Build Your SaaS
166 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 68 ratingsInterested in building your own SaaS company? Follow the journey of Transistor.fm as they bootstrap a podcast hosting startup.
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Episodes
Is ONCE enough?
February 10, 2024 00:59 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBA panel discussion on 37signals' first ONCE product, the launch of Campfire ("pay for it once, install it, and run it on your own server"). Ian Landsman, Tyler Tringas, and Justin Jackson share what they expected to happen before the launch, what did happen, and what it means for indie hackers and bootstrappers who want to launch SaaS companies. Is this the end of SaaS? Links: Once landing page Campfire sales page DHH's tweet: "ONCE/Campfire hasn't even been for sale for a week,...
How the Acquired podcast grew, and why they switched to Transistor
January 25, 2024 21:50 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBFast Company called Acquired "the #1 tech podcast sensation." I've been a huge fan of the show for years. So, I was surprised when they contacted me and wanted to switch to Transistor for podcast hosting! Since switching, they've had a breakout year. Their clips started showing up everywhere on my social media feed; they had chart-topping episodes on Nintendo, Nike, and Costco, and they interviewed the CEOs of NVIDIA, Uber, and Charlie Munger. And this was the year that Ben Gilbe...
How Ben and David bootstrapped the Acquired podcast
January 25, 2024 21:50 - 1 hour - 63.1 MBFast Company called Acquired "the #1 tech podcast sensation." I've been a huge fan of the show for years. So, I was surprised when they contacted me and wanted to switch to Transistor for podcast hosting! Since switching, they've had a breakout year. Their clips started showing up everywhere on my social media feed; they had chart-topping episodes on Nintendo, Nike, and Costco, and they interviewed the CEOs of NVIDIA, Uber, and Charlie Munger. And this was the year that Ben Gilbe...
Nashville team retreat: scary birds, country music, and a photo shoot
September 26, 2023 18:44 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBThe whole team is on the show! Jon, Helen, Jason, Josh, and Justin are on the mics to discuss our recent team retreat to Nashville, Tennessee. If you're wondering what a retreat looks like for a remote team, you'll get a lot out of this episode. We also reveal some of our exploits in Music City: "Going to a Tiki Bar is usually a mistake." Highlights (00:10) - Welcome (01:15) - Highlights of our retreat in Nashville (13:00) - It's not easy to get everyone together (20:31) - Our s...
Paul Jarvis: gaining freedom by building an indie business
August 01, 2023 20:50 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBJustin catches up with his old internet friend Paul Jarvis. Today, Paul co-founded Fathom Analytics with Jack Ellis: a simple alternative to Google Analytics. Paul is also the author of the book "Company of One," which has influenced a whole generation of indie entrepreneurs (and has been reviewed by Cal Newport, Chris Guillebeau, Ben Chestnut, Tiago Forte, and more). Previously, Justin and Paul did a weekly mastermind, where they supported and encouraged each other around our indie...
How Tim worked on side-projects for 10+ years, and finally went full-time (with kids)
June 20, 2023 07:40 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBTim reached out after the Aaron Francis episode: "I wanted to pitch you on the idea of coming on the podcast and sharing my journey of building side projects for the last decade while raising a family. I can also share the guardrails I put in place before finally going full-time on T.LY." Highlights: (00:12) - Welcome (01:18) - Who is Tim Leland? (03:25) - What guardrails did you put in place? (06:29) - What's the sales funnel? (08:18) - Family as a motivator (16:26) - How wo...
Startup coaching: helping founders and team members realize their full potential
June 07, 2023 00:55 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MBThis week Jon and Justin are joined by Marcella Chamorro. Previously, she worked in startup marketing but has recently transitioned to coaching founders and teams. We discussed how startup founders and their team members can realize their full potential. Here are some highlights: (00:24) - Introducing Marcella (03:08) - How do you define your coaching? (05:15) - What do you see with rising stars? (09:42) - Do you navigate team dynamics or individual work? (14:45) - Any advice ...
