Recent Episodes

• #238: B2B SaaS design with Nathan Powell

  I chat with Nathan Powell, freelance product designer whose work these days is mainly with B2B SaaS. We chat about how developer founders can go about improving their app's UX and general design.Mentioned in this episode:Nathan's website: https://nathanjp...

• #237: Michael Koper, founder of Nusii

  I chat with Michael Koper, founder of Nusii. We talk about what it's like when your product spends several years at a revenue plateau.Mentioned in this episode:Michael's company, NusiiMichael on Twitter.

• #236: Steve McLeod, founder of Feature Upvote

  I'm the guest on my own podcast! A year ago, Ben Pages joined my company, Feature Upvote, to be our marketing manager. Ben had questions about the early days of Feature Upvote, and how this product came to be. He also wanted to know the origin of my low-s...

• #235: Maeva Cifuentes, founder of Flying Cat Marketing

  I chat with Maeva Cifuentes, founder and CEO of Flying Cat Marketing, an SEO and content marketing agency. We discuss Maeva's journey from freelance translator to CEO of a successful marketing agency. Maeva also shares with us some practical SEO tips.Ment...

• #234: Ed's marketing catchup

  My frequent guest co-host Ed Freyfogle tells us about his recent marketing endeavours, including one that was inspired by April Dunford's "toilet talk". Toilet talk, you ask? All will be revealing during this episode.Mentioned in this episode:Steve’s comp...

• #233: Running a lifestyle business and proud of it

  We have two guests interviewing each other! I invited two friends of the podcast, Andy Brice, and Robin Warren, to chat with each other about what it's like running a lifestyle business in 2022 compared to, say, 10 years ago. Although both Andy and Robin...

• #232: Running a WordPress agency, with Marc Jenkins of 16by9

  I chat with Marc Jenkins, founder of 16by9, a small web studio that focuses on building WordPress sites. Marc and I talk about what its like to start and build up this type of company, and how, with some careful thinking, you can avoid letting your busine...

• #231: Bad support loses customers, and payment failures

  I catch up with my frequent co-host, Ed Freyfogle, after a long summer break. Amongst other topics, we discuss how bad customer support will lose you customers. We also talk about yet more payment problems - a common theme on this podcast, and for SaaS bu...

• #230: Introducing Pushing to Production

  Something a bit different in this episode: we're playing an episode of the new Pushing to Production podcast, where Ed Freyfogle was the guest. It's a conversation about the technical stack Ed's product runs on. Lots of insightful discussion of the tech d...

• #229: Saying no to a generous acquisition offer, with Simon Bennett of SnapShooter

  Simon Bennett, founder of SnapShooter, returns to the show. We chat about a generous acquisition offer Simon recently received for his company - and why he ultimately decided to not to be acquired. We also chat about Simon's new podcast, Ship SaaS Faster....

• #228: How to get backlinks (without feeling dirty)

  An effective content strategy for your product requires getting backlinks. In this episode, I share 9 strategies I use for getting backlinks for my product's website - without doing things that make me feel dirty.Mentioned in this episode:My company, Feat...

• #227: Joining TinySeed with Nick Swan of SEOTesting.com

  I chat with Nick Swan from SEOTesting.com. We discuss how Nick took on a co-founder for his already-established business, why Nick decided to no longer be a 1-person show, and most importantly how Nick sold a small part of his company in order to join Tin...

• #226: Sponsoring events, podcasts, and newsletters with Peldi @ Balsamiq

  We are joined by a good friend of the podcast, Peldi Guilizzoni,  to discuss how to go about sponsoring events, newsletters, and podcasts to promote your product. In particular we talk about creative approaches that make your sponsorship stand out.Mention...

• #225: BoS Europe 2022 retrospective

  I first recorded this episode for the Business of Software podcast. I chat about the experience of attending the recent Business of Software Europe in-person event, together with Joe Leech, who was a speaker at the event.Joe and I shared our thoughts on t...

• #224: Recalibrating prices, and Postmark got acquired

  Ed and I talk about how currency fluctuations are affecting our pricing. And we give our opinion on the recent acquisition of Postmark, a bootstrapping success story, by ActiveCampaign.A brief note about an error in this episode: At one point I complain a...

• #223: When customer payments fail

  We talk about why we are switching the podcast from weekly to fortnightly for a while. We also discuss headaches when customer payments fail and what we can do to address the problem.Mentioned in this episode:The Photographer's EphemerisBusiness of Softwa...

• #222: Pierre de Wulf, co-founder of ScrapingBee

  Ed chats with Pierre de Wulf, co-founder of ScrapingBee. Pierre tells us about the time his company almost got acquired - and how the deal fell apart at the final stage.Links:Pierre's company, Scraping Bee.Pierre on Twitter  

• #221: Brian Sierakowski of Baremetrics

  My co-host Ed Freyfogle chats with Brian Sierakowski, general manager of Baremetrics. Brian stepped in to manage Baremetrics after it was acquired a year or so ago from the founder.Ed and Brian discuss the challenges of taking over a complicated business,...

• #220: Adventures in Abandonware and WordPress

  Ed and Steve talk about a dilemma Steve is facing. An open source component heavily used by Feature Upvote has become abandoned by the maintainer, and Steve has to make a hard decision about how to deal with this.We also talk about why and how Steve recen...

• #219: Leaving bootstrapper life to be an employee again, with John Ndege

  Ed chats with John Ndege, a former bootstrapper, about how it feels no longer being one's own boss. John launched and grew a product, and he ultimately sold it. Afterwards, he went back to being an employee, working for a large corporation. Ed and John di...

• #218: London, in-person events, crowded pubs

  Ed and I chat about Ed's recent trip to London, my upcoming trip to London, the return of in-person events, and getting exposed to ideas and concepts outside of our normal channels.We mentioned Geomob and Business of Software.In or near London? And intere...

• #217: Brian Casel of ZipMessage

  I talk with Brian Casel, founder of ZipMessage, an asynchronous video messaging tool.Brian has created several successful products in the past, and sometimes ran them in parallel. But he recently sold his entire portfolio of products to focus on ZipMessag...

• #216: Trademarking your bootstrapped business

  Ed tells me why and how he obtained a trademark for his business. We discuss when it is worthwhile to do this. We then talk about the trouble with having competitors clone your product or website content.Ed mentioned how we got the EU to refund most of th...

• #215: The domain name change that didn't go as planned, with Robert Brandl of ToolTester.com

  I chat with Robert Brandl, founder of ToolTester.com. We talk about Robert's recent experience changing the domain name of his website. It was an expensive experience, and one that, for a while, did not go to plan.

• #214: I hired a marketer

  Ed and I chat about my recent experience hiring a marketing manager for Feature Upvote. Amongst other topics, we discuss how I went about finding the right person.   

• #213: Charles Perry, founder of RelaNet

  Ed  interviews Charles Perry, founder of RelaNet. Charles was the co-host of Release Notes, a long-running podcast that Charles and his co-host recently ended.It's a great conversation, addressing how, over the years, we change, our industries change, and...

• #212: When, if ever, should we refuse a customer?

  We talk about Ed's launch of his new product line.That leads into a meandering conversation about ethics and personal beliefs and values. In particular, when a customer signs up for our product and then we discover that customer is in a business that clas...

• #211: Strengthening company culture in a remote team with Peldi of Balsamiq

  Frequent guest Peldi, founder of Balsamiq, makes another welcome appearance.We talk about some ways to strengthen company culture in a fully-remote team, we discuss advice that Peldi often gives to first-time entrepreneurs, and Peldi tells me why he might...

