In episode 733, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers several topics. In this episode he differentiates between good and bad distractions, weaknesses versus blind spots, and shares personal experiences of struggle. He concludes with actionable advice – uncover the blind spots, then launch, iterate, and take feedback.

• 2:09 – Not all distractions are bad
• 5:42 – The worst distractions masquerade as productivity
• 9:48 – Weaknesses versus blind spots
• 16:41 – Everybody struggles
• 24:40 – Launch, iterate, and take feedback

• The SaaS Launchpad
• The SaaS Playbook
• MicroConf Connect
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
• Why Startup Founders Should Stop Reading Business Books by Rob Walling
• Traction by Gabriel Weinberg, Justin Mares
• Episode 725 | SEO in the Age of AI, Freemium, When Brand Becomes Important, and More Advanced Listener Questions (with Ruben Gamez)
• Launch. A Startup Documentary.

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

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In episode 732, Rob Walling interviews Jeff, a mostly anonymous and retired founder, about his mostly bootstrapped business and subsequent exits. Jeff shares how he started the company in 2003 and how he persevered in the early, lonely years to achieve traction in the business. They also discuss finding fulfillment after a huge, life-changing exit.

• 2:17 – Jeff, the retired SaaS founder you haven’t heard of
• 3:32 – Refreshing the bank balance after multiple exits
• 5:26 – ARR multiples across several exits
• 8:11 – “Accidentally” SaaS, growing the business in the early days
• 11:35 – Getting through the toughest moments in the journey
• 16:31 – Why did the business work?
• 20:14 – “Short term generous, long term greedy”
• 24:32 – Staying busy after an exit
• 32:09 – Giving back to founders

• Purchase The SaaS Launchpad before September 30th to get access to a live Q&A with Rob
• TinySeed
• Retired Founder (@RetiredFounder) | X
• Contact Retired Founder
• Beyond The Finish Line

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 731, join Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer as they tackle some more advanced listener questions. They discuss delegation and giving up areas of control as a founder, including examples from their time together at Drip. Derrick describes how he approaches partnering with other SaaS businesses and why planning a full quarter ahead doesn’t work for many bootstrapped founders.

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• 1:17 – Delegating as a perfectionist
• 7:19 – Learning to hire those that are better than you in some domains
• 14:50 – Risk vs. certainty
• 19:01 – Finding specialized marketing roles vs. a generalist
• 24:04 – Managing partnerships with other SaaS products
• 31:17 – Reaching out about partnerships
• 32:46 – Quarterly planning for your SaaS
• 34:20 – Planning in smaller time blocks
• 40:58 – Quizzing developers’ on their knowledge

• Purchase The SaaS Launchpad
• TinySeed
• The SaaS Playbook
• MicroConf YouTube Channel
• Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X
• SavvyCal
• Finding Fulfillment by Jason Cohen
• Shape Up

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify