Startups For the Rest of Us

Show Notes On today's episode, Rob chats with Mike Ritchie about how they got their first paying customer in 30 days of launch, listening to your customers, and doing a massive pricing revamp. SeekWell is looking for a freelance SEO marketer to help grow the top of their funnel. If you have experience in analytics and B2B SaaS marketing, please email Mike at mike@seekwell.io The topics we cover 2:35 How Mike Ritchie and his co-founder, Thabo Fisher of Seekwell discovered the need for their product 5:57 Deciding to not go down the venture capital path 8:08 Seekwell's typical customer profile 10:01 Getting the first paying customer within 30 days 14:26 Rewriting Seekwell's codebase and doubling down on what customer's love. 16:40 Applying for TinySeed 20:03 Raising prices and adjusting Seekwell's value metric 25:53 Examples of creative use cases for Seekwell 29:02 Since Seekwell launched, have there been any low points? Links from the show Seekwell Seekwell on Twi

On today's episode, Rob chats Wil Schroter about the story behind Startups.com, the importance of output vs. hours, being specific about the kind of things you don't want to do in life, choosing venture capital, and much more. The topics we cover 2:43 How soon after first acquisition did Wil Schroter, CEO and founder of Startups.com, want to start the next thing? 5:42 Wil on building an incubator in the early days 8:55 History behind swapalease.com 11:22 On choosing if and when to take on venture funding and the origins for Startups.com 14:19 What is Startups.com and how much revenue does it generate? 19:41 Why Wil manages so many aspects of the business 23:41 The hardest part of building Startups.com 29:58 Wil's thought process on acquiring companies Links from the show Startups.com The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well) | Episode 486 Swapalease.com Virtucon Ventures Clarity.FM Launchrock.com Zirtual.com How

Show Notes Today, we have a conversation between Rob and Anthony Eden from DNSimple as they revisit the six stages of SaaS growth starting with pre-launch and pre product-market fit to scaling and company building. Be sure to listen in until the end of the podcast as they talk about what lies beyond company building, the sixth stage of SaaS growth. The topics we cover 5:10 Stage 1 - Prelaunch 10:08 Stage 2: Pre Product-Market Fit 13:40 Stage 3: Product Market Fit 16:38 Stage 4: Escape Velocity 21:08 Stage 5: Scale 33:48 Stage 6: Company Building (and Beyond) 38:13 DNSimple and Acquisition Offers Links from the show MicroConf Remote MicroConf On Air: Connect Founder Spotlight with Anthony Eden Episode 35: When Co-Founders Fall Apart | Zen Founder Episode 499 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth – Part 1 | Startups for the Rest of Us Episode 499.5 | The (First) Six Stages of SaaS Growth – Part 2 | Startups for the Rest of Us How can I support the podcast?

Show Notes On today's episode, Rob is joined by Asia Orangio as they answer listener questions ranging from how to find the right marketing channel, how to build a brand for your business, as well as how to decide whether to start or join a startup. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for the next episode. We'd love to hear from you! The questions we cover 3:13 Mike Lollar - How to find the right marketing channel 10:47 Cole Hooey - Feedback on freemium pricing model for an HR app 16:18 Robert Brandl - Should I invest in branding? 26:25 Etan Efrati - Decision framework for choosing whether to start or join a startup Links from the show Asia Orangio | Twitter DemandMaven.io In Demand | Podcast How to Acquire Your First 100 Customers - Asia Matos | MicroConf Talk MicroConf On Air: How to Earn Your First 100 Customers | MicroCon On Air Moz Ahref WebsiteToolTester.com

