Shows
Indie Hackers#256 – Debate: Elon Musk, Billionaires, Ethics, and Role Models with Sahil Lavingia and Justin JacksonSahil Lavingia (@shl) and Justin Jackson (@mijustin) join Courtland (@csallen) and Channing (@ChanningAllen) for a special debate-style episode. It's four dudes talking about Elon Musk. What could go wrong?Follow Sahil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/shlCheck out Gumroad: https://gumroad.com/Follow Justin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mijustinCheck out Transistor.fm: https://transistor.fm/
2022-06-151h 07Indie Hackers#234 – Money, Kids, and Choosing Your Market with Justin Jackson of Transistor.fmToday I'm talking to Justin Jackson (@mijustin). He's someone who started out in entrepreneurship by opening a brick and mortar snowboarding shop. I want to find out how he made the unlikely leap into SaaS and how having four kids at a young age changed both his journey and how he thinks about money, legacy, and the future. Follow Justin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mijustinGet your podcast hosted on Transistor: https://transistor.fm/
2021-11-101h 15
MegaMaker 2022Is truly possible to validate a product idea before launch?In this episode, we answer some questions from MegaMaker members:Val asks: "I'm super curious about this: How much of starting Meeps was a "hunch" rather than a structured discovery?"Ben asks: "Validation, what are ya'll trying right now/soon to get a signal if you're onto something? Also, is there a "company-wide" donut Friday? 😉"Tom asks: "Yes, specifically user discovery: how do you validate that the customer has, knows about, and will pay to solve the problem?"Jon: "(From our remote work discussion in MegaMaker): I'm interested in learning how you work together. Pros/cons?"Show...
2021-07-121h 15MegaMaker 2022Josh gets some runwayIn this episode: Joshua Anderton gets three months of runway so he can work full-time on Meeps.app.Show notesThe benefit of the TALL stack: https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1409304136504414210MegaMaker community on Meeps: https://megamaker.meeps.app/How did validation work with Transistor? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNDgRcJYAEgProduct Hunt Ship: https://www.producthunt.com/shipJustin's barber: https://www.instagram.com/brett_thebarber/Matty Conrad: https://www.instagram.com/mattyconrad/Podcast hosting: https://transistor.fmTheme music: Striker-metal.comFind Josh and Justin online:Joshua Anderton on Twitter...
2021-06-2843 min
Build Your SaaSBreak outMid-summer update! This week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about:If you're bootstrapping SaaS, how many monthly trials do you need?Tweet: "You probably need more trials than you think."Breaking out of your own way of thinking"All it took was someone talking to me to have a different way of thinking about it."Want to reply to something we said?Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Colt BorgMarc...
2020-08-0445 minBuild Your SaaSTalking about an acquisitionThis week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about:Updates on Transistor: new API is almost done, static site generator, growth slowed in June?Questioning whether we should slow down for the summerTalking about the Simplecast acquisitionWhat would sell for? Mike: “Anything that’s a life-changing amount.”Want to reply to something we said?Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Email us: mail@transistor.fm★ Bootstrapper shout-out of the week:Nusiihttps://nusii.comProfessional proposal templatesThanks to our monthly supporte...
2020-06-3051 minBuild Your SaaSIt's just too muchThis week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about:A friend, whose SaaS has grown 300% since the beginning of the quarantine. They just hit $6k in MRR.At that stage, he's in the "almost but not yet."You're either:Brainstorming how to make money fasterBrainstorming how to work lessDifferent stages:Pre-launch stage: you're working on your product on the side. It's fun! There's nothing stealing your time and attention because you don't have customers yet.The beta stage: still pretty fun! You have a few customers who are using your product, and maybe paying you money.The "...
2020-06-1639 minBuild Your SaaSWhy there's no episode today👋 Justin here. This episode is to let you know why there's no episode today. (I've had a few DMs from folks that were worried!)We're good; we had some server trouble this morning that took all our time and attention today. We're hoping to be back next Tuesday with a full episode.Thanks everyone; we appreciate your support! ✌️Special thanks to Dean Layton James, from CloudPeriscope and Benedikt Evans from UserList for giving us ideas on how to fix our issues today! ❤️You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter...
