Growth Stage by FastSpring

In order to grow your app in an increasingly competitive landscape, you'll need to master a variety of strategies to stand out and maximize your chances of success. One of the key ways to maximize your chances of success is to take advantage of web2app to increase your profitability and the conversion rates of your UA ad campaigns. But how do you go about launching web2app in a way that won't upen...

Most SaaS founders have sent cold emails, but between AI-generated noise, spam filters, and domain reputation pitfalls, getting a reply in 2026 is harder than ever. How can digital product companies build outreach that actually reaches the inbox, earns a response, and scales without burning their domain in the process? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Kseniia Skobelska, Growth Market...

At this point, agentic development likely plays some role within your engineering team, but you may be seeing uneven adoption, effectiveness, and coverage leading to a chaotic experience for your team. How can digital product companies leverage agentic engineering to move faster without tearing their teams and technology apart? In this episode of Growth Stage we interview Chris Bunk the CPTO of Fa...

Consumer subscription apps are one of the most compelling business models out there — low overhead, high margins, and global distribution right out of the box. But even the best apps lose more than half their subscribers after year one. So what separates the ones that thrive from the ones that stall? In this episode of Growth Stage, we speak with Phil Carter, founder and CEO of Elemental Growth an...

One of the fastest ways to grow your business is to expand globally especially in emerging markets like India, Brazil, and others, but how do you successfully monetize in emerging markets while avoiding risk and burdensome compliance requirements for you and your team? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Sudipto Manna and Lauren Steyn of FastSpring about their thoughts on how to approach...

What will define gaming in 2026 — and what did the industry miss coming in? Bill Grosso has been making bold annual predictions about the gaming industry for years, with a track record to back it up. Now, a few months into the year, it's the perfect time to pressure-test those calls with the benefit of hindsight. In this episode of Growth Stage, host Chip Thurston interviews Bill Grosso, CEO of Ga...

Are you wondering what it takes to deliver an exceptional experience for your players when it comes to payments and D2C, but don't know where to start? In this episode, we interview payments veteran Lindsay Walker about her thoughts around what it takes to build a global payment offering that players will love. Lindsay shares her thoughts on what good looks like, what really matters when it comes...

With the rise of in-game steering in the US, many publishers are left wondering: What actually works, and what is even allowed? While most studios keep their steering strategies close to their chest, there’s a massive opportunity for those who can navigate the "crawl, walk, run" approach to D2C. If you’ve been waiting for a peek behind the curtain of real-world implementation, this episode is for...

You didn’t build a game studio to become an expert in global tax law. But as more publishers move from marketplaces to direct-to-consumer (D2C) web shops, the burden of tax compliance shifts from Apple and Google directly to you. In this episode, we sit down with Rachel Harding, Senior Director of Tax at FastSpring, to demystify the complex world of digital goods taxation. Rachel breaks down exact...

Thanks to technologies like WebGL, mobile UA teams now have powerful tools for building incredibly interactive and playable ads that take what is possible to an entirely new level. While many of us have embraced this trend, there still remains one huge problem. TIME. Producing playable/interactive ads can bring our creative teams to their knees while our best ideas get stuck in backlog jail. Yuck!...

There are few moments in an industry's history where a trend or emerging technology introduces a step function that unlocks an entirely new level of growth. With the rise of D2C and other web based experiences, game publishers are experiencing a rare opportunity to increase profits and establish better long term relationships with players. But how can an industry often reliant on gatekeepers and w...

If you've recently launched a web store to take advantage of new steering rules on iOS in the US or even if you're an old pro at web store monetization, you may be wondering what is the best way to price and package my in-game items or subscriptions on my web store vs. what I offer in-game through app stores. In this episode of Growth Stage we interview Chip Thurston, Head of Gaming at FastSpring...

Conversation with Kickbox Director of Operations Hank Hoffmeier about the science of email marketing. Email marketing is often hailed as the highest-ROI channel — especially for SaaS and digital product companies. But what happens when your emails don’t even make it to the inbox? In this episode of Growth Stage, we speak with Hank Hoffmeier, email deliverability evangelist at Kickbox, about how au...

