Episode 744 | Bluesky, TinySeed is Raising, YC Backs Competitors, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics
In episode 744, Rob Walling is joined by Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset to give their hot takes on some recent news. They cover the recent rise of Bluesky, kicking off a 4-figure bet between Tracy and Einar. Then they discuss TinySeed’s third fund, YC Combinator backing competitors, dealing with imposter syndrome, and finally government involvement in banning social media.
Topics we cover:
(1:49) – Will Bluesky survive and thrive?
(9:07) – The bet on Bluesky growth
(13:46) – TinySeed is raising a third fund
(17:25) – Y Combinator backs duplicates
(22:18) – Dealing with Imposter Syndrome
(27:46) – Australia's social media ban
Links from the Show:
The SaaS Launchpad – Start Free with “The DNA of a Great SaaS Idea”
Invest in TinySeed
Rob Walling (@robwalling.com) | Bluesky
TinySeed (@tinyseed.com) | Bluesky
Tracy Osborn (tracymakes) (@tracyosborn.com) | Bluesky
Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X
Y Combinator often backs startups that duplicate other YC companies, data shows
Procrastination and the Fear of Not Being 'Good Enough' by Swapnil Chauhan
Startup Founders, Do THIS to Beat Imposter Syndrome
Australia proposes 'world-leading' ban on social media for children under 16
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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Episode 727 | Gymdesk Sells for More than $32.5 million, Hiring Gets Easier, and More Hot Take Tuesday Topics
In episode 727, Rob Walling is joined by Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset to give their hot takes on some recent news. First they celebrate Gymdesk’s recent funding and evaluate what that means for TinySeed companies. Then, they weigh in on bootstrapper hiring, grappling with new challenges as MRR grows, and how to really move the needle in your business.
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Topics we cover:
2:19 – Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment
9:06 – Is it getting easier for bootstrappers to hire?
12:22 – Facing different challenges as MRR grows
19:37 – Identifying what really moves the needle
23:56 – Listen to those who have built businesses before you
Links from the Show:
Subscribe to the Startups For the Rest of Us Email List
TinySeed
The SaaS Playbook
Discretion Capital
Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | X
Einar Vollset (@einarvollset) | X
TinySeed (@tinyseedfund) | X
Gymdesk Announces a $32.5 Million Strategic Growth Investment from Five Elms Capital
Eran Galperin (@erangalperin) | X
Episode 697 | 7 Predictions for SaaS Bootstrappers in 2024
State of Independent SaaS Report
The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
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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Episode 553 | Stack Overflow and Moz Acquired, Quitting Instead of Giving Up Remote Work, and More Bootstrapper News
In Episode 553, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the latest bootstrapper news, including the recent Stack Overflow and Moz acquisitions, quitting instead of giving up remote work, and highlights from TinySeed 2020 Batch.
The topics we cover
[01:52] Intro
[03:45] Stack Overflow acquisition
[12:11] Moz acquisition
[16:33] Quitting instead of giving up remote work
[26:44] Highlights from TinySeed 2020
Links from the show
Episode 545 | The Value of Learning 80/20 Design Fundamentals
Episode 511 | Raising Prices & Re-writing Your Codebase
Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Working From Home
Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion
Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter
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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Episode 545 | The Value of Learning 80/20 Design Fundamentals
In Episode 545, Rob Walling chats with Tracy Osborn about the importance of learning design fundamentals for startup founders. They also discuss her new book and the pros/cons of self-publishing vs working with a publisher.
The topics we cover
[00:52] Intros
[02:00] Deciding to self publish vs going with a publisher
[11:11] Design fundamentals for a startup founder
[16:23] Training your design eye
[18:57] The #1 thing to do to become a better designer
[20:01] Prototypes: the process of sketching ideas
Links from the show
Hello Web Design
No Starch Press
The 90-Minute Guide to Building Marketing Funnels That Convert (Data Beats Opinion)
Hello Web App
Sounds True
Tracy's Savy Call breakdown
Balsamiq
Sketch
UX Pin
Tailwinds
Tracy Osborn (@tracymakes) | Twitter
If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.
Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.
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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Episode 540 | Bootstrapper News. Twitter Spaces, Indie.vc Closing, Shopify, and More
In this episode, Rob talks with Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset, about the recent news that's come out in the bootstrapper community. They talk about the Indie.vc shutdown, the new features coming out on Twitter, LinkedIn’s new gig marketplace, and more.
The topics we cover
[03:18] Twitter Spaces
[10:05] The Network Effect and Twitter Verification
[14:32] The Indie.vc shutdown
[24:20] Shopify removing the option to work directly with Stripe
[32:34] The new ‘Super Follow’ feature in Twitter
[35:43] Comparing Google Cloud and AWS onboarding
[40:04] The new LinkedIn Gig Marketplace
Links from the show
TinySeed
Tinyseed Thesis
Remail
Voxer
Shopify says remove Stripe billing or get booted from their app store
Substack
Indie.vc
Google Cloud vs AWS onboarding
If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.
Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.
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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Episode 521 | A Roundtable Discussion about a Potential Recession, Working from Home, Google Anti-trust, and More
Episode 521 is a roundtable episode where Rob brings on a couple of guests to talk through topics today that relate to bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startup founders.
Today, we have Tracy Osborn and Einar Vollset joining us, as we talk through a potential impending recession, the Google anti-trust suit, Dropbox moving to permanent work from home, as well as a handful of other topics.
The topics we cover
[04:03] What do the revenue trends look like in 6-7 months from now?
[13:36] Google anti-trust suit
[19:23] Dropbox remote offices
[27:29] SPACs and why it's so hard to go public in the US
[39:35] A warning about Glassdoor
Links from the show
The 99 Investor Problem
U.S. Accuses Google of Illegally Protecting Monopoly
Dropbox will let all employees work from home permanently as it turns its offices into WeWork-like 'collaborative spaces'
The TinySeed Investment Thesis
A Warning About Glassdoor
Tracy Osborn | Twitter
Einar Vollset | Twitter
If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by clicking the link and sharing what you learned.
Click here to share your number one takeaway from the episode.
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 | Stitcher
#029 – How to Win by Refusing to Quit with Tracy Osborn of Hello Web Design
Tracy Osborn once asked herself, "Should I learn how to code, or quit my startup?" You can guess which answer she chose, time and time again. Learn how relentless perseverance over time can help build a successful business.