In episode 688, Rob Walling interviews Lane Wagner, founder of Boot.dev. Boot.dev is a learning platform gamified to teach backend development. They discuss the journey of bootstrapping Boot.dev, its explosive growth, and its unique business model. Lane also shares challenges of running a B2C business, why he took some funding, and the significance of customer lifetime value over MRR in his business. Topics we cover:  2:38 – Boot.dev seeing incredible growth 3:35 – Growing on...

In episode 687, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where discusses a variety of topics. He revisits a recent episode to add one more item to the list of things founders should never do. Rob also offers a hot take on Meta’s new subscription plans and weighs in on a Hacker News post about doing things that don’t scale. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce....

In episode 686, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how to evaluate monetary success, combat hedonic adaptation, and how to evaluate the capabilities of technical co-founders. Rob also discusses whether outsourcing sales and marketing is possible and considers some alternative no-code approaches.  Topics we cover:  4:20 – Success after stair-stepping, confronting hedonic adaptation 15:35 – Sales funnels, friction before demos,...

In episode 685, Rob Walling goes solo to share his insights on 7 common mistakes that SaaS founders make. Be sure to listen to the end to hear Rob’s spicy take on launching a portfolio of products to see what sticks. Episode Sponsor: As a founder your plate is full. So when you have to hire devs, there’s no time to search for that perfect culture-fit, get-things-done developer. Lemon.io’s new product, Lemon Hire saves founders time by connecting them with a pipeline of 80K+ senior engineers....

In episode 684, Rob Walling is joined by Dr. Sherry Walling to share their experience from MicroConf Europe 2023 in Lisbon. They discuss a continued shift in MicroConf’s focus towards fostering founder connections and networking, and the value of face-to-face interactions. Rob and Sherry reflect on their own talks and highlight others by fellow founders and attendees.  Topics we cover:  1:28 – Reflecting on MicroConf locations 6:28 – Continuous event improvements, focus on...

In episode 683, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He addresses gathering feedback from customers that are reluctant to give it to you, whether to bring on a partner, and the value of going to in-person events. Rob also covers topics such as equity for advisors, pricing strategies, & productized services. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and...

In episode 682, Rob Walling interviews Alex Theuma, the founder of SaaStock, a conference for SaaS founders. They discuss the challenges of bootstrapping an event and the pros and cons of large startup events versus small startup events. Alex also shares his experience of building credibility and authority in the industry, the importance of maintaining a positive attendee experience, and ensuring financial sustainability. Episode Sponsor: Tired of searching endlessly for highly...

In episode 681, Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez go deep on the drawbacks of launching a second product. They both generally advise against doing so, as it can distract from the existing product. However they do share some successful attempts, strategic insights, how to approach feedback on second ideas, and the benefits for founders that beat the odds. Topics we cover:  1:31 – When you should launch a second product 5:32 – Ruben’s experience growing Bidsketch and SignWell 9:45 –...

In episode 680, Rob Walling goes solo again, covering a wide variety of topics including listening to customers, but not necessarily their solutions. He also cautions against making decisions based on one customer's feedback, but listening to the crowd. Finally, Rob highlights the importance of doing whatever it takes to succeed as a founder. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never...

In episode 679.5, Rob shares seven announcements about the future of MicroConf in the upcoming year.  Whether you're a long-time supporter or a new member of our crew of misfits, you know we're all about empowering bootstrapped SaaS entrepreneurs. For nearly a decade, we've been fueling the permissionless entrepreneurship movement that's gripped founders worldwide - and we're nowhere close to finished. Our next big leap is coming, and you won't want to miss it. If you want to get...

In episode 679, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He discusses how “mock features” can be implemented to close deals with certain buying dynamics, how to recover from a failed launch, and the benefits of phased launches to minimize those. Rob also gives advice on creating organic content for a SaaS and suggests alternative marketing strategies to content creation. Finally, he covers what an engineer might encounter during an acquisition in a...

In episode 678, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how he might find buyers for a half-done SaaS product, addresses platform risk that accompanies no-code development, and shares insights on bookkeeping for SaaS startups. Rob also details what frameworks new marketers should be looking into and gives advice on launching a new SaaS tool to an email list. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at...

In episode 677, Tracy Osborn interviews Leon Barnard from Balsamiq about wireframing and design. They discuss the book "Wireframing for Everyone" written by Leon and his co-authors from Balsamiq and they emphasize the value of low-fidelity wireframes for founders. They also cover how wireframing can improve ideation and communication processes among teams. To wrap up, they recommend resources for non-designers interested in learning more about wireframing and design. Episode...