• #210: 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS part 2

  Part 2 of Ed Freyfogle's 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS.There was a lot of good content in this recording and we recorded for much longer than usual. So we have split this recording over two episodes. Part 1 is here.

• #209: 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS part 1

  Ed Freyfogle shares with us his 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS. This is based on Ed's talk he prepared for MicroConf late last year, but was unable to deliver due to misfortune.There was a lot of good content in this recording and we recorded for...

• #208: The dismal deeds of a desperate competitor

  This week I go solo and rant about the dismal deeds of a desperate competitor. I also talk about the freedom that bootstrapping gives us to change our approach, our style, our audience while staying true to the nature of what we do. 

• #207: Our goals for 2022

  Ed and I discuss the goals we'd like to achieve in 2022.While we were recording this episode, we had some problems with our recording software. Now I was able to rescue the recording, but you will hear a few audio glitches.In this episode, I mentioned tha...

• #206: Looking back at our goals for 2021

  Back in episode 163, Ed and I set our goals for 2021. In this episode we look back at those goals and we ask ourselves, how well did we do in achieving them?Steve mentioned the Catalan Christmas tradition of Caga Tió. Here's what Wikipedia has to say abou...

• #205: A rapid Saber Feedback update

  I give Ed an update on what I've achieved on Saber Feedback in recent months.A new app design, ripping out the SPA architecture, replacing our payment processor with Paddle, and hiring a marketing assistant. It's been busy!If you have a friend or colleagu...

• #204: Ed can speak again

  Ed tells us about his accident he had, and the impact it had on his life and business. He also talks about how it got him reflecting about his business. 

• #203: A recap of the interview mini-season

  I conclude the mini season of interviews with a brief summary of the five interviews I conducted. A few weeks ago, my cohost had a cycling that student that broke his jaw. As a result he had to take a break from the podcast while he was recovering. In the...

• #202: Bridget Harris, co-founder of YouCanBookMe

  Bridget is co-founder and CEO of YouCanBook.me, an online scheduling tool. I chat with Bridget Harris about the 10-year journey of starting and growing her company as a bootstrapped SaaS. Amongst other things we discuss the financial sacrifices bootstrapp...

• #201: Running an email newsletter business, with Peter Cooper of Cooperpress

  I chat with Peter Cooper, who runs several email newsletters, including JavaScript Weekly, Ruby Weekly, React Status, and Postgres Weekly. These all live under the collective banner of Cooperpress.Links:CooperpressPeter on Twitter 

• #200: Positioning for bootstrappers with April Dunford

  April Dunford has a well-deserved reputation as the expert in product positioning within the tech industry. April and I discussed how bootstrappers can go about product positioning.Links:April's websiteApril's book, Obviously AwesomeApril on Twitter  

• #199: Creating a successful podcast with Jane Portman of UI Breakfast

  Jane Portman is the host of UI Breakfast, a podcast covering UI/UX design, products, marketing.  Jane recently crossed the  2 million downloads milestone. Jane and I discussed the journey from the first episodes, with almost no listeners, to where she is...

• #198: Backing up 170 Petabytes of customer data, with Simon Bennett of SnapShooter

  Simon runs SnapShooter, a service that performs scheduled server backups. We discuss:why backups is NOT a dull businesshow the pandemic pushed him to make the jump to full-timecharging his first customer just $2/month - and quickly learning to charge much...

• #197: Life is unpredictable, and a pricing experiment

  Ed is recovering from an accident, so Steve goes solo in this episode. Ed's accident gets Steve musing on the unpredictability of life, and what we can do to partly prepare ourselves and our businesses for this.Steve then abruptly changes topic and challe...

• #196: Our Mental Wellbeing as Bootstrappers, with Robin Warren

  Three-time guest Robin Warren, founder of Corrello, achieves "very infrequent guest co-host" status. We chat about a number of aspects of mental wellbeing for bootstrappers - getting out of the house, taking breaks, dealing with boredom, and making your b...

• #195: Back to School

  Ed and Steve talk about the challenge of continuing to learn how to run our businesses better, and the challenges we encounter in ongoing learning. 

• #194: We talk about our vacations

  It's good to take a break!In this episode Ed and I get self-indulgent and talk about our vacations. From time to time we make a tenuous link between our vacations and our  bootstrapped businesses. 

• #193: The fine details of the Saber Feedback acquisition

  If you've ever thought of selling your business, or acquiring one, you'll enjoy this episode. Matt Zeunert, founder of DebugBear, was curious about the details of my acquisition of Saber Feedback. So we switch roles for this episode, and the guest became...

• #192: How the pandemic overturned my business, with Mark Littlewood of Business of Software

  Mark Littlewood runs the Business of Software, a series of annual conferences to help us run our software companies better. Mark very openly shares how COVID-19 has hit his business, and his need to adapt almost overnight.We talk about the upcoming Busine...

• #191: On quietly successful SaaS businesses, and saying goodbye to our forum

  In this solo episode, I talk about successful yet quiet SaaS business all around us. I also tell the full story of why our forum has been closed and put permanently into archive mode.Bootstrapped websiteSteve on TwitterRecommended alternative communities...

• #190: Resellers and product-based podcasts, with Peldi of Balsamiq

  Peldi, founder of Balsamiq, drops by. We discuss two unrelated topics. First, resellers - why they exist and how to accommodate them. Second, the challenges and benefits of having a podcast for your product. 

• #189: The agony of the enterprise sale process, with Ed Freyfogle

  Ed and Steve go in deep on some enterprise sales work they've both been doing lately for their bootstrapped, mostly self-service SaaS products.

• #188: Switching from Bootstrapped to Investor-Funded, with Craig Hewitt of Castos

  Craig Hewitt runs Castos, a podcast hosting and analytics company. He returns to the show to talk about why he recently sold a chunk of his bootstrapped company to a round of investors.Links:Castos: https://castos.com/TinySeed: https://tinyseed.com/Craig...

• #187: A Saber Feedback update

  It's 15 months since I acquired Saber Feedback. I talk about the challenges I've faced so far, the bottleneck I'm currently facing, and where things are headed.Steve on Twitter: https://twitter.com/steveofmcleodBootstrapped on Twitter: https://twitter.com...

• #186: Marketing to Developers with Adam DuVander

  While Steve enjoys a summer break, Ed Freyfogle steps in this week to interview Adam DuVander. Adam helps companies like yours market to developers.Ed chats with Adam DuVander about his book "Developer Marketing Does Not Exist"Adam on TwitterAdam's siteLe...

• #185: Selling a small stake of your company, with Moritz Dausinger of Refiner.io

  Moritz Dausinger, three-time bootstrapper, tells me why he recently sold a small stake of Refiner.io to Earnest Capital.Between recording and publishing this episode, Earnest Capital renamed as the Calm Company Fund.Links:Refiner.ioCalm Company Fund (was...

• #184: When team members quit, with Ed and Steve

  Ed and Steve discuss what it is like when a core team member quits, how to reduce the chance of it happening, and how to make our businesses resilient enough to handle it.Watch this episode on YouTube. 

• #183: Feeling bored and stuck in your business? With Peldi and Ed

  Peldi concludes this mini-season with an open and honest discussion with Ed Freyfogle about a problem every business owner eventually encounters. How do you keep at it when you are feeling bored? Are we stuck in our businesses?You can also watch this epis...

• #182: Responsible product design with Trine Falbe

  Peldi Guilizzoni continues this mini-season as he chats with Trine Falbe, UX strategist & designer, on responsible product design.Gamification, dark patterns,  artificial "roadblocks", notifications  frameworks that exist only to hook you into the product...

