Tweets

@travischmeisser @tylertringas Haha. Maybe Paul’s metaphor isn’t perfect. 😉

My argument is that focusing on “a narrow niche” will kill any business if the total addressable market is too small.

@DanHerd @stripe @Mailchimp @ConvertKit @monosnap yes! 🙌

@annaleepawlowsk @sarthakgh thanks! 🙌

@Aazarshad @hnshah Podcasting is the best way I’ve found to build trust with an audience.

But it’s not for everyone.

If writing or video is your thing, do that!

However, regardless of the medium you choose, you’re going to need to stand out.

@iamashley @scratch_posts Did she buy it from Pete at @blackpinecoffee? 😉

@emd @claire_atkin I’m actually in Vernon, but we’re all in BC. 😄

@TheDavidCotton Thanks! 🙌

I remember being super skeptical when Marketplace proclaimed that podcasting in China is a "$7.3 billion per year industry."

Turns out... it's not true.

Great episode of @TechBuzzChina on the topic:
https://pandaily.com/ep-39-podcasting-in-china-the-myth-and-the-reality/

@adamd I don't think it's that hard (or weird).

I just want to be able to send my newsletter to current customers. 😜

In Zapier, you can do it like this:
1. "Create stripe subscription" > "Add to MailChimp list"
2. "Cancels subscription" > "Delete from MailChimp list"

@tenlinesofcode It's just odd that it's not built-in. (On the Stripe side, or the MailChimp side).

@ConvertKit has a built-in integration, but I'm not sure if it has the ability to automatically remove folks who no longer have an "active subscription" in Stripe.

https://help.convertkit.com/commerce/stripe-integration

It's super weird to me that @stripe doesn't provide an automated way for me to sync my active customers to @Mailchimp, @ConvertKit, etc...

There are lots of band-aid solutions (Zapier, ListBuilder)

But they only provide one-way sync (and don't remove inactive customers). 🤷‍♂️

RT @thisiskp_: Late to this but a brilliant thread by @mijustin .. just subscribed to your newsletter.

https://justinjackson.ca/niche

@taylorotwell happy birthday!!! 🎉🎉🎉

This would be a good question for the @honeybadgerapp crew to answer on their next @FounderQuest podcast as well. 👌

How do you prioritize your time when you're not full-time on your product?

This is something we talked about on this week's @buildyoursaas:
https://overcast.fm/+MBmVc-4bM

@pjrvs Vernon is close to Kelowna. 😉

@BrendanHufford 🧐 good question

Balsamiq and Clubhouse have been incredible sponsors for @buildyoursaas for the past 3 months.

They both wanted to renew, but I'd like to mix it up and give our listeners something fresh for June and July.

If you'd like to sponsor our podcast, let me know!

@ramsey @emjayess @Beryllium9 There's other evidence as well.

https://twitter.com/taylorotwell/status/962875454309961728

RT @buildyoursaas: Like listening to bootstrapping podcasts (focused on starting a SaaS)? Try our show!

Find us on 👉

🌥️ Overcast – https:…

@stauffermatt Nice! Congrats. 👌

RT @valsopi: 🎙️ Just dropped EP06 of Bootstrapping Saas / Leads are still a problem and I'm super frustrated 🤬 a few solutions ahead though…

@gilesgoatboy thanks!

@ramsey @Beryllium9 If anything, my guess is PHP devs has increased.

If you consider the amount of PHP still out in the world (WordPress, Drupal, MailChimp, legacy apps, boring business app, etc...) it's a big number.

@ezekgabrielse BTW - I'm with you.

I don't think we need to be at $1 million ARR.

$50k MRR is incredible! Jon and I have both said that's our "enough" number.

@ramsey A few places:

- @StackOverflow's survey say 30% of devs are PHP devs.
- in 2017 Computer World says there were 18.2 million devs (although that's now estimated to by 26 million)

https://www.computerworld.com/article/2483690/india-to-overtake-u-s--on-number-of-developers-by-2017.html

RT @sawinyh: The myth of the niche market https://buff.ly/2W38L2g

@jimmyhacksstuff @derrickreimer @pjrvs Paul is a friend of mine, and a huge influence on me and my work. 👌

@jasondoesstuff is it oprah

@nitish24p cc @glenmccallumcan

RT @sachinrekhi: The myth of the niche market https://buff.ly/2W38L2g

@MrThinkingbig Thanks for sharing it!

@sawinyh Thanks for sharing it!

@sachinrekhi Thanks for sharing it!

@heyitsjovis Thanks!

RT @deadcoder0904: I love every essay @mijustin writes.

Today's essay is on finding the right niche and I think his advice is spot on.

"8…

@rsobers No, haha, I mean what do you think *your* total addressable market is.

@IanFortier @andymci Oui! J'ai mangé ça pour le petit déjeuner hier.

@rsobers What do you think TAM is?

RT @mijustin: In Canada, a “full stack developer” is someone who can make a nice batch of pancakes. 🥞🇨🇦

@meet__chopra 1. This week's took me a lot longer (and the are themes I've been wrestling with for years). Probably 5-6 hours of focused work.

2. Nope, I just write them based on what feels the most clear.

3. Content is almost always decided by what I'm thinking about / wrestling with.

@siddharthkp Exactly.

@andymci I grew up going to French Immersion school (Grades 1-12).

I agree with you:

Les crêpes sont supérieures.

RT @JudMackrill: The myth of the niche market.

Great stuff as always by ⁦⁦@mijustin⁩ https://justinjackson.ca/niche

@corey_gwin What's that from?