Show Notes On today's episode, Rob chats with Damian Thompson, co-founder of LeadFuze. He's also the founder of VPSales. They talk about if and when to hire a sales team, the kinds of cold email outreach campaigns that are working well today, the sales stack, and much more. The topics we cover 5:43 Should a bootstrapper hire a Sales Development Rep (SDR)? 9:16 Assuming you understand your market, what kind of cold emails work today? 12:56 The formula to use for B2B cold email 14:37 Risks of bootstrappers hiring sales reps too quickly 17:19 Rule of thumb for hiring sales reps in 2020 21:29 Defining SDR (Sales Development Rep) and BDR (Business Development Rep) 24:47 What's the bare minimum for a sales stack 36:42 The real challenge with outbound sales Links from the show Leadfuze VPSales Five Whys Aircall Hubspot Pipedrive Prospect.io Mailshake Gong Chorus.ai How can I support the podcast? If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by click

On today's episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob catches up with guest Derrick Reimer as they discuss shutting down a slack competitor while building and preparing to launch a new calendar SaaS. They discuss topics like user research, defining and validating an idea, choosing a big market, viral loops, and more. The topics we cover with Derrick Reimer 2:49 Shutting down a Slack competitor 6:32 Building StaticKit to get something in the market 13:16 Developing the next idea 17:03 Validating the Mighty Cal idea 19:07 Potential dangers of going into a big competitive space 23:38 Choosing the specific customer/s to target for Mighty Cal 25:45 Built-in Viral loops Links from the show @derrickreimer | Twitter The Value vs. Stress of Twitter, Pros and Cons of Remote Work, and Digital Minimalism – A Discussion Show with Derrick Reimer | Episode 482 How Derrick Reimer is Validating His Ambitious Third SaaS Application | Episode 399 The Art of Product with Guests Derrick

Show Notes You've probably heard a lot about the #NoCode movement but may not know what it means, exactly. Today, we have the great pleasure of talking with someone who is knee-deep in the #NoCode movement. Helen Ryles has launched 42 projects over 10+ years and on this episode, she shares with us why she builds so many products, her process for choosing what to work on, and how she determines a good time to sell a #NoCode product. The topics we cover with Helen Ryles 6:11 Ryles on why she chose to launch so many products 9:04 The snowball effect for learning new skills 14:10 Advice for reluctant marketers 16:05 Keeping side-projects small on purpose 18:27 Deciding when to sell a business 21:41 A primer on the #NoCode movement Links from the show Helen Ryles | Twitter Side Project Review - 2020 - @HelenRyles | Google Sheets TinyHello NamesAce FeedbackFridays.com NoCodeo.com NoCodeo.com SideProjectors Borderline.biz Podwords NocodeExchange.com

This week we chat with Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) as we discuss 15 of the top tools we use to run our businesses. As a followup to a previous, popular tweet, we thought we'd give an update on what tools we continue to use today, as well as share some of the new tools we have started to use. While tools are necessary for founders, it's important to find a good balance between good-enough and perfect when it comes to evaluating which tools to use. As Tracy says in the show, "It's a good lesson for founders because they often want to build something the 'right way' from the start. Many times there are tradeoffs and sometimes you have to use the tool that has constraints so that you can work faster. It might not be perfect, but it gets the job done." Are you using any of the tools we mention in the show or have a tool you think we should use? Let us know in the comments! The top 15 tools we cover 6:04 #1 Calendly vs YouCanBook.me 7:45 #2 Slack: how and why we use it 12:20 #3 How we use Notion for permane

This week Rob answers some great listener questions. We discuss the best way to validate a product idea, how to expand a product with traction internationally, advice on launching a restaurant product during COVID-19, and whether to start an affiliate program. If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like us to cover, please submit your question for the next episode. We'd love to hear from you! The listener questions we cover 1:39 [Arturo Ceballos] What's the best way to validate an idea and pre-launch without an audience? 13:33 [Ger Apeldoorn] When a product has product-market fit and existing customers, how would you grow internationally? 20:31 [Davis] Do you have any experience running an affiliate program. I'm worried about people that sign up for affiliate would be people that would signup anyways? 26:40 [Jacob Warren] Should I launch a startup in the service/hospitality industry during COVID-19? 28:21 [Casey Collins] Following the Stairstep app

