Build Your SaaS

This week, Justin is joined by Marie Poulin, co-founder of Oki Doki. They discuss:Chatting with Marie Poulin, Oki Doki3:40 – "I used to be in the 'Ra Ra! Everyone should build a web app' crowd."4:18 – "Now there's this feeling that maybe everyone shouldn't start a SaaS?"9:30 – When you're starting a business, there are so many dynamics you need to get right.13:40 – Why so many people fail to go from zero to one in business.16:20 – Why are you starting a business in the first place? What's driving you?23:41 – There's a company called Tighten that gives their employees mental-health days.26:00 – What is the most efficient way for you to improve your life?27:00 – Sometimes folks try to make a part-time business into a full-time business.33:00 – Is it possible for a business to be lucrative, easy, and fun?42:00 – Having money does solve a lot of life's problems.Marie's super-secret Notion courseYou can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @mariepoulinEmail us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week, Jon and Justin celebrate 100 episodes:Jon was on the Cody Story podcast awhile back.Justin, on the other hand, loves writing testimonials:Jack McDade's new courseTailwind UIFathom Analytics"We are in our mid-life crisis of SaaS building. I think, for me, the problem is not quite knowing what's next."Is this the time we hire a business coach? Where does your personal motivation for work come from?What difference are we trying to make in the world?Derek Sivers: "You've got to take off the old clothes in order to put on the new clothes."Organizational cadence: what team retreats do we do each year?Inertia: "things don't move unless you apply an external force to them.""Brian Rhea seems thoughtful about this kind of stuff."Jon has been using AlpineJS by Caleb Porzio – it's really nice.Vampire movie recommendation: Let the Right One InJustin is contacting our winners from the contest. (We used ContestKit.com for this)410 registrations64 people were already on our MailChimp list.55 of these people have been a customer at some point (trial + paid)Printing and sending t-shirts via Printful.You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:DiogoChris WillowMason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, snapshooter.ioMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comBrad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week, Justin is joined by Michele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio). We explore a bunch of questions:What it's like to bootstrap with your spouse6:30 – where Michele and Mathias found the idea for their company7:00 – when you have kids you need diapers at 1amWhy people start companies7:55 – how getting pregnant motivated them to build a product10:15 – Matthias initially built a really basic geocoder for their purposes11:30 – a lot of bootstrappers get motivated to start a business after they have their first kidTyler Tringas: "Building, Owning (& possibly Selling) a profitable remote SaaS business is the new American Dream."13:20 – "we were so surprised that people wanted to pay us."You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @mjwhansenLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Chris WillowMason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, snapshooter.ioMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comBrad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week, Justin is joined by Ward Sandler from MemberSpace (launched in 2015). We explore a bunch of questions:How do you find a cofounder?Ward explains to Justin (a Canadian) what a fraternity is.What it's like doing enterprise sales.How two sales guys ended up learning design and programming."Everybody needs to build a website for Uncle Larry"Justin and Ward go through a sample sales phone call.How they found the idea for MemberSpace through their consulting company.How Ward knew there was a lot of interest in the product.The unconventional reason Ward and Ryan took money from Ernest.47:25 – what to do about that feeling of dissatisfaction and listlessness. 48:45 – "You have to ask yourself: why are you constantly running? What are you trying to achieve?"49:50 – "Don't succumb to the ennui."You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Chris WillowMason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, snapshooter.ioMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.com/Brad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week, Jon and Justin discuss:Justin's office is under construction 🛠️.How to talk about things that are hard.A review exercise from the book: The Great CEO Within (as recommended by Ben on Art of Product).It gives each founder the ability to say: "This bugs me."We've hired Helen (NamesAce) as a part-time contractor.Switching out our UI framework: Jon is rebuilding the Transistor app with Tailwind.How do you move to V2 of your app? Should you rebuild?Joel on Software: Things you should never doInterview with Mike from Freshbooks on Founders Talk."It's possible that you build something new that's worse."Justin built a public changelog: transistor.fm/changelogA contest announcement at 23:20Jon needs a hat education: this is a 5-panel cap.Good option for startup swag: Printful.com.Print-on-demand fades differently than screenprinting.Interview