Tweets

@christophrumpel Loved Ninja Turtles. Also:

@threehourcoffee @dsabar Congrats! 🎉

@asantibanez @jasonlbeggs OMG YES

TRRAP stack works too. 🤣

(still a big fan of the TALL stack) https://twitter.com/jasonlbeggs/status/1403429235524616199

@twigpress Lol. This is my fave part.

@ChrisLaBossiere Private bathroom: best feature. 👍

@chddaniel @joshuaanderton Dope! Thanks for listening.

🤞 @joshuaanderton and I are hoping to record again tomorrow.

👍 if this works out, I might do something similar with other makers, yup.

@angrybrad @johnniefp @calebporzio @DCoulbourne @DotAllConf @jesseschutt That would be dope. 👍

Published a video showing how to fix those audio sync problems I was having yesterday. 🙌

https://youtu.be/LtpxIVTr7jA

@noahwbragg brb watching all 453 of Norm Doow's episodes

BTW, @savvycal_ is awesome. The UX is so much better than Calendly.

You should switch:
https://savvycal.com/?r=justinj

Sometimes, getting expansion revenue is as simple as making it easy to invite team members to your billing plan. 🎯

Kudos, @derrickreimer; this "invite link" flow is perfect. 👍

After today's carving demonstration (at a programming conference) I'm all in on the WAK stack. 🤣

W - 🪵
A - 🪓
K - 🔪

Ok. @calebporzio & @DCoulbourne are running my fave virtual conference ever.

Alpine Day has a live wood carving demonstration (brilliantly done by @jesseschutt!) as one of the sessions, and I just want to watch this all day. 💯

https://alpineday.com/

@christophrumpel @jonbuda Thanks! 🥰

@jitbit Yeah, Silverstar is incredible for downhill.

@aykut_ibrisim Looks awesome!

Managed to push myself out of the office and go on my first trail ride of 2021.

Nothing crazy (for #vernonbc) but it felt good. 👍

@owenconti Thanks! Sorry, saw this late

Ok! Thanks to all of you who suggested @RogueAmoeba.

And special thanks to @BretFisher who jumped on a call and showed me two techniques:

1. Use Ecamm Live Audio monitor + Loopback

or

2. Use Audio Hijack Pro + Loopback

@danfletcherdev Yes. For a virtual conference I'm speaking at tomorrow.

Has anyone here figured out a solution to audio-sync issues in Zoom (when using Cam Link 4k and USB audio interface)?

https://youtu.be/R114_m7Ay3c

Just invested in @Shpigford's new thing (@MaybeFinance) on Republic!

https://republic.co/maybefinance/i/8pog1a?utm_campaign=referral_token_share-maybefinance-social&utm_content=06-09-2021-21-08-57&utm_medium=direct&utm_source=republic.co

Incredible! Congrats on 10 years of Laravel, Taylor! 🎉 https://twitter.com/taylorotwell/status/1402635622901338120

RT @Alpine_JS: 🎉🎉🎉 Alpine Day is TOMORROW!

Come see all the new stuff and here from:
@calebporzio
@DCoulbourne
@stauffermatt
@mijustin…

The success of your business will depend on whether you’re tapping into a genuine customer desire.

If you “miss the vein” (so to speak) it won’t flow. https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1402468854261981186

🤣 too real https://twitter.com/grinich/status/1382550826367873026

@ramsey Lol. It’s true!

This piece about New York coming back to life really made me want to go back to New York.

The sites, the sounds, the feel of that city; there’s nothing like it.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/14/how-a-city-comes-back-to-life

"The market is so, so, so important. Market excuses poor ideas, poor execution, like just total ignorance. If you happen to luck into the correct market you can flail wildly and still get there." – @fulligin

https://twitter.com/rrhoover/status/1401212712538066951

@acho_arnold That's exactly my point here:

If you're not super committed to building a company, it's probably better to find the best job you can.

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1334276913695612930

@acho_arnold I never said it was easy; but the possibility exists for many people who aren’t pursuing it.

Nobody is insulated from these realities; even me!

This new project I’m investing in with @joshuaanderton will be judged by the market, and could fail.

I’m trying to increase our odds, but in business there are no sure bets.

https://podcast.megamaker.co/

@JordanGal That observation seems correct.

It also explains why bootstrappers and VCs generally don’t get along at cocktail parties. 😆

Blind ambition seems irresponsible to indie founders. The idea of striking out 7 times with the hope of hitting 2-3 home runs is just alien to us.

