MarsBased podcast - Life on Mars

The AI slop problem is getting worse. AI can crank out code, decks, and landing pages in minutes, but somehow everything starts to look exactly the same. That sameness is not just an aesthetic problem; it is a trust problem. I sit down with David Okuniev (Founder of Typeform and Supercut) to unpack what “taste” really means when anyone can one-shot a product, and why people still crave signals of real craft.

We also dive...

What is the real difference between a CTO and a VP of Engineering? How do you build a technical team from scratch in a non-tech company? In this Road to CTO episode of the MarsBased podcast, we sit down with Emma Burrows (Ex-Google, Ex-Stripe) to talk about her incredible career path.

From her time at Google to leading as CTO at Stripe Payments UK and her current jump into the founder world with Resonant, Emma shares the les...

The tech landscape is shifting under our feet. In this episode of Life on Mars, our CEO Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit sits down with Linus Ekenstam to discuss the 100x era, a world where technology becomes 100x faster and cheaper every 6 to 12 months.

Linus breaks down why the ability to write code has moved from a competitive advantage to a basic commodity. He warns that if you are 100% dependent on a platform's reach, you are no...

Signing a non-disclosure agreement just to have an initial coffee or hear a pitch is often the ultimate "tell" that you’re a rookie in this industry. 

In this episode of Building MarsBased, our CEO Àlex Rodriguez Bacardit breaks down why we stopped signing NDAs "left, right, and center" and how we transitioned into using them as a qualification tool rather than a barrier to entry.

After 12 years of running ...

We sit down with Troy Hunt, the creator of Have I Been Pwned (HIBP), to discuss the evolution of cybersecurity over the last 12 years. We explore whether AI is truly changing the nature of data breaches, why the banking industry is still stuck with insecure SMS, and the fascinating story of how HIBP remains a lean, bootstrapped team of three people despite handling billions of queries.
Troy also opens up about the 2019 acquisiti...

How do you find employees who care as much as the founders? And in an AI-driven world, should you stick to traditional SEO or pivot to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

In this episode of Building MarsBased, CEO Alex Rodriguez Bacardit answers two deep-dive questions from the agency community. We explore the "Champion" profile, why former freelancers and entrepreneurs are the secret to delegation, and how MarsBased hit 30 pe...

In this fifth episode of Building MarsBased, Àlex Rodriguez Bacardit reflects on nearly 12 years of operating as a remote-first company since 2014. Inspired by the 37signals philosophy, MarsBased was designed as a "hard remote" entity to optimize for productivity over mere presence, a model that forced the founders to defend their professional authority without a physical office during the early years.

To maintain human conn...

In this episode of Building MarsBased, Alex Rodríguez Bacardit, CEO and founder, discusses the internal debate of whether the company should operate as a generalist vs specialist. This conversation offers key business tips for how to start a business, emphasizing the need for strategic thinking to foster business growth. We explore the essential elements of a sound business strategy for long-term success.

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In the volatile world of Silicon Valley, where the average CEO tenure is often less than five years and startups burn out as quickly as they rise, Ray Zinn stands as a monumental exception. For 37 years, Zinn served as the CEO of Micrel, the semiconductor company he founded in 1978, holding the record as the longest-serving CEO of a publicly traded company in the Valley. His tenure wasn't just about longevity; it was a masterclass ...

There is a recurring piece of advice in the startup world that says you should never mix friendship with business. However, after 12 years of profitability and organic growth at MarsBased, reality has taught us that working with friends is not only possible but can be a competitive advantage if expectations are managed from day zero.

In this episode of Building MarsBased, I open up the black box of our founding story to expl...

Welcome to another episode of Road to CTO, our series where we sit down with some of the most experienced and influential technology leaders in the world.

In this episode, we talk with Dorion Carroll, a veteran with 35 years of tech leadership experience, former CTO at Zynga, VP at Amazon, and one of the most insightful engineering minds in the industry.

From scaling engineering teams from 280 to 3,600 people, to navi...

When is the right time to start your company?
In this second episode of Building MarsBased, we answer a listener’s question that every aspiring founder wrestles with: Should I launch while keeping my day job, or go all in?

We unpack the real factors behind that decision: macro timing, industry waves, personal runway, team alignment, and share how we made the call that led to MarsBased.

You’ll hear why t...

Starting a business begins with one powerful idea, but how do you come up with your first one? In this episode of Building MarsBased, we share the real story behind our company’s early days and how a simple concept evolved into a long-lasting, profitable business.

You’ll learn how to identify opportunities, validate ideas, and turn side projects into sustainable ventures, all based on real-world experience from a...

What really makes company culture crack as you scale from 10 to 30+ people? In this candid conversation, Aaron Schmookler (co-founder of The Yes Works) sits down with Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit (CEO, MarsBased) to unpack the patterns they have seen across startups and mid-size teams, remote and on-site.

We dive into: preventing culture erosion during hypergrowth, why manager span of control matters, how to sell services without...

We’re launching a new Life on Mars series: How to Build an Agency, a practical, transparent guide for freelancers, micro-agencies, and growing studios. We’ll cover everything from picking a name and services, getting your first client, contracts and NDAs, and building a portfolio, to harder topics like crisis management, pricing, hiring and firing, founder dynamics, and keeping long-tenured teams motivated. Episodes wil...

What does it really take to scale a SaaS from a tiny Barcelona startup to a global leader protecting brands like major clubs and top electronics companies? In this candid conversation, Laura Urquizu (CEO, Red Points) shares hard-won lessons on going from SMB to enterprise, hiring fast in NYC (and fixing the fallout), balancing long-term strategy with short-term execution, and why the best CEOs become “irrelevant” day-to...

In this new episode of Life on Mars, we take you behind the scenes at MarsBased to share how the first half of 2025 has unfolded for us as a team and company.

This year has marked the beginning of a new chapter, one shaped by growth, clarity, and transformation. We’ve strengthened our pipeline, expanded the team, and taken meaningful steps toward building a more mature and intentional company culture. But more importan...

After 10 years building MarsBased as a fully remote, bootstrapped, and values-driven tech company, we’re finally sharing the full story. This keynote, recorded for our 10th anniversary, is a reflection on everything we've learned about building sustainable software, nurturing company culture, and growing a business without external investors, shortcuts or growth hacks.

We talk about how we made remote work function fro...

What happens when your company outgrows the culture that once defined it?
In this episode of the MarsBased Podcast, Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit sits down with Greg from TextExpander to discuss how growing to 30+ employees forced them to revisit their values, communication style, and internal training.

Greg explains how to recognize the right moment to redefine your company culture and why they decided to introduce internal training ...