• #181: Conducting customer interviews for the reluctant, with Asia Orangio of DemandMaven

  Peldi Guilizzoni continues this mini-season as he chats with Asia Orangio of DemandMaven on how founders can - and should - conduct customer interviews, and how to deal with the discomfort us bootstrappers often feel with this type of work.Topics includes...

• #180: Managing the mental ups and downs with Geraldine DeRuiter and Rand Fishkin

  Peldi Guilizzoni continues this mini-season as he chats with married couple Geraldine DeRuiter (author) and Rand Fishkin (software founder) on how their fields differ - and how they are more similar than you'd think. Peldi, Geraldine, and Rand discuss:How...

• #179: (Peldi) The GDPR 3 years later with Aleth Gueguen of GDPR for SaaS

  Peldi Guilizzoni steps in as host this week, and chats with GDPR expert Aleth Gueguen about how the GDPR is shaping and affecting our SaaS businesses.Topics include:Is the GDPR being enforced?How has it changed our businesses?How can we shape new business...

• #178: The Hungry Time, with Ed Freyfogle

  Both Ed and Steve are feeling a little bit stressed, perhaps at the beginning of burnout. We discuss why this might be, and what we are doing about it.We also reveal our who guest host will be, stepping in for the next few weeks while I take a break.This...

• #177​: When life is turned upside down, with Nick Swan of SEOTesting

  Nick Swan was about to launch paid plans for his SaaS when a sudden terrible life event changed everything for Nick and his family."The doctor said, 'You have to go the main hospital now. Drive straight up there. Don't even pack a bag.' He didn't say what...

• #176: Tips for self-publishing a book, with science fiction writer Aidan Doyle

  Aidan Doyle is a science fiction writer. Amongst his work are two self-published books, including The Writer's Book of Doubt. I'm planning to produce a book later this year as a marketing endeavour for Feature Upvote. So I chatted with Aidan to get tips o...

• #175: Riskiness of being a side project's customer

  Ed and Steve discuss the return of Microconf Europe as an in-person eventworking out if a new feature is worth the effortweighing the risk of becoming a customer of someone’s side projectDiscuss this episode and more with our community.This episode is als...

• #174: Corey Haines, founder of the Swipe Files community

  My guest in this episode is Corey Haines, founder of Swipe Files. Swipe Files is a membership site that provides content, community, and courses to help you master marketing.Learn more about Swipe Files.Corey's podcast: Everything is Marketing.Discuss thi...

• #173: Reducing the support workload with Ed Freyfogle

  Ed Freyfogle is back! We talk about Ed's systematic attempt to reduce his support workload.Discuss this episode on our community.This episode is also on YouTube.

• #172: Getting rid of Google Analytics, with Alex Yumashev

  Alex Yumashev, founder of JitBit, returns to the show. We discuss: why Alex ditched Google Analytics from his websitehow he keeps his work interesting after so many years running the same businesswhy differentiation is often not possiblefinding freelancer...

• #171: Nick Franklin, founder of ChartMogul

  Nick Franklin and I talked about what it is like to go down the venture capital route instead of bootstrapping. For me this was a glimpse into another way of doing things.Nick and I discussed:why he used outside investment to create ChartMogulChartMogul's...

• #170: "Be so good they can't ignore you", with Peldi of Balsamiq

  Peldi Guilizzoni is the founder of low-fidelity wireframing tool Balsamiq. Peldi and Steve discuss: why Peldi tracks almost nothing except revenue and profitstalking to customers instead of using analyticson being "so good they can't ignore you"how to app...

• #169: Email newsletter or no email newsletter? The great debate.

  We argue for and against having a monthly email newsletter for your product. Ed is firmly in the "No way" corner. Steve represents the "You gotta have a newsletter" side. Let the debate begin!Also mentioned:Do Open - How a simple email newsletter can tran...

• #168: Twitter for Marketing, and Zombie Customers

  Ed and I cover a lot of ground this week:podcasting nervesgeotrivia as marketing a brief foray into geopoliticsusing Twitter for marketingthe frustrating unpredictability of what marketing efforts will bear fruitthe pleasure of working from homedealing wi...

• #167: The blog gets posts once every 13 years

  Ed and Steve talk about the mental stress of having real-time business metrics, how to find a business mentor, and Steve's attempt to get started with enterprise sales.And we talk about the blog that posts very infrequently.Discuss this topic and more wit...

• #166: Making an Open Source business work with Allan Jardine of DataTables

  Allan Jardine is the creator of DataTables, a popular jQuery plugin. We discuss his challenges and successes as he learned how to make a viable business from creating Open Source software.We also discuss Allan's new SaaS product, CloudTables.Discuss this...

• #165: Finding and hiring freelancers

  In this episode I answer some listener questions about freelancers. I discuss how to find, hire, and communicate with freelancers.Discuss this topic and more with the Bootstrapped community. 

• #164: A Saber Feedback update 9 months after acquisition

  Ed grills me on my progress with Saber Feedback, my B2B SaaS, nine months after I acquired it. We talk about SEO, competitors, getting backlinks, finding a niche, and resisting the temptation to write code instead of doing marketing.Discuss this topic and...

• #163: Our goals for 2021

  Ed and I discuss what we want to achieve in 2021. Last year, unexpected world events turned our "goals for 2020" upside-down. Having learnt no lesson whatsoever from this, we fearlessly enter 2021 with plans!We mentioned Ed's personal blog in this episode...

• #162: Reviewing our 2020 goals

  Steve and Ed look back at the goals they set for 2020 at the beginning of the year. What goals did we hit? What goals eluded us? What did we learn along the way?Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers.

• #161: The inglorious launch of my first product

  This is a talk I recently gave at Barcelona's ESIC business school. Ostensibly, I spoke on working with intangibles as products. But actually, I told the story of how I started as a bootstrapper - and revealed how clueless I was at the beginning.So, if yo...

• #160: Creating great email onboarding sequences, with Liz Painter of Comma Comma

  Liz is an expert in onboarding email sequences. Over the course of this episode, Liz helps me design a great email sequence for Saber Feedback.On the way, there are plenty of practical tips for better emails that you can apply to your product's emails.Wan...

• #159: Enterprise sales hell, SEO frustration and self-doubt

  Ed and Steve talk about recent challenges and successes in their bootstrapped SaaS businesses. Ed tells of the agony of doing enterprise sales. Steve admits to  self-doubt when waiting for SEO results.Some things we discussed:2020 SaaS Podcast AwardsOur f...

• #158: Not 1, not 2, but 3 bootstrapped SaaS successes with Moritz Dausinger of refiner.io

  Moritz Dausinger, founder of refiner.io, chats about his success as a serial founder of bootstrapped SaaS products. He founded and sold two B2B SaaS apps, and now he's doing it a third time.Moritz shares some real-world practical, proven tips based on his...

• #157: Dealing with your business's endless administration burden

  Ed and Steve discuss the endless burden of busy-work that comes with running a business - and how we try to minimise it.We also mention Ed's new marketing-related hire, Feature Upvote's dashboard design overhaul, and using a content agency to write blog p...

• #156: "May I have a discount?"

  Discounts, discounts, discounts! Ed and I discuss how we respond to customers asking for discounts, whether we should offer Cyber Monday offers, and how offering discounts can hurt future sales.Discuss this topic and more on the Bootstrapped discussion fo...

