Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about how Lucidchart grew to 13 million users with freemium. They point out effective ways to use freemium, viral loops, horizontal markets, and how you could incorporate some of these things in your bootstrapped startup. Items mentioned in this episode: Freshworks Article Fog Creek Stack Overflow Stripe AnyDice...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about the pitfalls of commonly recommended marketing tactics. This topic was inspired by a tweet from Scott Watermasysk from KickoffLabs. Some of the tactics discussed include split testing, affiliate programs, content marketing, and more. Items mentioned in this episode: KickoffLabs Teamwork Product Hunt Hacker News Indie Hackers MicroConf Europe...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about bootstrapping versus funding. It is a common question new entrepreneurs ask themselves and based on an article on the subject, the guys comment and elaborate on some of these questions. Items mentioned in this episode: Four Color of Money Article Gumroad...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about customer development. Based on a Sujan Patel article , the guys walk through 5 tips for doing customer development the right way. Items mentioned in this episode: TaskTrain Product Habits Five Second Test UserTesting Board Gaming Table Kickstarter...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer a number of listener questions. The topics include defining product market fit, using cheap developers, when to quit, and more. Items mentioned in this episode: The Quiet Light Podcast w/ Rob Walling FounderCafe Closer Sharing Sean Ellis: 40% “very disappointed”...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer the questions, should you take on a co-founder? The guys discuss the difference between hiring and being a partner, how to begin a partnership, and how to do if you're a good fit. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Europe Tickets CartHook...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us , Rob and Mike answer a number of listener questions on topics including SaaS pricing, subdomains, and building affordable MVP's. Items mentioned in this episode: AllTheGuides WP Engine AppsEvents EventsFrame Balsamiq...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer the question of should bootstrappers raise money? The guys distinguish the difference between venture capital and angel investing and how raising an angel round may be a good fit for some types of entrepreneurs. Items mentioned in this episode: Indie Hackers Transistor.fm Indie.vc Churn Buster LeadFuze CartHook RobWalling.com...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer a number of listener questions on topics including Mike's thoughts on moving on from AuditShark, minimum viable security, and more. Items mentioned in this episode: Indie Hackers Podcast with Mike Taber Release Notes Podcast with Mike Taber Segment Zapier Nomad List Comics 'N' Coffee Medium.com Post Medium.com Post #2 Safestack.io Post (Security) SaaS Security Checklist...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about how to dissect your business competitors. Gaining insight can help with validating an ideas and understanding the landscape. The guys give you 8 ways to better understand your competitors. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Europe FounderCafe Rank2Traffic...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike ask the question: should you love what you're working on? The guys talk about this topic in the idea of balancing interests and opportunity. They also ask themselves the question and how it pertains to their lives and businesses. Items mentioned in this episode: Enneagram Institute FounderCafe...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about some tactics for minimizing disruptions to your vacation. Sometimes, it's really tough to feel like you can unplug as an entrepreneur, especially if you're running a SaaS. The guys breakdown some things you should do for your next vacation. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Europe FounderCafe Uptime.com Ropig Pingdom...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about why you shouldn't listen to your customers. Not all requests are created equal. The guys breakdown customer feature requests into three categories and give tips on how to get the most out of them. Items mentioned in this episode: Bluetick Zapier Segment Startup Stories Podcast...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about the importance of consistency. They reminisce about how the podcast has evolved over the years and the benefits of putting an episode out week after week. Items mentioned in this episode: FounderCafe BoardGame Tables MicroConf Inc.com Article Uexpress.com Article differenceconsulting.com Article...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob talks with Derrick Reimer, co-founder of Drip, about his new SaaS application Level . They talk about what inspired the idea as well as ways Derrick went about trying to validate it. Items mentioned in this episode: Level DerrickReimer.com The Art of Product...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about SaaS marketing lessons you'll wish you'd learned sooner. Based on an article on karolakarlson.com they break the list down to 9 key lessons including growth plans, mission statements, tracking metrics and more. Items mentioned in this episode: Karolakarlson Article Robwalling.com Firstround.com Article...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about customer acquisition strategies. Based on a themarketingstudent.com article, they break down the difference between strategies versus tactics and how to think about your acquisition strategy. Items mentioned in this article: Zoom YouCanBook.Me MicroConf Europe Equipment Wallet...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike check in with their 2018 goals, and answer listener questions on topics including raising funding and marketing at events. Items mentioned in this episode: ZenFounder Swaaap.com EconTalk RogueStartups Bitesize Irish Gaelic...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about the 20 podcasts they listen to. They separate the podcasts into three categories, bootstrapping, startups/business, and off topic/entertainment. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Europe CartHook Big Snow Tiny Conf Transistor.fm Podcast Motor Recapture.io Baremetrics Podcasts mentioned: The Art of Product Build Your SaaS Bootstrapped Web Founder's Journey Hooked on Product RogueStartups The Tropical MBA In...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about soft skills for entrepreneurs. They define what soft skills are and list 5 of them that you need to develop as an entrepreneur. Items mentioned in this episode: The Art of Product Podcast Inflection Software By Rob Bluetick.io...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer marketing and growth questions as well as give advice on starting a new venture. Items mentioned in this episode: Hooked on Products Build Your SaaS The Art of Product Zencastr MicroConf Recap...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about their 10 key takeaways from MicroConf 2018. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Videos On-Demand MicroConf Recap Stripe Teachable BoardGameTables...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike talk about the 5 stages of your sales funnel and tools you can use at each stage. This episode is based off of a Ignite Visibility article, the guys give their takes on the points made in the article as well as add additional tool options. Items mentioned in this episode: Unbounce CrazyEgg Hotjar Salesforce Clicky Mixpanel Kissmetrics Amplitude...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer a number of listener questions. The topics in this episode include GDPR, SaaS pricing, sponsoring events as a marketing strategy and subscription box companies. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf ZenFounder RobWalling.com FounderCafe Cloudforecast.io Crated with Love Bigfoot Capital Solutions Angel List...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike share tips for attending conferences. They discuss things to do before, during, and after a conference in order to get the most out of the event. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Justin Jackson's Post
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike continue their discussion on GDPR and get additional insight from a listener. They also talk about why to strive for higher price points. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Userlist.io Derrick Reimer Blog Post MyTurtleBook.com Teamwork...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Mike interviews Mojca Mars, a Facebook Ads expert, about what things you need to do before you even begin running Facebook ads. Some of the topics discussed include lead magnets, custom audiences, email sequences and more. Items mentioned in this episode: MicroConf Super Spicy Media The Facebook Ads Academy Mojca Twitter...
Show Notes In this episode of Startups For The Rest Of Us, Rob and Mike answer a number of listener questions. The topics include balancing development and marketing, overcoming hesitations about partnering, and the costs of technical debt. Items mentioned in this episode: Drip MicroConf Business of Software...
