Build Your SaaS

Justin gets interviewed by Harry Duran on the Podcast Junkies show, and answers questions about: Is podcasting really having it's moment now? Is now a good time to invest in the podcasting industry? How is Transistor going to be different than other competitors? Who should be starting podcasts right now? Can anyone be a podcaster? Is podcasting a "mindful technology?" ★ Thanks to our two sponsors:...

In this episode Jon talks about why he decided to partner with Justin (even though he'd already built the product). ★ Thanks to our two sponsors: Alitu.com : Alitu removes all the tech headaches associated with producing your podcast. They take care of processing, editing & publishing your podcast. Go to Alitu.com and check out their video demo. Podcastinsights.com : If you want to get into po...

How did you split equity in Transistor? How do I start a podcast? How do you say Adam's name? ★ Thanks to our sponsor: podcastinsights.com If you want to get into podcasting, check out Podcast Insights . They’re a great resource for folks who want to start and grow a podcast. Show notes: Episode 2: How to find a cofounder Place to buy a startup: Flippa and Empire Flippers Justin’s article: How to...

Why do you want to start a podcast? Grow your business:  Get more clients – Nate TechNest Real Estate Brand / PR – Drift Seeking Wisdom Grow your audience: Matt and Alex with Supercomputer Get ad sponsorships: you'll need a really big audience for this (30,000+ downloads per episode) Patreon: you'll need a fairly large audience (Taylor Jackson has 160,000 YouTube subscribers) Sell your own product...

Jon and Justin respond to the new funding options available for bootstrappers, mainly Earnest Capital. The GP, Tyler Tringas, told us what types of companies he's looking to invest in: Organic customer acquisition channels Low levels of structural churn (ready to stay customers for a long period of time) Founder is a good fit Product launched and has revenue In a space that Tyler feels comfortable...

Tyler Tringas recently announced Earnest Capital ; a new way for bootstrappers to raise money for their startups.  Should Jon and Justin consider this type of funding for Transistor? What do you think? Leave a comment on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on CastBox , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on Tung.fm Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @tr...

How much does it cost to run a SaaS in 2018? We take a look at our bootstrap expenses. Every business accrues monthly expenses. The danger? Business owners can get in the habit of spending money, believing that "you gotta spend money to make money." Transistor's expenses Start up: Logo and branding: $2,500  Stripe Atlas: $500 Legal: $366.45   Monthly expenses: Editing: $320 / month AWS: $300 / mon...

If you used computers in the 80s and 90s you're going to love this episode. Apple IIe in the school computer lab The original Macintosh "I wanted an Amiga so bad!" The BBS scene: Wildcat, Roboboard/FX, being a SySop Compuserve and AOL Tandy 1000, 386, 486, building your own Pentium Fave games: Commander Keen, King’s Quest, Wolfenstein, Doom, Duke Nukem, Raptor, Apogee Games Our first websites: hig...

Here we are at episode 30! Just found this old 2012 interview with the founder of MailChimp, before they became a $4.2 billion company. This quotes is awesome: Back in 2001, we had multiple customers who needed help sending their email newsletters. They were using really big, expensive, bloated software. We had some “scrap code” lying around, so we modified the code and turned it into an email new...

After one failed attempt, we're back with a new episode. Sorry it's late! "We, as the customer, are paying people who make apps so that their good work continues." Responses from last week's episode: "What should our one main metric be for our SaaS?" Adam: “Don’t focus on MRR. That’s a cop out. Focus on increasing downloads.” Daniel: “Justin should get out and sell like crazy.” Colin and others sa...

What do you think? Leave a comment on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on CastBox , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. Leave a comment on Tung.fm Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: mail@transistor.fm Create your own podcast at transistor.fm Show notes: Startups for the Rest of Us – EP260 “The one metric that matters” Nathan Barry – Solvin...

Jon and Justin are back from Portland and the XOXO festival. In the last few weeks we've had a chance to interact with many of our customers in-person: Nate Smoyer – "I’ve been using the podcast as a prospecting tool. Signed one dreams client two weeks ago. Interviewed with one yesterday. Got invited to lead a panel and live podcast for an industry event." Kyle Marshall – Kyle's creating multiple...

