It’s possible to build a multimillion dollar startup without venture capital. I know this, because I’ve done it myself and I’ve watched hundreds of other founders do the same. This podcast is all about the strategies and frameworks that can get you there too.
Welcome to Startups For the Rest of Us, a podcast that’s focused on helping developers, designers and entrepreneurs build life-changing businesses without begging venture capitalists for money. You’re in the right place if you’re a bootstrapped or mostly bootstrapped SaaS founder who wants to build and grow your company faster.
I’m your host, Rob Walling. I’m a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, I’ve written 4 books about starting companies, and I’ve invested in more than 150 startups.
For over 13 years, I’ve shown up here every Tuesday sharing my experience starting, growing, and mentoring startups, so you can avoid the mistakes others have made.
When I first got started, I realized that most of the startup advice I could find online was aimed at companies focused on billion dollar exits, or founders looking to build a slide deck instead of a real business. I was constantly frustrated that no one was providing stories, strategies and tactics for founders who just want to build a real product for real customers who pay them real money.
If you want to launch a startup, or grow your SaaS startup so it supports you full-time, OR you’re already making six or seven figures and want to grow your business faster, the stories, strategies, and tactics on this show will help you do just that.
Go ahead and subscribe and I’ll be in your ears next Tuesday.
Links from the Pod:
Rob Walling | Twitter
Startups For the Rest of Us | Twitter
Bonus Episode: The 2021 TinySeed Batch Announcement
TinySeed, MicroConf’s venture fund and SaaS accelerator, is launching their Fall 2021 accelerator batch this week.
📈 SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/microconf?sub_confirmation=1 #tinyseed
Join Rob Walling (co-founder of MicroConf and TinySeed) and Tracy Osborn (TinySeed’s Program Director) as they announce the 18 SaaS startups chosen out of hundreds of applications for the latest cohort of the year-long program.
TinySeed is a remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders, providing mentorship from world-class founders & SaaS experts, community with a batch of other ambitious and talented founders, and enough funding to help you grow faster (or quit your day job).
Get a first hand account of what it is like to be a member of TinySeed with Tony Chan, co-founder of CloudForecast Watch the interview → https://bit.ly/tinyseed-experience
Applications for our next accelerator batch and our NEW European cohort will open in January 2022.
→ Join our email list to be notified: https://tinyseed.com/apply
We find that founders do an immense amount of information gathering, and the process of becoming proficient in all areas of running a business — sales, onboarding, support, hiring, user experience, lead generation — takes valuable time away from growing the business. Our program helps SaaS founders scale their businesses faster by giving them the support, answers, and accountability they need, when they need it.
→ Learn more about our program: https://tinyseed.com/program
→ See our investment terms and other FAQs: https://tinyseed.com/faq
We are currently raising for our TinySeed Europe Fund, followed by TinySeed Asia next year.
→ Read our investment thesis: https://tinyseed.com/thesis
→ Apply to invest: https://tinyseed.com/invest
Bonus Episode: What Courtland Allen Has Learned Interviewing 155 Startup Founders
This bonus episode of Startup For The Rest Of Us is from a MicroConf On Air live stream in which Rob interviews Courtland Allen, founder of Indie Hackers, about interviewing 155 startup founders and what he learned from building a community from scratch. It was such a great conversation, I wanted to put it in this podcast feed, so more people can benefit from Courtland’s insight.
The finer points of the episode:
- 6:28 – Why B2C businesses are more attractive, but B2B may be more lucrative
- 11:30 – Competitive advantages that can’t be surmounted by the competition.
- 17:50 – How Courtland jumpstarted the Indie Hackers online community
- 22:46 – Why you can’t just rely on internal motivation to get your startup off the ground
- 25:36 – The common thread Courtland has seen in successful founders
- 30:00 – The truth about how hard you have to work when building a business
- 31:57 – Overcoming imposter syndrome when entering a new industry
Items mentioned in the episode:
