Bootstrapped
Episodes
#243: The End
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The time has come to finally put this mostly abandoned podcast to rest. It's kind of a sad day for me but it is time to do this.Thank you listeners, t...
#242: Boredeom
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When you run your own little software company, be it a SaaS or old school downloadable software, and you've been doing it for several years, and you'v...
#241: Podcasting
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I talk about how I'm using podcasting as a business tool. Not as a guest, not to promote my product, not as an advertiser, but as a w...
#240: Why I repositioned Feature Upvote to the video game industry
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I want to tell you what's happening with my product, Feature Upvote, over the last year or so. I've dramatically changed the positioning, to be a feed...
#239: Our Business Heroes with The Gross Profit Podcast
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I was recently a guest on The Gross Profit podcast, hosted by James Kennedy. In that interview, James and I talked about our business heros, and well,...
#238: B2B SaaS design with Nathan Powell
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Nathan Powell, freelance product designer whose work these days is mainly with B2B SaaS. We chat about how developer founders can go about...
#237: Michael Koper, founder of Nusii
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Michael Koper, founder of Nusii. We talk about what it's like when your product spends several years at a revenue plateau.Mentioned in thi...
#236: Steve McLeod, founder of Feature Upvote
02 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I'm the guest on my own podcast! A year ago, Ben Pages joined my company, Feature Upvote, to be our marketing manager. Ben had questions about the ear...
#235: Maeva Cifuentes, founder of Flying Cat Marketing
18 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Maeva Cifuentes, founder and CEO of Flying Cat Marketing, an SEO and content marketing agency. We discuss Maeva's journey from freelance t...
#234: Ed's marketing catchup
28 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
My frequent guest co-host Ed Freyfogle tells us about his recent marketing endeavours, including one that was inspired by April Dunford's "toilet talk...
#233: Running a lifestyle business and proud of it
14 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We have two guests interviewing each other! I invited two friends of the podcast, Andy Brice, and Robin Warren, to chat with each other about what it'...
#232: Running a WordPress agency, with Marc Jenkins of 16by9
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Marc Jenkins, founder of 16by9, a small web studio that focuses on building WordPress sites. Marc and I talk about what its like to start ...
#231: Bad support loses customers, and payment failures
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I catch up with my frequent co-host, Ed Freyfogle, after a long summer break. Amongst other topics, we discuss how bad customer support will lose you ...
#230: Introducing Pushing to Production
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Something a bit different in this episode: we're playing an episode of the new Pushing to Production podcast, where Ed Freyfogle was the guest. It's a...
#229: Saying no to a generous acquisition offer, with Simon Bennett of SnapShooter
05 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Simon Bennett, founder of SnapShooter, returns to the show. We chat about a generous acquisition offer Simon recently received for his company - and w...
#228: How to get backlinks (without feeling dirty)
15 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An effective content strategy for your product requires getting backlinks. In this episode, I share 9 strategies I use for getting backlinks for my pr...
#227: Joining TinySeed with Nick Swan of SEOTesting.com
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Nick Swan from SEOTesting.com. We discuss how Nick took on a co-founder for his already-established business, why Nick decided to no longe...
#226: Sponsoring events, podcasts, and newsletters with Peldi @ Balsamiq
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by a good friend of the podcast, Peldi Guilizzoni, to discuss how to go about sponsoring events, newsletters, and podcasts to promote ...
#225: BoS Europe 2022 retrospective
03 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I first recorded this episode for the Business of Software podcast. I chat about the experience of attending the recent Business of Software Europe in...
#224: Recalibrating prices, and Postmark got acquired
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I talk about how currency fluctuations are affecting our pricing. And we give our opinion on the recent acquisition of Postmark, a bootstrappin...
#223: When customer payments fail
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about why we are switching the podcast from weekly to fortnightly for a while. We also discuss headaches when customer payments fail and what ...
#222: Pierre de Wulf, co-founder of ScrapingBee
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed chats with Pierre de Wulf, co-founder of ScrapingBee. Pierre tells us about the time his company almost got acquired - and how the deal fell apart ...
#221: Brian Sierakowski of Baremetrics
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
My co-host Ed Freyfogle chats with Brian Sierakowski, general manager of Baremetrics. Brian stepped in to manage Baremetrics after it was acquired a y...
#220: Adventures in Abandonware and WordPress
08 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve talk about a dilemma Steve is facing. An open source component heavily used by Feature Upvote has become abandoned by the maintainer, and...
#219: Leaving bootstrapper life to be an employee again, with John Ndege
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed chats with John Ndege, a former bootstrapper, about how it feels no longer being one's own boss. John launched and grew a product, and he ultimate...
#218: London, in-person events, crowded pubs
25 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I chat about Ed's recent trip to London, my upcoming trip to London, the return of in-person events, and getting exposed to ideas and concepts ...
