Startups For the Rest of Us

In episode 551 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob does another solo adventure to talk about hiring owner-level thinkers, the fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business, and more. The topics we cover [1:25] Hiring task-level thinkers, project-level thinkers, and owner-level thinkers [07:43] The fallacy of an autopilot passive income software business [15:21] Our bootstrap community [20:45] Questions you should ask yourself when building/growing a company Links from the show FE International: Professional M&A Advisor Quiet Light Brokerage MicroAcquire - Startup acquisition marketplace. Free. Private. No middlemen. Empire Flippers - Website Brokers Billion Dollar Loser: The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question 

In Episode 550, Rob Walling chats with Tony Chan, co-founder of CloudForecast, about his incredible story of perseverance after getting rejected multiple times only to finally find product-market fit and reach six figures in annual recurring revenue. The topics we cover [04:11] CloudForecast's current revenue and customer base [08:43] Origin story for the idea of CloudForecast [16:53] Dealing with (many) rejections [28:01] Parting ways with a co-founder [30:07] The journey to Product-Market Fit [35:23] Marketing channels that are working for CloudForecast Links from the show CloudForecast Episode 464 | Highs, Lows, and Building Your First Sales Process with Steli Efti Episode 507 | Making Cold Email Work in B2B SaaS Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino Tony Chan (@toeknee123) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover,

In Episode 439, Rob Walling is joined by Jordan Gal to answer listener questions about starting an e-commerce SaaS and the laws and regulations, and compliance requirements required. They talk about managing enterprise perceptions of risk towards bootstrap startups. They also answer questions about bootstrapping and enterprise SaaS as well as hiring a growth role and whether you should hire full-time or outsource to a contractor or an agency. The topics we cover [01:11] Regulatory requirements for starting an e-commerce platform (Solman Ahmed) [06:18] Managing enterprise perception of risk when selling as a bootstrapper (Noah Stall) [16:26] Are some markets not feasible with a bootstrapped approach? (Declan Sweeney) [22:42] Finding someone who is experienced growing SaaS companies (Russ) [30:10] Hiring full-time versus outsourcing (Filip Kis) Links from the show Crossing the Chasm DemandMaven || Growth Marketing Consultancy for SaaS & Startups MicroConf Connect — MicroConf

In Episode 548, Rob Walling chats with Zack Naylor about Aurelius and the harrowing tale of launching multiple times and having to rewrite and re-platform the codebase before finally finding success. They also discuss how to interpret feedback from your customers and the importance of listening to your instinct as a founder. The topics we cover [03:24] Background on how Aurelius helps UX researchers [07:56] The struggles of building and launching multiple alpha versions [15:14] Bootstrapping during a pandemic [22:20] Taking risks as an entrepreneur [26:28] Building a third version of the product that lead to unprecedented growth [30:48] Using your gut as a founder Links from the show Aurelius Things You Should Never Do, Part I Episode 541 | Faster Horses & Product Myths, Life-changing Money, Dual Funnels, and More Zack Naylor (@zacknaylor) | Twitter If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit yo

In Episode 547, Rob Walling chats with Craig Hewitt about private podcasting, Apple's announcement around their subscription podcast offering as well as the accelerating growth of Castos. The topics we cover [1:22] Focusing on private podcasting at Castos [15:50] Mobile app for private podcasting [20:21] Apple's big announcement [28:08] Castos MRR growth Links from the show TinySeed Tales - Season 1 Seeking Scale Trustshoring Craig Hewitt (@thecraighewitt) | Twitter 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

In Episode 546, Rob Walling flies solo for a Q&A episode. With a backlog of great listener questions, Rob discusses qualified small business stock (QSBS), hiring entrepreneurially-minded employees, indie hacking while working at a large company, and more. The topics we cover [01:51] Should I switch to a C Corp to take advantage of QSBS in five years? [05:40] How to attract entrepreneurial employees [14:19] Indie-hacking while working at a large Fortune 20 company [19:12] Finding a niche using the Disruptive Innovation Links from the show Episode 442 | Corporate Structures and How the Choice You Make Now Can Impact You Years Down the Line Episode 519 | Profit Sharing, Stock Options, and Equity (A Rob Solo Adventure) The Stair Step Approach to Bootstrapping | Rob Walling - Serial Entrepreneur Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) 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

In Episode 545, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the importance of learning design fundamentals for startup founders. They also discuss her new book and the pros/cons of self-publishing vs working with a publisher. The topics we cover [00:52] Intros [02:00] Deciding to self publish vs going with a publisher [11:11] Design fundamentals for a startup founder [16:23] Training your design eye [18:57] The #1 thing to do to become a better designer [20:01] Prototypes: the process of sketching ideas Links from the show Hello Web Design No Starch Press The 90-Minute Guide to Building Marketing Funnels That Convert (Data Beats Opinion) Hello Web App Sounds True Tracy's Savy Call breakdown Balsamiq Sketch UX Pin Tailwinds Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter 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 start

