🎙️ Backstage Tech by George Helgesen

George Helgesen
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Podcast for software founders, investors and product leaders. Behind the scenes stories about trending tech and software development outsourcing industry.

Episodes

  1. Don't Build an MVP: 5 Mistakes to Watch

    FEB 16

    Don't Build an MVP: 5 Mistakes to Watch

    🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen 👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #11 of "Backstage Tech", I'm calling out the 5 mistakes that kill MVPs before they ever launch — and what to do instead. After 8+ years working with founders who've burned through budgets building products nobody wanted, I'm sharing the real-world fixes that actually work: Building Without Commitment — get contracts signed before writing code.Building Everything All At Once — start with ONE painful feature, scale from there.Building Everything for Everyone — attack 50% of the market first, then expand.Spending Too Much on Validation — 10% of budget max. Ads before code.Skipping Distribution Strategy — know how you'll get customers before you build.If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you the reality check before you write a single line of code. 👉 Want the MVP Validation Cheatsheet? Hit me up on LinkedIn and I'll send it over. Or if you'd like to dive into your specific product challenge, email ogo@procoders.tech or connect with me on LinkedIn.

    9 min
  2. Ex-Influencer.com CPO: Why Most SaaS Products Fail Before Launch

    FEB 1

    Ex-Influencer.com CPO: Why Most SaaS Products Fail Before Launch

    Rafael Franco spent 20 years leading product and engineering for companies like Influencer.com and Atlassian, managing $50M+ portfolios. Now he's a fractional CPTO helping startups scale — and building his own SaaS product, AdsForBands, helping artists sell out their shows. In this episode, Rafael breaks down the reality of building with AI, why most founders confuse "it works" with "production-ready," and what separates successful products from expensive failures. Topics covered: Why 70% of his product took 2 weeks but 30% took 2 monthsThe Cursor refactoring disaster that nearly destroyed everythingWhat "product engineers" are and why they're the futureWhy AI makes validation MORE important, not lessThe brutal truth about vibe coding vs. production-ready codeHow to validate before you build (and avoid wasting months)If you're a founder considering AI instead of a dev team, this is required listening. 👉 Follow George: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgehelgesenYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCuVBXySjBgR-y7tMYDxdfuQ👉 Follow Rafael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafaelsoaresfrancoWebsite: https://www.rafconsultancy.comAds for Bands: https://www.adsforbands.aiBrain of J: https://www.youtube.com/@brainofj-pearljamtributeband

    1h 11m
  3. 3 Systems to Scale Your Software Business Fast

    JAN 17

    3 Systems to Scale Your Software Business Fast

    🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@georgehelgesen 👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #9 of "Backstage Tech", we're tackling the bottleneck every software founder hits: too many customer requests, too many ideas, too few hands to get things done. Pulling from 8+ years working with founders stuck at the growth ceiling — you've got paying customers, over $1M in ARR, things are moving, but not fast enough — I'm sharing 3 battle-tested systems that help you scale without burning out your team: Prioritization Framework: What to NEVER Give an Outsourcer — score your backlog on 4 variables (business impact, urgency, product knowledge, technical complexity) and the framework automatically tells you what to build internally, what to outsource with supervision, and what to fully hand off.Agile Release Train: Stop the "One More Thing" Syndrome — set strict deploy dates (once per week or every two weeks), and no matter what customers request, features only ship on those dates. Feature not ready? It misses the train and waits for the next one.Build vs Buy: The ONE HOUR Decision Framework — score BUILD signals (core differentiation, custom requirements, data control, long-term value) vs BUY signals (time pressure, commodity function, maintenance burden, available solutions) and get your answer in one hour.If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you three frameworks you can implement today to scale faster with the team you have. 👉 Want all three frameworks? Hit me up on LinkedIn and I'll send you the complete templates. Or if you'd like to dive into your specific scaling challenge, email ogo@procoders.tech or connect with me on LinkedIn.

    7 min
  4. Your 2026 Product Playbook – 5 Shifts You Can't Ignore

    JAN 6

    Your 2026 Product Playbook – 5 Shifts You Can't Ignore

    👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #8 of "Backstage Tech", we're breaking down your 2026 product playbook — and if you're still playing by the old rules, your competitors are moving at warp speed while you're left in the dust. Pulling from 8+ years working shoulder-to-shoulder with software founders, I'm exposing 5 non-negotiable shifts that separate winners from the ones left behind: AI Is Table Stakes — saying "we use AI" is like saying "we use SaaS." Nobody cares anymore. What differentiates you in 2026: solving NEW problems, delivering more accurate results, or shipping faster than anyone else. The word "AI" in your pitch deck is just background noise nowUser Expectations Changed Forever — your users don't care HOW you build, they care what they can DO. They expect to process data in plain English (not build complex reports), pull insights instantly (not export CSVs), and handle unstructured data automatically. Manual workflows? That's the old worldSpeed Is Your Competitive Moat — startups where 30-50% of code is AI-generated are shipping while you're still planning. Engineers who can't shift to AI-powered coding (Claude Code, Cursor) will be left behind. At ProCoders, our engineers create entire teams of AI agents: PM, front-end, back-end, QA — all AI agentsData Policies Are the New Litmus Test — investors don't ask "Are you using AI?" They ask: Where is data stored? What gets sent to LLMs? How do you handle PII? The nightmare scenario: your customer's billion-dollar proposal gets processed by your AI agent — did it just go to ChatGPT?Product Cycles Went 10X Faster — morning call with client gets recorded, midday AI writes the entire epic, afternoon Claude generates DoR/DoD, end of day test instructions are ready. The old 3-day documentation bottleneck? Gone. Use AI for grunt work while humans maintain strategyIf you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode reveals the 2026 reality where the game changed and it's not changing back. 👉 Want to talk through how to implement these shifts for your product? Email ogo@procoders.tech or connect with me on LinkedIn.

