Build Your SaaS Transistor.fm

The whole team is on the show! Jon, Helen, Jason, Josh, and Justin are on the mics to discuss our recent team retreat to Nashville, Tennessee. If you're wondering what a retreat looks like for a remote team, you'll get a lot out of this episode. We also reveal some of our exploits in Music City:
"Going to a Tiki Bar is usually a mistake."Highlights

(00:10) - Welcome
(01:15) - Highlights of our retreat in Nashville
(13:00) - It's not easy to get everyone together
(20:31) - Our schedule for the retreat
(26:42) - Electrolytes are a good idea
(32:08) - Things to improve or tips for other teams
"For 51 weeks, our small team works efficiently. Our team retreat week is a culmination of celebrations, milestones, birthdays, and holidays we might have missed. It's special to condense these moments into one week and see everyone in person to celebrate our achievements from the previous year." – HelenLinks:


Photos from our trip to Nashville. 

PhotoWalk Nashville service.

SurfOffice Location Finder: "Discover the optimal location to meet with your remote team. Results are sorted by average travel time per person, number of stopovers, and overall price."

How to plan a team retreat: Planning a retreat can be a daunting task, so we wanted to share our learnings in the hopes that it’ll be helpful for other remote teams out there.
Takeaways:

The city you choose for your retreat will significantly influence the team's productivity and leisure activities.
Be intentional and set aside time for planning and product discussions.
A retreat is a great time for a remote team to celebrate milestones and achievements.
Have a balance between work activities and fun activities.
Simple activities like games or cards can be as fulfilling as fancy events.

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Pascal from sharpen.page
Rewardful.com
Greg Park
Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au
Ethan Gunderson
Bill Condo (@mavrck)
Ward from MemberSpace.com
Russell Brown from Photivo.com
Evandro Sasse
Austin Loveless
Michael Sitver
Dan Buda
Colin Gray
Dave Giunta

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Justin catches up with his old internet friend Paul Jarvis. Today, Paul co-founded Fathom Analytics with Jack Ellis: a simple alternative to Google Analytics. Paul is also the author of the book "Company of One," which has influenced a whole generation of indie entrepreneurs (and has been reviewed by Cal Newport, Chris Guillebeau, Ben Chestnut, Tiago Forte, and more). Previously, Justin and Paul did a weekly mastermind, where they supported and encouraged each other around our indie businesses. They decided to do a catch-up call and recorded it so you could listen in. 👍
Highlights:

(00:10) - Intro
(02:20) - Being off the internet
(03:58) - What's a typical day for Paul?
(06:21) - Looking back at our Mastermind call
(08:08) - There's no beginning and no end
(10:36) - Things that are out of your control affect your business
(13:08) - Does Justin's surfing metaphor make sense to a surfer?
(16:11) - How would you start an indie business in 2023?
(22:05) - You've got to get in motion
(25:08) - Using products in your category for a long time
(27:53) - Is there still any room in Saas?
(31:56) - The act of making the bet
(38:45) - Is freelancing still viable in 2023?
(42:55) - Company design is lifestyle design
(45:00) - Worrying about being stagnant
(47:20) - How do you handle customer feature requests?
(52:08) - It's ok to be late to a shift in the market
(58:24) - Caring is an indie advantage
(01:05:05) - Collaboration is what gets us anywhere

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!
Links:

Fathom Analytics (get $10 off)
Book: Company of One

Article: How to Start a Mastermind

Wayback Machine: Mint Analytics

Article: Why we moved from courses to SaaS


Self-Publishing Hangout: Paul Jarvis, Nathan Barry, Sacha Greif, Justin Jackson

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Pascal from sharpen.page
Rewardful.com
Greg Park
Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au
Ethan Gunderson
Bill Condo (@mavrck)
Ward from MemberSpace.com
Russell Brown from Photivo.com
Evandro Sasse
Austin Loveless
Michael Sitver
Dan Buda
Colin Gray
Dave Giunta


★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Tim reached out after the Aaron Francis episode: "I wanted to pitch you on the idea of coming on the podcast and sharing my journey of building side projects for the last decade while raising a family. I can also share the guardrails I put in place before finally going full-time on T.LY."
Highlights:

(00:12) - Welcome
(01:18) - Who is Tim Leland?
(03:25) - What guardrails did you put in place?
(06:29) - What's the sales funnel?
(08:18) - Family as a motivator
(16:26) - How would you describe your effort during this process?
(20:11) - What about family boundaries?
(23:30) - How do you manage your thoughts?
(31:20) - How have you been able to manage the effort level?
(34:49) - The pressure of cutting the cord from your job
(38:21) - What's it been like being full time on t.ly?
(40:04) - What's your SEO magic touch?
Links:
Tim's startup: T.LY
Tim's Twitter
Tim's blog: tools for marketers
Thanks to our monthly supporters


Pascal from sharpen.page
Rewardful.com
Greg Park
Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au
Ethan Gunderson
Bill Condo (@mavrck)
Ward from MemberSpace.com
Russell Brown from Photivo.com
Evandro Sasse
Austin Loveless
Michael Sitver
Dan Buda
Colin Gray
Dave Giunta

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!


