Rob Walling

And I had a moment where I was like, I'm supposed to be good at this. People listen to me about being an entrepreneur. Like, don't I know how to do this? I thought I knew what I was doing. And it turns out I figured it out, right? It was grinding. It was working with Derek to figure out the next thing to launch and how to pivot the product. And we did.

And it took us, I don't know, maybe nine months from launch, nine agonizing months from launch to get to the point where we had product market fit and things took off like a rocket. And then it was like, okay, I do know what I'm doing. I was just overconfident that it would work right away. If you want to hear all that agony, by the way, go to Startup Stories Podcast.

And it took us, I don't know, maybe nine months from launch, nine agonizing months from launch to get to the point where we had product market fit and things took off like a rocket. And then it was like, okay, I do know what I'm doing. I was just overconfident that it would work right away. If you want to hear all that agony, by the way, go to Startup Stories Podcast.

You can look in any podcast app or you can go to startupstoriespodcast.com. Derek and I recorded like 10 to 15 minutes a week for a year. And then I cut it all to actually not all of it together.

You can look in any podcast app or you can go to startupstoriespodcast.com. Derek and I recorded like 10 to 15 minutes a week for a year. And then I cut it all to actually not all of it together.

I think it was like nine hours of audio and I cut it down to 90 minutes and kind of just packed it all in so you can hear this longitudinal agonizing trip towards product market fit as we finally did get there. But

I think it was like nine hours of audio and I cut it down to 90 minutes and kind of just packed it all in so you can hear this longitudinal agonizing trip towards product market fit as we finally did get there. But

I have a little bit of PTSD when I listen to it because it was such a hard time of not even knowing what we were building and if we were building anything for anyone and if it was all just a waste of time. So that was one, you know, like I said, 10 or 11 years ago. How about MicroConf Locals? We launched local events.

I have a little bit of PTSD when I listen to it because it was such a hard time of not even knowing what we were building and if we were building anything for anyone and if it was all just a waste of time. So that was one, you know, like I said, 10 or 11 years ago. How about MicroConf Locals? We launched local events.

We're going to do, I'm trying to think how many we did in our biggest year, but we have our two big flagship events, right? Where we have the one in US, the one in Europe. We're going to be in Croatia here in just a week or two after this comes out.

We're going to do, I'm trying to think how many we did in our biggest year, but we have our two big flagship events, right? Where we have the one in US, the one in Europe. We're going to be in Croatia here in just a week or two after this comes out.

But then we wanted to do local events, which were like these, first we're going to do one day events where it's like eight hours, four speakers and fly into some major cities. And we started doing those and the uptake was not great. And it was a lot of effort. And so we said, well, what if we just make them like three hours in the afternoon, almost like a happy hour.

But then we wanted to do local events, which were like these, first we're going to do one day events where it's like eight hours, four speakers and fly into some major cities. And we started doing those and the uptake was not great. And it was a lot of effort. And so we said, well, what if we just make them like three hours in the afternoon, almost like a happy hour.

I would either do a short talk or I'd interview someone. So I would fly in with a producer and we would basically produce a three-hour event. And they were fine. The events themselves were really good. And the people who came, it was awesome. But the local interest wasn't there. We couldn't charge enough even to make them break even. We were losing money on them.

I would either do a short talk or I'd interview someone. So I would fly in with a producer and we would basically produce a three-hour event. And they were fine. The events themselves were really good. And the people who came, it was awesome. But the local interest wasn't there. We couldn't charge enough even to make them break even. We were losing money on them.

And it was burning me and the producer out because we were on the road all the time. And, you know, I went to, I don't even know, it was 10 events, 12 events last year. It's just way too much travel. And it wasn't just the being there. It was getting on the plane. You know, it would wreck 48 hours, 72 hours of stuff that I could be doing that's not being on a plane, right? It's recording podcasts.

And it was burning me and the producer out because we were on the road all the time. And, you know, I went to, I don't even know, it was 10 events, 12 events last year. It's just way too much travel. And it wasn't just the being there. It was getting on the plane. You know, it would wreck 48 hours, 72 hours of stuff that I could be doing that's not being on a plane, right? It's recording podcasts.

It's recording videos. It's writing another book. It's all the opportunity cost of the travel and the time. And so that was an effort that we decided to, I'll say put on pause, but like it's done. And so is it a mistake? Is it failure? Did we, well, we certainly struggled, certainly had trouble at times. Like my whole team burned out last, about a year ago, including me. And it was, it was rough.

It's recording videos. It's writing another book. It's all the opportunity cost of the travel and the time. And so that was an effort that we decided to, I'll say put on pause, but like it's done. And so is it a mistake? Is it failure? Did we, well, we certainly struggled, certainly had trouble at times. Like my whole team burned out last, about a year ago, including me. And it was, it was rough.

So, but it was, it was a calculated bet of if this works, it's going to be great. We can do more. We can have local MCs. You know, we had all these plans, but the interest wasn't there. So I don't regret it. It's not a mistake, but we did struggle and we agonized. I agonized over whether to keep doing them because these are hard decisions, right? Strategic decisions are big and difficult.