Jon Buda and Justin Jackson make predictions for the tech industry, the podcasting space, and the startup ecosystem. Predictions for 2019 There will be a global economic downturn. Companies will be looking for more affordable marketing spend. Brands that don't have a strong relationship with their audience will lose. This could be increase the number of companies who invest in podcasting. Audio is still a "good deal" compared to other communication channels. Related: will we see the big “5” (Squ...
Jan 08, 2019•59 min•Ep. 40
In this episode, we talk about the different types of customers for a SaaS: B to C: selling to consumers. Here, we'd think of products and services like Verizon, iPhone apps, etc... B to Prosumer: selling to prosumers. Prosumers are power users; serious hobbyists. Sometimes, they earn a bit of money from their hobby. Examples: a photographer who shoots a few weddings a year, a painter who sells a few paintings on the side, or a podcaster who has a few supporters on Patreon. B to Aspirational: se...
Dec 19, 2018•32 min•Ep. 39
Justin gets interviewed by Harry Duran on the Podcast Junkies show, and answers questions about: Is podcasting really having it's moment now? Is now a good time to invest in the podcasting industry? How is Transistor going to be different than other competitors? Who should be starting podcasts right now? Can anyone be a podcaster? Is podcasting a "mindful technology?" ★ Thanks to our two sponsors: Alitu.com : Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take ...
Dec 13, 2018•43 min•Ep. 38
In this episode Jon talks about why he decided to partner with Justin (even though he'd already built the product). ★ Thanks to our two sponsors: Alitu.com : Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo. Podcastinsights.com : If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights. They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow ...
Dec 05, 2018•43 min•Ep. 37
How did you split equity in Transistor? How do I start a podcast? How do you say Adam's name? ★ Thanks to our sponsor: podcastinsights.com If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights . They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Show notes: Episode 2: How to find a cofounder Place to buy a startup: Flippa and Empire Flippers Justin’s article: How to make a podcast Video: Creating a podcast from nothing Podcastinsights.com Tool: Chartable lets you s...
Nov 27, 2018•21 min•Ep. 36
Why do you want to start a podcast? Grow your business: Get more clients – Nate TechNest Real Estate Brand / PR – Drift Seeking Wisdom Grow your audience: Matt and Alex with Supercomputer Get ad sponsorships: you'll need a really big audience for this (30,000+ downloads per episode) Patreon: you'll need a fairly large audience (Taylor Jackson has 160,000 YouTube subscribers) Sell your own products / services: in addition to ads, Adam Wathan promotes his course on his podcast Connect with your au...
Nov 20, 2018•46 min•Ep. 35
Jon and Justin respond to the new funding options available for bootstrappers, mainly Earnest Capital. The GP, Tyler Tringas, told us what types of companies he's looking to invest in: Organic customer acquisition channels Low levels of structural churn (ready to stay customers for a long period of time) Founder is a good fit Product launched and has revenue In a space that Tyler feels comfortable with They're looking for a 3x-5x return from their investment; which they'll take from founder earn...
Nov 13, 2018•41 min•Ep. 34
Tyler Tringas recently announced Earnest Capital ; a new way for bootstrappers to raise money for their startups. Should Jon and Justin consider this type of funding for Transistor? What do you think? Leave a comment on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on CastBox , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on Tung.fm Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected] Create your own podcast at transistor.fm Show notes: Earne...
Nov 06, 2018•48 min•Ep. 33
How much does it cost to run a SaaS in 2018? We take a look at our bootstrap expenses. Every business accrues monthly expenses. The danger? Business owners can get in the habit of spending money, believing that "you gotta spend money to make money." Transistor's expenses Start up: Logo and branding: $2,500 Stripe Atlas: $500 Legal: $366.45 Monthly expenses: Editing: $320 / month AWS: $300 / month Media: $60 / month Yearly expenses: Domain: $100 / year Incorporation: $200 / year Accounting: $2k /...
Oct 30, 2018•58 min•Ep. 32
If you used computers in the 80s and 90s you're going to love this episode. Apple IIe in the school computer lab The original Macintosh "I wanted an Amiga so bad!" The BBS scene: Wildcat, Roboboard/FX, being a SySop Compuserve and AOL Tandy 1000, 386, 486, building your own Pentium Fave games: Commander Keen, King’s Quest, Wolfenstein, Doom, Duke Nukem, Raptor, Apogee Games Our first websites: high school swim team website, snowboarding website (with a guestbook) Our first computer businesses It...
