Life on Mars - A podcast from MarsBased

With our special guest, Khash Sajadi, the founder and CEO of Cloud 66, we're unlocking the story of a technology that transformed the world of software deployment. Imagine a world where developers are freed from the drudgery of repetitive tasks. Cloud 66 began as a solution to that exact problem, and Khash takes us on a journey from the early days of the company, through the evolution of its technology stack, to its present success.We embrace the nitty-gritty details of technology, discussing everything from the revival of Rails-based startups to the pros and cons of microservices and monoliths. What are the implications of measuring technical debt as a key performance indicator? How does the availability of talent influence our choices in technology? Khash provides intriguing insights into these questions and more. Not just that, we delve into the emergence of Go as a popular programming language and the impact of containerization and Kubernetes on the industry.But it's not all tech-specs and jargon. Khash regales us with the humorous story of how a small mistake led to him winning the 'Donkey of the Week' award at his company. To top it off, we tackle the often overlooked complexities of pricing for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, underscoring the importance of predictability and feature distinction. So, buckle up for a roller coaster ride through the highs and lows, the successes and mistakes, the serious and the fun facets of the software industry.Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

Ever wondered how a tech company rides the tumultuous waves of an industry in flux? Journey with us, as Àlex, founder of MarsBased, shares his company's evolution in managing a surge from one to two contracts a year to a whopping 10 short-term contracts. Get an inside look at the challenges, triumphs, and the newfound dynamism this pivot has injected into the company operations.Unsure about the effects of the pandemic on tech prices? Listen up as we dig deep into the wider industry impact, discussing how businesses right from startups to corporates have been grappling with business adaptability. Hear out Àlex's insightful reflection on the reduced competition's influence on project pricing and the ripple effect it has had on businesses. Get ready for a raw, real, and revealing chat about the trials, tribulations, and tenacity of the tech industry in these uncertain times. Buckle up, it's going to be an enlightening ride.Totally generated with AI, all of the above.Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

In this episode, our good friend in and out of business, Josh Feldberg, interviews Àlex to discuss many topics for a good hour and a half.Two friends discussing business, where the podcast host, Àlex, becomes the interviewee in a long, free-flowing and casual conversation across all topics, ranging from usage of social media and discussing politics there, to considering selling the business, passing through having side projects like a punk rock band and doing angel investing, and much more.Josh, we know you won't read this, but if you do, market the sh*t out of this episode to help our podcast grow further with your marketing wizard skills!Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

The story of MarsBased can't be told without a city in particular: San Francisco.Even though MarsBased started up in Barcelona, where the three co-founders are from and where most of the events pre-incorporation happened, San Francisco played a pivotal role.In late 2013, Àlex quit his corporate job and left for a three month trip to SF to soak up as much technology, innovation and entrepreneurship as possible, and that's also where, among other things, Àlex found the first client for the company. That first client motivated us to incorporate the company and sped up the process of making MarsBased a reality.Our CEO, Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit, explains why does he go every year to San Francisco and how he's built a brand and a network there throughout the years, from 2013 to 2023, through business development, friendship and lots of burritos.Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

We hosted Job van der Voort, CEO @ Remote, to discuss the status of remote work (obviously) but also derivates of this: employee benefits, async work, leadership, our day-to-day as CEOs of tech companies, services vs product and more.Prior to founding Remote, Job served as the VP of Product at Gitlab, one of our reference companies when it comes to remote work, and now he's scaled his own venture to over 1000 employees worldwide to lead by example. Remote allows you to manage your HR needs for your remote team, from onboarding, to compliance and payroll, passing through employee benefits and much more!For the first time in the history of this podcast, Àlex gets downright outclassed by Job's professional background, with LEGOs, neon lights and more! Check it out!Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

We have talked a lot about no-code back in the day, and far from being the technology that would render developers obsolete and take our jobs, it's become somewhat of a complement for quick experiments and lightweight MVPs.Now, in light of the recent happenings with AI, we're sort of seeing the same narrative around AI replacing developers and taking our jobs and eventually destroying life on Earth as we know it... but is it real this time?We discuss AI and no-code with Toby Oliver, CEO at Bravo Studio, a no-code tool that turns your Figma designs into apps. Toby was formerly the CTO at Typeform, so he knows a lot about what can be built with no-code or low-code.A more technical episode than what we've been used to lately, but that's good for a change! Enjoy!Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

One of the downsides of running an agency, or a services-based company per se, is that you don't get media coverage. Only the biggest ones get some coverage but for us, small agencies, it's nearly impossible: we don't do B2C, we don't have products consumed by large chunks of population, most of our work is behind NDAs and also we don't raise funds.The reality is that agencies are largely profitable and enjoyable businesses to run, even more so if you focus on value not on scale. Hence, we invited Jamon Holmgren (CTO and co-founder of Infinite Red) to jam on running a boutique agency like theirs.We riff for about an hour, discussing NDAs, how to run boutique agencies, team crafting, React Native, lifestyle businesses and much more.Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

A couple of weeks ago, shit hit the fan. A bank run on Silicon Valley Bank had to be intervened because hundreds of companies pulled their funds out of this popular bank.The US 16th largest bank, very popular among tech companies and startups, had to be sold because it became insolvent due to a series of bad decisions and their accumulated derivates.We bring in our good friend Victor Horcasitas, CEO at Metropolitan Magazine and President of the American Society of Barcelona, to discuss the happenings and their consequences: how it all happened, what kind of regulations are in place, the decisions of former administrations that might've had an impact in this particular situation, predictions of the future, how to diversify banking risk for companies, and much more.Grab a very cold clara and join us in this friendly conversation with Victor and Àlex!Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

We're excited to share this episode with you in which we talk to Kat O'Brien (Chief Partnerships Officer at ClimateTrade) about all things partnerships.Kat has been operating in the partnerships and marketing sector of both startups and corporates in the last years - as a matter of fact, we met when she was CMO at Polaroo, a former client of MarsBased - and, to be honest, we have never discussed this topic on this podcast.We've had our share of failed partnerships over the years because, quite frankly, we suck at partnerships. If we had met Kat before, we wouldn't have been so terrible at partnering with other companies.We discuss KPIs for the partnerships, paid vs. free partnerships, who should spearhead these initiatives, reporting, selling to enterprise, finding the right key people to sign contracts... and more!Support the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

We bring in one of our references in UI/UX, Fabio Basile, to discuss freelancing in this sector. About time we discussed building a portfolio (with all the restrictions we can find as an agency: unlaunched projects, NDAs, etc.), choosing the right freelancer/agency for your project, red flags in clients AND in providers and much more.Of course, we also discussed AI, because if not, we wouldn't be in 2023.Join us in this very interesting conversation, with BLUNT opinions and "ahà" moments between two non-native English speakers who could've recorded this in Italian, but it would've been awkward for most of our audience. #customerfirstSupport the show🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/