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Startups For the Rest of Us

Startups For the Rest of Us

735 Episodes • By Rob Walling • www.startupsfortherestofus.com/...
The original podcast for bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startups, this show follow the stories of founders as they start, acquire, and grow SaaS companies. Hear when they fail, struggle, succeed, and take you with them through the tumultuous life of a SaaS founder. If you like Mixergy, This We ...more
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Startups For the Rest of Us
Startups For the Rest of Us
@startupsfortherestofus
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Episode 723 | How to Be a Supercommunicator (and Why it Matters as a Bootstrapper) with Charles Duhigg
In episode 723, Rob Walling interviews Charles Duhig... more
Jul 23 2024 31m
Mastering Communication Skills for Effective Conversations
Chapter 1 1 min
What’s a “super communicator?”
Chapter 2 3 mins
Getting better at being a great communicator
Chapter 3 3 mins
Identifying the types of conversations you are having
Chapter 4 5 mins
Transitioning between different types of conversations
Chapter 5 5 mins
Advice for introverts engaging in deep conversations with new people
Chapter 6 5 mins
How to quickly improve small talk
Chapter 7 4 mins
Non-verbal communication has slightly different rules
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Episode 722 | Bootstrapping a Vertical SaaS to 7-Figures in 18 Months
In episode 722, Rob Walling interviews James Mooring... more
Jul 16 2024 39m
In-Person Event Strategy Success
Chapter 1 1 min
– NDIS software for providers of disability care
Chapter 2 2 mins
Astalty’s rapid growth
Chapter 3 2 mins
– Finding success with a strong co-founder pairing
Chapter 4 3 mins
– Deciding to tailor the Astalty MVP
Chapter 5 4 mins
– Building a free Chrome extension, smart or lucky?
Chapter 6 4 mins
Launching a paid plan and nailing the pricing
Chapter 7 3 mins
Explosive word of mouth growth
Chapter 8 5 mins
– Selling at in-person events and in Facebook groups
Chapter 9 3 mins
A clever way of raising prices
Chapter 10 4 mins
Learning from fast iteration
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Episode 721 | 7 Key Takeaways from the 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report
In episode 721, Rob Walling and Asia Orangio analyze... more
Jul 9 2024 35m
Value of Independent SAS Report
Chapter 1 5 mins
The State of Independent SaaS Report
Chapter 2 2 mins
Requiring a credit card upfront
Chapter 3 4 mins
Three founders perform best
Chapter 4 4 mins
Free trials and credit cards
Chapter 5 3 mins
Average growth by target market
Chapter 6 2 mins
Plans for outside funding
Chapter 7 6 mins
Credit cards, trials, and churn
Chapter 8 3 mins
Advertising channels that are working
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Episode 720 | How to Prioritize Your Focus (In Both Your Startup and Personal Life)
In episode 720, Rob Walling is joined by Craig Hewit... more
Jul 2 2024 46m
Prioritization in Marketing and Life
Chapter 1 3 mins
Prioritizing marketing growth and work-life balance outside of work
Chapter 2 3 mins
Buying back your time and optimizing for convenience
Chapter 3 9 mins
Identifying the right things to work on with coaches and masterminds
Chapter 4 2 mins
Making fewer, bigger decisions as a founder
Chapter 5 8 mins
Making intentional family-focused time
Chapter 6 6 mins
How Craig started his coaching
Chapter 7 10 mins
Podcasting with co-hosts vs. podcasting solo
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Episode 719 | How to Test Pricing, Lifetime Deals, and Building Something for Everyone (A Rob Solo Adventure)
n episode 719, join Rob Walling as he embarks on ano... more
Jun 25 2024 26m
Judging Recommendations Based on Personal Taste
Chapter 1 7 mins
– Testing different prices for your product
Chapter 2 6 mins
One-time or lifetime payments&nbsp
Chapter 3 6 mins
Horizontal products, building something for everyone
Chapter 4 5 mins
– Making descriptive recommendations
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Episode 718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer)
In episode 718, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer tackl... more
Jun 18 2024 43m
Building a Complex Group Scheduling Feature
Chapter 1 5 mins
– Which feature felt harder and took longer than imagined?
Chapter 2 8 mins
– When is time to give up on a SaaS idea and move on?
Chapter 3 5 mins
Finding customers in crowded markets with large incumbents
Chapter 4 2 mins
Has Derrick officially retired from podcasting?
