problem to Solve Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 577, Rob Walling chats with Jim Kalbach about how to uncover the right problem to solve with the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework. If you haven't been exposed to JTBD, this episode will be a great primer as we dive into practical examples for bootstrapped or mostly-bootstrapped founders.

The topics we cover

[3:00] Defining Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)

[6:45] JTBD are stable over time

[10:27] Be solution-agnostic

[11:20] JTBD for pre-product or pre-solution

[17:53] Questions to ask to find JTBD

[20:50] Switch interviews

[24:41] A switch interview case study

Links from the show

This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.

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

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Episode 576 | Don't Become a Media Company (A Rob Solo Adventure) Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 576, Rob Walling chats about permissionless entrepreneurship, why you probably shouldn't be a media company if you're an early stage or bootstrapped SaaS, and the importance of exploring beyond what your customers ask for to find out what they actually need.

The topics we cover

[2:01] Permissionless entrepreneur

[9:25] All startups should not become media companies

[15:10] Find out what your customers need, not what they ask for

This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.

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

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

Episode 575 | Shipping Code, Pivoting, and More Listener Questions with Derrick Reimer Nov 09, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 575, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer for a quick update on SavvyCal and some recent hiring decisions he has made. They also answer listener questions about shipping code as a bootstrapper, pivoting, selling a business through a broker, and more

The topics we cover

[2:23] The latest with SavvyCal

[12:02] Shipping code as a bootstrapper vs larger team

[21:39] Considering a zoom-in pivot

[25:15] Progressive web app vs two native app

[28:20] Thoughts on white-label approach for SaaS

[33:55] Selling a bootstrapped business through a broker

Links from the show

This episode of Startups for the Rest of Us is sponsored by Software Promotions. Get better results from Google.

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

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher