In episode 731, join Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer as they tackle some more advanced listener questions. They discuss delegation and giving up areas of control as a founder, including examples from their time together at Drip. Derrick describes how he approaches partnering with other SaaS businesses and why planning a full quarter ahead doesn’t work for many bootstrapped founders.

Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”

Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.

To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.

• 1:17 – Delegating as a perfectionist
• 7:19 – Learning to hire those that are better than you in some domains
• 14:50 – Risk vs. certainty
• 19:01 – Finding specialized marketing roles vs. a generalist
• 24:04 – Managing partnerships with other SaaS products
• 31:17 – Reaching out about partnerships
• 32:46 – Quarterly planning for your SaaS
• 34:20 – Planning in smaller time blocks
• 40:58 – Quizzing developers’ on their knowledge

• Purchase The SaaS Launchpad
• TinySeed
• The SaaS Playbook
• MicroConf YouTube Channel
• Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X
• SavvyCal
• Finding Fulfillment by Jason Cohen
• Shape Up

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 729, join Rob Walling as he shares insights from the 170+ SaaS investments he’s made through his B2B SaaS accelerator, TinySeed. Key patterns include the survivability of SaaS, the lucrative value of these companies, and commonalities across the ones that grow the fastest. To see even more patterns that didn’t make this episode, be sure to check out the MicroConf YouTube channel.

Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”

Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.

To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.

• 2:24 – Survivability of B2B SaaS in TinySeed
• 4:09 – SaaS is extremely valuable
• 8:26 – Vertical and orthogonal SaaS face fewer headwinds
• 12:36 – A supermajority of TinySeed companies want a big exit
• 15:51 – TinySeed founder count aligns with the broader MicroConf ecosystem
• 17:04 – Ruined cap tables have prevented deals
• 19:35 – A quarter of TinySeed companies raise subsequent fundraising
• 21:17 – Common advisory topics: pricing, plateaus, cofounders, funding, selling

• Apply for TinySeed
• Invest in TinySeed
• MicroConf YouTube: 6 Lessons From My Most Successful Investments (B2B SaaS)
• Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics
• Episode 728 | Bootstrapping Gymdesk to a More Than $32.5M Exit
• State of Independent SaaS Report

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iT

In episode 728, Rob Walling interviews Eran Galperin, founder of Gymdesk, about his incredible exit. Eran shares his journey of transforming Gymdesk from "Martial Arts on Rails" into a successful gym management software company. He discusses how they succeeded in a competitive market, the role of TinySeed in their growth, and how feelings of burnout eventually led to a majority buyout for the company.

• 2:02 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment
• 5:13 – How the investment will be used
• 6:38 – Eran’s projects before Gymdesk
• 9:21 – Sticking with one idea long enough to see success
• 12:45 – Entering a competitive market
• 16:37 – Rapid growth as a marketing leader
• 20:54 – Dealing with burnout and entertaining an acquisition
• 26:45 – Handling a stressful sales process
• 32:19 – The future of Gymdesk

• Apply for TinySeed
• Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital
• Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics
• Gymdesk.com
• Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X
• Eran Galperin | LinkedIn
• Eran’s Website
• Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Explained: How It Works
• Discretion Capital

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 727, Rob Walling is joined by Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset to give their hot takes on some recent news. First they celebrate Gymdesk’s recent funding and evaluate what that means for TinySeed companies. Then, they weigh in on bootstrapper hiring, grappling with new challenges as MRR grows, and how to really move the needle in your business.

Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”

Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.

To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.

• 2:19 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment
• 9:06 – Is it getting easier for bootstrappers to hire?
• 12:22 – Facing different challenges as MRR grows
• 19:37 – Identifying what really moves the needle
• 23:56 – Listen to those who have built businesses before you

• Subscribe to the Startups For the Rest of Us Email List
• TinySeed
• The SaaS Playbook
• Discretion Capital
• Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X
• Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X
• TinySeed (@tinyseedfund) | X
• Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital
• Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X
• Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024
• State of Independent SaaS Report
• The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth

In episode 726, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers several topics. In this episode he reveals the sales details around “The SaaS Playbook” by sharing the volume and sales channel data. He explores the importance of motivation over mere access to information, particularly for developers, with the introduction of AI. Rob also previews several exciting projects to be released in the near future.

• 2:49 – The SaaS Playbook sales channel breakdown
• 8:20 – Learnings from the book launch
• 9:51 – Upcoming books and courses
• 12:07 – ”Teach them how to run fast, better”
• 16:04 – Access to information vs. motivation
• 19:40 – Creating your onboarding last

• Discretion Capital
• Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X
• Episode 707 | Once.com, Open Source to FT Income, and More (Hot Take Tuesday)
• TinySeed
• The SaaS Playbook
• The SaaS Launchpad video course
• Sherry Walling (@sherrywalling) | X
• Netflix’s Sprint
• John Romero (@romero) | X
• Masters of Doom by David Kushner
• Doom Guy by John Romero

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 725, join Rob Walling and Ruben Gamez as they answer several more advanced listener questions. They discuss the challenges of pursuing freemium as a bootstrapper and make a suggestion that might surprise you. Rob and Ruben also talk about why building your business as a SaaS founder is usually the best way to build your brand indirectly.

Hiring senior developers can really move the needle in your business, but if you bring on the wrong person, you can quickly burn through your runway. If you need help finding a vetted, senior, results-oriented developer, you should reach out to today’s sponsor, Lemon.io.

For years, they’ve been helping our audience find high quality, global talent at competitive rates, and they can help you too.

Longtime listener Chaz Yoon, hired a senior developer from Lemon.io and said his hire ”definitely knew his stuff, provided appropriate feedback and pushback, and had great communication, including very fluent English. He really exceeded my expectations.”

Chaz said he’d definitely use Lemon.io again when he’s looking for a senior level engineer.

To learn more and get a 15% discount on your first four weeks of working with a developer at lemon.io/startups.

• 2:31 – Considering a freemium plan as a bootstrapper
• 9:52 – Freemium, but without the intent to convert free users
• 12:24 – Raising prices as an alternative to starting a freemium plan
• 18:32 – When to start caring about your “brand”
• 25:10 – Investing directly in branding
• 31:00 – Revisiting your marketing funnels
• 34:08 – AI’s impact on SEO
• 38:20 – Google’s search results are already changing

• Get notified about The SaaS LaunchPad
• Ask a Question on SFTROU
• Email a Question on SFTROU
• MicroConf
• TinySeed
• The SaaS Playbook
• Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X
• SignWell
• Episode 724 | Managing Managers, Breaking Through Plateaus, Thoughts on EOS, and More Later-Stage Listener Questions
• Episode 717 | Bootstrapping to $1.3M ARR and 300,000 Free Users
• Val Sopi (@valsopi) | X
• Blogstatic

In episode 724, join Rob Walling as he takes on some later-stage listener questions in another solo adventure. He provides several tips for managing managers, how to break through MRR plateaus, and how to think about SaaS versus agency work. Rob also offers his take on how he would talk about his product at conferences, without overselling it.

• 3:48 – Three tips for managing other managers
• 8:42 – Schedule “skip level” meetings
• 9:50 – Attending a conference without overselling
• 15:00 – Breaking out of the $20k-$30k MRR plateau
• 19:57 – How to keep your self-serve SaaS from becoming an agency
• 23:58 – Scaling management through company growth

• Get tickets for MicroConf Europe in Dubrovnik, Croatia (before August 15th)
• TinySeed
• Christopher Gimmer (@cgimmer) | X
• Episode 480 | Stairstepping Your Way to SaaS with Christopher Gimmer
• Seeking Scale

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify