Tweets

💻 Build in public experiment:

📊 I'm making our @TransistorFM analytics (on @usefathom) public for 24 hours.

🙋‍♀️ If you were in charge of our marketing, what would you be focusing on?

🔧 Show we configure Fathom differently?

https://app.usefathom.com/share/djzhrvbx/transistor.fm

RT @SethDKlein: We need our govts to approach #ClimateEmergency with the same ambition & urgency they confronted the pandemic. Only they ar…

@iamashley 😮💯

@venikunche 🥰

@stenmorten @petecodes 💯

@marckohlbrugge Nice!

@jonbuda and I have become big @tailwindcss fans while working on @TransistorFM. 👍

RT @petecodes: I just interviewed Justin Jackson @mijustin 🔥

We chatted about

💰Finding the best markets for bootstrappers
💡How to take on…

@Matthew_Reid @stripe Nope.

@BarrettABrooks Yes! 🙌

@teslainvernon @stripe Thanks for being an early believer! 👍

@seanpritzkau @stripe Thx. just trying to give folks a little nudge!

@jongold you rock at html, which is the best language ❤️

@dchymko @1PercentFTP NICE

@dgkeyes @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @rfortherest added you. 👍

Goal achieved! 🎉

██████████ 100%

25 new companies have enabled @stripe Climate, and are contributing at least 1% of their revenue towards fighting climate change and removing carbon from the atmosphere. 🌱🙏🌎

https://transistor.fm/climate-change/

@lukehebb @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @quickfireio Awesome! You're number 25! We did it!

██████████ 100%

@amberlturner @candleflare Awesome! Adding you now

Whoa! We only need two new companies to enable Stripe Climate for us to reach our goal. 🙏

███████████░ 92%

https://twitter.com/dialectik/status/1417566765190553602

@amedina_dev I'll add you to the friends section. 👍

Which domain/project do you want me to list?

@Mikel27a @pjrvs @stripe Thanks Mikel! Can I add you to my list here and count you towards our goal?

https://transistor.fm/climate-change/

@amedina_dev @jameswood12p @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM Were you already participating?

Looking for new companies who haven’t joined Stripe Climate yet.

Alright! @SeosHQ just turned @stripe Climate on in their account.

That brings us to...

██████████░░ 84% towards our goal. 🙌

@jameswood12p @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM Awesome! Added you to the "Friends" section at the bottom. 👍

Ok. @jonnyplatt and https://seoscout.com/ is in!

So now we're at:

████████░░ 80% towards our goal! 🙏

Wowser. Just got to my desk and tons of people made commitments overnight.

@jmckinven, @yhdesai, @podcastharry, @benediktdeicke, @uibreakfast, @bertwitt, @iamcoreyg (did I miss anybody?)

█████████░░░ 76% to our goal!

https://transistor.fm/climate-change/

@benediktdeicke @TransistorFM @uibreakfast @userlist YESSSSS!!!! 🔥🔥s

Adding you now

@podcastharry @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @TheLowerStreet YESSSSS.

Adding you now.

@yhdesai @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @IndieMakerTech Adding you now!

@jmckinven @indiebitespod Nice! Adding you now.

@NathanG Just woke up. I’ll check it when I get to my computer. 👍

Actually, one more.

@CarterBryden from @approximatedapp just DM'd me:

"Love this initiative, hadn't even realized @stripe Climate was available out of the US now." 💯

██████░░░░░░ 52% towards our goal!

██████░░░░░░░ 48% towards our goal!

Thanks to these companies who just signed up for @stripe Climate:

- @apideck
- @BurnRate_io
- @abinaya_rl at http://remoteleaf.com
- @irisdotfm

(I'm going to sleep now, I'll update this again tomorrow)

@CarterBryden @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @approximatedapp Yup! If you enable it, send me the screenshot and I'll add you.

@robertmclaws @BurnRate_io Awesome! Adding you now! 🙌

@gertjanwilde @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @apideck Did you enable it yet? I can add you now.

@yhdesai @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @IndieMakerTech Awesome. Let me know when you do it!

@abinaya_rl @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM Awesome!!!!!

I’ll update my page with your info as soon as I’m back at my computer.

Smoke in the sky. 😵😷

Wildfire smoke so thick, it gives you a headache and makes your eyes water.

#vernonbc

@stauffermatt Yessssssss

He’s the soul balm we all needed 🥰

@irisdotfm @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM Yessssses! I’ll add you to my list as soon as I’m back on my computer

@AbiTyasTunggal @stripe Amazing!