• #155: Competing in a crowded market with Alex Yumashev of Jitbit

  Alex runs a successful help desk software company with only 3 employees, competing in a crowded market.We discuss:the importance of industry knowledge,the customer awareness funnel,advanced SEO techniques,bringing on a co-founder after you've already got...

• #154: Finding and recruiting freelance developers with Robin Warren of Corrello

  Robin Warren of Corrello tells me how he finds and recruits freelance developers for his bootstrapped software company.We also talk about:Robin's business creating Trello Power-upsUsing Product Hunt to hone your marketing messageJuggling multiple products...

• #153: "What should I do with Saber Feedback?"

  I seek Ed's advice on some Saber Feedback stuff. We talk about pricing, free plans, legacy framework woes, and database hosting.We also chat about:running  Geomob as an online conference instead as a COVID alternative to an in-person conferenceautomating...

• #152: Practical knowledge sharing for bootstrappers

  Ed and I discuss knowledge sharing for bootstrappers, and even for one-person teams. How do you make sure the important knowledge for your business gets remembered, shared, and used?Discuss this topic and more on the Bootstrapped discussion forum. 

• #151: Advice on validating and building a bootstrapped B2B SaaS

  I answer several questions from a loyal listener who wants advice on building a B2B SaaS similar in scope and style to my product, Feature Upvote. 

• #150: How to solve my SEO problems, with Robert Brandl of ToolTester Network

  Robert Brandl of ToolTester Network built his company by developing excellent SEO skills. In this episode he turns his skills to Saber Feedback, and gives me awesome advice on how to solve my SEO problems.We also talk about his recent acquisition of https...

• #149: A Saber Feedback update six months after acquisition

  Ed Freyfogle is back again. This week he interviews Steve on his progress with Saber Feedback, six months after acquisition.Ed marvels at how many words we were able to write about feedback buttons.We also talk a bit about co-working in the age of Covid.D...

• #148: Hrishi Mittal, founder of Learnetto, on the struggle to get traction

  Ed Freyfogle steps in for me this week and interviews Hrishi Mittal, founder of online learning platform Learnetto.Hrishi shares his struggle to progress past a point of having limited success without finding real traction. He also talks about his desire...

• #147: "You get to do this however works for you" with Laura Roeder, founder of MeetEdgar

  Laura Roeder talks about why she doesn't do demo calls unlike most other SaaS founders - and how bootstrapping frees you up to run your business the way that works for you.Laura is the founder of MeetEdgar, a social media scheduling tool, and cofounder of...

• #146: Selling your business at any revenue level, with Kevin McArdle of SureSwift Capital

  Kevin McArdle of SureSwift Capital has acquired almost 40 online businesses, most of them B2B SaaS products.We talk about the process of getting acquired, as the seller and founder of an online business.Kevin tells me the options for getting acquired at 4...

• #145: The Hacker News front page experience, 5-hour workdays and 4-day workweeks

  Ed reintroduces himself, Steve shares his experience of making it to the front page of Hacker News, and we discuss Quaderno's 5-hour work day and Wildbit's 4-day work week.Links:Ed's home on the web.Quaderno's job page.Wildbit's 4-day work week.Discuss th...

• #144: Patrick Hathaway, cofounder of Sitebulb on selling a desktop app with subscription pricing

  Patrick Hathaway is the cofounder of Sitebulb, a website auditing tool for SEO consultants and agencies. Patrick tells us why he made a desktop app when his competitors offer cloud apps.We also talk about how Patrick uses awesome release notes as a market...

• #143: When should you refactor your product's code?

  When, if ever, should you, should make changes to your product's code that don't change its external behaviour?How do you weigh up the risks of breaking things against the ease of future development?Steve and Ed get way more technical than usual in this e...

• #142: Revisiting our pre-pandemic yearly goals

  We revisit the goals we made in January 2020. We consider what progress we've made despite the current massive global uncertainty.Back in January, in episode #124, Ed and Steve stated their goals for 2020. Then COVID-19 happened, changing many of the assu...

• #141: A Saber Feedback update three months after acquisition

  I openly report on the challenges and successes I've had in the first three months of owning Saber Feedback. And yes, I do reveal customer numbers, revenue, and traffic volume! 

• #140: How NOT to handle customer payment problems

  This was a painful episode to record. I had problems getting some customers to pay. How I handled it was a cascade of mistakes. I tell Ed the story, and he gives me advice on what I should have done. Ed tells us about his recent effort to add a once-off p...

• #139: Selling to Developers with Peter Suhm of Branch CI

  Ed chats with Peter Suhm about the challenges and rewards of selling to developers. Peter is the founder of Branch, a deployment tool for WordPress developers.Peter on twitter: https://twitter.com/petersuhmBranch: https://branchci.comWP Pusher, another pr...

• #138: "Epic Guide" Marketing

  We discuss Ed Freyfogle's recent experience creating the OpenCage Reverse Geocoding guide, an example of an "epic guide" approach to content marketing. Useful links:The OpenCage Reverse Geocoding guide: https://opencagedata.com/reverse-geocodingAdam Duvan...

• #137: Derrick Grigg - Founder of PageProofer

  Derrick's product is a direct competitor to one of my products. So it was extremely generous of him to speak openly about the challenges and successes of running PageProofer.We also discussed:the challenge of having many competitorshaving  years of work a...

• #136: Website security for bootstrappers

  Security audits! Bug bounty programs! Frequent unsolicited pen-testing! When you put a website on the Internet, it almost immediately faces non-stop security attacks.Ed and I discuss the ways we handle this within the resources available to us as bootstra...

• #135: How to improve Saber Feedback's website content, with Hannah Adcock of Contented Strategy

  Content specialist Hannah Adcock audited Saber Feedback's website. In this episode, she tells us what's good about our site and what needs to change.Hannah runs Contented Strategy. She was on the podcast a few months ago, when she talked about the benefit...

• #134: Why I chose to acquire Saber Feedback

  Frequent guest co-host Ed Freyfogle has questions. Lots of questions. About why I acquired Saber Feedback, what the acquisition process was like, and what plans I have for Saber Feedback in the coming months.Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this ep...

• #133: Why Matt Bearman chose to sell his bootstrapped product, Saber Feedback

  Matt Bearman, original founder of Saber Feedback, discusses the experience of creating, growing, and then selling Saber Feedback.Matt's Blog: https://mattbearman.svbtle.com/The Google Ads PPC recommended by Matt: https://www.udemy.com/share/101XkgB0oZcFZU...

• #132: COVID-19 and our businesses

  (Looking for Episode 131? For boring, technical reasons, there is no episode 131.)Ed Freyfogle and I discuss how COVID-19 is affecting our lives, our families, and our businesses.We also talk a little about my acquisition of Saber Feedback.Things we menti...

• #130: A brief hiatus

  A short episode where I explain why the podcast is on break for a few weeks.Spoiler alert: the pandemic has left me stranded 16,816 km from home. Until I find a way home, I can't easily record new episodes. Listen for the full story!Hopefully I'll be back...

• #129: Driving to Mongolia while running a mission-critical SaaS

  Julian Wilde of Wormly describes how he was able to drive across central Asia - often in countries without easily-available Internet - while running a monitoring SaaS.We also reminisce about running a software company before Stripe, AWS and the Digital No...

• #128: Dealing with bootstrapper stress

  Bootstrapping is stressful. I share seven ways I try to manage the stress of being a software bootstrapper.Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode.  Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester's de...

• #127: SaaS products we use to run our businesses

  We discuss some of the SaaS products we rely on to run our businesses: what they are and why we use them.Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode.  Find which email newsletter service actually reaches your customers with EmailToolTester's deli...

