Bootstrapped

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, thanks to Balsamiq, you can promote your bootstrapped business for free on the podcast.Our guest sponsor, courtesy of Balsamiq, is Vivid.fm. Vivid helps podcasters reach more subscribers via social sharing by automatically creating video teasers.Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers. 

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 for free on the podcast.Our guest sponsor, courtesy of Balsamiq, is Checkvist, the professional list making tool.Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers.

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 the podcast.Our guest sponsor, courtesy of Balsamiq, is Mimiran, the CRM for people who hate selling.Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers. 

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, courtesy of Balsamiq, is IvyBackup.Discuss this episode and more on our discussion forum for Bootstrappers. 

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 bootstrapped business for free on the podcast.Our guest sponsor, courtesy of Balsamiq, is Easy Data Transform. 

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 promote your bootstrapped business for free on the podcast Our guest sponsor, courtesy of Balsamiq, is Mockless. We discuss: the bootstrapping scene in Barcelona, where both Ed and I live the advantages of offering your product in multiple currencies which currencies to offer dealing with currency fluctuations how this affects your marketing content how Quaderno has helped both of us do best-in-class invoicing. We also rant a little about how some businesses could improve the finer details of billing.

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. Thanks to Balsamiq who sponsored this episode. Find out how, thanks to Balsamiq, you can promote your bootstrapped business for free on the podcast. We also discuss: Craig's efforts with paid acquisition how Steve refined the sign-up process for Feature Upvote

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 revenue". B2C vs B2B (spoiler alert: B2B has a whole lot of advantages). the Bootstrapped podcast 10 episodes into its new iteration.

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 potential speakers Non-obvious benefits from speaking at events Steve's champagne-spilling behaviour when speaking in public Craig's experience speaking recently at MicroConf Europe TinySeed Tales: https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/tinyseed-tales/castos-1-a-non-technical-saas-founder Traction by Gabriel Weinberg: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369

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 guest with riveting insights Sponsor podcasts We 'go meta' and talk about why Steve has launched the new iteration of the Bootstrapped podcast. We also talk about: "credit card required upfront" trials versus "no credit card required" trials. the life-cycle email sequences using activity-based triggers that we've recently added to Feature Upvote. the danger of applying data-based marketing approaches to products when your product doesn't have enough data why Steve doesn't do A/B testing - yet

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 I apply for TinySeed?", Craig tells me what it has been like for him. We discuss why he applied, how it has changed his business so far, and what unexpected benefits there are have been. Links: Castos: podcast hosting and analytics platform: https://castos.com/ Rogue Startups podcast: https://roguestartups.com/. I highly recommend this podcast! TinySeed: https://tinyseed.com/ The 5 Phases of the Customer Journey comes from this out-of-print book: https://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Advertising-Eugene-M-Schwartz/dp/0887232981

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://getcorrello.com/ Robin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robinwarren Robin's blog post "$0 to $1k MRR in 57 months": https://getcorrello.com/blog/2016/04/13/0-1k-mrr-57-months/ Britstrapped podcast interview with Robin, From 0 MRR to "Living the Dream": http://www.britstrapped.com/280d7224 Surfing up the Bristol channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKA39LQOIck

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 choosing to remain a one-person team the benefits of the founder doing customer support why many one-person businesses are actually two-people businesses Links: Easy Data Transform: https://www.easydatatransform.com/ Andy's blog: https://successfulsoftware.net/ Easy Data Transform's demo video: https://successfulsoftware.net/2019/09/11/easy-data-transform-video/ Andy's other products: https://www.perfecttableplan.com/ and https://www.hyperplan.com/ "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515 Steve Krug talking about usability at Business of Software: https://businessofsoftware.org/2008/07/steve-krug-to-s/

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_strategy_for_startups.html How to do a content audit: https://contentedstrategy.com/blog/2019/05/17/startup-content-audit.html Traction by Gabriel Weinberg: https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369

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 of their expected rate Remember the Golden Rule: Treat them they way you expect to be treated Let them know the positive results of their work Links: Robert Brandl's company: https://www.tooltester.net/ Robert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertBrandl Pat Flynn on "The Baby Effect": https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/the-effect-my-kids-have-had-on-my-business/ Zapier for automating repetitive tasks: https://zapier.com Upwork for hiring and paying Freelancers: https://www.upwork.com/ Domestika: a Spanish site for finding creative freelancers: https://www.domestika.org/en

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 consulting to bootstrap a SaaS Bootstrapping with the generosity of the French government The tough months before the first sale - and then the elation after the first sale Using Quora to land the first customers - and to learn the language used by your potential customers Using Zapier for leads The difficulty of opening a Dutch business when you don't speak Dutch Choosing a place to live when you work remotely The challenges and rewards of bootstrapping from Mauritius Translating your website for SEO gains Travelling the world by cargo ship Supporting customers from a cruise ship via satellite Internet Links: Parseur grandvoyageur.fr Find Sylvestre on Twitter at @slybridges

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

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.

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

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.