Startups For the Rest of Us Rob Walling

In episode 723, Rob Walling interviews Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author, about the significance of effective communication for founders. They discuss practical advice on recognizing different types of conversations, techniques for understanding and transitioning conversations, and how to quickly move past small talk in a conference setting.



Episode Sponsor:





Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io. 



For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.



Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.” 



Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer. 



To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. 



Topics we cover: 




2:42 – What’s a “super communicator?”



4:35 – Getting better at being a great communicator



8:10 – Identifying the types of conversations you are having



11:31 – Transitioning between different types of conversations



16:51 – Advice for introverts engaging in deep conversations with new people



22:01 – How to quickly improve small talk



27:22 – Non-verbal communication has slightly different rules




Links from the Show: 




MicroConf Connect



Charles Duhigg (@cduhigg) | X



Charles Duhigg’s website



Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg



The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg



Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg



Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny et. al




If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!



Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 722, Rob Walling interviews James Mooring, co-founder of Astalty, a SaaS serving Australia's NDIS market. James reveals how they bootstrapped from zero to seven figures in just 18 months and then they explore the strategic decisions, clever pricing, and deep industry knowledge that propelled Astalty's remarkable growth, proving their success was far more than just a lucky break.



Episode Sponsor:





If you need help hiring great talent from Latin America and the Philippines, but don’t want to pay ongoing recruitment fees, check out Outwork Staffing.



Outwork Staffing can help you hire customer support, virtual assistants, developers - or whoever you need! You pay a one-time hiring fee after they find your ideal candidate, and that’s it-  there’s no additional costs, even if your new hire stays for years.



If your new hire doesn’t work out, Outwork Staffing will find you a replacement, free of charge within the first 6 months of their employment.



They also provide coaching to help you find, manage, and grow your global team efficiently.



Visit outworkstaffing.com/startups to book a call and get $500 off your first placement by mentioning Startups For the Rest of Us.



Topics we cover: 




2:44 – NDIS software for providers of disability care



4:23 – Astalty’s rapid growth



6:34 – Finding success with a strong co-founder pairing



8:39 – Deciding to tailor the Astalty MVP



12:25 – Building a free Chrome extension, smart or lucky?



17:18 – Launching a paid plan and nailing the pricing



21:57 – Explosive word of mouth growth



25:19 – Selling at in-person events and in Facebook groups



31:02 – A clever way of raising prices



35:00 – Learning from fast iteration




Links from the Show: 




The SaaS Playbook



TinySeed



James Mooring | LinkedIn



Astalty



How Ben Chestnut Bootstrapped Mailchimp to a $12 Billion Exit



Question & Answer with Jason Fried, Co-Founder, Basecamp – MicroConf Growth 2019




If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!



Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 721, Rob Walling and Asia Orangio analyze the results of MicroConf’s 2024 State of Independent SaaS Report. They share their key takeaways including the impact of business models on growth, requiring credit cards for free trials, and how the number of founders affects performance. Additionally, they delve into growth by target markets and the data behind bootstrapped SaaS companies taking funding.



To get your copy of the full report, head to stateofindiesaas.com.



Topics we cover: 




2:03 – The State of Independent SaaS Report



7:36 – Requiring a credit card upfront



10:27 – Three founders perform best



14:31 – Free trials and credit cards



19:11 – Average growth by target market



22:46 – Plans for outside funding



25:10 – Credit cards, trials, and churn 



32:10 – Advertising channels that are working




Links from the Show: 




Download the State of Independent SaaS Report



Subscribe to the MicroConf YouTube channel



TinySeed



Rob Walling (@RobWalling) | X



Asia Orangio (@AsiaOrangio) | X



DemandMaven




If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!



Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 720, Rob Walling is joined by Craig Hewitt to discuss the intricacies of prioritization in both business and in life. In addition to running Castos, Craig has started coaching founders in sales and marketing, and describes how he strives to focus on the right things. They talk about buying back their time, creating family-focused time, and share their solo podcasting experience after previously having co-hosts.



Episode Sponsor:





If you need help hiring great talent from Latin America and the Philippines, but don’t want to pay ongoing recruitment fees, check out Outwork Staffing.



Outwork Staffing can help you hire customer support, virtual assistants, developers - or whoever you need! You pay a one-time hiring fee after they find your ideal candidate, and that’s it-  there’s no additional costs, even if your new hire stays for years.



If your new hire doesn’t work out, Outwork Staffing will find you a replacement, free of charge within the first 6 months of their employment.



They also provide coaching to help you find, manage, and grow your global team efficiently.



Visit outworkstaffing.com/startups to book a call and get $500 off your first placement by mentioning Startups For the Rest of Us.