• #126: Why Dave Rodenbaugh acquired an existing business instead of starting from scratch

  When Dave Rodenbaugh wanted to run a software business, he decided to buy an existing one. He tells me why he did this, how he chose the business, and what he did right and wrong along the way.He also shares - painfully - his embarrassing $50K mistake.Dav...

• #125: Tracking what you spend on your business

  I'm joined again by frequent guest co-host Ed Freyfogle.We talk about how we track the spending on our businesses.We mentioned a rewards card for Startups from Cledara.Thanks to EmailToolTester who sponsored this episode.  Find the best email newsletter s...

• #124: Goals for 2020

  Steve and Ed discuss what they hope to achieve by the end of 2020 - both professionally and personally.We also discuss the importance of knowing your non-goals, that is, things your explicit decide NOT to do.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode....

• #123: "Why I sold my SaaS" - with Courtenay Farquharson, founder of Parserr

  Courtenay Farquharson shares how he built up Parserr to more than $10K monthly revenue - and why he sold it.We also talk about:bootstrapping in the Microsoft ecosystembootstrapping in AustraliaCourtenay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/courtzzCourtenay's n...

• #122: My desktop app got acquired!

  Steve tells Ed all about the sale of his desktop app. We talked about why I sold off the desktop app I've been running for 12 years, how I found a purchaser, and the emotional ride of negotiating and handing over the app.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored t...

• #121: Handling cancellations in a subscription product

  Ed Freyfogle of OpenCage Geocoder and I (founder of Feature Upvote) discuss how we handle customer cancellation requests in our respective SaaS products. We discuss how we might do it differently.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how...

• #120: Small team habits part 2: Steve's turn

  Last week we heard Ed's top 5 habits for small teams. This week, Steve shares the habits he uses to keep his small team productive.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how, thanks to Balsamiq, you can promote your bootstrapped business...

• #119: Small team habits part 1

  Ed shares his top 5 habits he recommends for small bootstrapping teams, to keep your product as good as it should be.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how, thanks to Balsamiq, you can promote your bootstrapped business for free on th...

• #118: Should your product go Freemium?

  Steve and Ed consider whether Freemium is a viable business model for bootstrappers.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how, thanks to Balsamiq, you can promote your bootstrapped business for free on the podcast.Our guest sponsor, cour...

• #117: Selling to Developers

  Ed from OpenCage Geocoder and I talk about the marketing techniques that work - and don't work - when you product is targeted towards developers.Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how, thanks to Balsamiq, you can promote your bootstra...

• #116: Pricing your product in multiple currencies, with Ed Freyfogle from OpenCage

  I’m joined by Ed Freyfogle for the first of several episodes in which he is my cohost. Ed is the co-founder of OpenCage Geocoder, a bootstrapped, profitable SaaS. Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how, thanks to Balsamiq, you can pro...

• #115: Living Abroad While Bootstrapping, with Craig Hewitt

  Craig and I are both bootstrapping our businesses while living in foreign countries. In this episode we discuss what that's like for us personally. We also discuss the challenging practicalities of visas, languages, and business while living abroad. Thank...

• #114: "The Tables are Turned", with Craig Hewitt

  Craig turns the tables and interviews me about Feature Upvote and about this podcast. We discuss: why Steve launched Feature Upvote when he already had a successful product. doing things differently the second time around. the beauty of "expansion r...

• #113: "The idea of public speaking fills me with unspeakable terror", featuring Craig Hewitt

  We discuss how you can become a speaker at events, and whether this is a viable way to raise awareness of your product and services. Topics include: Why speak at events and conferences Getting started as a speaker What event organisers look for in potent...

• #112: Three ways to use podcasts for marketing. Featuring Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos

  Craig and I discuss how bootstrappers can use the podcasting ecosystem to promote their products. We discuss three ways to use podcasts - and the pros and cons of each: Start and run your own podcast Do the "podcast circuit" as an interesting g...

• #111: "Should I apply for TinySeed?" with Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos

  I'm joined by Craig Hewitt for the first of several episodes in which he is my cohost. TinySeed is a "startup accelerator designed for bootstrappers." Craig was accepted into TinySeed's first cohort. To help me answer the question, "Should...

• #110: "Living the Bootstrapper dream" with Robin Warren, founder of Corrello

  Robin and I discuss living the Bootstrapper dream - and how the dream changes over time. We also go off topic and discuss surfing up the Bristol Channel. Links: Robin’s company, Corrello: Dashboards for Scrum and Kanban teams using Trello: https://getco...

• #109: Andy Brice - Founder of EasyDataTransform

  Andy and I discuss why he's created a new product, even though he already has two successful products. We also discuss: how he manages a portfolio of three desktop apps as a one-person team how to name products choosing a market usability testing choosin...

• #108: Hannah Adcock - Owner of Contented Strategy

  Hannah and I discuss content strategy for bootstrappers. Hannah's website: https://contentedstrategy.com/ Hannah's book: "Content Strategy for Solopreneurs, Startups, Charities and Growing Businesses": https://contentedstrategy.com/content_strat...

• #107: Robert Brandl - Founder of WebsiteToolTester

  Robert and I discuss how to hire and manage freelancers. We also discuss how having children forces you to change the way you work. Robert's 4 tips for a healthy freelancer relationship: Meet in person from time to time, if possible Pay at the higher end...

• #106: Sylvestre Dupont - Co-founder of Parseur

  Sylvestre and I discuss getting those first 10 customers, moving to a new country when your startup earns enough to replace your day job, and the difficulty of supporting customers from a cruise ship. We also discuss: Collecting domain names Leaving cons...

• #105 - A new iteration of Bootstrapped

  A short and special episode in which I share some news about the podcast.

• #104 - I Don't Want To Talk About GDPR The Whole Time w/ Natalie Nagele from Wildbit

  In this episode we're joined by Natalie Nagele from Wildbit to talk about starting a business vs. consulting, employees with side hustles, how to pick conferences to attend, and yes, GDPR.

• #103 - There's No Scarcity On Piñatas

  In this episode we discuss conferences & traveling, birthday parties for kids, .app domains, and Andrey's new GDPR-related project Consent Monitor.

• #102 - I'm Running On Fumes

  In this episode we discuss parenting at the park, hiring a plumber, cutting & bulking > marketing, the awesomeness of Peers Conference ⭐, hiring a contractor for Scribbleton, & more.

• #101 - All About Landsman

  In this episode we discuss planning for Laracon Online, what's coming up next for Helpspot & Thermostat, and investing in startups.

• #100 - All About Butov

  In this episode we discuss Butov's workout routine, the pros and cons of hiring a part-time employee, and upcoming conference plans.

• #99 - Star Wars: The Last Jedi w/ Taylor Otwell (SPOILERS!)

  In a special episode of Bootstrapped, Taylor Otwell (creator of Laravel) joins Ian to talk about 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. WARNING: This podcast contains spoilers for 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'. If you haven't seen that movie yet (and seriously, what a...

• #98 - The Landsman Game Challenge

  In this episode we discuss solo parenting, Disney on Ice, future conference plans, and a plan to live stream Ian playing video games.

• #97 - ButovOrBust.com

  In this episode we discuss being sick, what happens when you get an influx of clients, and a bunch of updates on everything from Scribbleton to Thermostat to Ian's new project, LaraTalent.

• #96 - It's All Possibility.....And Work

  In this episode we discuss the beginnings of Ian's new CRUD app, Scribbleton upgrades, freezing your credit, Las Vegas, and more.