#217: Brian Casel of ZipMessage
18 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I talk with Brian Casel, founder of ZipMessage, an asynchronous video messaging tool.Brian has created several successful products in the past, and so...
#216: Trademarking your bootstrapped business
11 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed tells me why and how he obtained a trademark for his business. We discuss when it is worthwhile to do this. We then talk about the trouble with hav...
#215: The domain name change that didn't go as planned, with Robert Brandl of ToolTester.com
04 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Robert Brandl, founder of ToolTester.com. We talk about Robert's recent experience changing the domain name of his website. It was an expe...
#214: I hired a marketer
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I chat about my recent experience hiring a marketing manager for Feature Upvote. Amongst other topics, we discuss how I went about finding the ...
#213: Charles Perry, founder of RelaNet
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed interviews Charles Perry, founder of RelaNet. Charles was the co-host of Release Notes, a long-running podcast that Charles and his co-host recen...
#212: When, if ever, should we refuse a customer?
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We talk about Ed's launch of his new product line.That leads into a meandering conversation about ethics and personal beliefs and values. In particula...
#211: Strengthening company culture in a remote team with Peldi of Balsamiq
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Frequent guest Peldi, founder of Balsamiq, makes another welcome appearance.We talk about some ways to strengthen company culture in a fully-remote te...
#210: 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS part 2
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Part 2 of Ed Freyfogle's 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS.There was a lot of good content in this recording and we recorded for much longer than...
#209: 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS part 1
21 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Freyfogle shares with us his 50 tips for running a stress-free SaaS. This is based on Ed's talk he prepared for MicroConf late last year, but was u...
#208: The dismal deeds of a desperate competitor
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week I go solo and rant about the dismal deeds of a desperate competitor. I also talk about the freedom that bootstrapping gives us to change our...
#207: Our goals for 2022
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I discuss the goals we'd like to achieve in 2022.While we were recording this episode, we had some problems with our recording software. Now I ...
#206: Looking back at our goals for 2021
17 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Back in episode 163, Ed and I set our goals for 2021. In this episode we look back at those goals and we ask ourselves, how well did we do in achievin...
#205: A rapid Saber Feedback update
10 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I give Ed an update on what I've achieved on Saber Feedback in recent months.A new app design, ripping out the SPA architecture, replacing our payment...
#204: Ed can speak again
03 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed tells us about his accident he had, and the impact it had on his life and business. He also talks about how it got him reflecting about his busines...
#203: A recap of the interview mini-season
26 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I conclude the mini season of interviews with a brief summary of the five interviews I conducted. A few weeks ago, my cohost had a cycling that studen...
#202: Bridget Harris, co-founder of YouCanBookMe
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bridget is co-founder and CEO of YouCanBook.me, an online scheduling tool. I chat with Bridget Harris about the 10-year journey of starting and growin...
#201: Running an email newsletter business, with Peter Cooper of Cooperpress
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I chat with Peter Cooper, who runs several email newsletters, including JavaScript Weekly, Ruby Weekly, React Status, and Postgres Weekly. These all l...
#200: Positioning for bootstrappers with April Dunford
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
April Dunford has a well-deserved reputation as the expert in product positioning within the tech industry. April and I discussed how bootstrappers ca...
#199: Creating a successful podcast with Jane Portman of UI Breakfast
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Portman is the host of UI Breakfast, a podcast covering UI/UX design, products, marketing. Jane recently crossed the 2 million downloads mile...
#198: Backing up 170 Petabytes of customer data, with Simon Bennett of SnapShooter
15 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Simon runs SnapShooter, a service that performs scheduled server backups. We discuss:why backups is NOT a dull businesshow the pandemic pushed him to ...
#197: Life is unpredictable, and a pricing experiment
01 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed is recovering from an accident, so Steve goes solo in this episode. Ed's accident gets Steve musing on the unpredictability of life, and what we ca...
#196: Our Mental Wellbeing as Bootstrappers, with Robin Warren
24 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Three-time guest Robin Warren, founder of Corrello, achieves "very infrequent guest co-host" status. We chat about a number of aspects of mental wellb...
#195: Back to School
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve talk about the challenge of continuing to learn how to run our businesses better, and the challenges we encounter in ongoing learning.
#194: We talk about our vacations
10 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's good to take a break!In this episode Ed and I get self-indulgent and talk about our vacations. From time to time we make a tenuous link between o...
#193: The fine details of the Saber Feedback acquisition
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever thought of selling your business, or acquiring one, you'll enjoy this episode. Matt Zeunert, founder of DebugBear, was curious about th...
#192: How the pandemic overturned my business, with Mark Littlewood of Business of Software
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Littlewood runs the Business of Software, a series of annual conferences to help us run our software companies better. Mark very openly shares ho...