You can gauge demand as you go along:

- observing existing customer behavior,
- noting shifts in the culture,
- being aware of economic tides,
- launching small trial balloons and seeing how people respond.

The key is to not get too far down the river if the signs are bad.

@ungatedcreative Yes. Very common challenge for artists:

This is what I want to make vs This is what audiences want

@SymbolOfFlight Yes! As long as that sentiment is shared by a sizable group of people. 🤞

The market is a brutal judge.

It doesn’t care how good your intentions are, how many customer interviews you did, how hard you worked on the design, how skilled you are at programming, or how prestigious your investors are:

customers will decide your final verdict.

You gauge the strength of demand by the evidence of existing behavior:

How much effort are people applying right now to solve this problem?

How strong is the existing behavior?

How strong is the incentive for them to seek a solution?

@SymbolOfFlight You gauge the strength of demand by the evidence of existing behavior:

How much effort are people applying right now to solve this problem?

How strong is the existing behavior?

How strong is the incentive for them to seek a solution?

There is a prevailing belief that “great founders create new innovations out of thin air.”

In truth, product ideas emerge from pre-existing human behavior.

You can convince people to switch from horses to cars by targeting the existing desire (fast, efficient transportation).

@tylertringas Haha. Nah. People don’t like my theoretical threads as much. 😆

It’s “real life story” threads that get the most attention… https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1401636368283963392

@pradeephenry I think new category creation is rare.

Even in cases where it seems emphatic (the introduction of the automobile), it’s an evolutionary step on top of a pre-existing behavior.

With the car, marketers targeted the existing desire (fast, efficient transportation).

Human behavior is iterative; it doesn’t spontaneously appear out of thin air.

New desires grow out of pre-existing conditions: what we’ve done, wanted, and bought in the past.

Good ideas don’t emerge out of darkness; they’re built on an existing foundation.

Good marketing harnesses existing demand; it directs a customer’s existing momentum towards your product.

https://twitter.com/pradeephenry/status/1402455815806611460?s=21

@pradeephenry Good marketing harnesses existing demand; it directs a customer’s existing momentum towards your product.

People who built their company purely on passion (and succeeded) got lucky.

Their passion happened to coincide with a market where there was demand.

Beware of false-positives: most passion products fail!

There needs to be underlying customer demand for what you’re building.

The pre-requirement for a successful SaaS is customer demand.

If there’s no existing desire from customers, it doesn’t matter how good your marketing is (or how passionate you are).

Customer demand forms the baseline for your company’s trajectory.

@delk @Primer Nice! 🙌

But now I have unsatiated curiosity about what this new feature is! 😅

@earthlingworks 🎯 Arguably, SEO, building audiences, side-project marketing, and brand are all incredibly “expensive” in that they take a lot of time.

@calebporzio @tnorthcutt I haven’t reflected on this yet, but I like the Notes on Work cover. 👍

@itskyleharris Whoa! Nice! 🙌

Be especially thankful for best friends. 🙏

@hotdogsladies I dig it too! 👍

@ChilliDoor Oops!

@jonathanstark Thank you!

@skiltz @JedBridges Lol. I’m worse than that: I don’t even surf. 😂

@numinous_ux Thank you! 🙏

@JimDBanting @megamaker @joshuaanderton 😝

@vcolinau Thanks for listening and sharing!

Follow on Spotify here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/5zHXlKuXHigI778XzMQr6d

Follow on Apple Podcasts here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/megamaker-2021/id1074661788

You can subscribe & listen on Overcast here:

https://overcast.fm/itunes1074661788/megamaker-2021

Super close to getting 1,000 downloads on today's episode of the re-booted @megamaker podcast.

@joshuaanderton said he'd quit if we didn't get 1,000 downloads today. 😅

Can you help me out? 👉

https://podcast.megamaker.co/

@pixelbud Working on it! 😅

@jayacunzo Very true.

(Unfortunately, in my office, the central air system is right outside my door! 😢)

@adampatterson Hahaha. That's what I really want to know.

🤣

It's me. https://twitter.com/mjwhansen/status/1401979284777021443

Currently on Mojave.

Is it time to upgrade? 😅

First official episode is out now.

Let us know what you think!

https://share.transistor.fm/s/0822edf9

@Swizec Got it. Yup, we agree there.

(One tricky bit for folks with families is that the bar for “enough” is just so much higher. Many parents live in survival mode for so long. Raising kids in North America is incredibly expensive; even if you just want to be moderately comfortable)

Anyway, @joshuaanderton and I discuss a bunch of this (founders being motivated primarily to provide for their family) on tomorrow's episode of @megamaker.