• #95 - I Started Fresh, and It's Glorious

  In this episode we discuss hearing trips to and from NYC, nostalgia for high school, the 'New Renaissance Butov', and more.

• #94 - Franchise Friends

  In this episode we discuss kindergarten, kids destroying tablets, side projects for founders, encryption in Scribbleton, and more.

• #93 - Thinner, Leaner, Meaner

  In this episode we discuss Ian's "mancation", if Seinfeld still has it, an update on Andrey's weight loss and his new app, and more.

• #92 - Elevator Algorithms

  In this episode we continue our follow-up on Laracon, talk about all things hotels, plus poker, Thermostat.io, watching games on Twitch, & more.

• #91 - I'd Wear A Full Face Mask

  In this episode we discuss Laracon, getting healthy, how millennials go to the gym, and more.

• #90 - Butov Plus Plus

  In this episode we discuss Butov's new addition to the family, experimenting with frameworks & languages, family vacations, old phones, & more.

• #89 - It's The Open Desert That Got Me

  In this episode we talk about Ian & NPS, Butov's attempts to hire millennials, and paying people to watch video games.

• #88 - Charles Perry (Part 2) - Founder of Metakite

  Part two of Andrey & Ian's conversation with Charles Perry (founder of Metakite) about what it's like to start a new subscription-based mobile app, plus a lot more. Links: Metakite Follow Charles Perry on Twitter

• #87 - Charles Perry (Part 1) - Founder of Metakite

  Part one of Andrey & Ian's conversation with Charles Perry (founder of Metakite) about what it's like to start a new subscription-based mobile app, plus a lot more. Links: Metakite Follow Charles Perry on Twitter

• #86: Garrett Dimon (Part 2) - Founder of Sifter, Currently at Wildbit

  Part 2 of Andrey and Ian's conversation with Garret Dimon.

• #85: Garrett Dimon (Part 1) - Founder of Sifter, Currently at Wildbit

  Part 1 of Andrey and Ian's conversation with Garret Dimon.

• #84: You’re on an Air, Butov - an Air!

  Butov needs a laptop upgrade, Ian wants simpler basketball video games, and they both talk about virtual reality.

• #83: Brian Casel (Part 2) - Founder of Audience Ops

  Part two of our talk with Brian Casel about Audience Ops, the new Audience Ops Calendar, and more. Links: Audience Ops Audience Ops Calendar Brian Casel on Twitter

• #82: Brian Casel (Part 1) - Founder of Audience Ops

  Part one of our talk with Brian Casel about Audience Ops, the new Audience Ops Calendar, and more. Links: Audience Ops Audience Ops Calendar Brian Casel on Twitter

• #81: Brandon Kelly (Part 2) - Founder and CEO of Craft CMS

  Part two of our talk with Brandon Kelly about Craft CMS, pricing, support, and Pixel and Tonic.

• #80: Brandon Kelly (Part 1) - Founder and CEO of Craft CMS

  Part one of our talk with Brandon Kelly about Craft CMS, politics, domains, and Pixel and Tonic.

• #79: (Part 2) Patrick Pohler on Starting an API Based Real Estate SaaS

  #79: (Part 2) Patrick Pohler on Starting an API Based Real Estate SaaS

• #78: Patrick Pohler (Part 1) on Starting an API Based Real Estate SaaS

  #78: Patrick Pohler (Part 1) on Starting an API Based Real Estate SaaS

• #77: "... is somebody being bombed?"

  Our guest in this episode is JD Graffam, owner of two agencies, Clear Function and Simple Focus, and several SaaS products, including Sifter, Pulse, and Ballpark.

• #76: "Cleo"

  We discuss the passing of Andrey's dog Cleo, moving company business models, standing desks, where you can find real news, founder vacation time needs, Ian's new ebook, Ian's hackentosh, autonomous cars. Unpakt Autonomous.ai standing desks Ian's ebook, Se...

• #75: "Don't you worry about Dave. You worry about Butov!"

  In this episode we talk about Ian's trip to Laracon, politics, working on multiple projects simultaneously, working on web apps vs other types of products, The Hive, changes at Userscape, dogs, naps, contractors, Twitch, board games, and kids growing up....

• #74: "Nobody ever got fired for hiring Vector Media Group" with special guest Matt Weinberg

  We're joined by our friend Matt Weinberg to chat about growing a large consultancy, software, hiring, and more. A lot of great insights in this one, don't miss it!

• #73: ”If you can find an agreeable parrot, ...”

  In this week's episode, Ian and Andrey talk about going to the gym, living on Long Island, Andrey's car buying adventures, Richard Stallman's speaking requirements, new iOS APIs, Twitter, Facebook, VR, game development, customizing products for individua...

• #72: "It's all going to $0, but in the meantime, we can make some money"

  We discuss naps and meditation, new HelpSpot pricing, business ideas, is Andrey and introvert?, BaconBiz conf, Butov goes to Buffalo, new product work and ideas, and car leasing.

• #71: "Jane Portman from UI Breakfast"

  In this episode, Ian and Andrey talk to Jane Portman about her company, UI Breakfast, her new book for SaaS founders, building a business, and UI/UX for SaaS web applications.

• #70: "I made a lot of money off Twitter"

• #69: "You always pay for sticking to your principles."

  Hating snow blowers, BaconBiz, going to the gym, driving to places you should be flying to, Rocket League, Quintu, Scribbleton, profit-generating companies and VC backing, seeing the path of a company as an outsider, favorite songs.

• #68: "Butov's Brooklyn"

  Andrey has never seen Breaking Bad, SaaStr review, Butov does PR and advertising, adventures in email, Ian drops an idea for a product you should steal but probably won't, Butov's Brooklyn, A Chef's Life.

• #67: Stuff

  In this episode, we talk about Mr. Rogers, releasing How Are Sales Today, writing desktop apps in C++, Parse closing and Uberdeck, Scribbleton, Userscape's new office, Userscape's partner program.

• #66: I'm Done Doing

• #65: Star Wars is the 'Dora the Explorer' of science fiction.

  In this episode, we talk about Star Wars, how much Ian loves it and how much Andrey hates it, synchronizing hardware between home and office, code signing and certificate confirmation, international currencies and writing currency exchange code for How Ar...

• #64: A Carl Sagan Joint

  This week Andrey doesn't tell me I'm on the wrong mic until half way through and we also cover acronyms, Jessica Jones, babysitter acquisition strategies, How Are Sales Today update, HelpSpot update, we go through Andrey Butov's favorite movies and TV sho...

• #63: How Are Sales Today?

  In this episode, we talk about the new app from Quantic Insights, opening up a business bank account, meditation, mellowing out with age, new Userscape office, and Fallout 4. Deploy PHP How Are Sales Today? (or QiBar). The new app from Quantic Insights J...

• #62: I have the flu

• #61

  In this episode, Ian and Andrey talk about new hardware, Star Wars, HelpSpot Cloud, back-end systems, Quantic Insights, virtual insurance for virtual crap, and fantasy football. Mike Jones (labs.log) HelpSpot Cloud Quantic Insights Japanese Pachinko mach...

• #60: Pump the hotness

  We discuss how we don’t hold to our topic, home contractors, physical servers, internet secure, desktop software development, rewriting software from scratch, online banking, Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars vs Star Trek (again). Thanks to Linode for spon...

• #59

  In this episode we talk about photography, Userscape’s new employee, health insurance, Finsumi, building everything yourself, outsourcing, Quantic Insights, C++, customer support, working from home, audiobooks, and video games. Graciously sponsored by: Re...

