Slow & Steady

Not sponsored, but Benedikt and Benedicte rave about Stripe a little. The Userlist team grew by one while Benedikt was on vacation. Benedicte gets a small POW! win.Conference Buddy — an app by Mirjam AulbachStream: Use a plugin to accept Stripe donations of any amount Stripe — making payments easy, NOT sponsored :)Smashing Magazine — for web designers and developersBenedikt took last week off but didn't unplug 100%. He moved hiring forward on the frontend developer role. The pipeline is filling up and he expects to wrap up soon. While he was out, and completing some projects around the house, the customer success role was filled. Benedicte fills Benedikt in on her newest streaming plans — ones that will cover authentication and privacy in the context of Mirjam's app, Conference Buddy. She celebrates a small win for POW! as a user inquires about yearly pricing. After they shower Stripe with praise, Benedicte gives Benedikt an update on holiday baking!

Brian is back! He returns from the Grand Canyon trip and reflects on his time spent while disconnected. Benedicte gives a progress update on her Gatsby work and her plans for streaming in the coming months.Queen Raae GitHub: gatsby-plugin-let-it-snowConference Buddy — an app by Mirjam AulbachStream: Use a plugin to accept Stripe donations of any amount semantic-release: Benedicte's "tech crush"Benedicte catches up with Brian after he returns from his trip to the Grand Canyon. She is feeling focused, hitting a good rhythm, and is cranking out code! She has a lot of excitement around the NPM package semantic-release this week and is headed in the right direction for her Gatsby-authority business. She shares her latest YouTube livestream plans as she wraps up season two of Gatsby Deep Dives with Queen Raae and the Nattermob Pirates.Without cell service or internet connectivity, Brian had time to reflect while having a blast backpacking the Grand Canyon. The headline? He might be ready for a break from bootstrapping. Certainly not a "forever" break, but perhaps some time for hobbies to be just that — hobbies. To be continued...

Benedikt and Benedicte pair up for another week without Brian. Benedikt continues to interview at Userlist which offers learning opportunities. Benedicte shares both a change in plans for the end of this year and a broad goal for 2022.Queen Raae GitHub: gatsby-plugin-let-it-snow"Let it Snow" in actionNow Hiring: Frontend Developer (Ember.js) at UserlistRewardful: affiliate & referral setup for SaaS companies using StripeBenedicte is feeling creative after working on a short, fun Gatsby plugin, "Let it Snow". On the topic of plugins, there has been a change in plans. After canceling the launch of the pay-what-you-want bootcamp last week, she plans to rework the bootcamp offerings in favor of creating Gatsby plugins. The new strategy is to offer these plugins and have additional paid, asynchronous coursework available for those who want to customize or dive deeper.Benedikt moves ahead with hiring at Userlist for the frontend developer position. Questions still remain about the process and he ponders the best way to structure a paid test project. After preparing the test project for interviews, he spent time on a rejuvenating task — improving the integration architecture. The Rewardful integration is scheduled to launch today!Finally, in a shared win of mutual accountability, Benedicte continues yoga and Benedikt continues walking.

With Brian away, Benedikt and Benedicte discuss the nuances of why hiring can be difficult. Benedikt shares how the search for open roles at Userlist is going. Benedicte is scheduling the remaining Gatsby bootcamps and is open to experimenting with offerings and formats in the future. The two discuss valuable aspects of different educational content formats. Finally, winter is coming and Benedikt is not particularly excited about it.Now Hiring: Customer Success Manager at UserlistNow Hiring: Frontend Developer (Ember.js) at UserlistDevelop and deploy a pay-what-you-want feature with StripeBREATH - A 30 Day Yoga JourneyBenedikt gives an update on hiring efforts at Userlist. The number of applications for the frontend developer position is well below the number of applications for the customer success position. Benedikt weighs waiting to hire someone who is an excellent fit versus hiring someone more quickly. Benedicte agrees that either way, it's important to find a personality that is willing to jump into the fold at a startup. If you are interested in this role, please apply or forward it to someone that might be.Benedicte has scheduled the second of three Gatsby mini bootcamps and is finalizing the schedule for the third. As discussed previously, there is room for experimentation. Specificity in the content is important for making the learning relevant but a few questions remain. Are takeaway coding examples the valuable piece? How about asynchronous content delivery? Besides Gatsby, she hopes to sneak in some coding on POW! soon.Winter is coming and Benedikt isn't thrilled. The two discuss some strategies for coping with less sunlight at higher latitudes — Vitamin D, sun lamps, and exercise. After a few days away from yoga, Benedicte is starting a new 30-day journey herself.

Brian starts his role at GitLab and continues to make progress on outsourcing development with JTBD.app. Benedikt recaps the email marketing feature launch and shares open roles at Userlist. Benedicte prepares for the Gatsby mini bootcamp kickoff, discusses pricing strategy, and wonders, "Don’t we all want a successful SaaS?"JTBD.appNow Hiring: Customer Success Manager at UserlistUserlist's Marketing Email featureBenedicte's Gatsby BootcampJonathan StarkBenedicte's POW!Brian's first day at GitLab was as expected — he started setting up and filled out HR paperwork. Learning about the remote-first culture was fascinating, though. On JTBD.app, onboarding development help is getting more exciting. He expects progress on feature improvements soon.Benedikt recaps the email marketing feature launch from last week at Userlist. He feels good about it but anticipates some time before seeing an impact beyond the initial marketing splash. Userlist is looking to hire a customer success manager and a front end web developer and Benedikt is finalizing the job post for the latter.Benedicte is preparing for the Gatsby mini bootcamp that launches this weekend! Between planning other topics, iterating on pricing, and building a community, there's a lot of work to be done. Ideally, the up-front effort could make for a rewarding long-term project. POW! is something that Benedicte wants to maintain on the side because... "Don’t we all want a successful SaaS?"

Matt Wensing joins Benedicte, Brian, and Benedikt to talk about Userlist's new marketing email feature. Brian enjoys vacation and finds development help. Benedicte launches her first bootcamp.Check out Userlist on Product HuntMatt on TwitterMatt's company, SummitUserlist's Marketing Email featureBenedicte's Gatsby Bootcamp

Big news this week as Brian announces that he's taking a full-time job. Why now and what does it mean for JTBD.app?Gatsby Func JamBenedicte’s SubmissionArt of Product with Penelope Phippen of StripeRob Walling's Stairstep Approach to BootstrappingHow Not to Stairstep

Brian Casel joins Benedicte, Brian, and Benedikt to talk about ZipMessage, selling businesses, hiring contractors to collaborate with, and how becoming a developer makes you worse at marketing. ZipMessageBrian’s Productize & Scale courseBrian’s WebsiteAudienceOpsFounderGigs

Benedicte got nominated for The Jammies Awards. Brian is feeling a bit overwhelmed by too many things on his plate. Benedikt realized why they are procrastinating a bit on the new marketing feature. Vote for Benedicte at The Jammies AwardspgMustardThe Gatsby FuncJam ChallengeTilde

Benedikt has an epiphany, Benedicte is back in POW!, and Brian is all over the place.Peak PerformanceSprint Hard, Rest Hard