Build Your SaaS

Jon and Justin are tracking a bunch of stuff this week:We're moving from WordPress to Statamic CMS"I had no idea how to set up PHP on my laptop."We want to treat our marketing site the same way we work on our productWe're trying to optimize our PageSpeed (our current mobile score is 63, we want to get over 90)"And then you came in a like a magician and lazyloaded the JavaScript""Collaborative software work is egalitarian. It doesn’t matter who did what, as long as the team is collectively accomplishing something greater than any one person could have done alone." – Jonas DowneyWhy the pull request is a great social technology.Revenue update: August has been our slowest month (for growth) thus far. Is this a seasonal slow down?Our churn numbers (compared to other SaaS)★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell. If you’re earning recurring revenue from Stripe, you need this tool. It will show you all of your business metrics: MRR, LTV, churn. Sign up for free: profitwell.com ActiveCampaign! Get the world's most advanced marketing & sales automation platform. Use the code activecampaign.com/buildyoursaas and get two months free + 2 free One-on-Ones!Show notes:Statamic CMSJack McDadeJustin's 2.5 hour PageSpeed adventureTailwind CSSJonas Downey: "Nobody really owns product work"You can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Evandro SassePradyumna Shembekar (PD)Ben from narrowr.comNoah PrailDavid ColganRobert SimplicioColin Gray alitu.comJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Miguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.comProfitWellActiveCampaignProfitWell.comGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 and Jon have started the process of implementing Shape Up.Lots of folks feel like it’d be hard to implement in their team"This would be hard at my agency."“What about feature requests? Is the idea that you also don't write those down?”“Hmm no backlogs? Maybe I am not understanding some backstory/context? Where do they put ideas, comments, quick bits that they might look at later on”Some backlash against the “cult of Basecamp”But the majority of folks were really interested in Jason’s approach.See how our first "shaping" experiment went.★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell. Patrick and Hiten have a new podcast!New sponsor: ActiveCampaign! Get the world's most advanced marketing & sales automation platform. Use the code activecampaign.com/buildyoursaas and get two months free + 2 free One-on-Ones!Show notes:Read Basecamp's new book Shape Up.Last week’s episode Jason FriedScreensharing in MessagesYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Pradyumna ShembekarBen from narrowr.comNoah PrailDavid ColganRobert SimplicioColin Gray alitu.comJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Miguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.comProfitWellActiveCampaignProfitWell.comGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 and Jon are joined by Jason Fried to talk about:The philosophy behind their new book Shape Up.Does Basecamp's approach to 6-week cycles differ for smaller teams?"Long projects destroy morale. When things don't ship, you get frustrated." – Jason FriedWhy projects ship late (it's human nature).Why work is like a hill.How they make product decisions at Basecamp.How do you know what you should work on next?Why they don't believe in backlogs."That feeling of 'there's nothing to do, but there's everything to do' shouldn't be happening." – Jason Fried"You need a system at some point. When you have two people, you can hack your way to anything. But as soon as you grow, you'll need a system." – Jason Fried"What we have is not a perfect system. And even if it was, we don't execute these things perfectly." – Jason Fried★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell's podcast Protect the Hustle has a new season! New sponsor: ActiveCampaign! Get the world's most advanced marketing & sales automation platform. Use the code activecampaign.com/buildyoursaas and get two months free + 2 free One-on-Ones!Show notes:Jon's launch announcement tweet (from 2018).Read Basecamp's new book Shape Up.Jason Fried commented on this Linkedin post.Hill charts.Listen to Rework Podcast's "Shape Up Roundtable."Derek Sivers' new article: My old clothes don't fitYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Ben from narrowr.comNoah PrailDavid ColganRobert SimplicioColin Gray alitu.comJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)Miguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)Kyle Fox GetRewardful.comProfitWellActiveCampaignProfitWell.comGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 ★

Big week. Justin was in New York and Jon found an office!Justin lost his voice.Jon doesn't work from home or coffee shops anymore.Jon found an office: "It’s inexpensive, but quiet, with nice people in a nice area. Inexpensive enough to where I won’t feel bad if I do want to work elsewhere once in a while."Justin's Spotify visit (very interesting).Laracon conference on Times Square (Justin was the MC and gave a talk)Met with a few customers:Jess & Jmac – The BaseCode PodcastConor – The All Things Auth PodcastCherie – Water & MusicJustin also met with his friend Nathan who now works at Happy Cog and went out with a mutual friend (Mike) who introduced him to someone who works for Amazon, and another fellow who does BizDev & Strategy for Sony Music Global.Jon: “This all would have exhausted me!” ;)★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell's podcast Protect the Hustle has a new season! Redash! To help you better understand what you can do with Redash, they produced a few video guides. These guides use SaaS metrics as the demo data, so it should feel close to home. Check them out here.Show notes:Laracon USJustin posted a few photos here.Micro optimizations (from the book Atomic Habits)Iron Maiden at Barclay's CenterVue.jsYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Robert SimplicioColin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 and Jon are starting to feel that stress.We start with an unscripted bit.Our backlog and todo list are still stressing us out.We want to improve the app, but we get stuck fixing bugs.Justin is going to be at Laracon, NYC.Should we fly less?★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell gives you free subscription metrics for your SaaS. Just plug in your billing system (Stripe, Zuora, Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly are all supported) and get free access to your MRR, churn, cohorts. Sign up for free at profitwell.com.Redash is is a BI tool for people who love SQL. Connect your database, query, visualize and share your data in minutes. Mention "Build your SaaS podcast" and get 50% off your first 3 months! Sign up at redash.ioShow notes:Brian Casel’s tweet: “Build a SaaS product”NYT: Flying is bad for the planetTweet: Mel Gregg on Spark CBC1% for the planetBasecamp's new online book: Shape UpBen Orenstein's tweet: "My new consulting engagement: you pay me $10,000 and I delete your project’s backlog while explaining that nothing of value has been lost."You can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 and Jon dive into the growing backlog of features, bugs and tasks, and talk about how they might better manage it as a two-person team. A big new milestone is reached!Jon had a bit of anxiety over the growing backlog in ClubhouseNew ideas were being thrown into an unscheduled list, but weren't yet actionable.Some ideas can be left alone for awhile and revisited to see if they're still worthwhile.Ben Orenstein wants to delete your entire backlog.6 week cycles like Basecamp does might help out - but what does that mean for a tiny team?We hit $20K in MRR in under a year!★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell gives you free subscription metrics for your SaaS. Just plug in your billing system (Stripe, Zuora, Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly are all supported) and get free access to your MRR, churn, cohorts. Sign up for free at profitwell.com.Redash is is a BI tool for people who love SQL. Connect your database, query, visualize and share your data in minutes. Mention "Build your SaaS podcast" and get 50% off your first 3 months! Sign up at redash.ioShow notes:Basecamp's new online book: Shape UpBen Orenstein's tweet: "My new consulting engagement: you pay me $10,000 and I delete your project’s backlog while explaining that nothing of value has been lost."You can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 ★