    9 min
  5. AI Disrupted Product Development in 2025 (What Every Founder Must Know)

    12/15/2025

    AI Disrupted Product Development in 2025 (What Every Founder Must Know)

    👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #7 of "Backstage Tech", we're breaking down how AI totally flipped product development in 2025 — and if you're still building software like it's 2023, your competitors are eating your lunch while you're wondering what happened. Pulling from 7 years working with dozens of founders across the software world, I'm exposing 5 shifts that changed everything and what they mean for your product roadmap: The Speed Shift — investors don't wait two months for features anymore, they want it yesterday. Your PRDs get written by Claude, your code ships via Claude Code or Codex, and prototypes that took weeks now take hours (or you're moving in slow motion)The Token Economy — top performing engineers are burning 80-100M tokens monthly. If your engineers are still manually programming everything, you're stuck in the past. Tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and CodeRabbit now write, review, and test the code while engineers focus on architectureThe Investor Mandate — over 80% of Y Combinator's 2025 startups are AI-powered. Investors aren't asking about price anymore, they're asking "How much FASTER can we build this with AI?" Speed is the new currencyThe Design Acceleration — we took an iPad app from zero to QA-ready in one week using Krisspy AI and generated 20 UI screens in three hours. Tools like Lovable, Replit, and Base44 now give you complete software products from a PRDThe MVP Revolution — non-technical founders can build prototypes for $20 with AI builders, but production still needs real engineering talent. MVPs now take weeks with fractional experts + AI builders (not months with full dev teams)If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode reveals the new baseline that separates founders who adapt from those who watch their market share vanish. 👉 Want the complete One Week MVP Discovery framework? Email ogo@procoders.tech or connect with me on LinkedIn — I'll send it over.

    10 min
  6. AI-Driven MVP Discovery in ONE Week: 4 Simple Steps

    12/01/2025

    AI-Driven MVP Discovery in ONE Week: 4 Simple Steps

    👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #6 of "Backstage Tech", we're unpacking how to run a complete MVP discovery phase in one week using AI and just two people — because nine out of ten software projects blow past budget and timeline when founders skip discovery. Pulling from 7 years working with dozens of founders at ⚙️ ProCoders, I break down the exact framework that replaces expensive discovery teams with AI and delivers a complete PRD in 5 days: The One-Day User Stories Protocol — record customer conversations with Loom, ask the three questions that identify THE most painful problem, then let Claude generate your problem statement and user stories in 2-4 hours (not 2 weeks)The AI Prototype Sprint — use Lovable, Bolt, or Replit to build a clickable MVP prototype in days, validate it with your customer live, iterate until it's sold (all with one person, no dev team yet)The Architecture Acceleration Method — bring in one seasoned architect, let Claude generate your tech stack, scope breakdown, and team composition in minutes, architect reviews and approves (not builds from scratch)The Week-One Close Strategy — speak with customers on Monday, show prototype Tuesday, refine Wednesday, present complete PRD with roadmap by Friday, then get it signed and start building (not the other way around)If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you the human-in-the-loop framework that turns MVP discovery from a months-long budget drain into a one-week competitive advantage. 👉 Want the complete AI-driven discovery cheat sheet? Email ogo@procoders.tech or connect with me on LinkedIn and mention "Discovery" — I'll send it over.

    9 min
  7. You're NOT Building MVP: 5 Mistakes to Avoid

    11/12/2025

    You're NOT Building MVP: 5 Mistakes to Avoid

    👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #5 of "Backstage Tech", we're breaking down why most founders think they're building MVPs when they're actually funding expensive science projects nobody asked for. Pulling from 7 years in the weeds at ⚙️ ProCoders, I walk through the five mistakes that kill MVPs before launch — and the exact frameworks to avoid burning six months and $100K: The "One Feature That Pays" rule — why you need to identify THE single capability customers will pay for today, not five features they might use somedayThe 50-30-20 Launch Strategy — ship to 50% of your market first, use that revenue to expand to 30%, then capture the final 20% (hidden Pareto principle at work)The 10X Prototype Rule — spend $2K on a prototype before $20K on production code, and why prototyping kills bad ideas cheapThe Signature Test — never build without real commitment (signed contract or money in bank), because everything else is just a polite conversationThe Built-In Distribution Rule — bake customer acquisition INTO your product architecture through integrations, partnerships, and network effects — hope and Meta ads isn't a strategy, it's gamblingIf you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you the 5-question diagnostic that tells you whether you're building a real MVP or wasting capital on a fantasy product. 👉 Want the complete MVP validation checklist? Email ogo@procoders.tech or connect with me on LinkedIn and I'll send it over.

