Solspace Podcast

Mitchell and Matt Everson of Astuteo keep having the same conversation with the same person: the solo marketing director at a mid-size company who is somehow responsible for everything digital. The website, the campaigns, the ERP integration request that ended up on their desk because who else was going to handle it? That person has always been the bridge between business and digital. What's chang...

AI tools like Claude Code, v0, and Bolt are changing how websites get built. They're faster and cheaper than traditional development, which sounds perfect for marketing directors managing multiple web properties. But here's the problem: the speed you gain in development doesn't automatically translate into reliability in production. In this solo episode, Mitchell walks through six real production...

The hype around AI is relentless, but what can AI actually do for your website right now? In this solo episode, Mitchell breaks down the agentic AI and and explains how Solspace is already using these tools in practical, revenue-driving ways. Learn more about: What agentic AI is and why it matters Real use cases we’ve already deployed using Freeform A live demo where AI adjusts the site based on u...

In this episode of the Solspace Podcast, Mitchell and Kelsey dive into the major updates in Freeform 5.12, the latest release of our powerful form plugin for Craft CMS. From AI-powered spam protection using OpenAI and Gemini models to a new AI fieldtype that can summarize or rewrite content on submission, to rich visual Cards fields, URL parameter tracking, and a migration from Formie, this releas...

What happens when your website’s contact or lead gen form stops working, and you don’t even realize it? In this episode, Solspace founder Mitchell Kimbrough sits down with Head of Product Kelsey Martens to talk about Form Monitor, a new Freeform Pro feature designed to catch invisible form failures before they cost you money. You’ll hear how a single broken form cost one business owner thousands i...

Industrial brands often treat design as an afterthought, then wonder why prospects hesitate. In this episode, Solspace founder Mitchell Kimbrough sits down with Paul Kiesche, President of Aviate Creative, to break down branding for manufacturers and tech firms. Paul explains: Why branding is far more than a logo and how it shapes first impressions, employee pride, and sales momentum. How Norwalt u...

In this candid conversation, Solspace founder Mitchell Kimbrough talks to Director of Growth, Mel Connolly, about the fundamentals of marketing that often get overlooked when shiny new tactics come along. Drawing on real client stories and her own experience, Mel breaks down how to identify your target audience, craft messages that resonate, and create a consistent content plan, even if you find m...

In our latest podcast, Solspace founder Mitchell Kimbrough welcomes back Leslie Camacho, an EOS Implementer who helps creative agencies and professional service firms scale. Together, they explore the key traits, humility, discipline, resilience, and a blue-collar work ethic, that build lasting client partnerships. They discuss why open communication is the glue that binds relationships, how ambit...

In this episode, we chat with Brandon Kelly and Brad Bell from Pixel & Tonic about Craft Cloud and its potential to revolutionize web hosting. Learn how Craft Cloud simplifies infrastructure with built-in optimizations, handles scaling seamlessly, and eliminates the headaches of managing third-party services. Whether you’re a marketing director, IT leader, or developer, this conversation break...

In this solo episode, Mitchell shares how marketing directors often become the go-to problem-solvers for digital challenges far outside their job description. Drawing from real client stories, he breaks down the stages of digital maturity in organizations and Solspace's role in bridging gaps between DIY tools and complex, scalable systems. For actionable insights, visit our site to download the ac...

When a healthcare client’s website was unexpectedly taken offline by their previous developer, Solspace stepped in to restore it. In this solo episode, Mitchell Kimbrough shares the behind-the-scenes story of how they resolved the crisis and why businesses must prioritize web reliability. If you’ve ever been left in a lurch by a web developer, wondered how to navigate a website emergency, or how t...

In this episode, Solspace’s own John Henry Donovan shares his expertise on the importance of digital accessibility and inclusive design. He discusses key principles, challenges, and solutions for making websites more accessible to people with disabilities. Learn how businesses can create more inclusive online experiences and why accessibility is essential for everyone. Whether you're a developer,...

In this episode of the Solspace Podcast, Mitchell Kimbrough chats with Matt Everson from Astuteo. They talk about their experiences in the Craft CMS community and dive into the world of web development for industrial manufacturing. Matt shares how Astuteo focused on this niche market and found success since 2014-2015, inspired by Mike Michalowicz's "The Pumpkin Plan." The discussion covers the ups...

In this episode of the Solspace podcast, we welcome back Shawn Busse from Kinesis to discuss the concept of change in business. The conversation delves into recognizing the need for change within an organization, whether driven by external friction or a proactive vision for the future. We explore the challenges of convincing people to embrace change and the importance of fostering a culture that i...

In this podcast segment, Shawn Busse discusses the concept of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) and the need to adapt to a changing business landscape by making small bets and embracing experimentation. He points to examples like GE and Boeing to illustrate how traditional models are no longer reliable. Making small bets allows companies to explore new opportunities while mitig...

In LinkedIn Best Practices part two, featuring the brilliant Abby Kelsey, we delved deep into the art of engagement and the power of meaningful commenting in the digital sphere. From sparking conversations to building genuine connections, Abby shared invaluable strategies to elevate your online presence.

Abby will share her expertise on the crucial role of branding in B2B web development—helping streamline processes and enhancing client trust. Branding isn't just logos; it's about conveying trust and clarity in your product's value proposition.

In our web development work, we continue to encounter a lot of private equity activity in the industrial manufacturing sector. In this episode, I interview Thomas Davenport of Davenport Capital Management . Mr. Davenport generously answers my private equity 101 questions and helps us all see how things fit together.

Mitchell and John Henry from Solspace have a conversation with Nate and Bryan from the image and asset optimization web service imgix. We talk about how their service once saved our butts and how it can help businesses easily manage and deliver photos and video without sacrificing page load times or quality.

Mitchell and Scott attended the Industrial Marketing Summit in Austin, TX at the beginning of February. They discuss what they learned, specifically about the shift from Boomer owners and buyers to Millennial buyers and how that changes business needs on the web.

Gustavs Gūtmanis, Lead Developer of Products at Solspace, and Ivars Bariss, Director of Operations at Solspace, join me to discuss the idea that websites can make a gradual transition to a headless architecture. We start by discussing external search appliances like Algolia and Meilisearch. We talk about how these, by nature, are headless. We create an HTML / Javascript presentation layer and cons...

Gustavs Gūtmanis, Lead Developer of Products at Solspace, and Ivars Bariss, Director of Operations at Solspace, join me again to discuss the idea that websites can make a gradual transition to a headless architecture. At Solspace, we focus on making websites more and more reliable on a daily basis. We do this by looking for ways to reduce friction. This activity usually turns into money for our cl...

On this episode I am joined by Thomas Payet, the co-founder and COO of Meilisearch. From the Solspace side I am joined by David Estrada, the developer on the Solspace team with the most Meilisearch experience. Meilisearch is an open source API-based utility focused on excellent search speed and relevance of content within a given website. In this first episode of our two-part series with Thomas, w...

On this episode, I am joined again by Thomas Payet, the co-founder and COO of Meilisearch. From the Solspace side, I am joined by David Estrada, the developer on the Solspace team with the most Meilisearch experience. This episode builds on the previous Meilisearch episode by discussing use cases for Meilisearch in more depth. We discuss the power and usefulness of acted searching to allow users t...

This episode features Solspace’s Mitchell Kimbrough in conversation with longtime friend Leslie Camacho about EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System®), including why Mitchell has decided to implement it at Solspace. You may know Leslie for his leadership at EllisLab and Pixel & Tonic. Leslie has recently embraced a new mission as an EOS Implementer, helping businesses grow from small and sc...