Michele Hansen update: Section 174 and bootstrapping with kids
May 16, 2023 08:58 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBIn this podcast episode, Michele Hansen (Geocodio) gives us an update on Section 174 and provides her take on "bootstrapping with kids." Michele explains you can be a part of the Small Software Business Alliance, and fight Section 174. If you're in the USA, please contact Congress! In the second half of the episode, Justin and Michele talk about the challenges of balancing starting a business while you have young kids. For more on this topic, check out the last episode with Aaron...
Should a parent with young kids try to bootstrap a new startup?
May 09, 2023 19:45 - 1 hour - 60.2 MBIn this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is well-positioned to talk about this because he has twins and is also bootstrapping Hammerstone with his co-founder Colleen. The whole conversation is a nuanced take on the topic and full of important insights, especially on: the risks involved (especially if yo...
Why we hired someone new
April 20, 2023 00:51 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBJon and Justin welcome Joshua Anderton to the Transistor team! Josh is an amazingly talented full-stack web developer (Laravel, Rails, Tailwind CSS, Alpine, and more!) He's been helping us as a part-time contractor since Oct 2022, and we're excited to have him on board full-time! In this episode, we discuss why we hired another person and how we think about hiring at Transistor. (00:28) - 150! (01:32) - Trials into paid customers (09:22) - Hiring philosophy (27:45) - Hiring Josh...
Act now before it's too late: Section 174
March 28, 2023 08:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBMichele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio) is raising the alarm about Section 174. This legislation could dramatically increase your tax bill this year if you're a small software company in the USA. Michele is organizing a response through the Small Software Business Alliance. 👉 ACT NOW: Sign up for Michele's list US citizens: tweet and call your Senators today. They need to know that this is a small business issue and that small businesses in their state are hurt by Section 174. S...
This would kill our company immediately
March 21, 2023 08:06 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBJon's back from his first real vacation in years. In this episode, we discuss how we've been removing inactive accounts on Transistor, SVB, Section 174, Revin is shutting down their Merchant of Record service, SaaS sales tax compliance: (00:37) - Jon in vacation mode (02:35) - Kicking off inactive accounts (04:35) - Silicon Valley Bank (06:11) - What is Mercury bank? (13:21) - Section 174 in the USA (19:23) - Sales tax compliance update (26:14) - What could we do? (32:31) - ...
One pepperoni pizza please
March 01, 2023 01:06 - 2 minutes - 2.01 MB"I don't get it: if that money is for the government, how come the pizza place put it in their cash register?!?" (Jon is on vacation - our next real episode is coming soon!) Listen to our past episodes on the headache that is SaaS sales tax compliance: Part 1 Part 2 Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse...
Super Fun SaaS Sales Tax (Part Deux)
February 21, 2023 09:17 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBLast week's episode hit a nerve! "The idea that every small software company in the world will be able to be in perfect compliance will every foreign federal, provincial, state, and municipal government that imposes a sales tax is ridiculous. It's an impossible task. (00:11) - Follow up to previous episode (02:37) - Responses we got about sales tax (06:25) - A brief history of sales tax (09:01) - Many vendors aren't collecting sales tax (10:46) - What about Stripe Tax? (12:40)...
Nobody in SaaS wants to talk about this
February 10, 2023 16:12 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MB📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! Sales tax compliance: nobody in SaaS wants to talk about it. Jon and Justin tried to do something about it and it turned into a nightmare. According to Stripe Tax, there are about 90 different regions that software companies may have to register in, and then calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on their behalf. But in North America, many SaaS companies don't seem to care: many that we looked at weren't collecting sales tax at all, while a f...
Nobody wants to talk about this (SaaS sales tax)
February 10, 2023 16:12 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBSales tax compliance: nobody in SaaS wants to talk about it. Jon and Justin tried to do something about it and it turned into a nightmare. According to Stripe Tax, there are about 90 different regions that software companies may have to register in, and then calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on their behalf. But in North America, many SaaS companies don't seem to care: many that we looked at weren't collecting sales tax at all, while a few had just started collecting in the US...
The gang goes to Montréal
October 18, 2022 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBThe whole Transistor team got together for a retreat in Montréal. Jon, Justin, Helen, and Jason chat about the experience. What should we talk about next? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda, @jsonpearl, and @helenryles Leave a review/comment on Podchaser; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: [email protected] Thanks to our monthly supporters: Jason Charnes Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Alex Payne Bill Condo Ant...