Now, Justin and Jon share are both focused full-time on Transistor. This week they discuss: Emotionally processing what it's like leaving a full-time job.What was it like working at the Cards Against Humanity office? What's it like now?Contextual zones: “I noticed that when I entered the library, I was already thinking about reading and writing.” - Kunal Shandilya.Why you need local and online community.What happens if one of us goes hiking in the woods, and there's an accident?★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell gives you free subscription metrics for your SaaS. Just plug in your billing system (Stripe, Zuora, Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly are all supported) and get free access to your MRR, churn, cohorts. Sign up for free at profitwell.com.Redash is is a BI tool for people who love SQL. Connect your database, query, visualize and share your data in minutes. Mention "Build your SaaS podcast" and get 50% off your first 3 months! Sign up at redash.ioShow notes:Article: How creating'context zones' could turn you into a productivity powerhouseArticle: Things I’ve quit doing at my deskTweet: How Manuel Frigerio pulls his ProfitWell data into Google sheetsDribble founder articleYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 had some personal news for Justin this week. This week they discuss:What does this mean for the product?What does this mean for us as a team?★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell gives you free subscription metrics for your SaaS. Just plug in your billing system (Stripe, Zuora, Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly are all supported) and get free access to your MRR, churn, cohorts. Sign up for free at profitwell.com.Redash is is a BI tool for people who love SQL. Connect your database, query, visualize and share your data in minutes. Mention "Build your SaaS podcast" and get 50% off your first 3 months! Sign up at redash.ioShow notes:Dribbble articleAndreas Schwabe - broadcast tipsSalt & Straw Portland"Change careers like Tarzan" by Derek SiversYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 away, so Justin is tackling these questions:"When you were early on and desperate, were you tempted to take investor money?""How do you position yourself in a crowded market? What's your marketing plan look like?""How do you prioritize feature development? Are new features coming from customer feedback, intuition, or some combination of both?""Are you planning on experimenting with paid acquisition channels?""How can I get a job at Transistor.fm?"★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell gives you free subscription metrics for your SaaS. Just plug in your billing system (Stripe, Zuora, Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly are all supported) and get free access to your MRR, churn, cohorts. Sign up for free at profitwell.com.Redash is is a BI tool for people who love SQL. Connect your database, query, visualize and share your data in minutes. Mention "Build your SaaS podcast" and get 50% off your first 3 months! Sign up at redash.ioShow notes:Got back from Podsummit in Calgary. Thanks Ernest!Live video from the podcast.Old episode: The opposite of bored moneyForecast your MRR growthjustinjackson.ca/bootstrapJustin's tweet asking for questions.You can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 talk about new developments with Transistor:We've taken over $100,000 in funding (from our customers!)We harken back to July of 2018 (right before our official launch), when Justin was stressed about money.★ Thanks to our sponsors:ProfitWell gives you free subscription metrics for your SaaS. Just plug in your billing system (Stripe, Zuora, Braintree, Chargebee, Recurly are all supported) and get free access to your MRR, churn, cohorts. Sign up for free at profitwell.com.Redash is is a BI tool for people who love SQL. Connect your database, query, visualize and share your data in minutes. Mention "Build your SaaS podcast" and get 50% off your first 3 months! Sign up at redash.ioShow notes:Old episode: The opposite of bored moneyJustin’s tweets on why we're considering switching to Statamic from WordPressArticle: How an Offer to Sell Wistia Inspired Us to Take On $17m in DebtPodcast: Reboot podcast interviews Wistia's foundersGoogle PageSpeed testSanityCheck by NickYou can reply to this podcast here:Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Leave a comment on CastBox, the podcast app for Android and iPhone.Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colin GrayJosh SmithIvan CurkovicBrian RheaMiguel PiedrafitaShane SmithAustin LovelessSimon Bennett Corey HainesMichael SitverPaul Jarvis and Jack EllisDan Buda danbuda.comDarby FreySamori AugustoDave YoungBrad from CanadaKevin MarkhamSammy SchuckertDan EricsonMike WalkerAdam DuVanderDave Giunta (JOOnta)ProfitWell.comRedash.ioGetRewardful.com Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Bill Condo (@mavrck) 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 ★