Oct 23, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 31
Here we are at episode 30! Just found this old 2012 interview with the founder of MailChimp, before they became a $4.2 billion company. This quotes is awesome: Back in 2001, we had multiple customers who needed help sending their email newsletters. They were using really big, expensive, bloated software. We had some “scrap code” lying around, so we modified the code and turned it into an email newsletter app for them. We opened it up to the public, set up some Google Adwords, and basically forgo...
Oct 10, 2018•59 min•Ep. 30
After one failed attempt, we're back with a new episode. Sorry it's late! "We, as the customer, are paying people who make apps so that their good work continues." Responses from last week's episode: "What should our one main metric be for our SaaS?" Adam: “Don’t focus on MRR. That’s a cop out. Focus on increasing downloads.” Daniel: “Justin should get out and sell like crazy.” Colin and others said: “Re-examine your pricing.” What do you think? Leave a comment on Breaker , the podcast app for A...
Oct 02, 2018•51 min•Ep. 29
What do you think? Leave a comment on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on CastBox , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on Tung.fm Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected] Create your own podcast at transistor.fm Show notes: Startups for the Rest of Us – EP260 “The one metric that matters” Nathan Barry – Solving the cash problems from self-funding rapid growth Nathan Barry – From losing money to a 51% profit ...
Sep 25, 2018•47 min•Ep. 28
Jon and Justin are back from Portland and the XOXO festival. In the last few weeks we've had a chance to interact with many of our customers in-person: Nate Smoyer – "I’ve been using the podcast as a prospecting tool. Signed one dreams client two weeks ago. Interviewed with one yesterday. Got invited to lead a panel and live podcast for an industry event." Kyle Marshall – Kyle's creating multiple shows for MediaLab in Calgary. Matt Cassinelli and Alex Cox have a new podcast called Supercomputer ...
Sep 18, 2018•46 min•Ep. 27
What does "bootstrapping" mean really? For most folks, bootstrapping means self-funding your business from revenues. It means not taking Venture Capital, not taking Angel funding. It's a little bit of a religion and like so many religions different people have different definitions of what it takes to "fit in." Some people say you can't even take money from friends and family. If you take any outside money, you're no longer a part of the bootstrappers club. We recorded this episode live Watch on...
Aug 28, 2018•46 min•Ep. 26
Nick Quah shared this in his recent newsletter , commenting about podcasts: [I have] this feeling that everybody’s drilling for oil in the same spot because some other guy found oil there already. Nick thinks podcasters have two options: Build something that does the same thing for the same audience, but do it better. If this is the case, he says, “you better bring it.” Or, “identify and pursue a pocket of pent-up demand that has yet to be unleashed.” Note: apologies about Justin's audio in this...
Aug 21, 2018•54 min•Ep. 25
SaaS conversation rate cheatsheet: Credit card upfront: Visitor to trial: 0.75% - 1% Trial to paid: 40% - 60% No credit card upfront: Visitor to trial: 5%+ Trial to paid: 8% - 20% Transistor's conversion rates since launch: Total traffic since launch: 40,162 unique pageviews, 11,614 visitors Total new trials since launch: 32 (out of 49 active trials total) Conversion %(visitor to trial): 0.3% (should be 0.75% - 1%) Conversion %(trial to paid): 8.9% - 16.7% (should be 40% - 60%) July was 17.9% Ju...
Aug 14, 2018•31 min•Ep. 24
What do you think? Leave a comment on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on CastBox , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected] Create your own podcast at transistor.fm Show notes: Cards Against Humanity Laracon Chicago ( photos here ) Photos from Transistor's launch week The new Transistor website Jon's new signup page We were #1 on Product Hunt! ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other...
Aug 07, 2018•28 min•Ep. 23
In 2013, I interviewed Jason Calacanis , the angel investor. One of the things I asked him: "Why do venture capital investors take these big risks with their money?" " There's a lot of money in the world. There are trillions of dollars just sitting around, and people are bored. The money is bored! Money wants to burn! Money does not want to sit in a safe." Uh. What an interesting idea: "the money is bored." Jon Buda and I are bootstrapping Transistor.fm and Spots.fm . We've invested our own mone...
