In this episode Dave Paola shares with us the behind-the-scenes of starting a software consultancy. We especially get into hiring and in onboarding junior developers. Dave talks about his new program The Agency of Learning, async vs sync, spikes, first drafts, PRs and so much more! Dave's TwitterDave's Personal SiteSierra RailsSierra Rails Junior Developer ProgramExposing your Ignorance (Sierra Rails podcast)Hiring Junior Devs BootcampJunior Developer Hiring RubricThe Agency of LearningEngineerKitBird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and LifeOn Writing: A Memoir of the CraftFiring Well

0:20 - Questions from Eli If you were to start over with no skills or experience... - https://twitter.com/mojojoflow/status/16252331327638814940:35 - If I'd known then what I know now - Jess' start2:20 - 20 years ago Jeremy - Jeremy's start3:10 - Ruby's sharing culture3:45 - Working on teams4:05 - Benefit of Working at an agency5:00 - Building a network early on5:45 - Indie and working with others6:17 - Working on things on the site8:30 - Cattle not pets, diversifying income9:30 - Felix Dennis - Getting too focused on a single craft, idealism13:15 - Small Bets - diversifying income streams14:17 - Service vs Products17:20 - Taking more risks with extra margin23:00 - Outsourcing

In this episode we go full send on the business side of IndieRails and explore with Colin how buying/selling a small SAAS works (as small as a couple of hundred MRR to 5m ARR) and the differences in building a company and buying.Colin shares his knowledge and experience in going from many startup attempts to now buying multiple established software companies through his holding company Verne.  Colin Keeley on TwitterIndiePE.com (courses)ColinKeeley.com (writing)Verne (holding company)Scout, Ottomatik and Blinksale5:40 - Seller Financing8:40 - Selling a business9:02 - Why buy vs build?11:15 - Are you a starter or a scaler?12:30 - Getting experience running a saas as a developer13:34 - Buying/Selling example breakdown15:00 - ROI on buying a business (double your money slide)15:50 - Brokers and Marketplaces acquire.com16:05 - How to make your company attractive to PE17:25 - How much cash would you need to buy a business?18:23 - SBA Loans18:45 - How to raise money?19:40 - Constellation Software20:55 - Partial / Minority Equity21:30 - Due diligence21:54 - How do you find a partner?22:40 - Andrew Wilkinson & Chris Sparling23:50 - Due diligence on the deal side (course & community)24:30 - Working in an industry that you know. “All software tastes like chicken.”25:30 - Game plan after acquisition27:55 - Customer trust: in brand or person/founder?30:10 - Marketing and Using Twitter31:00 - https://typefully.com/ (writing threads)31:45 - Promotional channels32:45 - What should you be building right now?

Joe Masilotti shares his journey getting into coding, going independent, consulting in iOS and Rails, building in public, and starting RailsDevs.LinksJoe’s WebsiteJoe’s TwitterHotwire dev newsletterTurbo Native workshopRailsDevsBeing more intentional in 2023

Your hosts:Jeremy SmithJess Brown The One Person FrameworkA toolkit so powerful that it allows a single individual to create modern applications upon which they might build a competitive business. The way it used to be.