Topics we cover: 




3:34 – Prioritizing marketing growth and work-life balance outside of work



7:07 – Buying back your time and optimizing for convenience



10:08 – Identifying the right things to work on with coaches and masterminds



19:42 – Making fewer, bigger decisions as a founder



22:01 – Making intentional family-focused time



30:03 – How Craig started his coaching



36:11 – Podcasting with co-hosts vs. podcasting solo




Links from the Show: 




MicroConf Connect



TinySeed



Craig Hewitt (@TheCraigHewitt) | X



Castos



Rogue Startups



Craig’s Founder Insights Newsletter



718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer)



Episode 644 | Buying Back Your Time with Dan Martell



Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell



Zirtual



Buying The Future by Craig Hewitt



The MicroConf YouTube Channel

In episode 719, join Rob Walling as he embarks on another solo adventure, tackling listener questions. He discusses how to test pricing, addresses the pitfalls of one-time payments vs. SaaS, and he reflects on “building something for everyone.” He wraps up with advice on making better recommendations.



Episode Sponsor:





We have been partnering with Lemon.io for several years, and they’ve proven to be a great choice when it comes to hiring for a highly skilled developer to work on your project.



Here are five reasons why you should consider working with Lemon.io.




The time from your request to getting a candidate is just 48 hours.



Developers have previously worked with tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Intel, and LEGO. 



They only provide senior devs, with an average of 7 years' experience.



Their talent pool covers more than 300 dev languages & frameworks.



Your hire comes with a zero-risk, replacement guarantee.




Customers of Lemon.io typically stick around for at least a year, proving they know how to gain your trust by delivering consistent results.



Quit wasting time searching for a solid developer at a great price. Get in touch with Lemon.io.



As a bonus for our podcast listeners, you’ll get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups. That’s lemon.io/startups



Topics we cover: 




0:58 – Testing different prices for your product



8:12 – One-time or lifetime payments 



15:02 – Horizontal products, building something for everyone



21:43 – Making descriptive recommendations




Links from the Show: 




718 | When to Give Up, Open Source Competition, Painful Features, and More (with Derrick Reimer)



TinySeed



Building & Scaling Products: Lessons Learned from Four Years and 8,000 Customers – Des Traynor



Shoe Dog by Phil Knight



Sid Meier's Memoir! by Sid Meier 



Masters of Doom by David Kushner



Doom Guy by John Romero



The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes




If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!



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In episode 718, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer tackle listener questions about giving up on ideas, competing in crowded markets, and developing painful features. They also chat about SavvyCal’s recent design refresh, finding founder-market fit, and whether Derrick has retired from podcasting.



Episode Sponsor:





Is your outsourced development team dropping the ball?



Maybe you’ve worked with a team that just couldn't grasp your vision and needed constant oversight because they weren’t thinking strategically. Or maybe you ended up wasting hours micromanaging, often needing to jump on late-night calls across massive time zone differences to get alignment. And in the end, they delivered a sluggish app with a frustrating UI that didn’t come close to the solution you had envisioned. If any of that sounds familiar, you need to reach out to our sponsor - DevSquad.



DevSquad provides an entire development team packed with top talent from Latin America. 



Your elite squad will include between 2 to 6 Full Stack Developers, a technical product manager, plus experts in product strategy, UI/UX design, DevOps, and QA - all working together to make your SaaS Product a success.



You can ramp up an entire product team fast, in your timezone, and at rates 75% cheaper than a comparable US-based team. And with DevSquad, you pay month to month with no long-term contracts. 



Get the committed, responsive development team that your business deserves.  



Visit DevSquad.com/startups and get 10% off the first three months of your engagement.



Topics we cover: 




3:59 – Which feature felt harder and took longer than imagined?



9:14 – When is time to give up on a SaaS idea and move on?



17:51 – Finding customers in crowded markets with large incumbents



23:32 – Has Derrick officially retired from podcasting?



25:57 – Handling competitors that are copying differentiating product features



28:48 – Evaluating SavvyCal’s refreshed design



31:10 – Considering vertical vs. horizontal SaaS for SavvyCal



34:05 – Why did Derrick decide to pursue the idea for SavvyCal?



40:19 – Finding “founder-fit”




Links from the Show: 




The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling



TinySeed



Derrick Remier (​​@derrickreimer) | X



SavvyCal



Group scheduling mode



The Build In Public Podcast



The Art of Product Podcast



8 B2B Marketing Strategies That Got My Startup to $10 Million (and 1 that FAILED)



Finding My Next Bootstrapped Business Idea




If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cove