You can get it here:
https://podcast.megamaker.co/subscribe

Yes: these are post-tax dollars. So actual salaries need to be higher than these numbers!

https://twitter.com/tnorthcutt/status/1401748559133769730

@tnorthcutt YES!

It's these costs that are motivating a lot of parents to start their own businesses.

If you're a young couple, with 1 child, trying to make ends meet, the bar is just so much higher:

👉 at least $100k/year for most areas (but more likely $150k/year, due to housing increases)

In Washington DC, in 2017, here's what you'd need if you want to merely attain an *adequate standard of living:*

👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 For a family of 4,
💸 you'd need $105,539 ($115k today).

👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👧‍👦 For families of 6,
💸 you'd need $136,347 ($150K today).

👀 Housing costs are much higher in 2021.

In Bellingham, in 2017, here's what you'd need if you want to merely attain an *adequate standard of living:*

👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 For a family of 4,
💸 you'd need $81,634 ($90k today).

👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👧‍👦 For families of 6,
💸 you'd need $104,476 ($114K today).

(This is in a small city!)

When I first saw it, the "Family Income Calculator" by @EconomicPolicy was eye opening for me:

https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/

There's a massive financial jump to go from "no kids" to "kids" in America.

For many entrepreneurs, *this* is our motivation: providing for our families.

@tnorthcutt 🎯

@PelagicDev @marketingdevs @megamaker Started blogging in 2008, podcasting in 2012. That helped me build a reputation, meet people, and grow my network.

The contract came from a company that advertised on my podcast. 👍

@PelagicDev 2014: Managed to get a contract (on retainer).

2015: wrote and published @marketingdevs on the side.

2016: was earning enough from M4Devs and @megamaker to quit consulting.

2018: started Transistor.

@heyyfernanda 💯💯💯

@Swizec It feels like you have to do a lot of verbal gymnastics, instead of just admitting that money is a big motivator for most founders. Lol.

You can be motivated by other stuff too!

But a central purpose of business is… to make money. That’s capitalism!

@rskopecek Why can’t it be purpose, and money? https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1334278732450680834

@thejonotron But in our society, to get those things, you need money!

It’s ok to say: “I’m motivated by money that will (in turn) get me the other things I want.”

Otherwise, we should just go work for non-profits, right?

(I worked for a non-profit for 8 years; didn’t earn enough. 😜)

@Swizec I get your point.

But even founders who outwardly buy this rhetoric of “making a dent in the world” are still motivated by money.

Otherwise, we’d see a lot more B-corps. 😜

@connorbode Totally.

@johncblandii Not sure he’s just referring to crypto founders.

He invests in “regular” startups too.

Overall, it’s just a vapid thing to say.

@jameshull Thanks!

@Swizec Not sure I believe that narrative.

Many of Silicon Valley’s “favorite” founders (Zuck, Bezos, Page, Brin, Gates, Musk) own significant percentages of their company’s stock.

I *wish* Bezos cared less about his money, and paid his employees more.

🤔 If tech bro founders are really “not doing it for the money” how come none of them want to pay more taxes?

@isellyourdata 🎯

@christophrumpel It took about one year to go full-time on @TransistorFM.

Aug 2018: official launch

Aug 2019: Jon and I were both full-time.

@UniverseOfBetty @venikunche Yes!!! 🙌

I know a bunch of incredible entrepreneurs whose original motivation was to “pay for diapers, day care, healthcare” for their kids.

In my books, that makes them “the best founders.” 💯

@podse_io Totally. I’ve been there! https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1399062939890438144

Also, yes: lol, what does “best founders” even mean? 😆

Jack gets it: https://twitter.com/JackEllis/status/1401642156968734720

🎙 In 2018 I co-founded @TransistorFM with Jon Buda.

A big part of our motivation was to build a better product for podcasters.

But from the beginning we were clear: we wanted the business to give *us* a better life.

✅ More freedom
✅ More calm
✅ And yes, more dough

@christophrumpel I made more my first year, but it wasn’t until Transistor that I was financially comfortable.

👋 Father of 4 here.

😰 As an employee, I struggled to make ends meet for years.

📆 I quit my job in 2014, and started my own company.

📈 Since then, I’ve consistently made more money as a founder than an employee.

A big part of my entrepreneurial motivation *is* money. https://twitter.com/APompliano/status/1401544790869786628

@gaijinity Nice. Love that pool. Looks perfect!