Rob Walling

As an investment fund, investing in bootstrap SaaS, we do have to return a lot more than 2x to our investors, or a bit more than 2x. And given that some companies will fail, we obviously need higher returns. But that doesn't discount the fact that the TinySeed millionaire rate is 43%.

As an investment fund, investing in bootstrap SaaS, we do have to return a lot more than 2x to our investors, or a bit more than 2x. And given that some companies will fail, we obviously need higher returns. But that doesn't discount the fact that the TinySeed millionaire rate is 43%.

If you've known me for any length of time, you know me as someone who is truly out to help raise the tide, help raise all boats. Obviously with TinySeed, with MicroConf, it's a for-profit entity. Everything I do makes money, but I am genuinely here to help people.

If you've known me for any length of time, you know me as someone who is truly out to help raise the tide, help raise all boats. Obviously with TinySeed, with MicroConf, it's a for-profit entity. Everything I do makes money, but I am genuinely here to help people.

And it brings me no end to joy to know that that many individuals joined TinySeed, received our mentorship, our advice, our investment, and are now millionaires. And they can move on to their next act. I'm sure someone in the audience is saying, oh, a million bucks isn't what it used to. And it's like, I get it. They can't live for the rest of their life on that.

And it brings me no end to joy to know that that many individuals joined TinySeed, received our mentorship, our advice, our investment, and are now millionaires. And they can move on to their next act. I'm sure someone in the audience is saying, oh, a million bucks isn't what it used to. And it's like, I get it. They can't live for the rest of their life on that.

But I would say that if this is your first... startup, or if you don't already have a million dollars in your bank account, that a million dollars is absolutely life-changing money. It's not never have to work again money, but it does change your life. It changes the way that you can think about the financial safety of yourself and your family.

But I would say that if this is your first... startup, or if you don't already have a million dollars in your bank account, that a million dollars is absolutely life-changing money. It's not never have to work again money, but it does change your life. It changes the way that you can think about the financial safety of yourself and your family.

And every time I think about this number, I smile ear to ear. I'm just so happy that TinySeed is having this impact. People ask me, why do you still do what you do? Because you could ride off into the sunset or you could just write books or you could just record podcasts. This is why.

And every time I think about this number, I smile ear to ear. I'm just so happy that TinySeed is having this impact. People ask me, why do you still do what you do? Because you could ride off into the sunset or you could just write books or you could just record podcasts. This is why.

This is exactly why I still record 52 episodes of this a year, 26 YouTube videos, why I'm kind of on track to ship a book every 18 to 24 months, because I love doing things that have an impact on people. And to me, while the end goal of everything is not wealth, it's not all about money, this is changing people's lives. And I'm here for it.

This is exactly why I still record 52 episodes of this a year, 26 YouTube videos, why I'm kind of on track to ship a book every 18 to 24 months, because I love doing things that have an impact on people. And to me, while the end goal of everything is not wealth, it's not all about money, this is changing people's lives. And I'm here for it.

The third learning is something I mentioned on this podcast. It was a prediction for this year, and it's that vertical and orthogonal SaaS appear to have fewer headwinds than horizontal SaaS. You know what horizontal is?

The third learning is something I mentioned on this podcast. It was a prediction for this year, and it's that vertical and orthogonal SaaS appear to have fewer headwinds than horizontal SaaS. You know what horizontal is?

It's like competing against MailChimp, where it's every SMB, every business in the entire country can use it, versus vertical is where you build MailChimp for realtors, for example. And orthogonal is if you were to build a piece of software that focuses on a specific role or title at a company. So applicant tracking systems, for example, target HR directors. So that's orthogonal.

It's like competing against MailChimp, where it's every SMB, every business in the entire country can use it, versus vertical is where you build MailChimp for realtors, for example. And orthogonal is if you were to build a piece of software that focuses on a specific role or title at a company. So applicant tracking systems, for example, target HR directors. So that's orthogonal.

Vertical and orthogonal have their own, because they're niche, right? That's the idea is that when we think of niche, we think of vertical only. And so I've started using this term orthogonal to describe this other way to niche in, to slice it. And what we're seeing is in general, horizontal companies are competing with

Vertical and orthogonal have their own, because they're niche, right? That's the idea is that when we think of niche, we think of vertical only. And so I've started using this term orthogonal to describe this other way to niche in, to slice it. And what we're seeing is in general, horizontal companies are competing with

big venture-funded incumbents, really successful folks where there's a lot of money in the space and it's hard to differentiate. And you don't really know who your ideal customer profile is. You kind of have an idea, but you don't know exactly where to find them. There's no in-person event you can afford to go to.

big venture-funded incumbents, really successful folks where there's a lot of money in the space and it's hard to differentiate. And you don't really know who your ideal customer profile is. You kind of have an idea, but you don't know exactly where to find them. There's no in-person event you can afford to go to.