    14 min
  8. The Truth About "AI Agent Builders" vs Workflow Builders

    10/28/2025

    The Truth About "AI Agent Builders" vs Workflow Builders

    👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #4 of "Backstage Tech", we're unpacking the truth behind OpenAI's "Agent Builder" and why calling it that was a brilliant marketing move — even though it's actually a workflow builder. Pulling from 7 years in the trenches at ⚙️ ProCoders, I break down the critical difference between workflows and agents so you can pick the right approach for your product: Workflows vs Agents — why Anthropic's definition nails it: workflows use predefined code paths, agents dynamically direct their own processesThe autonomy-predictability trade-off and why you're really chasing reliably good outcomes, not pure control or pure flexibilityWhen workflows win — regulated industries, audit trails, well-defined processes that need predictabilityWhen agents win — variable tasks, edge cases, natural language interfaces where flexibility beats perfect predictabilityThe no-code reality check — these tools solve real problems but still require technical knowledgeA complexity framework: low complexity = agents, medium = workflow builders, high = code (LangGraph and friends)If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you the right question to ask: "What level of predictability do we need, and what level of autonomy can we tolerate?" — so you stop chasing buzzwords and start building what actually solves your problem. 👉 Ready to talk through your build? Book a meeting or email ogo@procoders.tech and let's figure out if you need an agent or a workflow.

    8 min
  9. 5 Types of AI Agent Architectures: Which One to Choose?

    10/15/2025

    5 Types of AI Agent Architectures: Which One to Choose?

    👉 Let's connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #3 of "Backstage Tech", we tackle the architecture choice that'll either scale beautifully or become your biggest technical debt nightmare. Pulling from 7 years in the trenches at ⚙️ ProCoders, I break down the 5 multi-agent architectures that save you from a six-month refactor when your single agent chokes on thirty tools: Spot the 3 red flags that scream "time to split" — wrong tool picks, context overload, and lack of specializationNetwork for 3–4 agents that need dynamic collaboration (before it spirals into chaos)Supervisor for 80 % of first builds — clear workflows, sane debugging, and a migration path when you outgrow itHierarchical when you hit 9+ agents across multiple domains (sales, support, analytics)Custom Workflow for real-world complexity where you hardwire some paths and let agents route the restIf you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode gives you a 60-second decision checklist so you pick the right pattern today — and avoid the nightmare of rewriting your entire agent system six months from now. 👉 Ready to talk through your build? Book a meeting or email ogo@procoders.tech and let's map your setup together.

    9 min
  10. AI Agent Development: 5 Simple Steps to Get Started

    10/01/2025

    AI Agent Development: 5 Simple Steps to Get Started

    👉 Let’s connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In episode #2 of “Backstage Tech,” we dive straight into the AI-agent gold rush and give you the exact playbook to ship one without torching your runway. Pulling from 7 years in the trenches at ⚙️ ProCoders, I unpack the 5 moves that separate shiny-object chasers from teams who launch agents that actually earn their keep: Zoom in on the 20 % of features your users hit every daySketch bullet-proof input/output pairs so devs know what “done” looks likePrototype for free in myGPT and wow customers before you spend a dimeLock down PII and other non-funcs before a single line of code shipsRoll out one tool at a time to a hand-picked beta crew and iterate at lightspeedIf you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode hands you a no-BS roadmap to validating an AI agent fast — so you stay ahead of the market while your core team keeps the lights on. 👉 Ready to talk through your build? Book a meeting and let’s de-risk it together.

    6 min
  11. Why Outsourcing WON'T Work For You. 3 Main Mistakes Explained

    09/15/2025

    Why Outsourcing WON'T Work For You. 3 Main Mistakes Explained

    👉 Let’s connect on LinkedIn — send me a request and mention the podcast. In this pilot of “Backstage Tech,” I flip the usual outsourcing pitch and show you when it doesn’t deliver. Drawing on 7 years at ⚙️ ProCoders, I break down three common traps: expecting rapid progress the week a remote team arrives, trusting a fixed quote built on a project brief, and chasing the impossible combo of cheap, fast, and flawless. If you own, fund, or lead a software product, this episode helps you spot the costly mistakes many founders still repeat — so you avoid budget shocks and keep momentum on your roadmap. 👉 Ready to talk through your build? Book a meeting and let’s de-risk it together.

    6 min
  • 11 Episodes

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Podcast for software founders, investors and product leaders. Behind the scenes stories about trending tech and software development outsourcing industry.

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