329 episodes

The original podcast for bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startups, this show follow the stories of founders as they start, acquire, and grow SaaS companies. Hear when they fail, struggle, succeed, and take you with them through the tumultuous life of a SaaS founder. If you like Mixergy, This Week in Startups, or SaaStr, you’ll enjoy Startup for the Rest of Us.

Startups For the Rest of Us Rob Walling

    • Business
    • 4.9 • 671 Ratings

The original podcast for bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startups, this show follow the stories of founders as they start, acquire, and grow SaaS companies. Hear when they fail, struggle, succeed, and take you with them through the tumultuous life of a SaaS founder. If you like Mixergy, This Week in Startups, or SaaStr, you’ll enjoy Startup for the Rest of Us.

    Episode 704 | Landing Pages, Buying a SaaS, the Right Tech Stack, and More Listener Questions

    Episode 704 | Landing Pages, Buying a SaaS, the Right Tech Stack, and More Listener Questions

    In episode 704, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He weighs in on buying a SaaS, how to validate ideas using landing pages, and what tech stack to choose. Rob also provides guidance for those considering leaving their comfortable day jobs in favor of being a founder.



    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: 




    4:00 – Comparing your business to successful outliers



    9:50 – Exploring business outside of a comfortable day job



    15:45 – Early access landing pages prior to development



    20:00 – How do you vet SaaS businesses that you are trying to acquire? 



    27:16 – Evaluating a seller’s intentions



    29:50 – Choosing a tech stack for your SaaS




    Links from the Show: 




    MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies



    Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024



    Apply for Director of Marketing and Operations for MicroConf



    MicroConf Connect



    Startups For The Rest of Us – Ask a question



    37signals



    7 Proven Ways to Create Profitable SaaS Ideas EVERY Time



    The SaaS Playbook



    Quiet Light



    Acquire.com



    The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping




    If you have questions about sta

    • 37 min
    Episode 703 | The Accidental SaaS Entrepreneur

    Episode 703 | The Accidental SaaS Entrepreneur

    In episode 703, Rob Walling interviews Jordan Hansen, founder of Cobalt Intelligence. They dive into Jordan's unexpected journey into SaaS and the growth of his company, which specializes in business verification through API. Jordan reflects on quitting his job to pursue his startup and the benefits of community and mentorship he has received from TinySeed. 



    Episode Sponsor:





    Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups



    The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.



    They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.



    When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week.



    And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups



    Topics we cover: 




    2:30 – What does Cobalt Intelligence offer?



    5:45 – Team scale, market, and business origins 



    9:55 – Starting YouTube and finding motivation to continually publish



    13:27 – Working with a savings runway and applying to TinySeed



    23:50 – Finding product-market fit



    26:58 – Unlisting content to align with business goals



    31:50 – “Accidental” SaaS founder




    Links from the Show: 




    Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024



    TinySeed



    The SaaS Playbook



    Jordan Hansen (@JordBHansen) | X



    Cobalt Intelligence (@CobaltIntell) | X



    Cobalt Intelligence 



    Lianna Patch (@punchlinecopy) | X



    The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping



    Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual by John Sonmez 



    Episode 698 | How to Launch a Million Dollar Business (With Noah Kagan)

    • 34 min
    Episode 702 | Revenue vs. Profit Multiples, When to Lower Prices, and More Listener Questions

    Episode 702 | Revenue vs. Profit Multiples, When to Lower Prices, and More Listener Questions

    In episode 702, join Rob Walling for another solo adventure where he answers listener questions. He answers how to introduce friends to bootstrapping, when to lower your prices, and addresses the difference in revenue and profit multiple valuations. Rob also offers advice when weighing a career move versus building side projects and scaling your MVP.



    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: 




    3:15 – How to introduce friends to entrepreneurship and bootstrapping 



    6:00 – When to focus on profit vs. top-line revenue



    10:40 – Considerations for building, scaling, and differentiating an MVP



    15:45 – Rare circumstances where you should lower prices



    20:25 – Pursuing career moves vs. building on the side



    23:43 – Managing cap tables and equity vesting




    Links from the Show: 




    MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies



    TinySeed



    The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping



    Start Small, Stay Small



    The SaaS Playbook



    MicroConf YouTube Channel: Building Your First SaaS: The Ultimate Crash Course



    SFTROU Greatest Hits



    Episode 222 | The Stair Step Approach to Launching Products



    What is a SAFE?




