I've been trying to learn how to program since 1985. This past year, at 38 years old, I finally figured out how. Questions we discuss in this episode: Is there only "one" way to learn how to code? Why is getting started SO HARD? How did Justin finally figure out a way to learn programming? Show notes Get the book: Ultralearning Scott's blog PDF: The science of cycology The latest from Justin: Want to start a podcast? My podcasting startup: Transistor.fm Join Justin's newsletter justinjackson.ca/...
Aug 07, 2019•1 hr 29 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast James Clear describes how you can improve your life, using small incremental steps that add up to big wins. Questions we discuss in this episode: How does "what you repeatedly do" affect your identity? How does someone’s context affect their ability to set and maintain good habits? Are good habits only for people of privilege? How can you maintain habits for people with depression, anxiety or attention deficit? How to form habits when your schedule is not in your control? (if you have kids, etc....
Jan 24, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast Ben is the co-founder of Tuple.app and is running a new course called Habits for Hackers. ★ Looking for a community of bootstrappers? Join MegaMaker Club Show notes Ben Orenstein on Twitter Habits for Hackers Malcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin talking about Johnny Cash Ben's working on a new product: Tuple.app Ben's episode on Bootstrapped Web TinySeed Earnest Capital Ben's co-founder weekly retro questions learntopair.com - Ben's guide to pair programming Art of Product podcast Book: Atomic Habits...
Jan 02, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jason Cohen asks Justin Jackson hard questions about his startup, Transistor.fm , and what it's going to take to go full-time. This is the second half of our chat. Part 1 was really just setting the stage. Part 2 digs into the real-life challenges of bootstrapping a business. ★ Looking for a community of bootstrappers? Join MegaMaker Club Show notes Podcast in 2019! Justin's original tweet Blog post: Can you bootstrap on the side? Watch this interview on YouTube Jason Cohen on Twitter The latest...
Dec 17, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast When you're building a startup you have these questions: Should I work on my startup on the side, and grow it slowly? Should I take investment and go full-time sooner? These are the questions that have been circulating in my head over the past few months. Which is why when Jason Cohen, founder of WPengine and someone I respect, replied to my tweet, I took note: "It’s difficult to find successful companies where founders didn’t work 80+ hours and took longer than four years to get to $1M ARR. If ...
Dec 14, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hamish Macpherson is an engineer at Buffer, and was one of the first people to join MegaMaker. ★ Looking for community of bootstrappers? Join MegaMaker Club Show notes Follow Hamish Macherson on Twitter Buffer Hamish's Stand to Make side-project The latest from Justin: My new startup: Transistor.fm Join Justin's newsletter justinjackson.ca/newsletter Send Justin a message on Twitter: @mijustin Send Justin a message on Instagram: instagram.com/mijustin Send Justin a message on Snapchat: @mijustin...
Nov 23, 2018•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a great chat with Samantha Geitz, a Senior Developer at Tighten , and the founder of BetaFish . Topics in this episode: Should "business/marketing" people learn programming? What's the difference between messing around and being a serious programmer? Do regular programmers Google for answers? Why English Majors can make great programmers. If you want to learn hard things, do you need to be in a classroom? Why should take a mental health day when you need it. Announcement: Want to speak a...
Nov 05, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast So many great topics in this episode: Should developers learn design? Derrick's "viral signup" trick How important is a personal brand? How to promote your project (while you're still building it) Do software companies need to become more service oriented? Announcement: I'm having a birthday sale! Go to megamaker.co/birthday and get up to 38% off Marketing for Developers , my books, and Product Validation Checklist! Show notes This is the recording from the Art of Product Podcast . Full episode ...
Jun 11, 2018•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast I'm building a new SaaS in 2018 with my buddy Jon Buda called Transistor.fm . Now, we're trying to figure out our pricing. We're trying not to pretend we know everything there is to know about running a SaaS. So, we wanted to reach out to some experts and get outside opinions about how to create our pricing tiers. So I asked Patrick Campbell, from Price Intelligently , to help give us some direction. He blew my mind. This conversation is incredible, you're going to get so much out of it. Two ann...
Jun 01, 2018•58 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Taber ( Bluetick ) and Rob Walling ( Drip ) started MicroConf in 2011 as a conference for self-funded startups. It's gone from just over 100 attendees to nearly 500. It's become the place for bootstrappers to hang out. Get $100 off MicroConf Starter Edition Go to megamaker.co/microconf or text "microconf" to (424) 247-5762. Show notes Read the 2018 MicroConf Guide Register for MicroConf Get $100 off Starter Edition TED - how to make a great presentation DeckSet - make amazing slides Draftse...