Chapter 5 2 mins
Handling competitors that are copying differentiating product features
Chapter 6 2 mins
Evaluating SavvyCal’s refreshed design
Chapter 7 2 mins
Considering vertical vs. horizontal SaaS for SavvyCal
Chapter 8 6 mins
– Why did Derrick decide to pursue the idea for SavvyCal?
Chapter 9 2 mins
Finding “founder-fit”
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Episode 717 | Bootstrapping to $1.3M ARR and 300,000 Free Users
In episode 717, Rob Walling interviews Marie Martin,... more
Jun 11 2024 34m
Early Marketing Strategies for Form Builder
Chapter 1 1 min
Where Tally is today
Chapter 2 3 mins
Keeping customer support volume low
Chapter 3 3 mins
Differentiating Tally from other form builders
Chapter 4 7 mins
The ingredients needed to make “free” work
Chapter 5 5 mins
”Shrinking a Market”
Chapter 6 2 mins
Growing to 300,000+ free users
Chapter 7 2 mins
Dealing with bad actors
Chapter 8 4 mins
Applying the learnings from Tally’s success
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Episode 716 | Positioning Against Incumbents, Changing Your H1, How Tech Stack Affects Valuation, and More Listener...
In episode 716, join Rob Walling for another solo ad... more
Jun 4 2024 31m
Later Stage Business Questions Requested
Chapter 1 4 mins
How directly should I position my product against incumbents?
Chapter 2 3 mins
Making and testing changes to your H1
Chapter 3 5 mins
Identifying and qualifying niches based on traffic
Chapter 4 2 mins
Should I skip a “Step 1” or “Step 2” business to start a SaaS?
Chapter 5 7 mins
How a tech stack affects valuations
Chapter 6 3 mins
Differentiating between B2B and B2C
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Episode 715 | Best Uses of the Internet, a Book about Selling Your Company, and a Circus Show
In episode 715, Rob Walling is joined by Dr. Sherry ... more
May 28 2024 35m
Art and Grief
Chapter 1 4 mins
Examples of thoughtful, nuanced Internet interactions
Chapter 2 7 mins
Impacting people you otherwise couldn’t online
Chapter 3 6 mins
Dr. Sherry Walling’s circus show motivation
Chapter 4 3 mins
The psychology of business exits
Chapter 5 5 mins
Commonalities across founders considering exits
Chapter 6 5 mins
Speaking to the whole lifecycle of a SaaS business
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Episode 714 | TRM not TAM, Acquiring a Competitor, and Finding a Developer Co-founder (A Rob Solo Adventure)
In episode 714, join Rob Walling for another solo ad... more
May 21 2024 31m
Transitioning Apps
Chapter 1 2 mins
How to navigate acquiring a competitor
Chapter 2 3 mins
How to transition the newly acquired customers into your product
Chapter 3 3 mins
HIPAA compliance for a bootstrapped MVP
Chapter 4 5 mins
Total Addressable Market (TAM) vs. Total Reachable Market (TRM)
Chapter 5 9 mins
How do I find a developer co-founder?
Chapter 6 3 mins
Can I find data on SaaS app store spending?
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Episode 713 | Our Top 5 Takeaways from MicroConf US 2024 (with Arvid Kahl)
In episode 713, Rob Walling is joined by Arvid Kahl ... more
May 14 2024 34m
Motivation Talk at Entrepreneurship Event
Chapter 1 2 mins
– Key takeaways from MicroConf 2024
Chapter 2 3 mins
Dr. Sherry Walling’s talk on motivation
Chapter 3 2 mins
Stephen Steer’s sales scripts talk
Chapter 4 2 mins
Live valuation of a business by Quiet Light Brokerage
Chapter 5 1 min
Micro excursions that allow founders to connect with one another
Chapter 6 1 min
– The hallway track outside of the venue
Chapter 7 3 mins
– ”Nothing beats being in a room”
Chapter 8 3 mins
Lack of hierarchy among founders
Chapter 9 1 min
Lianna Patch’s copywriting swipe file
Chapter 10 5 mins
Ben Chestnut is just like one of us
Chapter 11 4 mins
Don’t get stuck with MicroConf FOMO
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Episode 712 | Revisiting Burnout + Updates on My Progress in 2024 (A Rob Solo Adventure)
In episode 712, join Rob Walling for another solo ad... more
May 7 2024 28m
Founders' Guide to Exiting Businesses
Chapter 1 1 min
– Revisiting past predictions and reporting back on burnout
Chapter 2 2 mins
– Revisiting predictions for SaaS bootstrappers in 2024
Chapter 3 59 sec
Twitter changes hands in 2024?