Jon & Justin reveal everything (part 2)
August 16, 2022 08:05 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBIt's the fourth anniversary of Transistor's public launch! This is part 2 of "Jon and Justin answer your questions." (00:37) - When did you start paying yourself how much you wanted to make? (01:39) - Any broad advice for startups? (11:43) - How did you decide on your tech stack? (14:21) - How did you prioritize features? (15:54) - Were you embarrased by the first version you shipped? (17:53) - How did you decide on pricing? (21:12) - How would you have found employees withou...
Jon & Justin reveal everything (part 1)
August 10, 2022 19:29 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBIt's the fourth anniversary of Transistor's public launch! In this two-part series, Jon and Justin answer your questions. 01:22 - Our history 14:51 - What is the secret to running Transistor as a company? See our values here. 21:19 - What was the most challenging aspect of the past 4 years? 22:14 - Where do you see Transistor at 5 or 10 year? 26:19 - Do you ever feel like you're not doing enough? Book: Running the Dream. 32:09 - Have we reached peak podcast? 34:36 - What's so...
Bootstrapping in France (Baptiste Jamin from Crisp)
July 12, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 61.9 MBBaptiste Jamin co-founded Crisp with a friend he met in high school. Highlights (go straight to 🔥 for the best stuff): 1:42 – Crisp competes with massive companies: Zendesk, HelpScout, Intercom 2:52 – How did Crisp get started? (they started young!) 4:40 – The key insight that lead them to start Crisp 🔥 7:03 – "Being young and in France, how much did you know about the startup ecosystem?" 9:39 – How they bootstrapped Crisp in their twenties 🔥 12:52 – Market insights and how ...
What's it like getting acquired by Spotify? (Dave Zohrob from Chartable)
June 14, 2022 08:00 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBDave Zohrob is the co-founder of Chartable (a podcast analytics startup), talks about selling his company to Spotify in February 2022. Highlights (go straight to 🔥 for the best stuff): 1:00 – What's the Spotify office in New York like? 5:24 – Dave's first startup: he started an indie record label (Tellall Records) 7:12 – Founding in Chartable in 2017 8:00 – Behind the scenes: talking to Chris Enns (our editor at Lemon Productions) 9:50 – Dave's first business as a kid: publis...
Patrick Campbell: why ProfitWell sold to Paddle for $200M
May 31, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 63.8 MBPatrick Campbell just sold his startup, ProfitWell, to Paddle for $200 million. Highlights (go straight to 🔥 for the best stuff): 0:00 – "My problem is I'm always curious if other people are living a better dream than me." 1:30 – The major downside to bootstrapping is the lack of network 2:20 – Selling ProfitWell to Paddle, and integrating the two teams. 4:15 – How ProfitWell got started (2012) 6:00 – Initially three co-founders (Crunchbase) 7:20 – Patrick's background (what ...
Going from $0 to $2 million in ARR in 7 years (the Missive story)
April 26, 2022 08:01 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBPhilippe Lehoux and his two co-founders started working on Missive around 2015, and just passed $2 million in annual recurring revenue. 0:00 – Getting to know Philippe, and what it's like living in Quebec 3:09 – How Missive got started: "how can we quickly collaborate on an email as a team?" 8:15 – How they get most of their customers 10:30 – How their first product (Conference Badge), funded the development of Missive 13:55 – How the market dictates most of your success 16:30...
Taylor Otwell: the business of Laravel in 2022
April 05, 2022 08:05 - 52 minutes - 48 MBTaylor Otwell, is the founder of Laravel, a programming framework for PHP. But he's also one of the most successful indie SaaS operators I know. In this episode we discuss: 0:30 – Taylor is changing how he hires and manages people at Laravel 6:01 – How Taylor is finding new employees to work on Forge, Vapor, and his other products 7:34 – The Laravel ecosystem has incubated incredible talent: Miguel Piedrafita, Caleb Porzio, Adam Wathan, Aaron Francis, Jack Ellis... 10:03 – More ...