Mar 15, 2018•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh started out trying to build a "GitHub for music." When that idea didn't pan out, he still wanted to do something with Web Audio and WebRTC. So he started building Zencastr , which gives podcasters the ability to record "double-ender" interviews in the browser. Get all the Mega Profitable case studies Don't miss any of the future Mega Profitable interviews! ★ Sign up here . ★ Show notes "I asked a podcaster I knew how much he'd pay, and he said '$20 / month' so that's what I used for a price...
Jan 06, 2018•58 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast 6 years ago, Bjorn Forsberg built an app called OrderlyPrint for Shopify. His goal was to increase his freedom, and to spend more time with his family. Was able to achieve it? (This is the 5th case study in the Mega Profitable series) We should measure profitability in other ways. It's not just "financial profitability." There's also "freedom profitability," and "time profitability." Because profitability is really about "getting ahead." So where else are you getting ahead? Get all the Mega Prof...
Nov 18, 2017•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Back in the early 2000s, Wildbit was an agency building Flash websites for Philly nightclubs. Then, in 2007, they launched their first product, Beanstalk. Two years later, they quit doing consulting. Natalie Nagele takes us through their story! Get all the Mega Profitable case studies Don't miss any of the future Mega Profitable interviews! ★ Sign up here . ★ Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! beanstalkapp.com postmarkapp.com From 2005: Wildbit's client portfolio Follow Natalie on Twitter: @na...
Oct 28, 2017•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Pippin Williamson started out like a lot of us do: building websites for whoever would pay him. He decided to try selling one of his WordPress plugins. Now, Pippin's Plugins earns over $1 million in revenue a year. This Mega Profitable series aims to help founders, like you, get profitable! Get all the Mega Profitable case studies Don't miss any of the future Mega Profitable interviews! ★ Sign up here . ★ Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! pippinsplugins.com Sandhills Development The original ...
Oct 21, 2017•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's time for another Mega Profitable interview! This series aims to help founders, like you, get profitable. Learn how Draft went from having $21 in the bank (in his first year) to creating a solid, profitable solo-founder business. Get all the Mega Profitable case studies Don't miss any of the future Mega Profitable interviews! ★ Sign up here . ★ Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! draft.nu Nick's service: Draft Revise Nick's book: Draft Evidence Follow Nick on Twitter: @nickd Want to contact...
Oct 04, 2017•56 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Introducing a new series: Mega Profitable. What's the difference between a founder who is mega profitable, and a product person who's just making a living? Brennan Dunn joins me to talk about his journey. This episode sponsored by... I've just updated my most popular product: the Marketing for Developers book . ★ Grab a sample chapter here . ★ Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! doubleyourfreelancing.com Brennan's new product: RightMessage Brennan's book: Double Your Freelance Rate Follow Brenn...
Sep 20, 2017•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast You'll recognize Mike from Startups for the Rest of Us and the MicroConf conference. He's launching a new product called Bluetick . This episode sponsored by... ★ I'm updating my most popular product: the Marketing for Developers book . Relaunches end of August 2017. Grab a sample chapter here . Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! singlefounder.com Mike's product: Bluetick.io Mike's conference MicroConf Follow Mike on Twitter: @singlefounder Want to contact Justin? Join Justin's newsletter just...
Aug 11, 2017•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Charge more!" "Use content marketing!" "Start with an ebook!" There's a lot of folklore in the startup and bootstrapping community. Do they all stand up to scrutiny? This is my interview with long-time SaaS entrepreneur, Ian Landsman. Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! ianlandsman.com Ian's product: HelpSpot Ian's new product: Thermostat Follow Ian on Twitter: @ianlandsman Want to contact Justin? Join Justin's NEW Indie newsletter justinjackson.ca/indie Send Justin a message on Twitter: @miju...
May 16, 2017•1 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do you find product ideas that resonate? Hear how Laura knew there was demand for her project, Client Portal. Everyone was like: "I want that." (This is my special MicroConf 2017 episode!) Show notes Leave a review on iTunes! lauraelizabeth.co Laura's product: Client Portal Laura's other project: Design Academy Follow Laura on Twitter: @laurium Want to contact Justin? Join Justin's NEW Indie newsletter justinjackson.ca/indie Send Justin a message on Twitter: @mijustin Send Justin a message o...
Apr 08, 2017•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast When we last chatted with Adam Wathan he'd just launched his first book . His next project is a course called Test Driven Laravel . You won't believe his launch results! You'll hear how he built the course, all his launch numbers, and why he thinks it was such an incredible success. Happy holidays everyone! Show notes Adam Wathan's blog Adam's course: Test Driven Laravel Follow Adam on Twitter: @adamwathan Follow Justin on Twitter: @mijustin Theme music by Striker-metal.com Podcast hosting by Si...