#191: On quietly successful SaaS businesses, and saying goodbye to our forum
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this solo episode, I talk about successful yet quiet SaaS business all around us. I also tell the full story of why our forum has been closed and p...
#190: Resellers and product-based podcasts, with Peldi of Balsamiq
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi, founder of Balsamiq, drops by. We discuss two unrelated topics. First, resellers - why they exist and how to accommodate them. Second, the chal...
#189: The agony of the enterprise sale process, with Ed Freyfogle
06 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve go in deep on some enterprise sales work they've both been doing lately for their bootstrapped, mostly self-service SaaS products.
#188: Switching from Bootstrapped to Investor-Funded, with Craig Hewitt of Castos
30 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Craig Hewitt runs Castos, a podcast hosting and analytics company. He returns to the show to talk about why he recently sold a chunk of his bootstrapp...
#187: A Saber Feedback update
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's 15 months since I acquired Saber Feedback. I talk about the challenges I've faced so far, the bottleneck I'm currently facing, and where things a...
#186: Marketing to Developers with Adam DuVander
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While Steve enjoys a summer break, Ed Freyfogle steps in this week to interview Adam DuVander. Adam helps companies like yours market to developers.Ed...
#185: Selling a small stake of your company, with Moritz Dausinger of Refiner.io
27 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Moritz Dausinger, three-time bootstrapper, tells me why he recently sold a small stake of Refiner.io to Earnest Capital.Between recording and publishi...
#184: When team members quit, with Ed and Steve
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve discuss what it is like when a core team member quits, how to reduce the chance of it happening, and how to make our businesses resilient...
#183: Feeling bored and stuck in your business? With Peldi and Ed
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi concludes this mini-season with an open and honest discussion with Ed Freyfogle about a problem every business owner eventually encounters. How ...
#182: Responsible product design with Trine Falbe
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi Guilizzoni continues this mini-season as he chats with Trine Falbe, UX strategist & designer, on responsible product design.Gamification, da...
#181: Conducting customer interviews for the reluctant, with Asia Orangio of DemandMaven
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi Guilizzoni continues this mini-season as he chats with Asia Orangio of DemandMaven on how founders can - and should - conduct customer interview...
#180: Managing the mental ups and downs with Geraldine DeRuiter and Rand Fishkin
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi Guilizzoni continues this mini-season as he chats with married couple Geraldine DeRuiter (author) and Rand Fishkin (software founder) on how the...
#179: (Peldi) The GDPR 3 years later with Aleth Gueguen of GDPR for SaaS
15 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi Guilizzoni steps in as host this week, and chats with GDPR expert Aleth Gueguen about how the GDPR is shaping and affecting our SaaS businesses....
#178: The Hungry Time, with Ed Freyfogle
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Both Ed and Steve are feeling a little bit stressed, perhaps at the beginning of burnout. We discuss why this might be, and what we are doing about it...
#177: When life is turned upside down, with Nick Swan of SEOTesting
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Swan was about to launch paid plans for his SaaS when a sudden terrible life event changed everything for Nick and his family."The doctor said, '...
#176: Tips for self-publishing a book, with science fiction writer Aidan Doyle
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Aidan Doyle is a science fiction writer. Amongst his work are two self-published books, including The Writer's Book of Doubt. I'm planning to produce ...
#175: Riskiness of being a side project's customer
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve discuss the return of Microconf Europe as an in-person eventworking out if a new feature is worth the effortweighing the risk of becomin...
#174: Corey Haines, founder of the Swipe Files community
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
My guest in this episode is Corey Haines, founder of Swipe Files. Swipe Files is a membership site that provides content, community, and courses to he...
#173: Reducing the support workload with Ed Freyfogle
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Freyfogle is back! We talk about Ed's systematic attempt to reduce his support workload.Discuss this episode on our community.This episode is also ...
#172: Getting rid of Google Analytics, with Alex Yumashev
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Yumashev, founder of JitBit, returns to the show. We discuss: why Alex ditched Google Analytics from his websitehow he keeps his work interestin...
#171: Nick Franklin, founder of ChartMogul
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Franklin and I talked about what it is like to go down the venture capital route instead of bootstrapping. For me this was a glimpse into anothe...
#170: "Be so good they can't ignore you", with Peldi of Balsamiq
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peldi Guilizzoni is the founder of low-fidelity wireframing tool Balsamiq. Peldi and Steve discuss: why Peldi tracks almost nothing except revenue a...
#169: Email newsletter or no email newsletter? The great debate.
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We argue for and against having a monthly email newsletter for your product. Ed is firmly in the "No way" corner. Steve represents the "You gotta have...
#168: Twitter for Marketing, and Zombie Customers
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I cover a lot of ground this week:podcasting nervesgeotrivia as marketing a brief foray into geopoliticsusing Twitter for marketingthe frustra...
