Life on Mars - A podcast from MarsBased

MarsBased

Welcome to Life on Mars! A podcast about technology, entrepreneurship and innovation from MarsBased. You will listen to stories of the best founders, investors, experts and celebrities from all around the galaxy every two weeks.

  1. HACE 7 H

    Working with friends? Building MarsBased #3

    There is a recurring piece of advice in the startup world that says you should never mix friendship with business. However, after 12 years of profitability and organic growth at MarsBased, reality has taught us that working with friends is not only possible but can be a competitive advantage if expectations are managed from day zero. In this episode of Building MarsBased, I open up the black box of our founding story to explain how Xavi, Jordi, and I went from being classmates to co-founders, and why we made the difficult decision to leave a fourth friend out just before signing the company incorporation. I take a deep dive into our atypical organizational structure where we decided not to have a single CEO, but rather divide leadership into three areas of absolute responsibility (Tech, Operations, and Marketing) while democratizing cross-functional decisions. Throughout the video, I detail how we resolve conflicts using asynchronous communication via Linear to remove ego from discussions, how we define our salaries based on the company’s financial health (bootstrapping) rather than investment rounds, and what our philosophy is regarding equal equity splits. If you are considering starting something with your close circle, here you will find our real-world experience on how to align priorities, manage friction, and prevent silent resentment from killing both the company and the friendship. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    29 min

  2. 25 NOV

    Road to CTO: From Mafia Wars to Amazon, 35 years of tech leadership wisdom

    Welcome to another episode of Road to CTO, our series where we sit down with some of the most experienced and influential technology leaders in the world. In this episode, we talk with Dorion Carroll, a veteran with 35 years of tech leadership experience, former CTO at Zynga, VP at Amazon, and one of the most insightful engineering minds in the industry. From scaling engineering teams from 280 to 3,600 people, to navigating billion-dollar decisions, to understanding what truly makes a great CTO, Dorion shares the lessons, stories and frameworks that shaped his extraordinary career. If you're an aspiring CTO, an engineering manager, or simply passionate about how world-class tech organisations operate behind the scenes, this is a masterclass. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    1 h 13 min

  3. 12 NOV

    When is the right time to start your company? Building MarsBased #2

    When is the right time to start your company? In this second episode of Building MarsBased, we answer a listener’s question that every aspiring founder wrestles with: Should I launch while keeping my day job, or go all in? We unpack the real factors behind that decision: macro timing, industry waves, personal runway, team alignment, and share how we made the call that led to MarsBased. You’ll hear why the 2012–2014 window mattered in Spain’s post-crisis context, what the “mobile app boom” taught us about riding vs ignoring a hot trend, why nights and weekends rarely scale, and the exact moment (December 2013) we took the leap. We also discuss the investor point of view on “founder commitment” and a practical way to spot opportunities from inside your current company. In this episode, you’ll learn how macro conditions shape founder timing, what makes the difference between a viable and an advantaged moment to start, what the realities of bootstrapping look like compared to fundraising, why part-time efforts usually stall and what to do instead, and how to use your current job to validate a real problem worth solving. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    34 min

  4. 21 OCT

    How to come up with your first business idea: Building MarsBased

    Starting a business begins with one powerful idea, but how do you come up with your first one? In this episode of Building MarsBased, we share the real story behind our company’s early days and how a simple concept evolved into a long-lasting, profitable business. You’ll learn how to identify opportunities, validate ideas, and turn side projects into sustainable ventures, all based on real-world experience from a fully bootstrapped tech company. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, freelancer, or agency owner, this video will help you find direction and clarity for your next move. 💡 Want to build your next digital product with a trusted partner? Let’s talk: https://marsbased.com/ Contact: hola@marsbased.com Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    25 min

  5. 7 OCT

    We finally bring an expert on company culture / Aaron Schmookler

    What really makes company culture crack as you scale from 10 to 30+ people? In this candid conversation, Aaron Schmookler (co-founder of The Yes Works) sits down with Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit (CEO, MarsBased) to unpack the patterns they have seen across startups and mid-size teams, remote and on-site. We dive into: preventing culture erosion during hypergrowth, why manager span of control matters, how to sell services without hard selling, practical leadership habits (Be Obvious), and the realities of building trust in distributed teams. Real stories touch on TextExpander, Medtronic, and SOG Knives, with step-by-step ideas you can apply tomorrow. If you lead a team, sell B2B services, or you are scaling a product org, this episode gives you actionable frameworks for structure, communication, and conflict, without the fluff. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    57 min

  6. 23 SEPT

    New series: How to build an agency | Life on Mars

    We’re launching a new Life on Mars series: How to Build an Agency, a practical, transparent guide for freelancers, micro-agencies, and growing studios. We’ll cover everything from picking a name and services, getting your first client, contracts and NDAs, and building a portfolio, to harder topics like crisis management, pricing, hiring and firing, founder dynamics, and keeping long-tenured teams motivated. Episodes will mix solo deep dives, voices from the MarsBased team, expert guests, and community Q&A, slotted between our regular interviews. You’ll also see more in-person recordings from our Barcelona studio (while we keep remote interviews for global guests).  Inspired by friends in the industry (Infinite Red, Thoughtbot, Pivotal Labs, Mobile Jazz, Codegram), this series distills 10+ years of agency lessons into actionable episodes you can apply the same day. Send us your questions in the comments or via our social channels, and we’ll include them in upcoming Q&A episodes. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    8 min

  7. 16 SEPT

    The CEO who made herself “irrelevant” (and scaled to millions ARR) / Laura Urquizu

    What does it really take to scale a SaaS from a tiny Barcelona startup to a global leader protecting brands like major clubs and top electronics companies? In this candid conversation, Laura Urquizu (CEO, Red Points) shares hard-won lessons on going from SMB to enterprise, hiring fast in NYC (and fixing the fallout), balancing long-term strategy with short-term execution, and why the best CEOs become “irrelevant” day-to-day as teams outperform. We dive into go-to-market, NRR as the north star, fundraising mistakes after a big round, building in the U.S. from Europe, and the AI behind Red Points (95% automated detection, 30M checks/day). If you’re a founder, operator, or investor, this one’s a masterclass in scaling under permanent uncertainty. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    1 h 7 min

  8. 15 JUL

    Halfway through 2025: How MarsBased is evolving, growing, and staying true to its values

    In this new episode of Life on Mars, we take you behind the scenes at MarsBased to share how the first half of 2025 has unfolded for us as a team and company. This year has marked the beginning of a new chapter, one shaped by growth, clarity, and transformation. We’ve strengthened our pipeline, expanded the team, and taken meaningful steps toward building a more mature and intentional company culture. But more importantly, we’re doing it all while staying true to our values of transparency, trust, and long-term thinking. From company structure and team communication to leadership challenges and internal reflection, this episode is a candid account of how we're evolving to meet the demands of our clients, our people, and ourselves. If you’re interested in how a boutique agency scales with intention, this is for you. Support the show 🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

    34 min
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Información

Welcome to Life on Mars! A podcast about technology, entrepreneurship and innovation from MarsBased. You will listen to stories of the best founders, investors, experts and celebrities from all around the galaxy every two weeks.

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