• #58

  In this episode, we discuss Andrey’s PhillyPopecation, Release Notes Conference, how we do sales at UserScape, why you should never offer unlimited/site licenses, Jet Brains pricing, SaaS pricing for on-premise products, Ian’s Last Of Us update, video gam...

• #57

  In this episode, we discuss returning for another season, first day of school, finishing up consulting work and returning to product work, co-founding a new company, HelpSpot 4, having a full-time sales person, Snappy, Quantic Insights, programmers and ma...

• #56: Rated R

  Andrey swears a lot, we talk about nearly everything except bootstrapping! Stay until the end to hear us discuss Star Wars, 2001, Contact, Guardians of the Galaxy (classic!), Superman vs Batman. Dave Hicking Superhero Video of how Ian’s wife thinks Ian a...

• #55: It’s all part of the game

  In this episode, we discuss Snappy shutting down, selling Snappy, resurrecting a failed product, Andrey’s trip to PAX, Peers conference, client work, Slack room atmosphere, games we’re playing, and games we can’t play.   Why we’re closing Snappy – Ian’s...

• #54: This is worse than Seinfeld

  Some product updates, yada yada yada, this is embarrassing. HelpSpot Help Desk Software 4 Release Notes Conference Peers Conf Bacon Biz Conf Hyperplan The IOU of iOS The Shape of the App Store Soderbergh 2001 cut Us talking about Gone Home   Discuss thi...

• #53: $1000 join

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss names, getting punished for good deeds, fast-food burgers, Authorize.NET, HelpSpot mobile apps, making money from mobile games in the app store,  a decade of running HelpSpot and Antair, life checkbox...

• #52: Dead Man’s Switch

  Download this episode where we discuss Ian’s health update, how Scribbbleton handles synchronization, moving, coworking and working from home, real estate business, discussing revenues, vote for us on iTunes! Convergence Insufficiency – headaches? readin...

• #51: Special Guest: Matt Stauffer

  Download this episode, in which we’re joined by special guest, Matt Stauffer, to talk about bootstrapping a SaaS while running a consultancy full-time, happiness, Laravel, structuring your day, hiring developers, work & family, gritty TV shows, and St...

• #50: 50

  Download this episode. This week we fail to discuss that it’s our 50th episode, family impact on development, Andrey might be hiring a helper so contact him, crazy contract work, Servers for Hackers, UTF–8, Bootstrapped app we don’t have time for, Markdow...

• #49: A new product from scratch

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about antisocial haircuts, Joan Rivers, consulting, Scribbleton on Lifehacker, relaxing, doing a product from start to finish on the show, a Userscape update, Postgres, Nightstand, the Oculus Rift, Minec...

• #48: Gabriel Weinberg of DuckDuckGo

  We chat with special guest Gabriel Weinberg of DuckDuckGo. We cover the full gamut from bootstrapping, VC, competing against Google, Perl, privacy, advertising, remote work, finding customers, biz dev and Gabriel’s new book Traction. Gabriel Weinberg Duc...

• #47: Anchor Celebrities

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss anchor celebrities, parenting, Larajobs, fake snow, product hunt, donationware, Uberdeck, consulting retainers,  the costs of opening up an office.   Dave Hicking Bootstrapping a job board to $5,000...

• #46: Jeffrey Way of Laracasts

  This week we have special guest Jeffrey Way. We talk about how he’s bootstrapped Laracasts, how he got started in Laravel, the philosophy behind Laracasts, pricing, hiring, building a personal brand, supporting open source, how to make a great screencast,...

• #45: Adventures in Hacker News

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss taking a vacation while bootstrapping,  the craziness of Hacker News, LaraJobs, Scribbleton, installing desktop software, mods, git, pity purchases, Linux desktop apps, Walmart, the new square BlackBe...

• #44: I’m Recording Now

  Ian’s (non-life threatening) health issues, delaying the Bootstrapped Conference, quarters as a service, app translation, LaraJobs, what we’d do if we had to work someplace else, Scribbleton update, twitter as protocol. Level Up Conference MacDowell Colo...

• #43: The Userscape Developers

  In this episode, we sit down with the developers of Userscape; Eric Barnes, Chris Fidao, and Taylor Otwell, to talk about weird dreams, Eric’s, Chris’ and Taylor’s backgrounds and how they got started at Userscape, supporting open source, Forge, newslette...

• #42: Let’s get Wil Wheaton

  This week we talk about Scribbleton, Sponsor us!, Rails apps, The Bootstrapped.fm Conference, semi-obscure Seinfeld references, Apple WWDC, Beats and Jimmy Ionvine, and much much much more! Scribbleton Apple WWDC Keynote Sponsor Bootstrapped.fm! Bootstra...

• #41: 90% good looks. 10% ideas.

  In this episode, we talk about Laracon, holding a conference in New York, Snappy Concierge, experimental coding, Scribbleton, the Mac app store, the Bootstrapped.fm conference, managing product websites, and disruptive businesses. The Bootstrapped.fm Con...

• #40: Andrey Butov’s Fizzilization

  In this episode we discuss talking at conferences, Star Wars, and sci-fi, video games, Ludum Dare and game dev competitions, the current Antair project list, user interfaces for kids’ apps, Scribbleton, multi-platform development, Snappy, domain registrar...

• #39: Take them to Hooters

  This week we discuss profanity, Microconf, Peersconf, business evolution, Andrey Do-gooder, product trials, Notch and motivation beyond money, Minecraft, multiple saas apps, acquiring products and building vs buying, coder vs marketer, Andrey should do an...

• #39: After Dark

  Another few minutes on this weeks podcast where we discuss things to do in New York City.

• #38: Special guest: Eric Miller

  In this episode, we sit down with Eric Miller, of Eric Miller Design, to talk about Eric’s design studio, his products, UX Kits, bootstrapping physical products, working with your spouse, Dribbble, Facebook and Twitter ads, OpenSSL, Brooklyn, Long Island,...

• #37: Hush! The grown-ups are talking.

  In this episode, we discuss tax credits, branding and positioning, JitBit, John Carmack, Oculus, Zuckerberg, young people running companies, VR, box.com, Snappy, marketing tracking software, naming projects, and growth hackers vs. bootstrappers. Rob Wall...

• #36: White hat growth hacker

  We discuss more growth hacking scum, the podcasts 1 year birthday, building a business for more than money, SaaS vs download, SaaS thriving off dead accounts, code builds, game console emulators, open source doc and design quality, open source vs open sou...

• #35: Hate the SaaS!

  In this episode, we discuss screaming squirrels, being busy, clients, project estimates, VC backed companies, why we hate SaaS, mobile app ickiness, and the value of ideas. “Is 5X the new 2X in SaaS?” “Give me $300 or the website gets it!” The icky mobil...

• #34: Don’t Shake the SaaS Tree

  We discuss confusion over our voices, taxes, vacation, Disney tracking your meat, off topic, doppelgängers, SPF records, Al Bundy/Married With Children, Evernote, pruning your twitter account, Groupon marketing genius, Flappy Bird and the mobile cesspool,...

• #33: This is what happens to growth hackers.

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about Florida, children, stupid teenagers, growing up, stories that go nowhere, growth hackers, hiring a content engineer, unit testing, John Carmack, spending $13,000 on marketing automation software, m...

• #32: The Full Stallman

  Download this episode. Andrey talks about Gone Home and the impact it’s had on his life, but won’t give details!  Voiceovers, Antair is 9 years old, UserScape is almost 9 though Ian considers it 10, the good old days of bootstrapping, the constant re-inve...

