I seek Ed's advice on some Saber Feedback stuff. We talk about pricing, free plans, legacy framework woes, and database hosting. We also chat about: running Geomob as an online conference instead as a COVID alternative to an in-person conference automating away common customer support enquiries Discuss this topic and more on the Bootstrapped discussion forum . Other links: SureSwift Capital's Start-up founder customer service tips ....
Oct 23, 2020•35 min•Ep. 153
Ed and I discuss knowledge sharing for bootstrappers, and even for one-person teams. How do you make sure the important knowledge for your business gets remembered, shared, and used? Discuss this topic and more on the Bootstrapped discussion forum .
Oct 17, 2020•32 min•Ep. 152
I answer several questions from a loyal listener who wants advice on building a B2B SaaS similar in scope and style to my product, Feature Upvote .
Oct 09, 2020•23 min•Ep. 151
Robert Brandl of ToolTester Network built his company by developing excellent SEO skills. In this episode he turns his skills to Saber Feedback, and gives me awesome advice on how to solve my SEO problems. We also talk about his recent acquisition of https://howtogetonline.com/ Other links: Robert on Twitter: @robertbrandl Saber Feedback's guide to feedback buttons...
Oct 02, 2020•40 min•Ep. 150
Ed Freyfogle is back again. This week he interviews Steve on his progress with Saber Feedback , six months after acquisition. Ed marvels at how many words we were able to write about feedback buttons . We also talk a bit about co-working in the age of Covid. Discuss this topic and more on the Bootstrapped discussion forum .
Sep 27, 2020•37 min•Ep. 149
Ed Freyfogle steps in for me this week and interviews Hrishi Mittal, founder of online learning platform Learnetto. Hrishi shares his struggle to progress past a point of having limited success without finding real traction. He also talks about his desire to bring on a cofounder. Hrishi on Twitter Learnetto Learnetto on Twitter " The Complete React on Rails Course " on Learnetto Discuss this topic and more on the Bootstrapped discussion forum ....
Sep 18, 2020•30 min•Ep. 148
Laura Roeder talks about why she doesn't do demo calls unlike most other SaaS founders - and how bootstrapping frees you up to run your business the way that works for you. Laura is the founder of MeetEdgar , a social media scheduling tool, and cofounder of Paperbell , coaching software. Links Laura on Startups for the Rest of Us Laura's talk at Business of Software Europe 2018: Bootstrapping A Business In The Face Of Well-Funded Competition Remember, as Laura says, "You get to do this however w...
Sep 04, 2020•31 min•Ep. 147
Kevin McArdle of SureSwift Capital has acquired almost 40 online businesses, most of them B2B SaaS products. We talk about the process of getting acquired, as the seller and founder of an online business. Kevin tells me the options for getting acquired at 4 different revenue levels: $1,000 to $4,000 monthly revenue $10K to $20K monthly revenue $20K to $50K monthly revenue $100K+ monthly revenue Links Kevin's interview on Escape Velocity with Dan Martell SureSwift Capital Kevin on Twitter Kevin's...
Aug 29, 2020•38 min•Ep. 146
Ed reintroduces himself, Steve shares his experience of making it to the front page of Hacker News, and we discuss Quaderno's 5-hour work day and Wildbit's 4-day work week. Links: Ed's home on the web . Quaderno's job page . Wildbit's 4-day work week . Discuss these topics and more on the Bootstrapped discussion forum ....
Aug 22, 2020•31 min•Ep. 145
Patrick Hathaway is the cofounder of Sitebulb, a website auditing tool for SEO consultants and agencies. Patrick tells us why he made a desktop app when his competitors offer cloud apps. We also talk about how Patrick uses awesome release notes as a marketing tool. We finish up with a discussion the pros and cons of using Paddle as a payment processor. Sitebulb: https://sitebulb.com/ Sitebulb's release notes: https://sitebulb.com/release-notes/...
Aug 14, 2020•37 min•Ep. 144
When, if ever, should you, should make changes to your product's code that don't change its external behaviour? How do you weigh up the risks of breaking things against the ease of future development? Steve and Ed get way more technical than usual in this episode. We mention Refactoring , the book by Martin Fowler. We want listener questions! Post your question here and we'll discuss it in a future episode of Bootstrapped....
Aug 02, 2020•32 min•Ep. 143
We revisit the goals we made in January 2020. We consider what progress we've made despite the current massive global uncertainty. Back in January, in episode #124, Ed and Steve stated their goals for 2020 . Then COVID-19 happened, changing many of the assumptions we had when we made those goals. We’re open for listener questions! Got a topic or question you’d like us to discuss on the podcast? Let us know on our discussion forum ....
Jul 26, 2020•34 min•Ep. 142
I openly report on the challenges and successes I've had in the first three months of owning Saber Feedback . And yes, I do reveal customer numbers, revenue, and traffic volume!
Jul 17, 2020•16 min•Ep. 141
This was a painful episode to record. I had problems getting some customers to pay. How I handled it was a cascade of mistakes. I tell Ed the story, and he gives me advice on what I should have done. Ed tells us about his recent effort to add a once-off pricing plan to his SaaS. We also mentioned Ed's appearance on the Slow and Steady podcast, where he shared 25+ practical tips for running your SaaS . We're open for listener questions! Got a topic or question you'd like us to discuss on the podc...
