Startups For the Rest of Us
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.
Episodes
What's it really like to attend MicroConf?
In this episode, Rob Walling and Laura Sprinkle, founder of Rootabl, recap MicroConf Europe 2025 in Istanbul. They discuss the MicroConf vibe, standout talks on AI, affiliate marketing, and SaaS growth, as well as the value of networking and connecting while getting outside the conference room.
Topics we cove...
Where’s the best place to publish if you’re starting content from scratch?
In this episode, Rob Walling flies solo, answering your questions on marketing and audience building. He covers what to do when your channels stop scaling, where to publish early on, and the "media company first" approach.
Episode Sponsor:
Can churn ever be good in SaaS?
In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by fan favorite Derrick Reimer for a listener Q&A. They break down what it takes to compete with well-funded incumbents, how to decide whether to pivot or push forward, when a technical co-founder is truly necessary, the right time to think about trademarks, and the difference between “good churn” and “bad chur...
What if you could get all 15 years of this podcast bundled up into one episode?
In episode 800, Rob Walling goes solo for a special milestone installment of Startups For the Rest of Us. He covers the 12 foundational commandments that shape his approach to SaaS, hard-won lessons forged from years of building, investing in, and advising startups.
Topics ...
What's next for OutboundSync?
In the Season 5 finale of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling talks with Harris Kenny as OutboundSync blows past $500k ARR. Harris shares the wins and struggles of getting here, from choosing not to raise funding (for now), to planning a laser tag event no committee would approve, to what comes next on the road to $1M.
Topics we co...
How do you bootstrap a SaaS to $1 million+ ARR?
In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Colin Bartlett about how he and his co-founder Andy transformed a side project monitoring tool into a seven-figure ARR business that now serves as an early warning system for outages across 6,000+ services.
From nearly abandoning the product during three stagnant years to discovering their kill...
OutboundSync just hit $35k MRR—but the decisions are only getting harder.
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling and Harris Kenny dive into the messy middle of SaaS growth, where every opportunity comes with a trade-off. They explore the tension between raising funds you don't need, staying focused when good ideas keep coming, and building a business while raising a family.
...What if your SaaS isn’t growing because of the product, not the marketing?
In this solo adventure episode, Rob Walling unpacks why SaaS marketing feels harder than ever and why most advice out there will waste your time. He shares how he’d approach things if growth has stalled, the questions he’d ask first, and why real progress comes from proven fundamentals.
Episode Sponsor:
...Harris hit $20k MRR. It’s real. What’s next?
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling celebrates with Harris Kenny after OutboundSync crosses $20k MRR ahead of schedule. They talk about why hitting a milestone can feel both exciting and overwhelming, the arrival fallacy, and how simple, consistent execution may be all it takes to reach $30k. Harris shares the bets that moved the...
B2C, low price point, one-time payments… not the typical recipe for a life-changing exit.
In this episode, Rob Walling talks with longtime listener Zamir Khan, founder of VidHug (now Memento). Zamir’s story broke a lot of SaaS “rules”: B2C, low price point, one-time payments, and years of slow growth. He shares how he nearly gave up, the pandemic surge that changed everything, and t...
What happens when momentum hits and your biggest challenge becomes keeping up?
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling catches up with Harris Kenny, founder of OutboundSync. Revenue is growing, the team is moving fast, and enterprise leads are coming in. But with success comes complexity: support load, pricing strategy, and product demands are all increasing. Harris is hiring a...
Is GPT-5 a real risk for SaaS founders, or just the beginning of a new chapter?
In this Hot Take Tuesday, Rob Walling, Einar Vollset, and Tracy Osborn dig into GPT-5’s mixed reviews, signs of stress in the A.I. bubble, and how Windsurf’s $2.4B exit left early employees with nothing. They also unpack why returning a VC fund is such a rare (and big) deal.
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling reconnects with Harris Kenny, founder of OutboundSync, to explore the rapid evolution of his SaaS business just months after transitioning from agency work.
Harris shares how niching down to outbound-focused agencies unlocked sales momentum. He talks about hiring, his Salesforce breakthrough, SOC 2 prep, and why finally spending his TinyS...
How can you scale yourself as a founder?
In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Yaniv Bernstein (co-founder and CTO of Violet, former COO, VP of Engineering, and Google leader) to unpack how a founder’s role must change as the company grows. From writing the code yourself to leading managers of managers, they dig into the tough transitions every founder faces, and what happens if y...
Welcome to Season 5 of TinySeed Tales, the documentary-style series where we follow one SaaS founder’s journey over 12 months to hear about the wins, the missteps, and everything in between.
In this season premiere, Rob Walling introduces Harris Kenny of OutboundSync. After running a successful agency, Harris makes the leap...
What are the real risks of AI-generated code and “vibe coding”?
In this episode, Rob Walling is joined once again by fan-favorite Derrick Reimer to answer a fresh batch of listener questions. They dig into solo vs. co-founder trade-offs, managing scope creep, and how integrations can shape early traction.
Want to get your questions answered? Drop them here.
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How do you know it’s time to move on from a product that’s growing?
In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Braden Dennis, co-founder of Fiscal.ai (formerly FinChat), about a rare founder journey: bootstrapping, catching lightning in a bottle, and choosing to go big with venture capital. They dive into the emotional and strategic weight of shutting down a $1.5M ARR product, what shift...
How do you really know when you’ve hit product-market fit?
In this episode, Rob Walling welcomes back Kevin Wagstaff, co-founder of Spectora, to answer listener questions about early traction in Facebook groups, finding product-market fit, handling criticism, and what it really took to bootstrap to a $90M exit.
Want to get your questions answered? Drop them here.
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How do you choose between multiple product ideas?
In this solo episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about picking between two SaaS ideas, product positioning, and how to know when to stop working on a project. Want to get your question answered? Drop them here.
Topics we cover:
- (3:06) – Choosing between tw...
What’s the real roadmap to lasting financial freedom?
In this episode, Rob Walling chats with Nick Maggiulli about his new book, The Wealth Ladder. Nick explains how to identify your current financial stage and what it really takes to move up. They dig into how wealth changes your spending habits, why exits (not salaries) drive significant changes in net worth, and how your definition...
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