In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview payments industry legend and VP of Payments at FastSpring, Jeremy Waxman about his thoughts on what the most common payment stack attacks are, why bad actors choose those particular types of attacks, and what you can do to make your payment stack more secure regardless of who your payment provider is. With 25+ years of experience spanning Comcast, Fise...

Building a lasting business isn’t easy.  Knowing what really makes a company succeed long term can be even harder. That’s why it can be helpful to learn from companies that have stood the test of time. In this episode of Growth Stage, we celebrate FastSpring’s 20th anniversary with insights from its first CEO, Dan Engel, and current CEO, David Nachman. They share: What has helped FastSpring thrive...

Conversation with Equalize Digital CEO Amber Hinds about making the web more accessible for people with disabilities. Amber Hinds is the founder and CEO of Equalize Digital, a mission-driven agency focused on digital accessibility. As the creator of the Accessibility Checker plugin for WordPress and lead organizer of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup, Amber is at the forefront of helping companie...

Conversation with brandiD’s Founder and CEO Rachel Gogos about how SaaS leaders can build personal brands that drive connection, credibility, and growth. Your personal brand is more than a polished LinkedIn profile — it’s how you stand out, connect with customers, and build long-term credibility as a founder or executive. But how do you create an authentic personal brand that actually works? In th...

Conversation with Nexus CEO Justin Sacks introducing the FastSpring and Nexus web shop integration. If you're looking for one of the fastest ways to launch your D2C channel, you may be interested in hearing more about the incredibly easy-to-implement solution offered through a partnership with D2C payment platform FastSpring and creator program in a box provider Nexus. In this episode of Growth St...

Conversation with oeksound CEO Hannes Andersson about taking an audio plugins business global. When the first oeksound plugin, Soothe, was created in 2016, creator Olli Keskinen and his friend Hannes Andersson were studying music technology to become recording engineers. And as Hannes puts it, they weren’t in the plugin industry or experienced with software ecommerce when Olli’s plugin quickly bec...

Conversation with Here’s Waldo Recruiting’s Founder and CEO Lizzie Mintus about how to compete with large brands to recruit the best talent. If you're running a smaller digital business, you may find it challenging to hire great talent. Larger technology companies can pay more, offer more benefits, and provide a more marketable brand on a candidate's resume. So how are smaller companies supposed t...

Conversation with Flippa CEO Blake Hutchison about Flippa and selling a SaaS or digital product business. If you own a SaaS or other digital product business — such as a Slack plugin, Chrome extension, online publishing business, mobile app, or even a blog — and you’re looking to exit, you may have a lot of questions about how best to go about it. In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Flip...

Conversation with Nexus CEO Justin Sacks about earning 50% or more of your game’s revenue via D2C sales. With changes to legislation in the EU and lawsuits in the U.S., the future of monetizing your game direct to consumer looks brighter than ever. That said, you might be wondering what strategies work within the confines of today's rules and if it's even possible to earn 50% or more of your game'...

Conversation with FastSpring Product Manager Sudipto Manna about using targeted payment methods to achieve global growth. As you work to expand your SaaS, software, mobile games, or other digital product business worldwide, having the right payment methods available to global customers is key to ensuring they all feel comfortable purchasing. But just knowing which payment methods you need to offer...

Conversation with FastSpring Senior Account Executive Jay Jia about expanding a digital goods company in Asia. If your business is based in the APAC region and you’re focused on expanding into new areas, there are a lot of common challenges to face and questions to ask about the best way to do that.  On this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Jay Jia, FastSpring Senior Account Executive, about...

Conversation with Sr. Product Marketing Manager Braden Steel of FastSpring. Is your product marketing team struggling to coordinate marketing resources to support an endless stream of product launches, with vague release dates and a chorus of product managers demanding tons of marketing attention for each release? What if there were a better way? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Brade...