I’ll add you to the footer when I get back to my computer. 👍

Thanks to @HighFiveRPG and @SoundsProfNews!

We're now at ████░░░░░░░░░ 32% of our goal!

https://twitter.com/HighFiveRPG/status/1417286160708247556

Update: @marvindanig just joined with @bubblinapp and @redgooseapp

███░░░░░░░░ 28% towards our goal!

https://goose.red/

@marvindanig @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM @bubblinapp @redgooseapp YESSSSSS

Update: @tillkruss just joined with @ObjectCachePro! 🙌

███░░░░░░░░░░ 24% towards are goal!

@robmerki Had you already done it, or did you do it because of this campaign?

(Need to decide if I add you to the campaign goal or not)

@twigpress @stripe @like2have @danhulton @nodewood @TransistorFM Added you to the bottom section here (along with @usefathom)

https://transistor.fm/climate-change/

Thanks to

@theavigoldman, @useparcel
@uwwgo, http://namy.ai

for getting us to 20%! 🙌

The post is live!

🙏 please share.

Trying to get 25 startups to start contributing to @stripe climate. 🌱

██░░░░░░░░ 20% towards our goal!

https://transistor.fm/climate-change/

Update: @BrendanOfEarth just enabled it for https://brightbits.app

█░░░░░░░ 12% towards our goal!

I'm about to launch a campaign to get 25 other companies to join @stripe Climate and give 1% of their revenue (or more!) to carbon removal.

Two people have already committed to join:
Francois, @like2have
@danhulton, @nodewood

Anyone else want to be a part of the announcement?

@dialectik If you end up signing up for @stripe climate, let me know!

I'd love to add you to this blog post I'm writing.

(Goal: try to get 25 other startups to start giving to Stripe's climate program)

Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz is (checks notes) investing $515 million in crypto?

🤦‍♂️

$4.5 million in 🌱 vs $515 milion in 🏭

You can do better @a16z: it's time to build!

https://twitter.com/JimEngland/status/1417233383101456384

Investors like @sacca have been raising the alarm for years.

His new fund @lowercarbon is deploying millions to fight the climate change problem.

We need more VCs like this. 🌱👏

(I wish I had enough $ to become an LP)

https://lowercarboncapital.com

@rsobers @thatbberg @sacca Yup! I'm a fan. 👏

@thethoughtcard Are you moving from a retainer to contract work with different clients?

@AlejandroVBeta1 @a16z The only climate investment I can find by @a16z is a $4.5 million @usepatch.

(This is, also, I believe one of their smallest investments in the past year)

https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/04/andreessen-horowitz-could-make-the-carbon-offset-api-patch-its-latest-climate-bet/

For transparency: my company, @TransistorFM, is a small, bootstrapped 3-person company.

Last year we gave $10k to @RainforestUS.

This year, we've contributed nearly $10k to @stripe's carbon removal program (kudos to @patrickc for setting this up!)

VCs: show me the money (you're investing climate change solutions).

You want to make a dent in the universe? Help us clean this shit up.

Tired: "Software is eating the world."

Wired: "Climate change is destroying the world."

💯 @sethbannon:

“It’s super frustrating to see people that control hundreds of millions of dollars tweeting about the next e-gaming unicorn that they’re chasing, when you have millions of people who are being forced to migrate all because of a crisis that technology can solve."

@dragosilinca @pmarca @a16z Nope, not yet.

And I'm only doing what Marc asked me to do in his piece:

"We need to demand more of our investors. And we need to demand more from one another. We’re all necessary, and we can all contribute, to building."

@thatbberg such bullshit.

Andreessen Horowitz seems to think they can help "build" by launching content sites like https://future.a16z.com/.

How about investing real 💵 to *build* real solutions?

(Also, @a16z has tweeted about "climate change" exactly once).

It's been 15 months since @pmarca & @a16z published "it's time to build."

Question: WTF have they done in support of this thesis?

Marc said we should be "solving the climate crisis by building."

From what I can see, @a16z has only made a few meager investments in climate tech.

@hunterwalk If this is satirical take on thought-leader tweets, I'm here for it. 👏

@ow The air quality in #vernonbc this morning was some of the worst in the world. 😔

@thejonotron eHummer?

@_architexture_ @jjhorgan @JustinTrudeau The air quality numbers today in #vernonbc are abysmal.

https://www.iqair.com/ca/canada/british-columbia/vernon

@ThomasSmale @microacquire That's what I mean: way less qualified buyers.