#167: The blog gets posts once every 13 years
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve talk about the mental stress of having real-time business metrics, how to find a business mentor, and Steve's attempt to get started with...
#166: Making an Open Source business work with Allan Jardine of DataTables
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Allan Jardine is the creator of DataTables, a popular jQuery plugin. We discuss his challenges and successes as he learned how to make a viable busine...
#165: Finding and hiring freelancers
22 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I answer some listener questions about freelancers. I discuss how to find, hire, and communicate with freelancers.Discuss this topic a...
#164: A Saber Feedback update 9 months after acquisition
08 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed grills me on my progress with Saber Feedback, my B2B SaaS, nine months after I acquired it. We talk about SEO, competitors, getting backlinks, find...
#163: Our goals for 2021
04 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I discuss what we want to achieve in 2021. Last year, unexpected world events turned our "goals for 2020" upside-down. Having learnt no lesson ...
#162: Reviewing our 2020 goals
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Steve and Ed look back at the goals they set for 2020 at the beginning of the year. What goals did we hit? What goals eluded us? What did we learn alo...
#161: The inglorious launch of my first product
18 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is a talk I recently gave at Barcelona's ESIC business school. Ostensibly, I spoke on working with intangibles as products. But actually, I told ...
#160: Creating great email onboarding sequences, with Liz Painter of Comma Comma
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Liz is an expert in onboarding email sequences. Over the course of this episode, Liz helps me design a great email sequence for Saber Feedback.On the ...
#159: Enterprise sales hell, SEO frustration and self-doubt
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve talk about recent challenges and successes in their bootstrapped SaaS businesses. Ed tells of the agony of doing enterprise sales. Steve ...
#158: Not 1, not 2, but 3 bootstrapped SaaS successes with Moritz Dausinger of refiner.io
27 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Moritz Dausinger, founder of refiner.io, chats about his success as a serial founder of bootstrapped SaaS products. He founded and sold two B2B SaaS a...
#157: Dealing with your business's endless administration burden
20 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and Steve discuss the endless burden of busy-work that comes with running a business - and how we try to minimise it.We also mention Ed's new marke...
#156: "May I have a discount?"
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Discounts, discounts, discounts! Ed and I discuss how we respond to customers asking for discounts, whether we should offer Cyber Monday offers, and h...
#155: Competing in a crowded market with Alex Yumashev of Jitbit
06 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alex runs a successful help desk software company with only 3 employees, competing in a crowded market.We discuss:the importance of industry knowledge...
#154: Finding and recruiting freelance developers with Robin Warren of Corrello
30 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robin Warren of Corrello tells me how he finds and recruits freelance developers for his bootstrapped software company.We also talk about:Robin's busi...
#153: "What should I do with Saber Feedback?"
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
I seek Ed's advice on some Saber Feedback stuff. We talk about pricing, free plans, legacy framework woes, and database hosting.We also chat about:run...
#152: Practical knowledge sharing for bootstrappers
17 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ed and I discuss knowledge sharing for bootstrappers, and even for one-person teams. How do you make sure the important knowledge for your business ge...
#151: Advice on validating and building a bootstrapped B2B SaaS
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
I answer several questions from a loyal listener who wants advice on building a B2B SaaS similar in scope and style to my product, Feature Upvote.
#150: How to solve my SEO problems, with Robert Brandl of ToolTester Network
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Brandl of ToolTester Network built his company by developing excellent SEO skills. In this episode he turns his skills to Saber Feedback, and g...
#149: A Saber Feedback update six months after acquisition
27 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Freyfogle is back again. This week he interviews Steve on his progress with Saber Feedback, six months after acquisition.Ed marvels at how many wor...
#148: Hrishi Mittal, founder of Learnetto, on the struggle to get traction
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Freyfogle steps in for me this week and interviews Hrishi Mittal, founder of online learning platform Learnetto.Hrishi shares his struggle to progr...
#147: "You get to do this however works for you" with Laura Roeder, founder of MeetEdgar
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Roeder talks about why she doesn't do demo calls unlike most other SaaS founders - and how bootstrapping frees you up to run your business the w...
#146: Selling your business at any revenue level, with Kevin McArdle of SureSwift Capital
29 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin McArdle of SureSwift Capital has acquired almost 40 online businesses, most of them B2B SaaS products.We talk about the process of getting acqui...
#145: The Hacker News front page experience, 5-hour workdays and 4-day workweeks
22 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ed reintroduces himself, Steve shares his experience of making it to the front page of Hacker News, and we discuss Quaderno's 5-hour work day and Wild...
#144: Patrick Hathaway, cofounder of Sitebulb on selling a desktop app with subscription pricing
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick Hathaway is the cofounder of Sitebulb, a website auditing tool for SEO consultants and agencies. Patrick tells us why he made a desktop app wh...