In episode 676, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he answers more listener questions. He answers questions around the inflated valuations in the B2B SaaS market, choosing between ideas, and validating a SaaS idea before building. Rob wraps up evaluating the effectiveness of building a podcast or YouTube following prior to launch. Topics we cover:  0:56 – TinySeed applications for fall 2023 batch 1:42 – The Future of MicroConf announcement event 2:13 – Why are B2B SaaS...

In episode 675, Rob Walling interviews Stephen Steers, author of "Superpower Storytelling." They discuss Stephen’s experience in selling and teaching startups how to sell better. They cover Stephen’s storytelling “AREA” framework and the concept of the problem stack. They also talk about when founders should consider delegating sales, the importance of documenting successful sales processes, and using humor in the sales process. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team...

In episode 674, ​​join Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn for Hot Take Tuesday, where they analyze and discuss some of the latest news. They talk about Elon rebranding Twitter to X and the emergence of Instagram's Threads. They also cover the pros and cons of taking VC and SparkToro's unique funding model and paying back investors. Topics we cover:  2:49 – Twitter is now X 5:53 – Does the rebranding make sense? 12:15 – Instagram launches Threads 19:18 – SparkToro...

In episode 673, Rob Walling chats with Ruben Gamez, the founder of SignWell, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics related to pricing models for SaaS products, marketing strategies for new products, the concept of copycat apps, and the challenges of balancing customer requests with product development. Additionally, they address a question about choosing between working at a startup or a big tech company. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at...

In episode 672, Rob Walling speaks with Jon Hainstock, M&A advisor at Quiet Light and previously ZoomShift. They discuss Jon’s bootstrapper journey, his exit from ZoomShift, the benefits of buying versus building, and how he helps other founders sell their businesses at Quiet Light. To wrap up, Jon exposes some common pitfalls to avoid when buying businesses. Topics we cover:  2:17 – Timeline of building and selling ZoomShift 6:07 – Deciding to sell ZoomShift 11:06 – Jumping...

In episode 671, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he covers a variety of topics. First, he shares an example of why successful founders move the needle rather than staying in their comfort zone. He shares an anecdote about discovering left-handed threads and how it applies to startups, and wraps up with some thoughts on the role of luck in audience building.  Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible...

In episode 670, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure, where he discusses why, while striking luck in your SaaS journey is great, working hard and building skills is the sustainable way to build businesses for the long haul. He also shares his personal approach to work when burnout is on the horizon and finally an anecdote relating to SaaS marketing approaches. Topics we cover:  0:41 – RSS feed issues, undesirable startup tasks 2:52 – Two exclusive episodes of Startups For the...

In episode 669, Rob Walling chats with Rick Hymanson, founder of detamoov and previously Shugo. They discuss Rick’s exit from Shugo in 2018 in what Rob calls “ten years to overnight success”. Rick recounts an early pivot for the company in finding product market fit, building the business with a day job, the logistics of the exit, and why he’s excited to join TinySeed with detamoov. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for...

In episode 668, Rob Walling and Arvid Kahl share nine key takeaways from MicroConf US 2023 in Denver. They cover topics ranging from founder mental health, shared motivations for bootstrapping, the value of in-person conferences, and the MicroConf experimentation that led to the “Chaos Lunch”. Topics we cover:  2:04 – MicroConf 2023 in Denver, building back after COVID 9:09 – Founders are sharing an experience of struggles and pivots 11:21 – Why nothing beats being in a room...

In episode 667, Rob Walling speaks with John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell, about validating and launching his second SaaS business, VidGuide. They cover how Standard Operating Procedures can help your business, from leading toward better exits to easing your burden as a founder. Topics we cover:  2:59 – Why John decided to launch […]  

In episode 667, Rob Walling speaks with John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell, about validating and launching his second SaaS business, VidGuide. They cover how Standard Operating Procedures can help your business, from leading toward better exits to easing your burden as a founder. Topics we cover:  2:59 – Why John decided to launch VidGuide 7:23 – Validating and positioning a “scratch-your-own-itch” SaaS idea 13:45 – Considerations for novel software solutions 18:27 –...

In episode 666, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from idea validation in competitive spaces to book recommendations to development strategies for non-technical founders. Episode Sponsor: Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups The competition for incredible engineers and […]