Backend Banter #019 - Full-time vs Freelancing vs Starting a Company with Rob Walling
Sep 18, 2023
Rob Walling, an entrepreneur and author of several books on startups, discusses the journey from coding to founding successful companies. He emphasizes the value of backend development skills, whether in full-time roles or freelancing. Rob shares personal stories about transitioning from a coder to an entrepreneur, the importance of recurring revenue in SaaS, and the pitfalls faced by non-technical founders. He also critiques traditional waterfall development, advocating for adaptive methods in today’s fast-paced tech landscape.
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Rob Walling's Background
- Rob Walling, author of "The SaaS Playbook", founded Drip and TinySeed.
- He also runs MicroConf, a conference for bootstrapped founders.
Early Coding Experience
- Rob Walling learned to code on an Apple IIe as a child, using "Speak Basic to My Apple".
- He later studied electrical engineering but rediscovered his passion for software in college.
Transition to Tech
- Despite an electrical engineering background, Rob Walling transitioned to a tech job during the dot-com boom.
- He taught himself PHP and Perl to secure a web development role.
