A panel discussion on 37signals' first ONCE product, the launch of Campfire ("pay for it once, install it, and run it on your own server"). Ian Landsman, Tyler Tringas, and Justin Jackson share what they expected to happen before the launch, what did happen, and what it means for indie hackers and bootstrappers who want to launch SaaS companies. Is this the end of SaaS? Links: Once landing page Campfire sales page DHH's tweet: "ONCE/Campfire hasn't even been for sale for a week, but we've already sold more than quarter of a million dollars." Tyler Tringas's video Timestamps: (00:00:00) - "I ..read more

Fast Company called Acquired "the #1 tech podcast sensation." I've been a huge fan of the show for years. So, I was surprised when they contacted me and wanted to switch to Transistor for podcast hosting! Since switching, they've had a breakout year. Their clips started showing up everywhere on my social media feed; they had chart-topping episodes on Nintendo, Nike, and Costco, and they interviewed the CEOs of NVIDIA, Uber, and Charlie Munger.  And this was the year that Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal (the co-hosts) both went full-time on the podcast. Podcasting is now their job. With al ..read more

The whole team is on the show! Jon, Helen, Jason, Josh, and Justin are on the mics to discuss our recent team retreat to Nashville, Tennessee. If you're wondering what a retreat looks like for a remote team, you'll get a lot out of this episode. We also reveal some of our exploits in Music City: "Going to a Tiki Bar is usually a mistake." Highlights (00:10) - Welcome (01:15) - Highlights of our retreat in Nashville (13:00) - It's not easy to get everyone together (20:31) - Our schedule for the retreat (26:42) - Electrolytes are a good idea (32:08) - Things to improve or tips for other teams ..read more

Justin catches up with his old internet friend Paul Jarvis. Today, Paul co-founded Fathom Analytics with Jack Ellis: a simple alternative to Google Analytics. Paul is also the author of the book "Company of One," which has influenced a whole generation of indie entrepreneurs (and has been reviewed by Cal Newport, Chris Guillebeau, Ben Chestnut, Tiago Forte, and more). Previously, Justin and Paul did a weekly mastermind, where they supported and encouraged each other around our indie businesses. They decided to do a catch-up call and recorded it so you could listen in. ? Highlights: (00:10 ..read more

Tim reached out after the Aaron Francis episode: "I wanted to pitch you on the idea of coming on the podcast and sharing my journey of building side projects for the last decade while raising a family. I can also share the guardrails I put in place before finally going full-time on T.LY." Highlights: (00:12) - Welcome (01:24) - Who is Tim Leland? (03:31) - What guardrails did you put in place? (06:35) - What's the sales funnel? (08:24) - Family as a motivator (16:32) - How would you describe your effort during this process? (20:17) - What about family boundaries? (23:36) - How do you manage y ..read more

In this podcast episode, Michele Hansen (Geocodio) gives us an update on Section 174 and provides her take on "bootstrapping with kids." Michele explains you can be a part of the Small Software Business Alliance, and fight Section 174. If you're in the USA, please contact Congress! In the second half of the episode, Justin and Michele talk about the challenges of balancing starting a business while you have young kids. For more on this topic, check out the last episode with Aaron Francis. For more context on Section 174, check out our previous episode with Michele. (00:12) - Welcome (01:44 ..read more

In this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is well-positioned to talk about this because he has twins and is also bootstrapping Hammerstone with his co-founder Colleen. The whole conversation is a nuanced take on the topic and full of important insights, especially on: the risks involved (especially if you're not working a full-time job) the kind of foundation (mentally, financially, emotionally, relationally) you n ..read more

Michele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio) is raising the alarm about Section 174. This legislation could dramatically increase your tax bill this year if you're a small software company in the USA. Michele is organizing a response through the Small Software Business Alliance. ? ACT NOW: Sign up for Michele's list US citizens: tweet and call your Senators today. They need to know that this is a small business issue and that small businesses in their state are hurt by Section 174. Share the ssballiance.org URL with your founder friends. In this episode: (01:37) - What is section 174? (04:42 ..read more

Jon's back from his first real vacation in years. In this episode, we discuss how we've been removing inactive accounts on Transistor, SVB, Section 174, Revin is shutting down their Merchant of Record service, SaaS sales tax compliance: (00:37) - Jon in vacation mode (02:35) - Kicking off inactive accounts (04:35) - Silicon Valley Bank (06:11) - What is Mercury bank? (13:21) - Section 174 in the USA (19:24) - Sales tax compliance update (26:15) - What could we do? (32:32) - Patreon integration update (35:16) - MyPodStudios (36:52) - Patreon Thanks Links: Matt Levin's excellent summary of t ..read more

"I don't get it: if that money is for the government, how come the pizza place put it in their cash register?!?" (Jon is on vacation - our next real episode is coming soon!) Listen to our past episodes on the headache that is SaaS sales tax compliance: Part 1 Part 2 Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Greg Park Mitchell Davis from RecruitKit.com.au Marcel Fahle, wearebold.af Oleg Kulyk Ethan Gunderson Anton Zorin from ProdCamp.com Bill Condo (@mavrck) Alex Payne Ward from MemberSpace.com Russell Brown from Photivo.com Evandro Sasse Austin Loveless Michael Sitver Fathom Analytics ..read more