SaaS Life (saaslife.fm‪)‬ Chris McAleenan, Sam Schrup

Summary:
Today’s episode promises to be the last or at least the last for a while. Both Sam and Chris are making changes that make continuing to devote energy and effort to a podcast impractical, at least for now. 
What’s happening and what’s the reason for the change? In today’s episode, Sam and Chris share information about the changes both of them are making in their projects and what those changes mean for them. They discuss the future of the show and why this may be the last episode. Then they close out by discussing the things that each of them is into right now before saying goodbye. 
Episode Highlights/Topics: 

Sam is pivoting from TextRetailer to AudienceTap
Why AudienceTap instead of TextRetailer
Whether Sam is building out a new Shopify
Managing multiple platforms running at the same time
Changes in Chris’s projects
How the changes affected team structure and how the market is pivoting
How marketing helps clarify the product side
The future of the podcast
Issues with transparency
Trying new things and understanding that they’re not always forever
The Yellowstone series
New MacBook Pro
What’s great about a new install

Resources/Links:
AudienceTap 
Damon Chen Tweet
The golden era of being an open startup is gone
Yellowstone

Chris is back from his vacation, and today’s podcast episode begins with Chris and Sam discussing some of his experiences and highlights. 
During this episode, Chris and Sam discuss their past week and the things that have been top of mind for them lately. They discuss a customer service issue that Chris dealt with and Sam’s custom fields, and they talk about the satisfaction of creating something that provides value to people. 
Episode Highlights/Topics: 

Chris’s vacation experiences and highlights
The customer service issue that Chris has been dealing with
Whether it will be more common for customers to have a need for more customization down the line
Portability for templates
The satisfaction of providing value for customers with something you built
Security concerns with SMS
How marketing will be picking up in the next year
How Sam’s week has been
Zero-party data – what it is and how it’s collected
Laying the foundation for custom fields and what the status is
Revamping the design of the user interface
Whether merchants can bring external data in
How much segmentation Sam allows
The portable battery charger that Chris is into
The Eero Pro router that Sam is into

Resources/Links:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Hub/Project
Battery charger 
Eero Pro 

On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about vacations, productivity, and how those two things intersect with each other. 
It’s difficult to truly take time off, especially when you’re running your own business or working solo. Things sometimes just need to be done. On the other hand, sometimes you end up waiting in a holding pattern while things come together, and that can be a good time for a vacation and family time. Sam and Chris also talk about Linear, share updates on their businesses, and talk about what they’re into right now. 
Episode Highlights/Topics: 

An overview of the last week 
Linear and 8 Dev Tools You’re Probably Not Using
The features of Linear
The fall changes in the weather
Taking time completely off on vacation
Business updates
Feedback from newly onboarding customers
Getting a communication channel going with customers
Planning for next year
Changes in the last year
The challenges of the text messaging verification process
New verification regulations and processes
What Sam and Chris are into now

Resources/Links:
 
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Hub/Project
8 Dev Tools You’re Probably Not Using
Linear

On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about customers breaking things and the continuing saga between TextRetailer and Shopify ecosystem.
There’s nothing like customers interacting with your product because sometimes they’ll break it or give you insights on new features, cases, and new things that you need to tackle. Sam already has experience with the text-to-buy concept via TextRetailer, so he has gone from politely asking to begging Shopify for access to the Shop Pay wallet.
Highlights from this Episode:

PipeTech: Tons of development, lots of progress, big performance improvements.
Functional Testing: Who should do it and why - developers or actual customers?
Surprise Deliverable: Sales demo with real customer data to envision using it.  
Why Shopify is very protective of entire checkout process, payment facilitation.
Approval: Shopify authorizes use cases as sales channels/payment processing.  
Rebuild Hurdle: Initial app rejected because change requirements not met.
TextRetailer vs. Postscript: One approved and other held to different standards.
Text-to-Buy: Shopify forcing new concept, takes away TextRetailer’s uniqueness.

Links and Resources: 
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project/Hub
Sewer Jetter
Waterproof Borescope
Adam Neumann (a16z says ‘WeBack’ to WeWork’s Neumann with its biggest check ever)
iPad Stand
Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). 

On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about hiring additional resources via agencies and freelancers to contribute to plenty of work. It may cost more money and time, but it’s worth it if they are capable. If not, just move on to the next one to scale and survive.     
Highlights from this Episode:

Upwork: Both Chris and Sam have hired additional resources to get work done.
Vetting Process: Same job post but totally different pool of applicants to skim.
Thumbs Up/Down: Must speak fluent English and thoughtfully answer questions.
Interview: Top contenders invited, but number quickly falls, hire within 3 days. 
Tech Layoffs: Leads to more and better applicants in the marketplace.
Supply Chain: Making sales may be simple, but what about parts to fulfill orders? 
Help/Support: Why manuals, webinars, and more are competitive advantage.
Strategic Decision: Why Sam attempts to get TextRetailer into Shopify app store.  

Links and Resources: 
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Hub/Project
Upwork
Alex Beller on Twitter
Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). 

Summary:
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about what it looks like for a bootstrapper to take paternity leave for a new baby or puppy sitting. Never a dull moment at home or work! 
Highlights from this Episode:

Demo Downtime: People were patient and willing to wait for Sam’s return.
Work/Life Balance: First week back finds work just as exhausting as life at home. 
Stack Overflow Question: Chris likes to code, but hasn’t kept up his skill set.
Mission Critical Dependency: What if something goes wrong while you’re gone?
Edge Cases: Fixing issues takes time and holds you back from building features.
Mental Shift: Actively cultivate mindset via previous experience, project patterns.
Deliverable Size: Downloading large file on Google Drive isn’t a good experience. 
TextRetailer Website: Revamped and launched to drive customer engagement.
Developer Resource: Sam’s hire made a widget to grow email and SMS lists.   

Links and Resources: 
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Hub/Project
Kraken.io Image Optimizer
Stack Overflow
Userlist.io
Upwork
Basecamp
Linear
Braintree
Stripe
Monoprice Water Leak Sensor
Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).