Why Customer Support = Startup Success
March 22, 2022 08:07 - 49 minutes - 45 MBHelen and Justin talk about the importance of customer support for indie SaaS companies. 1:08 The hardest part about podcasting is doing it every week 1:38 We just launched the new podcast website themes feature. 2:24 Getting feedback, or seeing people use your product, is fuel for indie makers 6:08 Helen's experience doing Customer Success for other companies: education, ConvertKit, MakerPad. 8:53 Justin's tweet: "Customer Support is the most under-appreciated role in SaaS." ...
What's it really like to work at Transistor?
March 15, 2022 08:06 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBWe got the whole band together: Helen and Jason join Jon and Justin to talk about what it's really like to work at Transistor Helen, Jason, Jon, Justin, all squeezed into the podcasting closet to make an episode 0:55 Jason's first podcast ever 1:12 Helen's been on other podcasts: Startups for the Rest of Us, Indie Bites, Indie Worldwide 3:06 Should we invest in the "auto publish to YouTube" feature? Tom Webster: why would people listen to podcasts on YouTube? 13:32 The best fe...
Founders' retreat
January 18, 2022 09:10 - 19 minutes - 18 MBJon and Justin recorded this episode sitting on the same couch! Photo of the Coeur de Boeuf The last time we were together in person: April 30, 2019 [Photo] 2022 roadmap planning. We're exploring what we'd like to accomplish this year. Update and improve the podcast website builder Build new podcast website templates based on Liquid Add tools that help podcasters promote their show Continue to improve our Dynamic Audio Insertion features Create new features that help podcas...
The Christmas bonus check
December 24, 2021 20:08 - 59 minutes - 54.5 MBJon and Justin reflect on 2021 and get excited about 2022: Rework podcast episode: the word "startup" Should we rename the show "Maintain your SaaS"? ;) Biggest highlights: hiring Helen and Jason Giving employees generous bonuses Justin's list of non-alcoholic drinks Captivate (one of our competitors) was just acquired Different types of founder stress Should we sell our company? Our friends at Rewardful were just acquired Plans and features for 2022 What happened in 2021?...
Reflecting on 2021
December 24, 2021 20:08 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBJon and Justin reflect on 2021 and get excited about 2022: Rework podcast episode: the word "startup" Should we rename the show "Maintain your SaaS"? ;) Biggest highlights: hiring Helen and Jason Giving employees generous bonuses Justin's list of non-alcoholic drinks Captivate (one of our competitors) was just acquired Different types of founder stress Should we sell our company? Our friends at Rewardful were just acquired Plans and features for 2022 What happened in 2021?...
Brian Casel, of Bootstrapped Web, chats about his new app
December 07, 2021 16:51 - 1 hour - 79.5 MBIn this guest episode, Justin chats with Brian Casel. Bootstrapped Web podcast ZipMessage Brian's other projects What should we talk about next? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda Leave a review/comment on Podchaser; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: [email protected] Thanks to our monthly supporters: Anton Zorin from ProdCamp.com Mitch Harris Kenny, Intro CRM podcast Oleg Kulyk Violette Du Geneville Take It EV podcast Ethan Gunderson Diogo Ch...
What does my daughter think of the podcast industry?
November 26, 2021 00:01 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBIn this bonus episode, Justin interviews his 18-year-old daughter, Sadie, about: A Gen Z perspective on podcasting Why women are the future of podcasting: Edison Research "Now, look at the rookies – 47% are men, but the majority, 53% are women." "Most women get their podcast recommendations from Spotify, social media, or their friends." We talk a lot about podcast advertising, podcast ads, and how the adtech industry should think differently about how they target women. "Most ...
A few questions
October 12, 2021 17:30 - 51 minutes - 47.5 MBThis week Jon and Justin discussed: Tweet: what should we talk about? Justin's daughter wrote an article for the Transistor blog: https://transistor.fm/gen-z/ Customer case studies Dynamic audio insertion Integration with Descript Book: Range by David Epstein What should we talk about next? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda Leave a review/comment on Podchaser; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: [email protected] Thanks to our monthly supporters: A...
Why should we care about our customers' feelings?
