Rob Walling

And so what I would do these days, I would just get off social media. I wouldn't try to hire someone for it. I wouldn't use it as a marketing approach for now. I would focus on blocking and tackling on SEO, on content, on sales. on real inbound marketing, on integration marketing, on attending live events, on going on podcasts, on talking to my customers.

There's so many other things that I would be doing to not waste time because social media is a distraction that masquerades itself as productivity. And people justify it by saying, well, I'm working, well, I'm marketing. No, you're not. You're not marketing. You're getting on social media and you're feeding, frankly, feeding an addiction that these apps are really good at feeding.

There's so many other things that I would be doing to not waste time because social media is a distraction that masquerades itself as productivity. And people justify it by saying, well, I'm working, well, I'm marketing. No, you're not. You're not marketing. You're getting on social media and you're feeding, frankly, feeding an addiction that these apps are really good at feeding.

And they have entire teams engineered to make us feel this way, to make us feel productive when it's actually a distraction. So if I were just starting out today, I would focus on marketing and sales and I would ignore social media altogether until such a point that it became important.

And they have entire teams engineered to make us feel this way, to make us feel productive when it's actually a distraction. So if I were just starting out today, I would focus on marketing and sales and I would ignore social media altogether until such a point that it became important.

And frankly, there are tiny seed companies doing millions of dollars a year that still have almost no social media presence. So it is not only possible to get there, I would say it is easier to get there if you're not focused on that distraction.

And frankly, there are tiny seed companies doing millions of dollars a year that still have almost no social media presence. So it is not only possible to get there, I would say it is easier to get there if you're not focused on that distraction.

And lastly, the thing that you're going to have to weigh as a bootstrap founder is the next sentence I'm going to say, which is, I know some devs, and I was in this spot where I regretted continuing to write all the code. Now, some devs bootstrap because they want to write all the code. Realize that will probably hamper your growth. But if you're okay with that, that's why you've bootstrapped.

And lastly, the thing that you're going to have to weigh as a bootstrap founder is the next sentence I'm going to say, which is, I know some devs, and I was in this spot where I regretted continuing to write all the code. Now, some devs bootstrap because they want to write all the code. Realize that will probably hamper your growth. But if you're okay with that, that's why you've bootstrapped.

So you can be in charge of this and you can dictate the limits or the constraints that you're willing to put into your business. But I believe that code is usually a certainty. Code is something you can hire someone to do because building that next feature does not have any risk.

So you can be in charge of this and you can dictate the limits or the constraints that you're willing to put into your business. But I believe that code is usually a certainty. Code is something you can hire someone to do because building that next feature does not have any risk.

versus marketing and sales usually have a ton of the risk, as well as product, like deciding what to build, how to take feedback in, how to find product market fit. All those things are very risky. Those are things that founders should be focused on.

versus marketing and sales usually have a ton of the risk, as well as product, like deciding what to build, how to take feedback in, how to find product market fit. All those things are very risky. Those are things that founders should be focused on.

I do know some developer founders who continue to write code well into the millions of ARR and even tens of millions for that matter, but usually inevitably they do step away from it because they realize at a certain point it's just not the best use of their time, even though they love doing it.

I do know some developer founders who continue to write code well into the millions of ARR and even tens of millions for that matter, but usually inevitably they do step away from it because they realize at a certain point it's just not the best use of their time, even though they love doing it.

And to cap this off, Tobey didn't ask this question, but things that I never regretted doing or spending time on and that I never regretted keeping under my purview and not outsourcing were talking to customers constantly,

And to cap this off, Tobey didn't ask this question, but things that I never regretted doing or spending time on and that I never regretted keeping under my purview and not outsourcing were talking to customers constantly,

We're designing the product, and I don't mean visual design, but deciding what to build, how it was going to operate, how are we going to architect this, what's the API going to be like, the real nitty-gritty decisions around building the product. And the third is marketing and sales.

We're designing the product, and I don't mean visual design, but deciding what to build, how it was going to operate, how are we going to architect this, what's the API going to be like, the real nitty-gritty decisions around building the product. And the third is marketing and sales.

I don't know of a seven or eight figure tiny seed founder that has outsourced or delegated their marketing and sales before they hit a few million in ARR. Now, a lot of folks may hire a head of growth or a head of marketing, but it's to take over an effort that's already in play. You've heard me talk a lot on this podcast about zero to one and how hard that is as a marketer or as a salesperson.