The original podcast for bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startups, this show follow the stories of founders as they start, acquire, and grow SaaS companies. Hear when they fail, struggle, succeed, and take you with them through the tumultuous life of a SaaS founder. If you like Mixergy, This Week in Startups, or SaaStr, you’ll enjoy Startup for the Rest of Us.
Latest episodes
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1 h 00
Episode 855 | The Eight SaaS Moats that Still Work in the Age of AI
Which SaaS moats are left in 2026? In this episode, Rob Walling and Einar Vollset walk through the 10 ways AI is attacking SaaS companies, from customers vibe coding the app to per…
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23 min
Episode 854 | How to Find Startup Ideas (Sneak Peek Chapter from My New Book)
Where do the best SaaS ideas actually come from? In this episode, Rob reads a chapter from his new book, Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants in the Age of AI. He walk…
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31 min
Episode 853 | How to Become the SaaS That AI Recommends
How do you get LLMs to actually recommend your SaaS? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Ross Hudgens, founder of Siege Media and author of the new book Generative Engine Optim…
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32 min
Episode 852 | Getting Big Name Customer Case Studies and More Listener Questions (with Ruben Gamez)
Should you be worried that another founder will steal your idea if you ask them for advice? In this episode, Rob is joined by Ruben Gamez to answer four listener questions: whether…
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44 min
Episode 851 | The Messy Middle of a SaaS Pivot
How do you pivot your SaaS when things aren’t working? This week Rob talks with Nathan Tyler, founder of BlinkMetrics, about the messy, uncertain process of finding product market…
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51 min
Episode 850 | How Not to Screw Up When Hiring Your first Developer and More Listener Questions (with Derrick R…
How do you onboard a hire onto a codebase you built alone? In this episode, Derrick Reimer joins Rob to tackle four listener questions. They cover hiring and onboarding your first…
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29 min
Episode 849 | Legal Threats, AI as Platform Risk, Building Confidence, and More Listener Questions (Rob Solo)
Ever gotten a vague cease and desist from a competitor and wondered if you actually did something wrong? This week I tackle four listener questions: how seriously to take competito…
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23 min
Episode 848 | What Liquid Death Can Teach Us About B2B SaaS (Rob Solo)
Does validation still matter when AI has made building software almost free? In this solo episode, Rob breaks down the origin story of Liquid Death, the canned water company now va…
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29 min
Episode 847 | What Second Time Founders Do Differently, Pricing AI Agents, and More Listener Questions (Rob So…
Would you spend a year on distribution for a product that doesn't exist yet? In this solo episode, Rob answers listener questions about how second and third-time founders think dif…
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30 min
Episode 846 | Snail Mail, Cold Calling, Regulating Your Nervous System, and More Listener Questions (Rob Solo)
Is your nervous system sabotaging your best decisions? In this episode, Rob mixes a solo adventure with listener questions. He answers a reader who asks why he still shows up to wr…
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33 min
Episode 845 | Lifetime Deals Revisited, Building is Not the Hard Part, and Confirming an Idea is Worth Paying…
What does it take to make a lifetime deal work? In this listener questions episode, Rob Walling revisits the lifetime pricing debate with new context from Davis Baer of Youform. He…
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43 min
Episode 844 | Building a $1M+ ARR SaaS for Laundromats
What does it take to build a seven figure SaaS in a market almost no one thinks about? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Brian Henderson, co-founder of Wash-Dry-Fold POS,…
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34 min
Episode 843 | Success Patterns of $1M+ SaaS Founders
Are you building systems for your team, or are you still the system? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Julien Marzouk, a former SaaS founder and coach who has worked with hun…
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25 min
Episode 842 | What is the Future of SaaS in an AI World? (Rob Solo)
Is SaaS dead now that AI can build an app in a weekend? In this solo episode, Rob Walling gives his most definitive answer yet to the question flooding the internet: what's the fut…
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28 min
Episode 841 | One-time Payments, Growing a Step 2 Business, Positioning, and More Listener Questions (Rob Solo…
Should you keep pouring time into a business that will probably never be huge? In this episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about whether to keep growing a "step two" B2…
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33 min
Episode 840 | 5 PM Revisited, Starting Over After Failure, Never Shipping, and More Listener Questions (Rob So…
What's really stopping you from shipping your product and how do you finally push through? In this listener questions episode, Rob Walling covers a lot of ground: revisiting the 5P…
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36 min
Episode 839 | The Journey Growing Help Scout to $35M ARR
What happens when a bootstrapper at heart raises $28 million and spends the next decade living with that decision? In this episode, Rob Walling sits down with Nick Francis, the co-…
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26 min
Episode 838 | 6 Key Takeaways From a TinySeed Batch Kick-Off
What do 15 brand-new TinySeed founders have in common? In this solo episode, Rob Walling shares six key takeaways from the most recent TinySeed batch kickoff in New York City. He c…
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43 min
Episode 837 | How Do You Learn Product? and Optimizing Your Trial Funnel (with Ruben Gamez)
How does a founder actually learn the skill of product? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Ruben Gamez of SignWell and Bidsketch to answer listener questions that turned into…
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34 min
Episode 836 | The 5 A.I. Moats Acquirers Value Most
Is your SaaS actually protected from AI disruption, or are acquirers walking away without even looking? In this episode, Rob Walling talks with Einar Vollset of Discretion Capital…