Chapter 4 5 mins
Reducing travel to quell burnout on the horizon
Chapter 5 2 mins
– State of Startups For the Rest of Us&nbsp
Chapter 6 3 mins
– TinySeed invested in over 170+ companies
Chapter 7 47 sec
First annual TinyFest
Chapter 8 1 min
– TinySeed Tales Season 5
Chapter 9 8 mins
The SaaS Playbook and my next two books
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Episode 711 | Finding Early Customers, Horizontal vs. Vertical, Prosumer SaaS, and More Listener Questions (with Ru...
In episode 711, join Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez as ... more
Apr 30 2024 51m
Building a SaaS Without an Audience
Chapter 1 8 mins
Strategies for finding your first users when you don’t have an audience
Chapter 2 1 min
Positioning yourself to compete well against others
Chapter 3 6 mins
Jumping into SEO before having a product
Chapter 4 5 mins
Exporting No Code projects
Chapter 5 9 mins
Choosing between a vertical or horizontal product spinoff
Chapter 6 8 mins
Building a B2P, “business to prosumer” product
Chapter 7 8 mins
– How to make lower pricing tiers work outside of B2B
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Episode 710 | Is Coding Dead?, The "Right" Tech Stack, Funded Competition, and More Listener Questions
In episode 710, join Rob Walling for another solo ad... more
Apr 23 2024 34m
Finding Purpose After Startup Success
Chapter 1 2 mins
Do I need a burning desire to be a successful entrepreneur?
Chapter 2 3 mins
Maintaining a day job to enable space for entrepreneurial pursuits
Chapter 3 1 min
Balancing build speed vs. scalability with your tech stack
Chapter 4 2 mins
The April Fools Episode
Chapter 5 5 mins
– Competing against VC-backed companies in a “hot” space
Chapter 6 8 mins
Is learning to code dead?
Chapter 7 6 mins
Risk in SaaS of IP theft
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Episode 709 | The 7 Greatest Investments of My Life
In episode 709, join Rob Walling for a solo adventur... more
Apr 16 2024 32m
Building Success Through Entrepreneurship
Chapter 1 1 min
A lesson on how to build wealth
Chapter 2 2 mins
Entrepreneurship was our biggest tool
Chapter 3 4 mins
Building, acquiring, then selling companies
Chapter 4 2 mins
Building slowly while staying risk-averse
Chapter 5 6 mins
– Investing in riskier assets like cryptocurrency
Chapter 6 1 min
Running profitable companies
Chapter 7 2 mins
– Angel investing, and WP Engine
Chapter 8 1 min
– Traditional, salaried employment
Chapter 9 2 mins
Typical investments: stocks, bonds, REITs
Chapter 10 4 mins
– Real estate investing
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Episode 708 | Outsourcing Marketing, Competitive Markets, and More Listener Questions (with Derrick Reimer)
In episode 708, Rob Walling and Derek Reimer tackle ... more
Apr 9 2024 47m
Coding, Marketing, and Sales Roles
Chapter 1 9 mins
Should you build technical skills or business skills?
Chapter 2 9 mins
Entering a competitive market
Chapter 3 8 mins
Building a valuable analytics dashboard tool
Chapter 4 6 mins
When should a solo founder hire for marketing roles?
Chapter 5 1 min
The rare skillset of a full-stack marketer&nbsp
Chapter 6 9 mins
Implications of building on openAI and scaling infrastructure costs
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Episode 707 | Once.com, Open Source to FT Income, and More (Hot Take Tuesday)
In episode 707, Rob Walling, alongside guests Tracy ... more
Apr 2 2024 37m
Impact of Founder's Sales Strategy
Chapter 1 8 mins
Once.com and the Implications of One-Time Software Sales
Chapter 2 11 mins
Liquidation Preferences in Startup Acquisitions
Chapter 3 2 mins
Turning an open source project into a business
Chapter 4 5 mins
Book recommendations
Chapter 5 2 mins
Is building a startup actually hard?
Chapter 6 4 mins
Startups vs. lifestyle businesses
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Episode 706.5 | Rethinking My Most Common Advice
In episode 706.5, join Rob Walling as he reconsiders... more
Apr 1 2024 13m
Chapter 1 2 mins
What would happen if you lowered prices?