@glenmccallumcan ‼️
🕵️‍♂️

RT @srebalaji: The myth of the niche market. Very nice read. ⁦@mijustin⁩ I read it more than once. https://justinjackson.ca/niche

Wise words from @hotdogsladies to @siracusa, answering the age old question:

"When is it the right time to remodel your kitchen?"

https://overcast.fm/+E5IMQYJes

@YoFolyo Honestly, everything after the first 200 customers.

In terms of "% of market effort vs outcome" Transistor feels way different.

@Reneeim Good point!

@AndrewPierno getting a 404 on http://seedcamp.io

@sethlouey That's my point. It wasn't a great market. 😉

@mysweetcate I had some because of this tweet.

@jayclouse @tylertringas Yes, but it shouldn't take *too* long.

Because, as a bootstrapper, you need to survive until you get to scale.

We need to achieve a baseline of traction & growth to keep going.

Jason Cohen says anything past 4 years is a red flag. Increasingly, I agree with him.

@tylertringas I'm certainly not the only one to make this observation.

@paulg's 2006 essay made a similar point:
http://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html

@tylertringas A few more:

- A restaurant focusing on potatoes just closed in my hometown. Too narrow of a niche. Most folks don't want to eat a baked potato more than once a month.

- What killed barber shops in the 60s was the switch to long hair. Their market (short haircuts) was too small.

@tylertringas Yes, one example there was the "marketing for devs" market. "Programmers" is a huge market, but the % who want to learn marketing is (comparatively) tiny. And the % who wanted to learn marketing from me was tinier still. 😉

@Yoroomie @tylertringas Interesting, how many total unique listings have there been on http://studiotime.io?

@Yoroomie @tylertringas How big is the TAM?

Seems like, if you include home studios, it's quite large.

My little town has 3-4 studios that *I* know of (there's probably more that I don't).

My guess is Pro Tools has been selling thousands of copies since the 90s.

Looks like a reasonably sized market

To me, this is what a good market feels like: when (without even trying) fish start jumping in your boat.

Yes, when you put out a net you'll catch more fish.

But initially, you want to see some momentum happen without you doing much work.

@tylertringas @earnestcapital Dude, if you're going to say "Justin's wrong," give me some sort of reference point.

I have tons of reference points in my piece.

Give me yours.

@tylertringas @earnestcapital Can you give me an example of the "niche" businesses you're talking about?

Note, that I didn't say that "you shouldn't target a niche" but rather "that niche has to be sufficiently large."

And...

Those niches need to be bigger than most people think.

@LandonB32 @swyrazik Can you give me an example of what you mean Landon?

Stripe went after a boring + difficult niche, but there was certainly already competition there.

RT @jasontx: “Successful fisherman fish where the fish are.” 🎣 https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1132313290569265163

Yes!!! 🎯 https://twitter.com/eliajf/status/1132371610306994177

@eliajf yes!!!

RT @WillStufflebeam: If you're starting a business, or even just thinking about it, take a few minutes to read @mijustin's advice about cho…

In Canada, a “full stack developer” is someone who can make a nice batch of pancakes. 🥞🇨🇦

@swyrazik This is true, but more often than not, having competitors is a good sign.

A niche without competition generally means it’s not a viable market.

WPengine came into the WordPress hosting market when there were plenty of good hosting companies already there. But now, they dominate

RT @earthlingworks: Good article by @mijustin here. When I first started Bidsketch, it was niched down. Sure we made money, but it got easi…

RT @rosmiquel: I can't recommend highly enough this article by @mijustin to anyone starting up or thinking about starting up "The myth of t…

@swyrazik Maybe.

But I wonder if it's truer that "good fishers go where there the fish are, knowing that they'll catch 80% of the fish."

Getting tons of responses to today's newsletter:

"The myth of the niche market" ✨

https://justinjackson.ca/niche

@iamjz @r00k @PairWithTuple Sorry, just the remote access feature is being canned.

@ABRENGUES @Valentin_Decker Thanks!

@corymiller303 Thanks Cory!

RT @corymiller303: If you’re not signed up for @mijustin emails sent on Saturdays, you’re missing out.

https://justinjackson.ca/niche

@kevindees @corymiller303 I like Seth a lot. I'm trying to add nuance to what he's saying.

He's asking us to identify the "smallest viable market."

My point is that the "smallest viable market" is bigger than you think. 👌

RT @davemorin: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190510-can-you-have-any-fun-at-a-bar-with-no-booze

Just finished tomorrow's newsletter.

You can get it here: http://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

@joshuap @FounderQuest 😱

RT @dvassallo: There’s a great blog post by @mijustin describing all the above in terms of founder/market-fit, product/founder-fit, and com…

@ajlkn In Canada that's what we call a bunch of pancakes.

@blirwin I've noticed that too 🤔

@pradipcloud Not working towards an exit either.

Currently, I feel like I'd be happy to work on Transistor for the rest of my life.

RT @fredrivett: Such a good article from @mijustin

Just building stuff people want isn’t enough. You’ve got to build the right thing for t…

@MatthewBogart @textfiles so dope!

Looks like Slack just killed "Slack Calls" (after buying ScreenHero and scrapping it)

My friend @r00k (and co) is building a good replacement built specifically for pair programming: @PairWithTuple.

I've used it and it's *really* well made.

@jdoss As in, you're suggesting a feature idea?

@gpickin 1. Profit First (although I recommend you buy that as a hard cover)

2. Anything You Want by @sivers

3. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination

Lol. No plans to sell right now! https://twitter.com/takeitev/status/1131957835552743424

@josephcs Thanks!

Next month, I'll be in Calgary for @podsummit.

I'd like to meet as many #yyc podcasters as I can! 👋

@osullica Thanks!

@jozacks Yup

@akebrattberg Thanks!

@petersuhm 😜

@TJunkiesPodcast ❤️

@mattragland Do it! 💪

@artofproductpod Really great episode! 🙌 @r00k and @derrickreimer