Dec 23, 2016•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Adam Wathan has always been passionate about learning new things, and sharing what he's learned with the world. Then he discovered that he could earn an independent living doing it. His book and video course, Refactoring to Collections , teaches PHP programmers how to apply functional programming principles to write clean, maintainable code. In this episode, we delve into each stage of his launch. Hear about how he built and promoted his course, and what his results were. Show notes Adam Wathan'...
Nov 01, 2016•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Should you start a SaaS company in 2016? Does it still make sense to run a SaaS as a solopreneur? (Originally posted on the MegaMaker podcast ) SaaS isn’t a destination. It’s just a licensing and delivery model. Don’t treat it like a religion! Show notes Had two separate friends from the internet visit me this past week! Photos . Justin's book is out! He's sold 666 copies so far. He'd like to get to 1,000 copies. Get a special podcast deal here . See Jolt's books reviews . The fiery blog post: S...
Aug 12, 2016•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh is the founder of Baremetrics . But he's also just a normal guy. When a relatively well known investor chastised him, it stung. How does he deal with scrutiny? Most companies aren’t doing nearly as well as you think they are. 90% of the time that startup that you look up to, envy and try to mimic…they are in fact NOT crushing it. Show notes Josh Pigford on Twitter: @Shpigford Baremetrics Josh's tweetstorm on transparency + criticism Justin's new book: Jolt Podcast: Sleep With Me Baremetrics...
Jun 21, 2016•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is part 2 of my conversation with Nathan Barry. In the past four months, he’s taken his burgeoning SaaS company (ConvertKit) from $1 million in annual recurring revenue to $2 million. That sounds exciting, but it wasn’t easy getting there. In this episode Nathan talks about the stress of being a new CEO, running out of money, not being able to get a loan, and finally figuring out a way to succeed. Personally, I completely ran out of money. Wells Fargo wouldn’t give me a loan. Show notes Nat...
Apr 06, 2016•32 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast The last time I talked to Nathan, his web app (ConvertKit) had just hit $5,000 in MRR . In this two part series, Nathan describes how they grew that to $182,000 in monthly recurring revenue. I’m going to start more conference talks with: “Look, this worked for me. If you can get something from it great. But there’s no guarantees.” I’m not interested in being a thought leader anymore. Show notes Nathan Barry on Twitter ConvertKit’s public revenue stats Justin’s other podcast: MegaMaker – making 1...
Apr 01, 2016•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tom and Dan had one of the most successful Kickstarters of 2010 when they released the Glif . But was that enough to launch full-time careers as product makers? In this episode, they delve into how they started Studio Neat (their company) and give tons of practical tips for building physical products, and doing crowdfunding campaigns. (This episode contains giggles) Show notes: studioneat.com Glif Kickstarter Daring Fireball’s post on Glif Their book: It Will be Exhilarating Studio Neat’s Vimeo ...
Feb 09, 2016•42 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast Jason Zook has a different perspective on life and business. He’s not afraid to try weird and crazy business ideas. In 2008 he started a business called I Wear Your Shirt . Over 5 years he earned over $1 million in revenue from wearing over 1,600 sponsored t-shirts. Following that business, he sold the rights to his last name (he was Jason Headsetsdotcom and Jason Surfrapp for awhile). Jason joins me to talk about his new project: Buy My Future . Until October 6 people can buy everything he’s ev...
Sep 24, 2015•44 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast If you want to launch your own Kickstarter, write your own book, or build your own web application you’re going to love this episode. Tracy Osborn is a serious bad-ass who’s done all three! She’s my guest this week. In this episode Tracy goes through the process of running a Kickstarter, and the lessons she’s learned : When I conceived the book idea, I was faced the decision whether I should work with a publisher, or whether I should self-publish. In the end, the typical royalty/advance structur...
Sep 21, 2015•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast I was recently on the Chasing Product podcast with Chris Hawkins . Chris is a good interviewer: he asked a lot of great questions about my back-story, and how I got into products. There’s this independence and self-reliance that comes from making your own products. Show notes Mentioned on Startups for the Rest of Us The Build & Launch podcast Working on Marketing for Developers Chasing Product Podcast : EP 25 Note from Justin Want to help the show? If you could go to iTunes leave a nice revi...
Jun 26, 2015•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast After having great success with books and courses, Nathan Barry has shifted his attention to his SaaS: a web application called ConvertKit . Two weeks ago I announced we finally hit $5,000 in MRR ( http://t.co/p7CY6OATEf ). We've added $1,200 in MRR since then.— Nathan Barry (@nathanbarry) March 27, 2015 In this episode he shares all his revenue numbers, and how his focus on his sales funnel lately has increased MRR. The real question will be how long we can keep up this growth. But even if we a...
May 04, 2015•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
