Make Lemonade

Today we're bringing you a special instalment of the Lemonhead series, getting to know our co-founder and CEO, JR Farr. We talk about how JR left college to pursue the "internet thing" before starting what would become the world's largest Wordpress marketplace, Mojo. In 2012, Mojo was acquired by Endurance (owns brands such as Bluehost and Hostgator) and JR went from founder to executive on a leadership team managing a $700m budget towards an IPO. After another 5 years in this role, JR started Weav, which ultimately fizzled out, but led to the conversations that started Lemon Squeezy.Timestamps 00:00 Intro00:24 James is back03:58 No Context Round04:58 JR's early years08:05 JR's life ambitions10:00 Getting into the internet and affiliate marketing12:38 Getting into Wordpress and starting Mojo Marketplace19:42 Launching Mojo Marketplace23:16 Roots in payment infrastructure26:01 Selling Mojo Marketplace36:04 Lessons from a 10 year period38:04 Why Lemon Squeezy is like Space Mountain39:52 Starting Weav41:54 How the idea for Lemon Squeezy came about45:51 Getting users in the early days of Lemon Squeezy48:28 Positioning52:43 Pricing55:33 JR in his spare timeAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Vercel, talks about partnering with Lemon Squeezy to build the world's fastest checkout. He discusses being inspired by Wordpress, the founding story of Vercel, pivotal moments in its growth, and future plans. The episode also touches on the evolution of Next.js, Vercel's vision for the future of the internet, and the impact of speed on e-commerce conversion rates.

Rob Hope, founder of One Page Love and host of the Yo! podcast, discusses topics like monetizing his website, partnering with Webflow, creating content, and investing in his podcast. He also talks about the challenges of being a full-time podcaster and the power of organic promotion.

Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, discusses scaling his media business to over $50k a month. Topics include revenue breakdown, structuring the creator membership, content production, advice for beginners, plans for 2024, work-life balance, personal growth, health and fitness investments, and shout outs to up-and-coming creators.

In this podcast, the hosts discuss their new series and their desire to make $100k as a creator. They brainstorm ideas and consider turning a previous course into a profitable business. They explore marketing strategies and monetization options for the course. They also discuss managing their workload and the possibility of hiring employees. The hosts share their plans for creating a course and pre-selling strategies.

Justin Jackson, co-founder of Transistor.fm, discusses the role of video in podcasting and whether it will overshadow audio podcasts. They also talk about the growth of podcasting, the concept of friction in audio podcast consumption, and the future of podcasting. Additionally, they reflect on their journey of building a successful business and discuss the impact of their company on their lives and team members.

The hosts reflect on Lemon Squeezy's growth in 2023 and discuss key events, including the launch of new features and the surprising success of niche products. They also share their aspirations for the podcast and discuss their dream creators. Overall, they reflect on the past year while looking forward to future growth.

Matt Paulson, founder and CEO of MarketBeat, shares his origin story, discusses growing MarketBeat to a $25m revenue, the impact of COVID on the business, and offers advice on starting a newsletter. He also talks about his involvement in the local startup community and shares how he spends his free time.

Today we’re joined by Rob Walling, an entrepreneur with his most notable exit being Drip in 2016. Rob also founded MicroConf, started TinySeed and is the host of the Startups for the Rest of Us podcast, which has over 690 episodes having started in 2010. He’s also written 4 books, Start Small Stay Small, Start Marketing the Day You Start Coding, The Entrepreneurs Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together and most recently, The SaaS Playbook.In this episode we discuss a myriad of topics in bootstrapping and business, including life after exits, why Rob feels compelled to write books, his most successful angel investment and if he would invest in Lemon Squeezy today.Timestamps00:00 Intro05:12 Selling Drip & Mojo14:11 How Rob splits his time17:55 Why Rob writes books22:21 Collaborating with a significant other25:31 What does Rob do for fun?28:27 How to make time for hobbies30:54 TinySeed40:20 Why Lemon Squeezy didn't raise funding44:06 Gumroad price rise49:03 Multiple projects vs focus54:38 Building a marketplace58:59 Rob's advice to JR about Lemon Squeezy01:02:22 Would Rob invest in Lemon Squeezy?01:02:58 Suggestions for Rob's 700th episodeAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

Jason Cohen, co-founder of WP Engine and a 2-time unicorn founder, shares his startup wisdom at all stages of growth. Topics covered include scaling, funding, WordPress growth, dealing with people challenges at scale, fitting writing into his schedule, and his thoughts on Lemon Squeezy's growth and fundraising. Cohen also discusses the future of WP Engine and gives advice on identifying growth opportunities and understanding the customer base.