September 07, 2021 23:14 - 1 hour - 62.6 MBThis week Justin chats with Michele Hansen, founder of Geocodio. I got fired up about interviewing customers! Get Michele's new book! Deploy Empathy Listen to Michele's podcast: Software Social "Empathy is a skill you can learn." Get Michele's newsletter "There's so much shame in the tech community." What are the boundaries for deploying empathy? When, and how, do we deliver critiques? Podcast: a respectful interview with a flat-earther "This book isn't just about deployin...
This is a big step for us
August 17, 2021 08:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBThis week Jon and Justin discussed: Our values determine how we make decisions Hiring FT: we hired Jason Pearl! Summer SaaS slowdown Tweet: worst month ever ConvertKit’s public numbers What should we talk about next? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: [email protected] Thanks to our monthly supporters: Mitch Harris Kenny, Intro CRM podcast Oleg Kulyk Violette Du Geneville Take It EV p...
Is venture capital bad?
August 03, 2021 08:00 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBThis week Spencer Fry, founder of Podia.com, joins Justin Jackson to talk about venture capital and bootstrapping. Spencer's tweet: "The hostility that the bootstrapper community has towards the VC community continues to perplex me." Justin's interview with Jason Calacanis (2013) VC brags Roy Bahat on Big Technology Podcast: Why VCs are mad 06:30 "Capital changes lots of dynamics in society. It's not neutral." – Justin Jackson Silicon Valley: No Revenue (video) Blog post: Pod...
Basecamp | Hiring | How to have a calm company
May 04, 2021 16:25 - 49 minutes - 44.9 MBThis week Jon and Justin discussed: Basecamp Note: we recorded this before Casey Newton's second article on Basecamp came out. Also: this article is a really thoughtful take on the whole situation. Ruby/Rails open source world. https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/effect-of-the-last-week-on-ruby-on-rails/77702 SO EXCITED: HELEN IS ON THE TEAM! 🎉 https://transistor.fm/helen/ Cost/benefit analysis It’s really difficult to make that calculation: should we commit to this? How do...
A good business will change your life (for real)
April 06, 2021 08:00 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MBThis we, we chatted about: Evil Crypto Teletubbies Voltswagon Fathom has acquired Google Jon is trying out a new private office, in a coworking space (Deskpass) Justin had a quick chat with Derrick Reimer, SavvyCal Tweet: Two years ago (March 2019), Justin posted a screenshot of our revenue numbers and we were just about to hit $10k in MRR. Jason Fried: Your company history is a myth Justin went full-time the next month (April 2019). Tweet: A mere six months after hitting $...
We're doing this and it's weird
January 26, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBReal humans making a business together: Taking the leap Why is Justin jealous of Ben? Pros and cons of building a remote company in 2021 Limited exposure to your co-founder What would take to get Jon to move to Canada? Story: confronting a burglar with a crowbar The algorithm rewards you for being early Spending a lot of time on Clubhouse Apple Podcasts going into subscription podcasts roundtable “Podcasting needs better distribution” “Podcasting needs better discoverabil...
Podcast companies losing money?
January 19, 2021 09:00 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBJon's back! He and Justin share their feelings/thoughts about the new year: Closing the door on the past Exciting revenue milestone Podcast companies losing money https://podnews.net/update/pocket-casts-for-sale https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/15/spotifys-big-bet-on-podcasts-is-failing-citi-says.html https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/15/apple-podcast-subscription-service/ Twitter's Trump ban https://twitter.com/evan_greer/status/1347948903921045511 https://www.fastcompany.com...
Jason Fried – you can't control the market
December 29, 2020 09:00 - 54 minutes - 49.9 MBThis week, Justin and Jason discuss the dynamics of market demand. Justin's original tweet Jason's response What should we talk about next? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda, @jasonfried Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: [email protected] Thanks to our monthly supporters: Take It EV podcast Ethan Gunderson Anton Zorin Bill Condo Chris Willow Mason Hensley Borja Soler teami.io Ward from MemberSpace.com Travis Fischer...
What happened after Simon went full time on his SaaS?