In his second appearance on the show (he first appeared on Episode 367), we chat with Benedikt Deicke from Userlist. Along with his co-founder, Jane Portman, they are building an easy to use customer messaging tool catered specifically towards SaaS companies. In this show, we talk about some of the challenges in building a product while working full-time, finding the ideal SaaS pricing model, their underwhelming Product Hunt launch, as well as their recent purchase of the Userlist.com domain name. Jane & Benedikt are also part of Tinyseed batch #2, and we explore Benedikt's experience so far in the program, and the lessons he's learned. What we discuss with Benedikt Deicke 1:37 The story & motivation behind helpfounders.com 4:30 Userlist and slow growth in the early days 5:30 Challenges with building a SaaS while not full-time 7:50 What has helped with recent Userlist growth 9:00 Navigating SaaS pricing 12:30 An underwhelming Product Hunt launch 15:30 Acquiring the userl

In the first episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us since our 500th milestone, Rob checks in with Mike Taber about his progress with Bluetick. It's been nearly 7 weeks since Rob last checked in (Episode 494) and a lot has happened in the world since then. They talk about business trajectory amidst COVID-19, the health of the sales pipeline and unique partnership opportunities, as well as technical debt and making decisions about code optimization. What we discuss with Mike Taber 6:38 Rob and Mike reflect on what made the podcast successful 12:05 Has Bluetick seen an uptick in interest since COVID-19? 16:58 Is Mike an optimist, or a pessimist (and what would Mike's wife say)? 18:55 The highs and lows from the past few weeks 20:41 Mike on driving new prospects for Bluetick 22:38 Bluetick and unique partnership opportunities 30:47 Managing technical debt and making decisions on optimizing your code Links from the show: Mythical Man-Month | Book Mike Taber on Twitter Blue

This is a big milestone episode for Startups for the Rest of Us. Episode 500. Since the very first episode nearly a decade ago we've had more than 10 million downloads, answered more than 1,500 listener questions, and shared more than 292 hours of startup content. Over the years, this podcast has developed a particular lens through which we view building and growing startups. We've focused on: Maintaining freedom, purpose, and relationships throughout the journey Diving deep into topics relating to building and growing startups, using an ambitious yet sane approach. Thinking in years, not months Not talking about the typical Silicon Valley startups (where fundraising is a goal in and of itself) Building real companies with real customers who pay us real money Not sacrificing our health or our relationships As we look to 1,000 episodes and beyond, we decided to highlight the stories from the community as they share how the past 500 episodes have made an impact on their path to starting and growing successful

This episode is part two in a two-part conversation. If you haven't already, listen to Part 1 first. This week is the second part of a conversation between Rob and Jordan Gal, the founder of CartHook. In the episode, Rob and Jordan dig into the 4th, 5th and 6th stages of SaaS growth and compare their journeys 1:1 between growing Drip and growing CartHook. They come across several parallels between their journeys, as well as some differences. This episode is part two in a two-part conversation. Jordan started CartHook as cart abandonment software and later pivoted into a checkout replacement solution for Shopify. He has been on the podcast several times answering listener questions and has spoken at a handful of MicroConfs. He is also the co-host of the Bootstrapped Web podcast. Every time we come up against the hill and then climb it and get to the top, when we look outward, we see so much more. So, the opportunity just keeps getting bigger the further we go. We're not even close. We're just barely

This week is a conversation between Rob and Jordan Gal, the founder of Cart Hook. We dig into the six stages of SaaS growth. We compare our journeys 1:1 between growing Drip and growing CartHook. It's shocking how well the journeys line up with each other. Some of the differences in the journey are also quite striking. This episode is part one, and part two will go live later this week. Jordan started CartHook as cart abandonment software and became a checkout replacement solution for Shopify. He has been on the podcast a few times answering questions, and he has spoken at MicroConf a few times. He is also the co-host of the Bootstrapped Web podcast. The finer points of the episode: 6:00 - Stage 1: Prelaunch 8:33 - How to create your own luck when your SaaS app is in the prelaunch phase 13:37 - Stage 2: Post Launch 14:25 - The journey to finding product-market fit 22:25 - The most challenging parts of the journey for Rob and Jordan 23:29 - Stage 3: Product Market Fit Items mention