2020-05-2703 minBuild Your SaaSBuilding software for 2030This week on the program, Justin and Jon talk about:The new Transistor UI, and how folks are responding to it."Damn the torpedoes!" – seeing if our update worked in IE11 after we deployed.Tobias Lütke, Shopify: “All the trends have been accelerated. The pandemic has moved everything forward 10 years. So now we need to build 2030 level software in 2020.”Restaurant trends:https://www.exploretock.com/https://themargins.substack.com/p/doordash-and-pizza-arbitrageBug bounties - what do other SaaS companies do with these?Mike Myers on ConanYou can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyo...
2020-05-2045 minBuild Your SaaSSimon is going full-timeThis week on the program:As requested, we're going to start highlighting our listeners who are building their own SaaS.This week: Simon Bennett, a long-time Patreon supporter and a friend of the show.He just went full time on his project https://snapshooter.io, which does automatic backups for Digital Ocean. Simon had just put his kids to bed (he's in the UK) and sat down in his office to have a chat with Justin.You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda, @MrSimonBennettLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like R...
2020-05-1356 minBuild Your SaaSThey stole our idea!What do you do when a competitor steals your idea? (plus: Justin and Jon have the giggles).People in tech get bent out of shape about who owns certain ideas, UI patterns, and business models.“They ripped off my idea”"They copied us!"This blog post by Justin Mitchell:https://medium.com/@itsthisjustin/no-idea-is-unique-but-this-is-insane-a247ec80f6a7Good Stackexchange thread:“In the history of science, this is known as "Railroad time". I.e, when the economy has reached a certain state of infrastructure (coal, steel, and land available, plus steam engines and demand for transportation), it's "Railroad time", and th...
2020-05-0548 minBuild Your SaaSStarting over again on our SaaSJustin and Justin talk about where they're at.Podcasts like the Project Journey show, are at the beginning of their journey.Marie Poulin is a good example of an entrepreneur who's experienced a breakthrough this year; we should celebrate those!Justin's tweet: "What are we doing this for? Is the purpose of life to "Start business. Make most money. Die." We want to engage with an audience that wants more out of life.""Stay in your lane." The people who listen to this show aren't one-dimensional. We all live in a social, economic, and political context. We have...
2020-04-2858 minBuild Your SaaSWhat should we build next?This week on the show:Jon baked bread. Got some sunshine. Avoiding social media, the other diseaseJustin WAS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Read this Andreesen post that everyone’s talking about: https://a16z.com/2020/04/18/its-time-to-build/That conversation lead to this tweet: https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1251946371050954752What does the future hold?Dan Price tweet: "After the most recent 15 deadly outbreaks, wages grew over the ensuing 3 decades by a lot."Jamie Lawrence tweet: "What I’d like to see small local businesses come out of this crisis with."Can we give ourselves a deadline for the Tailwind project? What shoul...
2020-04-2148 minBuild Your SaaSHow coronavirus is impacting revenueThis week, Justin called up Josh Pigford, founder of Baremetrics:Baremetrics does analytics for SaaS companiesI called him up just to get a sense of how this pandemic (and looming recession) has already started to affect different SaaS companiesHe's already noticing some trends: "A lot of SaaS companies are seeing the biggest loss they've seen in the past 4 weeks. I've heard from some companies that are seeing a 10-20% decrease in MRR.""Payroll is the biggest challenge over the next year. Payroll is our biggest expense."How are you going to ride this out?"We use Flight Path +...
2020-04-141h 02Build Your SaaSGiuuuuuuuuntaToday, we are joined by a very special guest: Dave Giunta! What does Daft Punk look like without their helmets? HomeChef How has demand for meal kits and food delivery increased since coronavirus?You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda, @dgiuntaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Sofia QuinteroDiogoChris WillowMason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (lik...
2020-04-071h 15Build Your SaaSPants-driven developmentJon and Justin, still making sense of life (and business) in a pandemic:Jon put on pants today.Justin is mad at Amazon.You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks to our monthly supporters:Sofia QuinteroDiogoChris WillowMason HensleyBorja Soler teami.ioWard from MemberSpace.comEric LimaJames Sowers (like Flowers) with UserInput.ioTravis FischerMatt Buckley, from NiceThings.io Russell B...