December 15, 2020 22:11 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MBThis week, Justin catches up with Simon Bennett of Snapshooter: Every once in a while, we highlight one of our listeners who are building their own SaaS. This week: Simon Bennett, comes back to tell us what's happened since he left his full-time job 7 months ago. Looking for automatic backups for Digital Ocean, AWS, WordPress, or Laravel? Check out https://snapshooter.io. Simon had just put his kids to bed (he's in the UK) and sat down in his office to have a chat with Justin. ...
Landsman on software
November 17, 2020 23:12 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBJustin is joined by everybody's favorite Twitter Uncle: Ian Landsman (founder of HelpSpot). Ian's encounter with his internet hero Joel Spolsky Do you get worried that this all going to go away? How scared should we be of the competition? How do you hedge your bets? We prognosticate about what our bootstrapper friends' blind spots are. 🤣 We both ask for investors live, on air. How founders should manage their personal finances. How our past experience can make us blind to op...
How fragile is the prosumer SaaS market?
November 10, 2020 23:27 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBWe're back! Justin's voice sounds terrible (sorry!) When is the next wave of economic despair going to happen? The maker/creator market is on 🔥 right now. How long will it last? How "soft" is the prosumer market? How fragile is it? A BUNCH OF NEW TRANSISTOR FEATURES: Zapier integration Podcast:locked Easily submit your podcast to the major podcast directories. Podcast distribution checklist How do you work on your startup when you're feeling down? "There were weeks when ...
What it takes to launch a SaaS
September 22, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 63.9 MBWe have a bonus episode for you this week! Justin was on the Framework podcast. Check out the other Spec.fm shows Subscribe to Framework in Overcast Want to reply to something we said? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda, @tomcreighton, @therobhayes Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: [email protected] Thanks to our monthly supporters: Take It EV podcast Ethan Gunderson Helmut Irle Colt Borg Marc Beinder Anton Zorin Bill...
THE FEAR
September 15, 2020 08:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBJon and Justin talk about "optionality" in bootstrapping. (Justin is concerned, Jon thinks we should just enjoy the moment). DHH: "Part of what gave us the confidence to turn down the whole world of venture capital was a small sale of equity to Jeff Bezos. That gave our personal bank accounts just enough ballast that the big numbers touted by VCs and acquisition hunters lost their lure." Are we at peak podcasting? Things are good right now - will they be good for 10 years? 20 year...
Do you really need to build an audience?
September 08, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 75.3 MBLate-summer update! This week on the program, we bring you a super spicy interview that Justin did on the TechZing podcast. Do you really need to build an audience before you build your product? Justin's tweet There's this idea that you need to grow an audience, talk to an audience, and then build something they want. Is that really necessary? IndieHackers interview with Vincent Woo justinjackson.ca/surfing Tweet: what do we mean when we say "audience?" Want to reply to somet...
Break out
August 04, 2020 08:00 - 46 minutes - 42.8 MBMid-summer update! This week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about: If you're bootstrapping SaaS, how many monthly trials do you need? Tweet: "You probably need more trials than you think." Breaking out of your own way of thinking "All it took was someone talking to me to have a different way of thinking about it." Want to reply to something we said? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: mai...
Talking about an acquisition
June 30, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBThis week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about: Updates on Transistor: new API is almost done, static site generator, growth slowed in June? Questioning whether we should slow down for the summer Talking about the Simplecast acquisition What would sell for? Mike: “Anything that’s a life-changing amount.” Want to reply to something we said? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts. Email us: mail@transist...
It's just too much
June 16, 2020 08:00 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBThis week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about: A friend, whose SaaS has grown 300% since the beginning of the quarantine. They just hit $6k in MRR. At that stage, he's in the "almost but not yet." You're either: Brainstorming how to make money faster Brainstorming how to work less Different stages: Pre-launch stage: you're working on your product on the side. It's fun! There's nothing stealing your time and attention because you don't have customers yet. The beta stage...
Waking up
June 09, 2020 08:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBStructural racism affects every part of the economic system. It affects bootstrappers too! It defines: Who we hire Who we invest in Who we promote Who we chat with Who sees our numbers Who we invite to speak Who gets access to our platform "It's not just about being oppressed or being an oppressor, it's about resisting oppression and resisting being an oppressor; being an ally, being an advocate for social justice." – Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum (clip) Right now, in cities acro...