Jun 26, 2020•33 min•Ep. 140
Ed chats with Peter Suhm about the challenges and rewards of selling to developers. Peter is the founder of Branch, a deployment tool for WordPress developers. Peter on twitter: https://twitter.com/petersuhm Branch: https://branchci.com WP Pusher, another product by Peter for WordPress developers: https://wppusher.com Out of Beta, Peter's podcast: https://outofbeta.fm (recommended!) Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers ....
Jun 19, 2020•28 min•Ep. 139
We discuss Ed Freyfogle's recent experience creating the OpenCage Reverse Geocoding guide, an example of an "epic guide" approach to content marketing. Useful links: The OpenCage Reverse Geocoding guide: https://opencagedata.com/reverse-geocoding Adam Duvander, who helped Ed create the guide: https://twitter.com/adamd Adam's company: https://everydeveloper.com/ Adam's personal site: http://www.adamd.org/ Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers ....
Jun 12, 2020•28 min•Ep. 138
Derrick's product is a direct competitor to one of my products. So it was extremely generous of him to speak openly about the challenges and successes of running PageProofer . We also discussed: the challenge of having many competitors having years of work annihilated by one Steve Jobs announcement the challenge of separating personal life from work time when you are a solo founder. Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers ....
Jun 04, 2020•33 min•Ep. 137
Security audits! Bug bounty programs! Frequent unsolicited pen-testing! When you put a website on the Internet, it almost immediately faces non-stop security attacks. Ed and I discuss the ways we handle this within the resources available to us as bootstrappers. Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester’s deliverability report . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrapp...
May 30, 2020•31 min•Ep. 136
Content specialist Hannah Adcock audited Saber Feedback's website . In this episode, she tells us what's good about our site and what needs to change. Hannah runs Contented Strategy . She was on the podcast a few months ago, when she talked about the benefit of a content audit. In this episode Hannah is way more specific. She tears down the Saber Feedback website, section by section. And then she presents a plan for improvement. Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which em...
May 21, 2020•32 min•Ep. 135
Frequent guest co-host Ed Freyfogle has questions. Lots of questions. About why I acquired Saber Feedback , what the acquisition process was like, and what plans I have for Saber Feedback in the coming months. Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester’s deliverability report . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers ....
May 15, 2020•32 min•Ep. 134
Matt Bearman, original founder of Saber Feedback, discusses the experience of creating, growing, and then selling Saber Feedback. Matt's Blog: https://mattbearman.svbtle.com/ The Google Ads PPC recommended by Matt: https://www.udemy.com/share/101XkgB0oZcFZUQHg= Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester’s deliverability report . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappe...
May 07, 2020•30 min•Ep. 133
(Looking for Episode 131? For boring, technical reasons, there is no episode 131.) Ed Freyfogle and I discuss how COVID-19 is affecting our lives, our families, and our businesses. We also talk a little about my acquisition of Saber Feedback. Things we mention in the show: Geomob podcast Audience podcast Business of Software conference Saber Feedback Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester’s de...
May 01, 2020•31 min•Ep. 132
A short episode where I explain why the podcast is on break for a few weeks. Spoiler alert: the pandemic has left me stranded 16,816 km from home. Until I find a way home, I can't easily record new episodes. Listen for the full story! Hopefully I'll be back with new episodes in a few weeks.
Mar 27, 2020•5 min•Ep. 131
Julian Wilde of Wormly describes how he was able to drive across central Asia - often in countries without easily-available Internet - while running a monitoring SaaS. We also reminisce about running a software company before Stripe, AWS and the Digital Nomad phenomenon. Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester's deliverability report . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for B...
Mar 19, 2020•33 min•Ep. 130
Bootstrapping is stressful. I share seven ways I try to manage the stress of being a software bootstrapper. Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester's deliverability report . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers .
Mar 06, 2020•19 min•Ep. 129
We discuss some of the SaaS products we rely on to run our businesses: what they are and why we use them. Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester's deliverability report . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers .
Feb 28, 2020•31 min•Ep. 128
When Dave Rodenbaugh wanted to run a software business, he decided to buy an existing one. He tells me why he did this, how he chose the business, and what he did right and wrong along the way. He also shares - painfully - his embarrassing $50K mistake. Dave runs Recapture and is co-host of the Rogue Startups podcast . Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester's deliverability report . Discuss th...
Feb 20, 2020•35 min•Ep. 127
I'm joined again by frequent guest co-host Ed Freyfogle. We talk about how we track the spending on our businesses. We mentioned a rewards card for Startups from Cledara . Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode. Find the best email newsletter service for you with EmailToolTester's calculator . Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers ....
Feb 14, 2020•30 min•Ep. 126
Steve and Ed discuss what they hope to achieve by the end of 2020 - both professionally and personally. We also discuss the importance of knowing your non-goals, that is, things your explicit decide NOT to do. Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Bootstrapped listeners, to try Balsamiq for free, visit balsamiq.com/go/bootstrapped where you will find a promo code giving you an extended trial and a hefty discount. Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers . ...
Jan 31, 2020•39 min•Ep. 125
Courtenay Farquharson shares how he built up Parserr to more than $10K monthly revenue - and why he sold it. We also talk about: bootstrapping in the Microsoft ecosystem bootstrapping in Australia Courtenay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/courtzz Courtenay's next endeavour: sleepapp.com.au Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Bootstrapped listeners, to try Balsamiq for free, visit balsamiq.com/go/bootstrapped where you will find a promo code giving you an extended trial and a hefty dis...
Jan 23, 2020•32 min•Ep. 124
