Craig Hewitt

Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos, shares his experiences in scaling a SaaS company while maintaining culture and brand identity. He discusses the challenges of transitioning from a startup to a multi-million dollar business and the survival of SaaS amid AI agents. The conversation dives into the impact of AI on SaaS platforms and the complex nature of patents for bootstrapped firms. Hewitt emphasizes the importance of community engagement and strategic hiring to sustain values during growth, providing invaluable insights for tech entrepreneurs.

Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos and a coach for startup founders, joins to discuss prioritization in life and business. He shares insights on buying back time, optimizing for convenience, and finding the right work focus through coaching. The conversation emphasizes the importance of work-life balance, making significant decisions, and transitioning from co-hosting to solo podcasting. They also reflect on the benefits of customer interactions for startups and the evolving nature of professional partnerships.

Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos and a podcasting innovator, shares insights on navigating the evolving podcast landscape. He discusses Spotify's recent acquisitions and their implications for analytics and data privacy. The conversation dives into the unique challenges of measuring listener engagement compared to traditional web metrics. Craig also reflects on the difficulties CEOs face in staying engaged as their teams take over daily operations, emphasizing the importance of OKRs for strategic alignment. This episode is packed with valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Craig Hewitt is the Founder and CEO of Castos, a bootstrapped podcast hosting and analytics platform with a services arm for podcast production. He’s been in podcasting almost a decade, having started his own show, Rogue Startups and his production service Podcast Motor (which he folded into Castos). Craig not only shares his ponderings on his show, but he also writes a weekly newsletter called Founder Insights.What we covered in this episode:Craig's background in salesLaunching a podcasting productized service in 2014Stair stepping to SaaSWhat is Stair Stepping?Acquiring Seriously Simple PodcastingProduct positioningGrowth and marketing for CastosHis approach to podcastingCastos OriginalsBootstrapping vs raisingFounder Insights newsletterRecommendationsBook: Who Not How by Dan SullivanPodcast: Startups for the Rest of UsIndie Hacker: Moritz DausingerFollow CraigTwitterPersonal websiteMy linksTwitterIndie Bites TwitterIndie Bites YouTubeJoin the membershipPersonal WebsiteBuy A Wallet2 Hour Podcast CoursePodPanda (hire me to edit your podcast)This Indie Life PodcastSponsor - AhrefsThank you to Ahrefs for sponsoring Indie Bites. Ahrefs is the most complete and valuable SEO tool on the market. Bootstrapped companies such as VEED and Transistor have used Ahrefs extensively to understand how to craft their SEO strategies, which have been such a pivotal part of their growth.If you want to get more traffic from Google on your side-project, I’d recommend first trying out Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for free. You’ll see what keywords your pages are ranking for, understand how Google sees your content and discover what changes you need to improve your search ranking. You should also check out their YouTube channel to understand both the basics of SEO and some more advanced techniques.To try out Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, head to ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools

Craig Hewitt, an expert in internal tools and startup challenges, shares valuable insights for founders. He discusses the tough decisions between buying and building internal tools, along with tips for navigating a competitive space as a solo founder. Hewitt also delves into the phenomenon of 'zombie companies,' where investors demand their money back, and offers advice on selecting the right accounting software. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration for non-technical founders looking to connect with the right talent.