★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week Jon and Justin are joined by Marcella Chamorro. Previously, she worked in startup marketing but has recently transitioned to coaching founders and teams. We discussed how startup founders and their team members can realize their full potential.
Here are some highlights:

(00:24) - Introducing Marcella
(03:08) - How do you define your coaching?
(05:15) - What do you see with rising stars?
(09:42) - Do you navigate team dynamics or individual work?
(14:45) - Any advice for founder's stress
(23:27) - Personal lives do come to work
(33:02) - The ability to have difficult conversations
(47:23) - A lot of value in speaking to someone who's not you
(50:44) - How can people reach out Marcella?
Quote:"I think people who choose to do coaching want to be really good at what they do and they want to have a really good life. They are looking to optimize their time on planet Earth."  – MarcellaLinks:

Subscribe to Marcella's newsletter
Marcella’s coaching website
Check out Marcella's articles
Marcella on LinkedIn
Marcella on Twitter

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Pascal from sharpen.page
Rewardful.com
Greg Park
Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au
Ethan Gunderson
Bill Condo (@mavrck)
Ward from MemberSpace.com
Russell Brown from Photivo.com
Evandro Sasse
Austin Loveless
Michael Sitver
Dan Buda
Colin Gray
Dave Giunta

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!


★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this podcast episode, Michele Hansen (Geocodio) gives us an update on Section 174 and provides her take on "bootstrapping with kids."
Michele explains you can be a part of the Small Software Business Alliance, and fight Section 174. If you're in the USA, please contact Congress!
In the second half of the episode, Justin and Michele talk about the challenges of balancing starting a business while you have young kids. For more on this topic, check out the last episode with Aaron Francis.
For more context on Section 174, check out our previous episode with Michele.


(00:12) - Welcome
(01:44) - Quick refresher on section 174
(05:42) - Updates since last episode
(09:09) - You can still help raise awareness
(14:03) - What's happening next?
(17:35) - How does this work on the accounting side?
(20:24) - Anything else people can do?
(22:41) - What advice do you give to people with families wanting to start a business?
(26:44) - Did you try a few things on the side?
(29:04) - Definition of success at the start
(31:20) - Developing a business while raising a baby
(35:13) - Survivorship bias in stories from new parents
(37:52) - What should you consider when starting a business?
(45:39) - Avoid magical thinking
(51:44) - Some things are hard to think about until you experience them
Thanks to our monthly supporters

Pascal from sharpen.page
Rewardful.com
Greg Park
Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au
Ethan Gunderson
Bill Condo (@mavrck)
Ward from MemberSpace.com
Russell Brown from Photivo.com
Evandro Sasse
Austin Loveless
Michael Sitver
Dan Buda
Colin Gray
Dave Giunta

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!


★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is well-positioned to talk about this because he has twins and is also bootstrapping Hammerstone with his co-founder Colleen. The whole conversation is a nuanced take on the topic and full of important insights, especially on:

the risks involved (especially if you're not working a full-time job)
the kind of foundation (mentally, financially, emotionally, relationally) you need to be able to take the risk
Highlights from this episode:


(00:12) - Welcome Aaron
(01:10) - Topic introduction
(02:22) - What's Aaron's story?
(05:28) - What is a maximum effort era?
(10:56) - What are you willing to sacrifice?
(15:17) - What's your daily routine like?
(17:30) - Context matters in all of this
(28:01) - Are you sacrificing social connections?
(30:53) - Blind spots can affect you on your journey
(33:23) - Pain vs risk
(37:43) - Being on the same page as your partner
(41:47) - Going to therapy sooner
(43:51) - Building a good foundation
(48:51) - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(53:54) - Sometimes it's easier to try getting a better job
(01:02:42) - Where can people reach Aaron?
Thanks to our monthly supporters

Pascal from sharpen.page
Rewardful.com
Greg Park
Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au
Ethan Gunderson
Bill Condo (@mavrck)
Ward from MemberSpace.com
Russell Brown from Photivo.com
Evandro Sasse
Austin Loveless
Michael Sitver
Dan Buda
Colin Gray
Dave Giunta

🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!


★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★