Jul 24, 2018•10 min•Ep. 22
Three tweets Tuesday Justin Kan : "B2C is a gamble while B2B is (more) within your control." Stephanie Hulburt : "We have a philosophy of “no hard sells” and it has served us well. If someone’s not convinced we move on; we don’t hang on trying to convince one person. It’s tempting to defend yourself, but not good for business." Naval on making decisions: "If you can’t decide, the answer is no. If two equally difficult paths, choose the one more painful in the short term. Choose the path that lea...
Jul 17, 2018•30 min•Ep. 21
How to build anticipation for your product launch Have a mailing list! Email them consistently during development. The week of launch you should send the following emails: Pre-launch announcement: "We're launching in a week!" Day before announcement: "The launch is tomorrow. Here's how much it will cost." Launch day email: "We're launched! Sign up here" Day after email: "You've still got time to sign up." Launch discount is ending email: "This is your last chance to register" Use services like P...
Jul 10, 2018•37 min•Ep. 20
Show notes: Spots.fm – "what if advertising on a podcast was as easy as advertising on Facebook?" Spots.fm/story - the Spots story so far. SaaS Your Later Sean McCabe Derek Sivers - Start now, no funding needed Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other folks find the show! Check...
Jul 03, 2018•42 min•Ep. 19
Show notes Justin’s Instagram TV episode MegaMaker.co Indie VC Canada’s Startup Visa Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other folks find the show! Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahl...
Jun 26, 2018•32 min•Ep. 18
Show notes Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other folks find the show! Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sas...
Jun 19, 2018•1 min•Ep. 17
Show notes This is the recording from the Art of Product Podcast . Full episode will be there! Ben Orenstein on Twitter Derrick Reimer on Twitter Derrick's new app: level.app Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other folks find the show! Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal f...
Jun 12, 2018•33 min•Ep. 16
Jon and Justin are probably 1-2 months away from the launch of Transistor.fm . That means we need to figure out pricing. “In your early stage two things are essential: your customer focus, and your value metric. If you can nail these two things (even if you get everything else wrong) you’re typically fine." – Patrick Campbell We've both worked in SaaS before, but we're trying to not pretend we know everything. We want to do this right, so we reached out to two experts this week: Patrick Campbell...
Jun 05, 2018•49 min•Ep. 15
Today's show is not a full episode! Jon and I have been busy with our day jobs, plus Memorial Day, and didn't have time to record a show. But, to be honest, this pricing discussion isn't something we can solve in a 30-minute conversation. We've realized it's going to require more research. We need to talk to folks who know more than us. So that's what we've been doing. This week, I have a call booked with Patrick from Price intelligently , as well as Rob Walling (who just his company Drip). I'm ...
May 29, 2018•12 min•Ep. 14
We're hoping to launch Transistor officially in July 2018. And that means we need to figure out a pricing strategy. What types of tiers and plans should we offer? SaaS pricing examples: Hootsuite WPEngine Sumo StatusPage Patrick Campbell, from Price Intelligently, says there are three aspects of a pricing strategy: Positioning: who are the right customers for your product? How will you target and attract them? Packaging: what features are included in each tier? What value does each type of custo...
May 22, 2018•58 min•Ep. 13
How transparent of a startup do we want to be? There's an app called Buffer that really kickstarted the "radical transparency" movement with startups. Over time, they've revealed almost everything: how much their employees make, their company's revenue metrics, their internal emails, and their hiring process. But is this something that we want for Transistor.fm ? Listen to the episode to hear what we decided. ;) Show notes Buffer Transparency Article: How radical transparency kills stress Articl...
May 15, 2018•47 min•Ep. 12
Play this episode | Download MP3 Jon is busy launching our new podcast analytics feature, so this episode features Justin's talk from MicroConf 2018 in Las Vegas. You need more than product/market fit. You need alignment between you as a founder, your market, and your product. In this episode, you'll hear Justin's step-by-step approach for: Identifying who you are, and what you want Choosing a market Discovering what they want Shipping a (small) initial solution Show notes Justin Jackson's 2018 ...
May 08, 2018•38 min•Ep. 11