2020-03-3143 minBuild Your SaaSHow are founders handling the pandemic?Jon and Justin are hunkered down, and reeling from COVID-19:This is moving fast, so this podcast might already be out-of-date.Difference between the restrictions in Chicago and Vernon."It's hard to focus on Transistor and write any code.""There are all these people out there suffering, it's hard to know what to do.""You see these effects rippling through society, and then rippling towards you."7:50 – "It'd be nice to donate to everyone, but you just can't."8:40 – It's a multidimensional difficulty for businesses.9:15 – The tools for small shops are still not very good (especially the UX).Justin's tweet about...
2020-03-2444 min
Build Your SaaSMarie Poulin: Maybe you shouldn't start a software companyThis week, Justin is joined by Marie Poulin, co-founder of Oki Doki. They discuss:Chatting with Marie Poulin, Oki Doki3:40 – "I used to be in the 'Ra Ra! Everyone should build a web app' crowd."4:18 – "Now there's this feeling that maybe everyone shouldn't start a SaaS?"9:30 – When you're starting a business, there are so many dynamics you need to get right.13:40 – Why so many people fail to go from zero to one in business.16:20 – Why are you starting a business in the first place? What's driving you?23:41 – There's a company called Tighten that gives their employees mental-healt...
2020-03-1751 minBuild Your SaaSAll that he wantsThis week, Jon and Justin celebrate 100 episodes:Jon was on the Cody Story podcast awhile back.Justin, on the other hand, loves writing testimonials:Jack McDade's new courseTailwind UIFathom Analytics"We are in our mid-life crisis of SaaS building. I think, for me, the problem is not quite knowing what's next."Is this the time we hire a business coach? Where does your personal motivation for work come from?What difference are we trying to make in the world?Derek Sivers: "You've got to take off the old clothes in order to put on the new clothes."Organizational c...
2020-03-1045 minBuild Your SaaSShould you start a startup with your spouse?This week, Justin is joined by Michele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio). We explore a bunch of questions:What it's like to bootstrap with your spouse6:30 – where Michele and Mathias found the idea for their company7:00 – when you have kids you need diapers at 1amWhy people start companies7:55 – how getting pregnant motivated them to build a product10:15 – Matthias initially built a really basic geocoder for their purposes11:30 – a lot of bootstrappers get motivated to start a business after they have their first kidTyler Tringas: "Building, Owning (& possibly Selling) a profitable remote SaaS business is the new American Dream."13:20 – "we were so surp...
2020-03-0352 minBuild Your SaaSWhat's driving you now?This week, Justin is joined by Ward Sandler from MemberSpace (launched in 2015). We explore a bunch of questions:How do you find a cofounder?Ward explains to Justin (a Canadian) what a fraternity is.What it's like doing enterprise sales.How two sales guys ended up learning design and programming."Everybody needs to build a website for Uncle Larry"Justin and Ward go through a sample sales phone call.How they found the idea for MemberSpace through their consulting company.How Ward knew there was a lot of interest in the product.The unconventional reason Ward and Ryan...
2020-02-2558 minBuild Your SaaSClearing the airThis week, Jon and Justin discuss:Justin's office is under construction 🛠️.How to talk about things that are hard.A review exercise from the book: The Great CEO Within (as recommended by Ben on Art of Product).It gives each founder the ability to say: "This bugs me."We've hired Helen (NamesAce) as a part-time contractor.Switching out our UI framework: Jon is rebuilding the Transistor app with Tailwind.How do you move to V2 of your app? Should you rebuild?Joel on Software: Things you should never doInterview with Mike from Freshbooks on Founders Talk."It's possible that...
2020-02-1839 minBuild Your SaaSAnxiety about what might happen with the businessThis week, Jon and Justin discuss:What makes a good podcast for product people?New American Dream: building, owning, selling a SaaS (Tyler Tringas)What do you worry about when you own your own software company?How would we handle an economic downturn?Why do software founders not sleep well at night?You can reply to this podcast here:Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbudaLeave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.Interact on WhatPods.Email us: mail@transistor.fmThanks...
2020-02-1135 min
OK Productive031. Clear your Calendar! with Justin JacksonIn this episodeWhat does a "cleared" calendar look like?How can clearing the calendar improve one's productivity?Why you shouldn't fill up your calendar with work if you are self-employedA clear calendar is open to interruptions and stimulates creativityHow to stay focused and avoid getting lost in free timeHow to be healthy active on social mediaAn experiment that you can try at home or at the officeHow clearing the calendar can be used by employees at traditional or regimented officesHow to observe the benefits of unstructured or free timeOther ways to experiment with your calendar and free...