What does "bootstrapping" mean really? For most folks, bootstrapping means self-funding your business from revenues. It means not taking Venture Capital, not taking Angel funding. It's a little bit of a religion and like so many religions different people have different definitions of what it takes to "fit in." Some people say you can't even take money from friends and family. If you take any outs...

Nick Quah shared this in his recent newsletter , commenting about podcasts: [I have] this feeling that everybody’s drilling for oil in the same spot because some other guy found oil there already. Nick thinks podcasters have two options: Build something that does the same thing for the same audience, but do it better. If this is the case, he says, “you better bring it.” Or, “identify and pursue a...

SaaS conversation rate cheatsheet: Credit card upfront: Visitor to trial: 0.75% - 1% Trial to paid: 40% - 60% No credit card upfront: Visitor to trial: 5%+ Trial to paid: 8% - 20% Transistor's conversion rates since launch: Total traffic since launch: 40,162 unique pageviews, 11,614 visitors Total new trials since launch: 32 (out of 49 active trials total) Conversion %(visitor to trial): 0.3% (sho...

What do you think? 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.fm Create your own podcast at transistor.fm   Show notes: Cards Against Humanity Laracon Chicago ( photos here ) Photos from Transistor's launch week The new Transistor w...

In 2013, I interviewed Jason Calacanis , the angel investor. One of the things I asked him: "Why do venture capital investors take these big risks with their money?"  " There's a lot of money in the world. There are trillions of dollars just sitting around, and people are bored. The money is bored! Money wants to burn! Money does not want to sit in a safe." Uh. What an interesting idea: "the money...

Three tweets Tuesday Justin Kan :  "B2C is a gamble while B2B is (more) within your control." Stephanie Hulburt :  "We have a philosophy of “no hard sells” and it has served us well. If someone’s not convinced we move on; we don’t hang on trying to convince one person. It’s tempting to defend yourself, but not good for business." Naval on making decisions: "If you can’t decide, the answer is no. I...

How to build anticipation for your product launch Have a mailing list! Email them consistently during development. The week of launch you should send the following emails: Pre-launch announcement: "We're launching in a week!" Day before announcement: "The launch is tomorrow. Here's how much it will cost." Launch day email: "We're launched! Sign up here" Day after email: "You've still got time to s...

Jon and Justin are still moving forward with Transistor. We're planning to launch in July. But we're being realistic: this could be a slow-growing business. The good news? We're both okay with that. We talked through different funding scenarios – VCs, fund-strapping, bootstrapping – and realized what really matters is building something meaningful with people we like. In the meantime, Justin is ex...

Show notes Justin’s Instagram TV episode MegaMaker.co Indie VC Canada’s Startup Visa Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other folks find the show! Thanks to our monthly supporter...

Show notes Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please review us in iTunes – it helps other folks find the show! Thanks to our monthly supporters Rewardful.com Mitchell Davis from sixsides.co Bill Condo (@mavrck) Ward...

Show notes This is the recording from the Art of Product Podcast . Full episode will be there! Ben Orenstein on Twitter Derrick Reimer on Twitter Derrick's new app: level.app Transistor.fm Transistor.fm on Instagram Transistor.fm on Twitter Jon Buda is back on Twitter: @jonbuda Justin Jackson on Twitter here: @mijustin Give us some love on Breaker , the podcast app for Android and iPhone. ★ Please...

Jon and Justin are probably 1-2 months away from the launch of Transistor.fm . That means we need to figure out pricing. “In your early stage two things are essential: your customer focus, and your value metric. If you can nail these two things (even if you get everything else wrong) you’re typically fine." – Patrick Campbell We've both worked in SaaS before, but we're trying to not pretend we kno...

Today's show is not a full episode! Jon and I have been busy with our day jobs, plus Memorial Day, and didn't have time to record a show. But, to be honest, this pricing discussion isn't something we can solve in a 30-minute conversation. We've realized it's going to require more research. We need to talk to folks who know more than us. So that's what we've been doing. This week, I have a call boo...