Chapter 2 3 mins
– Benefits of a B2C approach
Chapter 3 1 min
– Two-sided marketplaces allow to reach two audiences
Chapter 4 2 mins
Launch a bunch of products to see what sticks
Chapter 5 2 mins
This episode was released April 1, 2024
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Episode 706.1 | MicroConf US Tickets Will Sell Out Soon!
MicroConf US in Atlanta is here in just a couple wee... more
Mar 28 2024 2m
Silent Communication
Chapter 1 2 mins
MicroConf US Event Highlights and Details
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Episode 706 | 2/20/200 Validation, Prior Art, and Designing by Committee (A Rob Solo Adventure)
In episode 706, join Rob Walling for a solo adventur... more
Mar 26 2024 25m
Design by Committee Efficiency
Chapter 1 7 mins
Learning from, and crediting, prior art
Chapter 2 5 mins
The 2/20/200 Idea Validation Framework
Chapter 3 5 mins
– Be wary when designing by committee
Chapter 4 4 mins
When to crowdsource feedback
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Episode 705 | From Bootstrapped to Mostly Bootstrapped
In episode 705, Rob Walling interviews Braden Dennis... more
Mar 19 2024 36m
Shutting Down API Business Decision
Chapter 1 1 min
What does FinChat look like today?
Chapter 2 2 mins
Starting with an audience and building a SaaS
Chapter 3 1 min
Formulating the product and moving upmarket
Chapter 4 3 mins
Launching a second product
Chapter 5 3 mins
The common pitfall of launching a second product
Chapter 6 3 mins
– How FinChat found explosive growth
Chapter 7 6 mins
Deciding to take venture funding&nbsp
Chapter 8 4 mins
Making hard decisions with incomplete information
Chapter 9 5 mins
Working with multiple co-founders
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Episode 704 | Landing Pages, Buying a SaaS, the Right Tech Stack, and More Listener Questions
In episode 704, join Rob Walling for another solo ad... more
Mar 12 2024 37m
Effective Strategies for Entrepreneurial Success
Chapter 1 5 mins
Comparing your business to successful outliers
Chapter 2 5 mins
Exploring business outside of a comfortable day job
Chapter 3 4 mins
Early access landing pages prior to development
Chapter 4 7 mins
How do you vet SaaS businesses that you are trying to acquire?&nbsp
Chapter 5 2 mins
Evaluating a seller’s intentions
Chapter 6 7 mins
Choosing a tech stack for your SaaS
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Episode 703 | The Accidental SaaS Entrepreneur
In episode 703, Rob Walling interviews Jordan Hansen... more
Mar 5 2024 34m
Unfortunate Entrepreneurial Journey
Chapter 1 3 mins
What does Cobalt Intelligence offer?
Chapter 2 4 mins
– Team scale, market, and business origins&nbsp
Chapter 3 3 mins
Starting YouTube and finding motivation to continually publish
Chapter 4 10 mins
Working with a savings runway and applying to TinySeed
Chapter 5 3 mins
– Finding product-market fit
Chapter 6 4 mins
Unlisting content to align with business goals
Chapter 7 2 mins
“Accidental” SaaS founder
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Episode 702 | Revenue vs. Profit Multiples, When to Lower Prices, and More Listener Questions
In episode 702, join Rob Walling for another solo ad... more
Feb 27 2024 31m
Comparing SAS Playbook vs YouTube Tutorials
Chapter 1 2 mins
How to introduce friends to entrepreneurship and bootstrapping
Chapter 2 4 mins
When to focus on profit vs. top-line revenue
Chapter 3 5 mins
Considerations for building, scaling, and differentiating an MVP
Chapter 4 4 mins
Rare circumstances where you should lower prices
Chapter 5 3 mins
Pursuing career moves vs. building on the side
Chapter 6 9 mins
Managing cap tables and equity vesting
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Episode 701 | The Long Journey to Product-Market Fit
In episode 701, Rob Walling interviews Matt Wensing,... more
Feb 20 2024 33m
Onboarding and Trial Data Optimization
Chapter 1 3 mins
“Traveling many H1’s”, refining a target market&nbsp
Chapter 2 5 mins
Moving back to a self-serve model
Chapter 3 2 mins
Niching down to achieve stronger product-market fit
Chapter 4 4 mins
Tactics that Matt used to achieve traction
Chapter 5 2 mins
– Lead scoring by behavior and persona-fit&nbsp
Chapter 6 4 mins
Scoring as a whole product vs. as only a feature
Chapter 7 5 mins
Pursuing VC with a lean team
Chapter 8 4 mins
Who is your ideal customer profile?
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