Claritask, sold!
Lessons from selling Claritask and what's next
Apr 08, 2021•33 min•Ep. 48
Bootstrapping SaaS
Bootstrapping SaaS is a podcast where I document my attempts at getting to $10K in MRR with my SaaS products as a one-man show: designer, developer, marketer.
I talk about recent updates with my SaaS', conundrums, lessons, successful outcomes, and a few personal things here and there.
Once in a while, I bring in a guest and we talk.
The show is roughly prepared with bullet points, but mostly a free rain of thoughts with whatever is going on that week.
The first 40 episodes have been mostly about Claritask up until I exited: https://bootstrapping-saas.transistor.fm/episodes/claritask-sold
Starting with Episode 41 I cover more attempts, ideas, findings, and other potential products.
Get in touch via Twitter at https://twitter.com/valsopi
Podcast website: https://bootstrapping-saas.transistor.fm/
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Episodes
A quick update
Agency work, new ideas, Claritask...
Jan 11, 2021•10 min•Ep. 47
Wellbeing
I share my tools that help me stay healthy emotionally and physically.
Oct 29, 2020•28 min•Ep. 46
Back after the break
Back after a 3-month break. Talking about what I've been up to. Claritask update. Client work. And what I'm up to now/next.
Oct 15, 2020•14 min•Ep. 45
Taking a little breather
Signup for Claritask.com to run your team and projects A list of various Podcasts on bootstrapping: https://transistor.fm/podcasts-for-bootstrappers Bootstrapping Saas Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ANZLmlqW5LODRP2P11MTR?si=rk_FG5BdSVK65mZ5HrcmOw...
Jul 11, 2020•7 min•Ep. 44
Spilling beer with Ben Mann
Ben is the founder of https://playgroup.community/ who just launched it with their first paying client, the notorious MegaMaker forum. You can also find Ben on Twitter at https://twitter.com/digitaltrouble He runs his podcast with Noah Bragg https://productjourney.fm/ You can also find Ben's website here https://benmann.de/ === Signup for Claritask.com to run your team and projects A list of various Podcasts on bootstrapping: https://transistor.fm/podcasts-for-bootstrappers Bootstrapping Saas Pl...
Jul 03, 2020•55 min•Ep. 43
Giving Value vs Solving a Problem, with Louis Nicholls
This show was an elaboration of a discussion/argument we had with Louis a few weeks ago on Twitter. You can find the entire tweet here: https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1267489835863998472 Some questions we try to answer are: The difference between idea/execution What it means to give value What is Marketing vs Sales (a sort of new take, at least for me) You can find out more about Louis in the following places His salesforfounders.com Course Twitter account https://twitter.com/louisnicholls_ ...
Jun 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 42
What's a good idea/solution?
The two tweets I mention heavily on the show https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1266052752901373952 https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1267489835863998472 And signup for Claritask.com to run your team and projects A list of various Podcasts on bootstrapping: https://transistor.fm/podcasts-for-bootstrappers Bootstrapping Saas Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ANZLmlqW5LODRP2P11MTR?si=rk_FG5BdSVK65mZ5HrcmOw...
Jun 08, 2020•20 min•Ep. 41
Claritask as a side project
This week I am listening to: Hermanos Gutierrez and their album Hoy Como Ayer HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson — RepoGuard.com RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit messages, RepoGuard can help. Visit RepoGuard.com for more info. Flamur Mavraj — Ornio.no Merott Movahedi — Xebel.co - Engaging Students Online Zoli Veres Valon Badivuku You can support me here http...
May 25, 2020•22 min•Ep. 40
Catching up with Corey — Part Deux
It's Friday, so we slip into philosophical thoughts and let that lead us to the end. HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Flamur Mavraj — Ornio.no Jace Richardson — RepoGuard.com RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit messages, RepoGuard can help. Visit RepoGuard.com for more info. Merott Movahedi — Xebel.co - Engaging Students Online Zoli Veres Valon Badivuku You can support me he...
