Startups For the Rest of Us

Latest Episodes:

Episode 565 | Correlation vs. Causation, Focus, Sharing MRR, and More Listener Questions Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 565, Rob Walling answers listener questions about focusing on one product vs multiple, sharing revenue metrics with early employees, and how to overcome the lack of motivation when starting new projects.

The topics we cover

[05:31] Focusing on one core product vs multiple separate products at the same time

[14:59] Sharing revenue metrics with new employees

[18:37] Struggling with motivation and consistency

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 564 | Running a Business with 10,000 Paid Subscribers Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 564, Rob Walling chats with Sol Orwell about growing his website, examine.com to millions of views per month, changing revenue models, and the importance of doing customer interviews.

The topics we cover

[2:14] Intro

[3:06] How Examine started

[7:21] Examine's differentiated approach based on scientific research

[9:33] 10,000 paying subscribers

[10:59] Building trust through transparency

[15:26] Interviewing customers

[21:14] Getting hit by Google

[26:52] Sol's stunt marketing pages

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 563 | The Struggle, Calls to Action, Selling Above $1M ARR, and More Listener Questions Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 563, Rob Walling answers listener questions about startup operating agreements for co-founders, common cloud hosting solutions, struggling as a young entrepreneur, and selling your startup when you have over $1M in annual recurring revenue.

The topics we cover

[1:40] Operating agreements for startup co-founders

[5:50] How to do startup vesting when not working fulltime on a project

[9:41] Common cloud hosting solutions for startups

[11:04] Struggling as a young entrepreneur

[18:20] Call to action for info product

[20:54] Virtual assistance

[23:05] Selling above $1M ARR

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 | Stitcher

Episode 562.5 | TinySeed Fall 2021 SaaS Accelerator Application Info Session Aug 16, 2021

Show notes

The application for TinySeed’s Fall 2021 SaaS accelerator batch of startups will open for two weeks starting on August 9th, 2021. Watch the video recording of the Fall 2021 Batch Info Session here: https://youtu.be/6dqTClonO2Y Interested in applying? Join us for an info session with the TinySeed team to talk about the application process, what to expect as a member of TinySeed, and some of the things we are looking for in companies we welcome into the fold. https://tinyseed.com #tinyseed We’ve written a few posts that might be helpful if you’re considering applying: — Our Fall 2021 application announcement: https://tinyseed.com/latest/tinyseeds-fall-2021-application-announcement — Preview our Fall 2021 application and requirements in this overview: https://tinyseed.com/latest/2021-application-preview — Curious about what it's like being a TinySeed founder? Part 1 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/whats-it-like-being-a-tinyseed-founder Part 2 - https://tinyseed.com/latest/part-2-tinyseed-founder

Episode 562 | "Measure Twice, Cut Once" + SaaS Holy Grails (A Rob Solo Adventure) Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 562, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure to talk about enterprise sales, mental frameworks for founders, undoable decisions, and how to handle being approached about an acquisition.

The topics we cover

[2:33] Enterprise sales advice

[5:48] Measure twice, cut once for SaaS

[10:56] Holy Grail of SaaS: Expansion Revenue

[13:12] Holy Grail of SaaS: Virality

[14:25] Holy Grail of SaaS: Big space with slow-moving incumbents

[15:46] Things to keep in mind when being approached about an acquisition

Links from the show

Josh Ledgard on Twitter
Rob Walling (@robwalling) | 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 561 | Launching on Product Hunt and DIY vs. DFY Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 561, Rob Walling chats with Andy Cabasso, co-founder of Postaga, about launching on Product Hunt, having a done-for-you service in addition to a DIY self-service SaaS app, growing to a team of six people, having a free plan, and doing a ton of customer development in the early days.

The topics we cover

[01:35] Selling an agency with retainers to start Postaga

[03:46] Explaining Postaga simply and succintly

[06:32] Size and stage of Postaga

[07:24] Using Postaga to market Postaga

[10:22] Learning from early users

[13:56] Launching on Product Hunt

[18:09] Was it worth it to launch on Product Hunt?

[20:30] Not charging at launch

[22:22] Conjecturing on a Product Hunt flop

[23:26] Postaga pricing plans

[25:58] A big month of growth

[32:13] A SaaS product with a service component

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 560 | When to Hire, Square Business Banking, and More Bootstrapper News Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 560, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset and Tracy Osborn to talk about deciding when it's time to hire someone, how to think about which role to hire next, changing location to force productivity, and more.

The topics we cover

[2:52] Deciding to hire a community manager

[9:28] Location hacks for improved productivity

[14:52] Delta airline pilot suing Delta for stealing app

[20:35] Product → Business → Company

[27:18] Facebook Users say "No" and Advertisers are Panicking

[32:32] Tech-enabled modern banks

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 559 | Bootstrapping a Two-Sided Marketplace with MicroAquire Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 559, Rob Walling chats with Andrew Gazdecki, the founder of MicroAcquire, about bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace in a competitive industry. They talk about Andrew's previous successes, including growing Bizness Apps to $10 million in annual recurring revenue. They also unpack Andrew's current business, MicroAcquire, and talk about how it was started, its current success, and the future plans for the business.

The topics we cover

[6:03] Why did Andrew decide to sell Bizness

[8:12] Background on MicroAcquire

[10:52] Ideal revenue for MicroAcquire

[13:29] Comparing MicroAcquire differs from similar broker websites

[16:59] The future of MicroAcquire

[20:50] Metrics since launching in January 2020

[23:08] Bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace

[26:33] Raising $22 million post-money valuation

[31:25] The hardest thing about bootstrapping a business

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 | Stitcher

Episode 558 | Thinking Through Funding as a Bootstrapper Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 558, Rob Walling chats with Einar Vollset about bootstrapping versus funding and the many options that exist in between. No longer is it a decision between a bootstrapped or venture path. With their unique perspectives, Rob and Einar talk about all of the funding options that exist. They also share some things to consider when deciding whether or not to take on funding and, if you do, how much you should plan on raising.

The topics we cover

[04:24] When funding makes sense for bootstrappers

[11:54] Raising pre-revenue vs raising with revenue

[15:29] Risks of raising as a platform (e.g. Shopify) business

[20:40] Funding options available to bootstrappers

[27:57] Convertible notes & SAFE's

[29:16] How much should a bootstrapper raise?

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 557 | Investing for Founders Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 557, Rob Walling flies solo to talk about investing for founders, with an emphasis on retirement. Rob views investing as a long-term game, not treating the stock market like a slot machine by buying and selling stocks. As founders, we're busy with our work, our family, and our friends. We don't want to spend a ton of time fiddling with investments. In this episode, Rob outlines an 80/20 approach to getting the most out of investing as a founder.

The topics we cover

[02:13] How Rob made most of his money

[04:07] The rule of 72

[07:30] Investing on autopilot while building startups

[07:46] Build an emergency fund

[09:53] Max out retirement plans

[12:08] Open a simple IRA or SEP IRA

[13:00] Life insurance

[14:35] Retirement account asset allocation

[18:32] Taking your investments to the next step

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 | Stitcher