Rob Walling

So it's a big chunk. The industry average, and I don't actually know where Einar got this number, but the industry average is 4%. And so we obviously have picked some good companies and hopefully have also helped them, you know, with the mentorship in the community and the advice and the money, helped them accelerate. But something we see with our TinySeed founders is...

So it's a big chunk. The industry average, and I don't actually know where Einar got this number, but the industry average is 4%. And so we obviously have picked some good companies and hopefully have also helped them, you know, with the mentorship in the community and the advice and the money, helped them accelerate. But something we see with our TinySeed founders is...

the ones who succeed, they get a lot of stuff done quickly. They ship a lot of things and they're right enough of the time. And they're not always right the first time, but if they take a marketing approach and they roll it out or if they build a set of features or whatever it is they're trying, they just figure out how to make it work.

the ones who succeed, they get a lot of stuff done quickly. They ship a lot of things and they're right enough of the time. And they're not always right the first time, but if they take a marketing approach and they roll it out or if they build a set of features or whatever it is they're trying, they just figure out how to make it work.

55, 60, 65, 70% of the time, there's some percentage that's above 50 that they're generally right and their gut is pretty good.

55, 60, 65, 70% of the time, there's some percentage that's above 50 that they're generally right and their gut is pretty good.

So the mindset of shipping quickly and not being in analysis paralysis is important, but also the mindset of generally weighing options and picking the most likely to succeed and having a pretty good founder gut, but also just a good rubric in their head of what's the next thing that is going to move the needle. What's the biggest bottleneck in my business and how can I relieve that?

So the mindset of shipping quickly and not being in analysis paralysis is important, but also the mindset of generally weighing options and picking the most likely to succeed and having a pretty good founder gut, but also just a good rubric in their head of what's the next thing that is going to move the needle. What's the biggest bottleneck in my business and how can I relieve that?

How can I eliminate that bottleneck such that I then discover the next one and the next one? And to me, growing a company is almost entirely about identifying the next bottleneck and eliminating it and then discovering the next one. It's this never-ending, yeah, it is a never-ending hamster wheel now that I think about it. How depressing.

How can I eliminate that bottleneck such that I then discover the next one and the next one? And to me, growing a company is almost entirely about identifying the next bottleneck and eliminating it and then discovering the next one. It's this never-ending, yeah, it is a never-ending hamster wheel now that I think about it. How depressing.

And this week on depressing startup stories for the rest of us, let's talk about the never-ending hamster wheel that you're on as a SaaS founder. It is. And that's why the payoff in the end of being able to sell it for millions of dollars makes it worth it, in my opinion.

And this week on depressing startup stories for the rest of us, let's talk about the never-ending hamster wheel that you're on as a SaaS founder. It is. And that's why the payoff in the end of being able to sell it for millions of dollars makes it worth it, in my opinion.

But it is the sometimes, I don't want to say sad truth, just the uncomfortable truth, I guess, of like, this is going to be hard. I don't see many people building SaaS companies who are like, this is so much fun. This is great. It's like, once you get in it, you're like, oh, this is hard, but it's worth it.

But it is the sometimes, I don't want to say sad truth, just the uncomfortable truth, I guess, of like, this is going to be hard. I don't see many people building SaaS companies who are like, this is so much fun. This is great. It's like, once you get in it, you're like, oh, this is hard, but it's worth it.

You know, because either it becomes extremely profitable or you can't exit for that, that never have to work again money. I'll even take Orly's question in a different way. What do I see in founders? What mindset do I see in founders who get stuck at 100 or 1,000 or 10K MRR and never make it past it? They make the same mistakes over and over. They don't get out of their own way. They move slowly.

You know, because either it becomes extremely profitable or you can't exit for that, that never have to work again money. I'll even take Orly's question in a different way. What do I see in founders? What mindset do I see in founders who get stuck at 100 or 1,000 or 10K MRR and never make it past it? They make the same mistakes over and over. They don't get out of their own way. They move slowly.

They only do things they want to do. They launch multiple products at once because they can't just focus on something and grind. They think they want to build a media company or an audience and then try to sell it to them. Don't do that. If you're building SaaS, build your network, not your audience. It goes back to the don'ts.

They only do things they want to do. They launch multiple products at once because they can't just focus on something and grind. They think they want to build a media company or an audience and then try to sell it to them. Don't do that. If you're building SaaS, build your network, not your audience. It goes back to the don'ts.

What was it, a year ago, 18 months ago, I had an episode of seven things you should never do as a SaaS founder. Go listen to that episode. And then I added an eighth a couple episodes later. But it was just that long list of the same mistakes that I see founders and aspiring founders making, thinking they can, you know, sell everything on Twitter and they don't have to do any hard work.

What was it, a year ago, 18 months ago, I had an episode of seven things you should never do as a SaaS founder. Go listen to that episode. And then I added an eighth a couple episodes later. But it was just that long list of the same mistakes that I see founders and aspiring founders making, thinking they can, you know, sell everything on Twitter and they don't have to do any hard work.