Startups For the Rest of Us

Latest Episodes:

Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Rob is joined by Rand Fishkin for an honest and transparent conversation about his time at Moz, raising funding, his book Lost and Founder, as well as his current effort, SparkToro. They discuss growth levers and the importance of owning the channel where you build your audience.

The topics we cover

[01:44] Impacts from writing a book

[08:41] Transitioning from Moz but continuing to work there

[15:53] Venture capital vs angel investing

[19:59] Launching SparkToro

[36:08] Raising capital for SparkToro

[44:14] Growth levers that are working today

Links from the show

If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.

Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.

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 536 | A Few Things I Learned in 2020 (A Rob Solo Adventure) Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

In episode 536 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure. As we all faced perhaps one of the worst years on record, Rob talks through some things that 2020 taught him personally, professionally, and at a higher level, philosophically. He also looks beyond 2020 and discusses opportunities for 2021 for software entrepreneurs.

The topics we cover

[01:53] Keeping perspective during difficult startup times

[04:03] We can make it through scary and dangerous moments

[07:04] There is always opportunity

[09:53] Doing things in public creates opportunity

[12:02] Growing niches/industries in 2021

[18:31] In search of problems

Links from the show

If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.

Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.

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 535 | A Bluetick Update with Mike Taber Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

In Episode 535, Rob is joined by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber to talk about what Mike has been up to over the past seven months with Bluetick, including an exciting reveal of a big project he's been working on.

The topics we cover

[05:41] BlueTick partnership or merger with a CRM for field sales reps

[11:52] Delays in partnerships from pandemic and potential asymmetric upside

[15:42] How far along the CRM software compared to BlueTick?

[19:32] Considering freemium and an AppSumo deal

[32:48] Another Google security audit

Links from the show

SonarCloud (mentioned at 17:43)
Episode 484 | Marketing That’s Working Today, Moving from 5 to 10 Employees, SaaS Longevity, and More Listener Questions (mentioned at 22:28)
AppSumo

If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.

Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.

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 534 | A $4M Exit with Josh Pigford of Baremetrics Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Rob talks with Josh Pigford in a first appearance since the sale of Baremetrics for $4m. They discuss his seven-year journey to build Baremetrics, the details of the sale, and Josh's post-sale, non-software aspirations.

The topics we cover

[02:42] Intros
[04:26] Avoiding capital gains via qualified small business stock.
[09:08] Josh's post-sale purchases and other dramatic life shifts
[13:46] Changes at Baremetrics after sale
[18:32] Weeks of cash to profitable in 8 months
[23:20] Breaking through plateaus and product vs marketing for growth out of plateaus
[30:13] What motivated Josh to start thinking about selling
[32:58] Launching a new feature called Intros in 2020
[39:11] Laser tweets and post-sale aspirations

Links from the show

If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.

Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.

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