May 15, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 39
The importance of having the right co-founder
Among other things, I talk about: My personal experience with cofounders Thoughts on finding a co-founder Audio clips from: Arvid Kahl of Zero to Sold and The Bootstrapped Founder Justin Jackson of Transistor.fm and JustinJackson.ca Simon Bennett of Snapshooter.io A quick update on Claritask A list of various Podcasts on bootstrapping: https://transistor.fm/podcasts-for-bootstrappers Bootstrapping Saas Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ANZLmlqW5LODRP2P11MTR?si=rk_FG5BdSVK65...
May 11, 2020•45 min•Ep. 38
Online Friends
In this episode... Spoke about the importance of having friends that share the same journey Claritask Scrum being ready How we don't have to be perfect Thinking about AppSumo Dan Miller's book on Scrum: https://gumroad.com/danmiller#CDPpF And a few other things... Bootstrapping Saas Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ANZLmlqW5LODRP2P11MTR?si=rk_FG5BdSVK65mZ5HrcmOw HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mi...
May 02, 2020•29 min•Ep. 37
1 Year of Bootstrapping Saas
My panic attack, Claritask progress, issues, and hope ahead. Mentioned in the show: Dwayne Perkins Standup Bertram — Craft and Wilderness
Apr 19, 2020•31 min•Ep. 36
Sales and marketing efforts
I talk about about, how I am using Linkedin Email Twitter Direct Email Blogging A BIG Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit messages, RepoGuard can help. Visit RepoGuard.com for more info. Merott Mohavedi - xebel.co Simon Benett - snapshooter.io Dean Leyton-James - cloudperiscope.com Zoli Veres Valon Badivuku - badivuku.com You can s...
Mar 08, 2020•16 min•Ep. 35
Selling a solution VS a comodity
I had a thought earlier today about how maybe selling a solution (like Claritask) requires an offline effort (networking, in person sales, conferences, presentations, etc.). Here's the original tweet on that conundrum: https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1233382562728378368 HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit messages, RepoGuar...
Feb 28, 2020•10 min•Ep. 34
Claritask is 1
Enjoying Claritask, more than ever because: Claritask is quite complete Current clients are happy New pricing New activity New paying clients My consultancy financing Claritask And talking about one problem/conundrum/question that I have, which I don't know how to solve. A BIG Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit messages, RepoGuard...
Feb 16, 2020•25 min•Ep. 33
How to find an idea... my way
I was invited on Product Journey podcast to share my story and had a great time speaking to Noah and Ben. One thing that got my mind churning was on how I would go about finding what idea to work on next. It was specifically Noah's frustrations after interviewing people and being left with less inspiration than when first started. This is that episode: https://share.transistor.fm/s/4ea4839f HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from com...
Feb 09, 2020•22 min•Ep. 32
Talking Shop with Helen Ryles
Had the pleasure to speak to my long time internet friend, Helen Ryles ( @HelenRyles ). We covered topics from product making, validation, marketing, timing/luck, staying sane, and more. One of the longest episodes I believe, but felt like a breeze. Let me know if you have any comments by replying to the shows tweet here: Helen's current projects: Namesace: https://namesace.com/ FeedbackFridays: https://feedbackfridays.com/ A BIG Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protec...
Feb 01, 2020•52 min•Ep. 31
How I got here
Would I have been able to make Claritask as a side project? The talk I had with my wife April Dunford's Obviously Awesome book HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit messages, RepoGuard can help. Visit RepoGuard.com for more info. Merott Mohavedi - xebel.co (spelled with an X) Simon Benett - snapshooter.io Dean Leyton-James - clo...
Jan 26, 2020•26 min•Ep. 30
Just a quick update
Took a few questions from Noah https://twitter.com/noahwbragg/status/1218625288633847808 and Dan https://twitter.com/mrdanmiller/status/1218627320807772161 New registrations coming in from my sales/marketing efforts Bought a new domain for a blog/publication I've been wanting to make for the longest time Josh's tweet https://twitter.com/Shpigford/status/1217841243213922310 and positioning/distribution issues And a few other things: Thinking about launching on ProductHunt, my NYs resolutions work...
Jan 18, 2020•22 min•Ep. 29
Feeling like a cheat
Among other things... Running a product in the sea of many competitors My readings: David & Goliath, Stillness is the Key, Atomic Habits, Obviously Awesome Claritask currently: Lower pricing, new registrations, my sales activity New client work Personal habits: fasting, working out, A BIG Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to master or just bad commit mes...
