Today I’m joined by Val Sopi, the founder of Blogstatic, a lightweight blogging platform built to take on the likes of Ghost. Currently Val is sitting around $1k a month, but with a low-priced annual plans approach, he’s relying on new sign ups and plan upgrades instead of recurring subscriptions. So he’s at a crossroads of needing to pour fuel on the fire to grow his low-cost blogging platform, or attempt to build a B2B SaaS, which he believes is a much more sustainable option for an indie founder. Val has been hardened by business successes and failures, so I love his pragmatic approach to the decisions he’s making.
Timestamps
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:39 Val's background - web design shop to failed SaaS
- 04:10 Learning to code and starting Claritask
- 04:53 Selling Claritask
- 05:52 Launching Blogstatic
- 06:42 Taking a loan to bet on himself
- 07:40 The crossroads of stagnating growth
- 08:39 Being a low cost alternative in a competitive market
- 12:30 Why Val won't take VC
- 14:06 Why Val is trying B2B instead of B2C
- 15:45 Recommendations
Recommendations
My links
Sponsor - EmailOctopus 🐙
EmailOctopus is an independently owned email marketing platform, built to support other small growing businesses. With a focus on affordability and ease of use, EmailOctopus contains all of the features you need to reach and grow your audience. You can start today, with their industry leading free plan where you can contact up to 2,500 subscribers without paying a penny.