(And, on the investment side, way less need for investment [generally])

There's just not as many people who can spend $5M+ on an acquisition.

@mynameis_davis @microacquire @robwalling Yup.

(That's why I said, "It depends on growth and how strategic a target is.")

But strategic acquisitions are quite rare. The most likely outcome for a bootstrapped SaaS is a private equity firm buying them for 2x-8x ARR.

@microacquire ☝️ this is from a chat with my SaaS friends.

We observed the stages where we got the most interest from investors/acquirers.

What's curious: there's lots of interest for bootstrapped SaaS making $0-$50k MRR, but less after that.

Just harder to buy/sell once you're $50k MRR+.

@einarvollset @microacquire That’s a good point.

What was curious to me and the friends discussing this, is the kinds of interest (and volume of interest) we’ve gotten at each stage.

@mynameis_davis @microacquire @robwalling It all depends on growth and how strategic a target is.

But I’ve seen very high multiples when MRR is low ($6k ARR selling for 20x)

Once you cross over $1 million ARR, the most common range seems to be 2X-8X.

(Example: Baremetrics sold for ~2.65x ARR)

SaaS MRR and investment interest:

$0-5k: folks on @microacquire are interested
$5k-10k: Earnest and TinySeed are interested
$10k-$20k: angels get interested
$20k-$50k: bigger companies get interested in acquiring at a cheaper price
100k+ : higher valuations (but lower multiples)

Some of the best standup ever.

Fastball after fastball. https://twitter.com/birbigs/status/1416911184826142721

@birbigs Ah. I just deleted that tweet to fix my grammar. You replied too quick! 😆

@ow 👋 40s too.

@dannoblaster Hahaha

RT @mijustin: If you watch people make purchasing decisions, you'll notice they'll often get decision fatigue.

They're tired of experienci…

@thar 🙌

@pjrvs Well, that's the last time I invite you to my "MLM Power Hour" show. 😤

How do you spot opportunities for new products and features?

@alanklement recommends looking for these magic words:

- give me
- help me
- free me
- make the
- take away
- equip me

"Can somebody *make the* hiring process easier?"

"Can somebody *free me* from these tax forms?"

If you watch people make purchasing decisions, you'll notice they'll often get decision fatigue.

They're tired of experiencing the problem, and they're tired of looking for a solution.

Ironically, a lot of products make people think too hard about their decision!

Make it easy.

Useful tools take away pain and help people make progress.

Here's how @decksetapp helps customers:

"Take away the frustration of creating attractive slides so that I can focus on delivering an awesome presentation."

Here's how that promise translates on their marketing page:

@alanklement Case study: why did I buy @decksetapp?

- I wanted my slides to look as good as @SamuelHulick's
- Spent hours trying to design my own
- Failed; tried to buy PowerPoint theme and customize it
- Got frustrated; wasn't working on my talk!
- Saw DeckSet slides. They look good!

🤔 What motivates people to buy your product?

Years ago, @alanklement and I explored this topic on a livestream.

Here are some of the key insights that emerged. 👉

@HighFiveRPG @meonlylouder @PodcastOutfit Oh wow!!! 😻

@dannoblaster Isn’t every leader in the world doing the same thing?

@logan__woolf Yeah, Nelson is awesome

@pjrvs It just cleared up yesterday and today.

It’s been really bad.

After all that wildfire smoke in #vernonbc, it’s so nice to get a beach day! 🙏😎

I think if we could see how people interpret and apply the advice we give on social media… we would probably give less advice. 😅

@AdamYamada I think that’s pretty rare.

@earthlingworks 🎯 So many different dynamics at play in every category.

It’s interesting to see how the same customer can have one mindset (regarding pricing) in a certain market, but a completely different mindset when it comes to buying a different product.

Lots of nuance.

@pqtdev What’s @forcir?

Entrepreneurs have incredible confirmation bias:

“This worked for me, so it *must* work for all people”

(I’m guilty of this)

The truth is, founders are successful when they understand their category and customer better than anyone else.

You, the founder, should be the expert.

Don’t take pricing advice from anyone who doesn’t truly understand your category.

Pricing strategy is highly dependent on the characteristics of your market.

Folks keep giving generalized advice.

✅ Understand the dynamics that drive your market.

✅ Price accordingly.

I really wish North America had more passenger trains (especially out west).

@PierreDeWulf @SloanCam Yeah, this is really category-specific.

In podcast hosting (which is largely a Prosumer market) @TransistorFM is quite a bit higher than the lowest plans on Libsyn, but we’re definitely anchored by the market.