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Josh Pigford to answer listener questions, covering topics like annual pay increases, B2B SaaS price increases, white-label vs branded product, and hiring startup-minded people. The topics we cover [03:04] Building Maybe, and Rob busts Josh's chops about starting a business so soon [10:02] Question #1: Annual Raises - Anonymous [18:24] Question #2: Explaining a Price Increase - Steve McLeod Bootstrap FM [23:11] Question #3: Free or Discounted Plans in Exchange for Branding - Adam Wohlberg [29:28] Question #4: Finding startup people to hire - Anonymous Links from the show maybe Transparent Salaries | Buffer Radford | Compensation Surveys Episode 537 | On Launching, Funding, and Growth with Serial SaaS Founder Rand Fishkin Parachute List We Work Remotely Authentic Jobs Dynamite Jobs Josh Pigford (@Shpigford) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned. Click

In Episode 543 of Startups For the Rest of Us, Rob is joined again by co-host emeritus, Mike Taber as he gives an update on all things startups and they analyze top tactics for superhero success. 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

In episode 542, Rob Walling chats with Zach Moreno, the Co-Founder and CEO of Squadcast about how they grew their revenue and surpassed $3 million in ARR as a mostly bootstrapped startup. They also discuss the role and importance of having a co-founder, as well as the impact that having a "knowledge investor" had on their success. The topics we cover [04:18] Squadcast growth while entering into a crowded space [16:54] The importance of having a co-founder [22:43] The shelter in place inflection point and building out video functionality [34:08] Choosing a knowledge investor Links from the show Squadcast Zencastr SavvyCal Why we believe something: The quality of audio matters Rockwell Felder - Twitter Zachariah Moreno (@zach__moreno) | Twitter 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 t

In episode 541, Rob Walling flies solo to discuss things like product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote, selling a company, defining life-changing money, and dual funnels. The topics we cover [02:48] Product myths and the misinterpreted Henry Ford quote [07:21] Post-exit thoughts [15:32] Life-changing money [22:30] The power of dual-funnels Links from the show Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader Rob Walling - Mailing List Episode 510 | The Story of Startups.com 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

In this episode, Rob talks with Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, about the recent news that's come out in the bootstrapper community. They talk about the Indie.vc shutdown, the new features coming out on Twitter, LinkedIn’s new gig marketplace, and more. The topics we cover [03:18] Twitter Spaces [10:05] The Network Effect and Twitter Verification [14:32] The Indie.vc shutdown [24:20] Shopify removing the option to work directly with Stripe [32:34] The new ‘Super Follow’ feature in Twitter [35:43] Comparing Google Cloud and AWS onboarding [40:04] The new LinkedIn Gig Marketplace Links from the show TinySeed Tinyseed Thesis Remail Voxer Shopify says remove Stripe billing or get booted from their app store Substack Indie.vc Google Cloud vs AWS onboarding 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 scali

In this episode, Rob chats with Dan Norris about selling his productized service to GoDaddy, his latest book, and latest business, a very successful brewery in Australia. They also ruminate on the impact that post-exit money has had on their lives. The topics we cover [07:04] Finding the motivation to write 6 books [07:38] Selling WP Curve to GoDaddy [18:11] Compound Marketing and applying the principles to Black Hops [33:53] Life post-exit and the arrival fallacy [45:57] Rob and the sale of Drip [53:37] Building a SaaS to sell vs as a long-term, profitable company Links from the show Episode 183 | 5 Startup Rules to Live By with Dan Norris The 7 Day Startup Compound book Black Hops Brewing - Gold Coast Craft Beer Brewery State of Independent SaaS Report 2021 — MicroConf - The Most Trusted Community for Non-Venture Track SaaS Founders Dan Norris (@thedannorris) | Twitter If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Einar Vollset as they answer listener questions ranging from when to sunset a product, filling out enterprise security assessments, acquiring a company where the previous owner had sold lifetime deals and not disclosed it, and more. The topics we cover [03:20] Deciding when to sunset a feature or product [08:27] Splitting a business to focus on two separate audiences [17:21] How to take advantage of being a consumer of your own product. [21:35] Acquiring a SaaS where the previous founder sold lifetime plans [28:20] Enterprise security assessments [35:22] Building a product to solve a problem as a full-time employee Links from the show TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather Episode 515 | Finding a Co-Founder, Getting Better at Sales, and More Listener Questions Episode 9: Raising Entrepreneurial Kids - ZenFounder SOC 2 Episode 463 | Troubleshooting Enterprise Sales (A Founder Hotseat with David Heller) The TinySeed Investmen

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 Lost & Founder Start Small, Stay Small Rand Fishkin's Bio Sarah Bird Startups.com Zirtual Clarity — On Demand Business Advice SparkToro Spark Toro Terms Conversion Rate Experts Rand Fishkin (@randfish) | Twitter 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.

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 Episode 490 | How Founders Should Be Thinking About the Current Crisis Dynamite Jobs 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

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

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 Episode 244 | Competition, Transparency and Funding with Baremetrics Founder Josh Pigford Baremetrics: Subscription Analytics & Insights for Stripe, Braintree, Recurly & more! I sold Baremetrics - Baremetrics

In this episode, Rob speaks with Adii Pienaar, a multi-time founder with multiple exits under his belt. They discuss life probability and the importance of measuring your entrepreneurial success by the things that matter the most to you and your life. The topics we cover [4:36] What motivated Adii to write the book [10:17] Life probability defined [12:45] Work-life balance is not the solution [29:21] Choosing to go back into the SaaS trenches 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