with Ryan Holiday (on Noah Kagan's podcast)Funny Panic podcast episodeYou can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Mason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, snapshooter.ioMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.com/Brad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week, Jon and Justin discuss:What makes a good podcast for product people?New American Dream: building, owning, selling a SaaS (Tyler Tringas)What do you worry about when you own your own software company?How would we handle an economic downturn?Why do software founders not sleep well at night?You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Mason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, snapshooter.ioMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.com/Brad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This week, Jon and Justin discuss:Repeating calendar item: "Jan 5th, GTFO."How are you doing with the winter blue?The Transistor Volkswagen bus, surfboards, and snowboards.Monolithic vs mico-serviceshttps://twitter.com/dhh/status/1222966700913479681https://changelog.com/posts/monoliths-are-the-futurePushing ahead with our “switch from Semantic UI to Tailwind CSS" cycle."Retargeting is like squeezing the last drop of juice out of the lemon. Is it worth it?""We were adding more and more things to the business hoping we'd be able to get it to work." justinjackson.ca/marginJon is running to Austin, Texas using Wolfram's computer harness.You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Mason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, saasreality.comMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.com/Brad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Jon is back! This week, we discuss:This book, The Timeless Way of Building, that Justin is reading.When you work for yourself, there can be sense of not being grounded. What do you do?What's better than meditating?Why co-founders should have a weekly phone call.How the environment we're in influences our actions.Jon's been rebuilding our dashboard using Tailwind CSS + Alpine JS.Tutorial: Rails and TailwindPeople complaining about Webpack"What's that Rails gem that everyone buys?" "Sidekiq"People have gotten so used to free software!Justin's advice for Statamic.You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Mason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, saasreality.comMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.com/Brad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Justin is interviewed by Nathan Baschez to talk about business strategy:"Every strategy is really just a theory: “We bet if we do x, then y will happen. In business, the 'y' that people are usually aiming for is some sort of sustainable competitive advantage." – Nathan BaschezThis is a long episode, but it's a good one!What made Jon and Justin feel like they had an advantage in podcasting?Original hypothesis: "Maybe we could be to podcasting, what WPengine was to WordPress hosting. Or what Wistia was to video hosting." How did that work out?Nathan's take on the podcast industry from his experience working for Gimlet.When should you focus on a niche?Links:Nathan's intro post for Divinations: What is business strategy?Nathan on TwitterSubscribe to DivinationsRodney Mullen: you only win onceYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Ward from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, saasreality.comMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.comBrad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)We are sponsored by:Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Justin is joined by podcast producer Chris Enns to talk about:How do you get Alexis Ohanian (cofounder of Reddit, married to Serena Williams) as a client?Getting out of the wrong business, into something better.Why you should get out of your comfort zone (and your town!)"We're all running the same race; how come that person is so far ahead of me?"Links:Hire Chris to edit your podcast: www.lemonproductions.caAlexis Ohanian's podcast: businessdad.initialized.comWhen to move on: justinjackson.ca/moving-onScott Young: Success is staminaGood businesses have margin: justinjackson.ca/marginwww.instagram.com/lemonproductionsca/www.instagram.com/russroe/Latitude Podcast: www.createlatitude.com/podcastLadybug podcast: https://www.ladybug.dev/You can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Ward from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell BrownEvandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD), pradyumna.devNoah Prail, eventOneHQ.comRobert Simplicio, Simplicio.comColin Gray alitu.comJosh Smith, hellosift.comIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Shane Smith, dev.transistor.fmAustin LovelessSimon Bennett, saasreality.comMichael Sitver, letterjoy.coPaul Jarvis and Jack Ellis, usefathom.com Dan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori Augusto, thebicrowd.comDave Young, magnusrush.com/Brad from CanadaSammy SchuckertMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Pascal from sharpen.page Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward from MemberSpace.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Colin Gray Dave Giunta 🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★