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

    • 31 min
    Episode 701 | The Long Journey to Product-Market Fit

    Episode 701 | The Long Journey to Product-Market Fit

    In episode 701, Rob Walling interviews Matt Wensing, founder of Summit, a SaaS platform for lead scoring and qualification. Matt shares insights on finding product-market fit, the importance of following customer workflows to get there, and the challenges of marketing and positioning. Rob asks about his choice to raise venture capital, and how keeping a lean team maximizes that opportunity.



    Episode Sponsor:





    Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups



    The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.



    They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.



    When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week.



    And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups



    Topics we cover: 




    2:27 – “Traveling many H1’s”, refining a target market 



    5:44 – Moving back to a self-serve model



    10:52 – Niching down to achieve stronger product-market fit



    12:53 – Tactics that Matt used to achieve traction



    16:54 – Lead scoring by behavior and persona-fit 



    19:20 – Scoring as a whole product vs. as only a feature



    23:31 – Pursuing VC with a lean team



    29:09 – Who is your ideal customer profile?




    Links from the Show: 




    Apply for Tinyseed Feb 12th through Feb 25th



    MicroConf Remote – Early Stage Saas Strategies



    Matt Wensing (@mattwensing) | X



    Summit



    Episode 696 | The Truth about Product-Market Fit + Doing Sales as an Introvert (With Ruben Gamez)



    Out of Beta



    Episode 633 | Building SaaS Plus a Two-Sided Marketplace



    The SaaS Playbook



    "How I Sold My SaaS in An 8-Figure Exit" with Matt Wensing




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

    • 33 min
    Episode 700 | Playing the Long Game

    Episode 700 | Playing the Long Game

    In episode 700, Rob goes solo to celebrate another milestone of Startups For the Rest of Us. He reflects on playing the long game and doing so publicly enough to create larger luck surface area. He also emphasizes building skills in the process, and highlights several founders who have done this well.



    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: 




    2:41 – Balancing short vs. long term thinking and decision making



    7:30 – Examples of founders leaning into the long game



    12:18 – Putting in the time, and doing it publicly (enough)



    16:42 – Lucky or smart?



    21:22 – How do I know if I’m playing the correct long game?



    23:54 – Acquiring skills as you play the long game



    27:13 – Cheers to 700!




    Links from the Show: 




    Apply for TinySeed Spring 2024



    MicroConf



    TinySeed



    Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling



    Gather



    TinySeed Tales S2E1 | Introducing Gather



    Lucky or Smart? by Bo Peabody




    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 |

    • 30 min
    Episode 699 | How to Build Elegant, Scalable Software Products with Derrick Reimer

    Episode 699 | How to Build Elegant, Scalable Software Products with Derrick Reimer

    In episode 699, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, about scaling products tastefully. Derrick offers his perspective on maintaining a tidy UX and deciding which features to implement. They also cover best practices for maintaining knowledge bases, changelogs, and documentation. As a bonus, Rob and Derrick offer podcasting advice to their past selves.



    Episode Sponsor:





    Find your perfect developer or a team at Lemon.io/startups



    The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. Lemon.io helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America.



    They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running.



    When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With Lemon.io, you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week.



    And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting lemon.io/startups



    Topics we cover: 




    2:35 – Establish design systems and language as you scale your product



    8:36 – Building out a front-end directory to maintain consistency



    10:17 – Truly understand how customers are moving through your product



    16:28 – Naming convention dilemmas, industry norms vs. accuracy



    19:22 – Hiding product features with feature flags



    23:04 – Scaling new products that serve different verticals



    31:12 – Best practices for maintaining a product knowledge base



    37:11 – Bonus: What advice would you give to your prior self starting a podcast?




    Links from the Show: 




    Register for MicroConf US in Atlanta, April 2024



    The SaaS Playbook



    Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) I X



    SavvyCal 



    Allen D King (@allendking) | X



    FunJoin



    FullStory



    Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea



    Help Scout Knowledge Base



    Headway Changelog

    • 47 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
671 Ratings

671 Ratings

yuritomi ,

Honest, tactical, real stories and advice for bootstrappers

This is my go-to podcast for inspiration from other bootstrapped entrepreneurs! I so appreciate Rob’s candidness about his personal journey and the tactical business advice and honest opinions he shares based on his experience investing and advising tons of startup founders. Thank you for this wonderful podcast, Rob!!

pedro.assumpcao ,

The best startup podcast by far

Thanks Rob for all the invaluable information you provide around startup, SaaS, and bootstrapping businesses. Your podcast became my top source of info that came right on time for my professional career. Just continue with the great content 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

geol9 ,

The podcast I look forward to every Tuesday!

Thanks Rob, especially enjoy the listener questions episodes.

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