• #31: We are Joel, together

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about growing to a point where you have no idea where stuff is in your own company, building mobile clients for Snappy and Quintu, Minecraft, live coding streams, games, client work, system administratio...

• #30: Special Guest: Gavin Bowman

  Special guest Gavin Bowman of RetroDreamer talks about bootstrapping a mobile gaming company. The business of software forums come up… again, expanding a gaming shop and how creativity factors into that, Ian asks too many questions about gaming and such,...

• #29: There’s always one more year

  Download episode 29, in which we talk about school lunches, fast food, Ludum Dare, game development, Minecraft, Userscape’s new employee, taking a vacation, 2013 year in review, amount of revenue to have before hiring full-time, the first two years of run...

• #28: Special Guest Ruben Gamez

  This is one of our best episodes yet. If you’re interested in content marketing be prepared to take notes. We also discuss the SaaS release cycle and lifestyle, working hours, business coaching and Andrey abducting Ruben. Ruben’s client proposal software...

• #27: Everybody Gotta Hustle

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about kids’ toys, Uberdeck, making sense of Adwords, Snappy, content marketing, finding a regular job after years of running a bootstrapped software company, selling physical products, Userscape’s new hi...

• #26: Party All the Time

  Download this podcast where Andrey sings Party All the Time by Eddie Murphy, booze, big UberDeck update, marketing, Snappy mobile app, mobile app reviews, VM’s,16 terminals tiled (huh?), everything is noodles (huh?), coworking, healthcare plans, more mark...

• #25: Devil’s Advocate

  Download this episode, in which we talk about dollar stores, dogs and babies, the new Helpspot release, support contracts, requiring a credit card at signup, pricing and recurring billing, info-products, SaaS being unsatisfying, digging new holes, the poi...

• #24: Batman Voice

  Download this episode, in which we talk about Batman, Software going to $0, Pricing again, Saas sucking, High school/depression, Business of Software Conference, A/B testing, Insurance, Andrey and me opening a coffee shop comic book store, Batman Arkham O...

• #23: Clichély doing the cliché thing

  Download this episode, in which we talk about Andrey finally leaving the house, street cred, Quintu, the work that goes into a typical SaaS app, implementing push in Uberdeck, OS X 10.8 update woes, git and distributed source code control,   supporting de...

• #22: Meh

  Download this episode, in which we give away an amazing social mobile podcast product idea, Blackberry (sorry), App stores, Andrey’s gripes with Laravel 4 and other techy things, asset management in front end web development, Vi, Breaking Bad finale!!!, L...

• #21: Special Guest: Andy Brice

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey sit down with special guest, Andy Brice, to discuss Perfect Table Plan, software marketing, creating desktop software vs. SaaS web apps, software pricing, cross-platform development with QT, analytics, measur...

• #20: Hard Stop

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss their appearances on other podcasts, depression caused by taking consulting work, how Andrey will structure his day, Apple keynote and how new hardware relates to mobile development, releasing softwar...

• #19: No Red Candy!

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss Laracon EU, Snappy, web app activity tracking and analytics, Uberdeck, marketing as your primary daily activity, Andrey’s next app, native clients vs. mobile web apps vs. responsive design for a SaaS...

• #18: Special Guest: Chase Clemons on Bootstrapped Support

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey sit down with special guest Chase Clemons of  SupportOps to discuss customer service for bootstrappers. We also get an  Uberdeck update on leaving beta and pricing strategy. This episode is being cross releas...

• #17: Special Guest: Rachel Andrew

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey sit down with special guest Rachel Andrew from EdgeOfMySeat.com, to discuss Perch, the really little CMS, the new Bootstrapped.fm forums, marketing, customer support, product dependencies, how important perso...

• #16: Meat and Attitude

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss Andrey’s new mobile apps, doing press releases in unique cases, HARO, bringing on a partner, Valentino movie, Breaking Bad, Andrey on being abducted, dress code in fancy steak joints, optimal steak re...

• #15: Patrick McKenzie (patio11) on Selling Software

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey are joined by special guest, Patrick McKenzie (patio11), to discuss the “early” days of the Business of Software forums, Patrick’s journey and daily routine, Helpdesk systems and support, Appointment Reminder...

• #14: Now you have to do stuff

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey are joined by special guest Scott Watermasysk. We get the back story on KickoffLabs Scott’s company, Andrey laments about having to do “stuff”, we don’t get Quora, we go deep on Uberdeck pricing strategy, how...

• #13: Boiler Room

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss getting ready to deploy Uberdeck, Snappy progress, what’s next for Snappy marketing, stories of first job interviews, the benefits, if any, of a college education, selling into the consumer space, the...

• #12: The Analogy

  Download this episode, in which Andrey and Ian discuss mistakes with Snappy’s initial website, building multiple products vs focusing on a single product, fixing the app store, recommendations on going into the mobile space, and Derek Sivers new company a...

• #11: Bootstrapping a Software Consulting Company

  Download this episode, in which Andrey and Ian sit down with Carl Diesing from DNL OmniMedia, and Chris Hawkins from Cogeian Systems, to talk about bootstrapping a successful software consulting company. Chris Hawkins on Twitter, and his website with lot...

• #10: Gymboree

  Download this episode, in which we go over the launch of Snappy, the Laravel 4 release, taking care of kids and kid gym options, Bootstrap conferences, app metrics and Infoproducts! Snappy goes live Eric Sink on pricing Laravel 4 – THE PHP framework Lara...

• #9: Uberdeck

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey discuss Uberdeck, system administration, pricing strategies, news coverage for startups, Jeff Atwood, Trello, and Snappy. Uberdeck – Andrey’s latest project Alwin Hoogerdijk (collectorz.com) – on email marke...

• #8: Bizarro Week

  Download this episode, where Ian and Andrey discuss sweet games, SaaS downtime, UserScape Bizarro Week, Brooklyn, Microconf and more. Bioshock Infinite – Andrey says this is one of the great games of all times with perhaps the best ending of all time Hea...

• #7: Just wasting my time!

  Download this episode, where Ian and Andrey discuss the Apple app store release process, making video games for a living, people and companies that “get it”, fonts for web development, trademarks and names, Helvetica – Documentary about the typeface (and...

• #6: Authorize This

  Download this episode, where Ian and Andrey discuss screen real estate, hiring a part time developer, Apple II parts, a segment which went way too long on Authorize.net, funding open source projects and code naming. See Andrey’s setup Divvy – Mac windows...

• #5: Let’s all go to the movies!

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about a gauntlet of client work, consulting, competitors, talking about your product early, stock options and bonuses, a little bit on wall street programming, hiring, contributing to open source, life a...

• #4: The customer is seldom right

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey cover a host of issues, including an apology of sorts to Patrick McKenzie, a discussion on if in fact the customer is always right, how you support .99 cent apps, non-mistakes from Ian’s past, VC funding and...

• #3: Pivoting all over the place

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about not being able to remember anything that happened before today, Ian’s rules for the practical entrepreneur, having so many products that you can’t list them all, entering a fragmented market, prefe...

• #2: Lollipop Sticks

  Download this episode, in which Ian and Andrey talk about software version numbers, SaaS apps, hiring, modern web application development, server hosting, what to do with old servers, monitors and hard drives, doing what it takes to fund your business, An...

• #1: Bootstrapped and Profitable

  Two software companies, Userscape, founded in 2004, and Antair, founded in 2005. Both companies, bootstrapped and profitable. Join Ian and Andrey, the founders, as they share their experiences in running their companies. Download this episode, in which Ia...