2019-10-1349 min
Product PeopleEP99 – Ben Orenstein's new startup is focused on pair programmingBen is the co-founder of Tuple.app and is running a new course called Habits for Hackers.★ Looking for a community of bootstrappers?Join MegaMaker ClubShow notesBen Orenstein on TwitterHabits for HackersMalcolm Gladwell and Rick Rubin talking about Johnny CashBen's working on a new product: Tuple.appBen's episode on Bootstrapped Web TinySeedEarnest CapitalBen's co-founder weekly retro questionslearntopair.com - Ben's guide to pair programmingArt of Product podcastBook: Atomic Habits by James ClearThe latest from Justin:My new startup: Transistor.fmPodcast in 2019!Join Justin's new...
2019-01-021h 08
Product PeopleEP98 – The hard truth about bootstrapping startups (Part 2 with Jason Cohen)Jason Cohen asks Justin Jackson hard questions about his startup, Transistor.fm, and what it's going to take to go full-time.This is the second half of our chat. Part 1 was really just setting the stage. Part 2 digs into the real-life challenges of bootstrapping a business.★ Looking for a community of bootstrappers?Join MegaMaker ClubShow notesPodcast in 2019!Justin's original tweetBlog post: Can you bootstrap on the side?Watch this interview on YouTubeJason Cohen on TwitterThe latest from Justin:My new startup: Tr...
2018-12-171h 11
Product PeopleEP97 – Can you bootstrap a company on the side? (Part 1 with Jason Cohen)When you're building a startup you have these questions:Should I work on my startup on the side, and grow it slowly?Should I take investment and go full-time sooner?These are the questions that have been circulating in my head over the past few months.Which is why when Jason Cohen, founder of WPengine and someone I respect, replied to my tweet, I took note:"It’s difficult to find successful companies where founders didn’t work 80+ hours and took longer than four years to get to $1M ARR. If you're two years in a...
2018-12-1432 min
Product PeopleEP96 – My secret phone call with HamishHamish Macpherson is an engineer at Buffer, and was one of the first people to join MegaMaker.★ Looking for community of bootstrappers?Join MegaMaker ClubShow notesFollow Hamish Macherson on TwitterBufferHamish's Stand to Make side-projectThe latest from Justin:My new startup: Transistor.fmJoin Justin's newsletter justinjackson.ca/newsletterSend Justin a message on Twitter: @mijustinSend Justin a message on Instagram: instagram.com/mijustinSend Justin a message on Snapchat: @mijustin
🎙️ Podcast hosting is provided by Transistor.fm.📺 Learn how to start your own podcast!
2018-11-2358 min
Product PeopleEP95 – "Programming's gateway drug" with Samantha GeitzThis is a great chat with Samantha Geitz, a Senior Developer at Tighten, and the founder of BetaFish.Topics in this episode: Should "business/marketing" people learn programming?What's the difference between messing around and being a serious programmer?Do regular programmers Google for answers?Why English Majors can make great programmers.If you want to learn hard things, do you need to be in a classroom?Why should take a mental health day when you need it.Announcement:Want to speak at a tech conference? I'm doing class called "public speaking f...
2018-11-051h 07
MegaMaker - ArchiveTo be a winner, you need to be a loserFind Justin online:
Send Justin a message on Twitter: @mijustin
Send Justin a message on Instagram: instagram.com/mijustin
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Show notes
Annie Duke interview about professional poker on Farnam Street
Casey Neistat clip his from the podcast Couples Therapy
John Siracusa clip is from ATP, episode 293
Seth Godin clip is from the Akimbo podcast, Genius
Podcast hosting: Transistor.fm
Theme music: Striker-metal.com
Support the show:Leave a review on iTunes!Join MegaMaker Club★ Support this po...
2018-10-0241 min
Build & LaunchDid you miss me?I'm baaaaaack! Here’s an update.Show notesSign up for my newsletter: justinjackson.ca/newsletterOn the blog: Maybe you shouldn't be a solopreneurLeave a review on iTunes!Send Justin a message on Twitter: @mijustinSend Justin a message on Instagram: instagram.com/mijustinSubscribe on YouTubePodcast hosting: Transistor.fmTheme music: Striker-metal.comUpdate from 2021: what am I working on these days?A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up...
2018-08-1402 min