Today I’m joined by Val Sopi, the founder of Blogstatic, a lightweight blogging platform built to take on the likes of Ghost. Currently Val is sitting around $1k a month, but with a low-priced annual plans approach, he’s relying on new sign ups and plan upgrades instead of recurring subscriptions. So he’s at a crossroads of needing to pour fuel on the fire to grow his low-cost blogging platform, or attempt to build a B2B SaaS, which he believes is a much more sustainable option for an indie founder. Val has been hardened by business successes and failures, so I love his pragmatic approach to the decisions he’s making. Timestamps 00:00 Intro01:39 Val's background - web design shop to failed SaaS04:10 Learning to code and starting Claritask04:53 Selling Claritask05:52 Launching Blogstatic06:42 Taking a loan to bet on himself07:40 The crossroads of stagnating growth08:39 Being a low cost alternative in a competitive market12:30 Why Val won't take VC14:06 Why Val is trying B2B instead of B2C15:45 RecommendationsRecommendations Book: The Inner Game of TennisPodcast: Startups for the Rest of UsIndie Hacker: Joe AshvilleMy links TwitterIndie Bites TwitterIndie Bites YouTubeJoin the membershipPersonal Website2 Hour Podcast CoursePodPanda (hire me to edit your podcast)This Indie Life PodcastSponsor - EmailOctopus 🐙 EmailOctopus is an independently owned email marketing platform, built to support other small growing businesses. With a focus on affordability and ease of use, EmailOctopus contains all of the features you need to reach and grow your audience. You can start today, with their industry leading free plan where you can contact up to 2,500 subscribers without paying a penny.