This week Rob talks with Steli Efti about selling during a pandemic. They also talk about how to set yourself up for success as a founder during a possible recession and how to adjust your sales process. You don't want to shy away from sales, but you also don't want to be tone-deaf to the current state of the world. Steli is one of the world's experts in startup sales and B2B sales. He runs a successful app called Close.com. He has written a number of ebooks on the topic of sales, and he has been a recognized expert for over a decade. The finer points of the episode: 4:15 - Two big sales trends that Steli has noticed during the COVID-19 crisis 9:09 - The main thing you can do for your business right now 13:55 - How to approach a sales conversation while being sensitive to the current circumstances 16:33 - How Close.com managed to increase their revenue and grow through 2020 25:00 - How Steli sees his sales process looking after COVID-19 30:25 - Best practices for sending cold emails duri

This week Rob answers listener questions with TinySeed co-founder Einar Vollset. Einar has been on the selling side of many SaaS acquisitions. He is also a developer with a Ph.D. in computer science, so he has a well-rounded experience, and it makes him the perfect person to answer these listener questions. There are some interesting questions from listeners who are growing SaaS apps. The finer points of the episode: 2:38 - What metrics you should be documenting on your SaaS app 9:04 - The things buyers checked on when we were selling Drip 13:00 - How to navigate creating the terms for a business partnership 18:43 - Should you be sending unsolicited marketing emails? 24:18 - Best strategies to make sales 27:32 - Potential opportunities to make sales during the COVID-19 crisis Items mentioned in this episode: tinyseed.com/invest Find Einar on Twitter

This interview was recorded several months ago, but is still relevant despite the pandemic. Colin Nederkoorn, the co-founder of customer.io has taken a unique approach to building their company. Customer.io does marketing automation for the entire customer lifecycle. They have raised funding, but not traditional venture money, and they've run it more like a self-funded SaaS. Colin and his cofounder John left their jobs with no savings, and they set out to build an analytics tool. Their story is powerful because of their unconventional approach and ability to persevere through hard times. The finer points of the episode: 4:05 - The customer.io founder journey 5:23 - Their approach to selecting investors 7:01 - Reflecting on how Colin and John bootstrapped a SaaS app after leaving their jobs with no savings 8:02 - Why they pivoted from an analytics company to selling marketing solutions 13:15 - Finding the balance between innovation vs following the best practices 18:37 - How customer.io b

Today, Rob flies solo to talk about 7 different things that he has learned in his 20 years of entrepreneurship. He also offers some feedback about what he is seeing in the startup communities today, advice on how to deal with competition, marketing tips, and how to build a team of developers. The finer points of the episode: 2:35 - Be careful about over-generalizing from one win 3:33 - The three things you need in order to succeed in building a startup 8:10 - How to handle feedback you get on your product 12:48 - Rob's personal experience and opinion on dealing with competition in the startup space 15:35 - Why word-of-mouth is not the right answer for where your leads are coming from 18:40 - The real reason why some startups are "transparent" 21:05 - Advice on how to build a team of developers Items mentioned in this episode: Start Small Stay Small

This week we catch up with Mike Taber, he comes on the show every once in a while to share his progress as he grows his SaaS App, Bluetick. We haven't checked in with Mike since before the quarantine, and the last time we spoke to him, he had more than doubled his revenue in the past 4-5 months. We will talk about how the COVID-19 crisis has affected Bluetick and other SaaS apps, some new insights that Mike has been learning about his customer base, and decisions he has made about the positioning and marketing of Bluetick. It is difficult to try and land new customers when we are facing a global pandemic and a possible recession. If you are working on a startup, you might find it helpful to know how someone else is handling this crisis in their business. The finer points of the episode: 5:00 - How Bluetick and other SAS apps have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis 8:35 - Mike's biggest success and biggest defeat in the past 7 weeks 11:32 - Where Mike's customers are finding him? 12:53 - W