Jan 11, 2020•21 min•Ep. 28
Moving forward this 2020
A recap of last year: bad things & good things The $20K bank loan I was about to take New Pricing and why I did it (the reasoning behind it) Healthy habits: Intermittent fasting Started Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bootsaas More open financials: What else will I be sharing moving forward Patreon Supporters A BIG Thanks to my Patreon supporters: Jace Richardson RepoGuard. Protect your GitHub repositories from common mistakes that cost time and energy to fix. Whether it's force pushes to m...
Jan 03, 2020•30 min•Ep. 27
Get Lucky! (A blog post)
Not a regular episode, just something I wrote about how I think about Luck and Getting Lucky!
Dec 19, 2019•5 min
Back from MIA
There wont be any ads in the show moving forward. Instead, I will give shoutouts to my maker friends. Want to keep the show ad free Shoutouts: Helen Ryles : NamesAce.com Tony Denke Dominic St. Pierre Show notes: $20K Investment didn't happen Applied to Tinyseed, probably wont get an interview call/email Getting a loan of $20K going into 2020 Claritask is doing well. No growth in new clients, but there's growth with current clients adding more users, which caused the need to up the resources in t...
Dec 15, 2019•18 min•Ep. 26
Is Bootstrapped Investor a thing?
Thankful for EP25 supporters: Userlist is a tool for sending behavior-based messages to your SaaS customers. It’s great for onboarding users and nurturing them throughout their journey. You can also see who your users are, segment them, and see what they’re doing inside your product. Userlist is much more powerful than building it yourself, and less complex than enterprise tools like Intercom. Start your free trial today at userlist.io/bootstrappingsaas and get 30% off your first three months....
Nov 01, 2019•29 min•Ep. 25
Back on Claritask
Even though I am excited to come back to Claritask, I still have to find a long-term working model. Started Cold Emailing and landed the first demo with the first 30 emails sent. Also, reading Ryan Holiday's book and highlighting most of it. Thankful for EP24supporters: Userlist is a tool for sending behavior-based messages to your SaaS customers. It’s great for onboarding users and nurturing them throughout their journey. You can also see who your users are, segment them, and see what they’re d...
Oct 20, 2019•26 min•Ep. 24
What I wished for my birthday
Other things I talk about: My relationship with money Stillness is the Key book by Ryan Holiday Full Stack Radio Episode 125 — "Rob Walling: Choosing the Right Idea" with Adam Wathan Traction book by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares The worst business I invested in Keeping a list of things I want to achieve The Stairstep Approach to Bootstrapping by Rob Walling What I am watching right now Thankful for EP23 supporters: Userlist is a tool for sending behavior-based messages to your SaaS customer...
Oct 14, 2019•28 min•Ep. 23
I need a new business model
Bootstrapping with client work on one side and Claritask on another is proving to be hard. Among other things I talk about: Bootstrapping is hard in the way I am doing it Momentum in product making My current client project (consultancy work) Sales & direct Emails Also, as a chapter on its own: How to have a killer product Moving forward as a company Thankful for EP22 supporters: ColdfeetStudios.com by Shawn Inman — Shawn is offering a 30-minute free consultation wanting to help with a press...
Oct 09, 2019•24 min•Ep. 22
Speaking to Corey Gwin
Corey and I have been talking for quite some time on and off. We finally found the time to sit down and talk about this "fancy" bootstrapping life of ours. Among other things we challenged the bootstrapping way of building and selling a product and what would be the ideal situations of receiving an outside investment. Corey runs https://blurt.app which helps its users write better. Thankful for EP21 supporters: ColdfeetStudios.com by Shawn Inman — Shawn is offering a 30-minute free consultation ...
Oct 06, 2019•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 21
Things are good
In this show I talk about how I am saving ~$1200 on yearly bank fees. Also, I share some lessons on what I have learned so far running Claritask and having this podcast as well as some advice on if you should run a B2B or B2C product. Another thing that has been going around lately is how much transparency is more than necessary? Does it do any good or it's just for high fives we get from our supporters Other points: How I can't work well when working on two projects at once (Claritask and clien...
Sep 22, 2019•37 min•Ep. 20
Hosted on Transistor
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