Tweets

Collaborating on a small project is underrated.

Find a friend, suggest a small project, and meet every Sunday at a coffee shop to work on it.

That practice alone will pay huge dividends in the future.

These two activities, in particular, provide the most leverage for future success:

👭 Relationship building: so much of finding a good job, or building a good business, is about who you know (and who knows you)

🛠️ Building projects: make things, and put them out into the world.

Invest in yourself, in small ways, every week.

These micro-investments compound over time, and make future success in your business/career more likely.

Take small risks (make small bids), but do it consistently.

The most significant action you can take in your career/entrepreneurial journey is to make micro-investments in yourself along the way:

- Build that relationship
- Go to that meetup
- Start that podcast
- Go on that retreat
- Apply for that job
- Build that project

How many bootstrapped/indie SaaS have been acquired for $50-100 million in the last 5 years?

@hunterwalk The irony is that when people do their own research in 2022 they get radically different answers.

@asmartbear Yes. It feels like the question is:

“Is the size of this bet (money, stress, time, opportunity cost) worth it for the potential upside + likelihood of that upside?”

When I opened my retail shop the min. investment was $100k and lots of stress (potential upside not worth it).

@asmartbear Curious: what are some common “potential downsides” that many new entrepreneurs miss?

@dohertyjf @mattwensing @earthlingworks I’m watching Jurassic World with my kids, eating Doritos, drinking… tequila?

@mattwensing @earthlingworks New categories emerge from a combination of factors:

pre-existing demand for earlier versions (flip phones, PDAs), cultural trends, etc.

My point is that a new category is rarely defined by a single company/founder. They evolve (over time) from a variety of influences.

@mattwensing @earthlingworks That’s what I believe too.

I think almost all successful products are built on top of existing momentum.

When I see new founders saying they’re building “a new category,” it’s almost always something with no demand. https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1535398181378215936

@AndrewWHacks @earthlingworks Almost every category already exists, but not all of them have strong customer demand/momentum.

@earthlingworks @michaelkoper Wireframing was already established before Balsamiq was founded in 2008 (the term was used as early as 1993-94).

Before Balsamiq folks were using Photoshop, Powerpoint, InDesign, Illustrator, and Fireworks.

https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2007/01/wireframing-with-indesign-and-illustrator.php

@earthlingworks I'm not convinced that any of them invented a truly novel category.

Most had existing competition (often larger, enterprise software). Many people were already searching for an "SMB version of X".

People were already familiar with the use case.

They built on existing momentum.

@earthlingworks Hold up.

Hiten with Kissmetrics? Web analytics wasn't new in 2008. Most folks were switching from GA to Kissmetrics; it was an improvement, not a new category.

(And there were other new startups in the category before KISSmetrics, like NuConomy in 2006).

@adamwathan @DerreckStratton @paulsingh @lkr 🎯 Exactly this.

@earthlingworks Which founders do we know (personally) who invented a truly novel category?

@DerreckStratton @adamwathan @paulsingh @lkr Slack wasn’t bootstrapped.

Stewart convinced investors to let him use $6m (leftover from Glitch) to develop Slack.

https://www.failory.com/cemetery/glitch

@DerreckStratton @adamwathan @paulsingh @lkr But this (literally) happens all the time.

ICQ, Campfire, Yammer, Hipchat, Skype Chat...

All came before Slack. The customer demand for "group chat" had been building for decades.

When Microsoft bought Yammer (2012), it had 5 million users.

Slack still raised lots of money.

@RamliJohn WHOOOOOO!

Congrats! 🎉

Interesting to see how experienced founders respond to this tweet.

Once you’ve built & launched a few things you understand the advantage of targeting customers *already in motion.*

Most indie SaaS founders should focus on an existing category (don't try to invent one).

@mastermaq Interesting that they chose to offer apartments over condos.

Good news for renters!

@adamwathan 💯

Once you’ve been through the cycle a few times you see the advantage of targeting customers who are already in motion.

RT @mijustin: Most success in business is the culmination of many small actions, over time.

Don’t invest everything in one big action (“a…

@randfish Clicked through, but I don’t use GA (I use @usefathom)

@alphacolin @CustomerIO @gistproduct Nice! Congrats! 🙌

Love seeing your progress.

@data36_com @dgkeyes @TransistorFM Yes! You can see a demo here:

https://transistor.fm/features/dynamic-ads/

@adamwathan @itstimwhite 🙏 @stripe should just offer "Merchant of Record" as a service.

Jon and I are going through sales tax stuff right now and this Stripe Tax + Taxjar/Avalara stuff is a nightmare.

🔥🚒

@taylorotwell @adamwathan 🔥

@KeliWestgate 🐐😘

@_Alex_Adamov Yup.

@DylanWilson80 "For Tesla, the fair market value of its bitcoin holdings reached $2.48 billion in the first quarter of 2021."

They lost a lot more than 7.4%.

Tesla's doing this out of desperation, getting cash so they can ride out the recession.

Nobody there is happy that they lost any $

@alwxtwi Upvoted!

"Tesla said it made $272 million on bitcoin sales early last year. Add that to the $936 million it offloaded this quarter and the $218 million it still held at the end of the quarter, and Tesla comes out roughly $74 million in the red on its bitcoin bet."

https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-bitcoin-converted-to-fiat-crypto-crash-elon-musk-2022-7

RT @joshtab_: If you're in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it's not too late to build a startup!

@mijustin explains in his new post:

https://t.c…

Good thread! https://twitter.com/asmartbear/status/1548322097524445185

@SachaGreif 👀😧

@valsopi @dzohrob Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

@jayacunzo @ScottChervitz @TransistorFM Forgot to mention: you can add multiple team members to each podcast you create.

https://support.transistor.fm/en/article/can-i-invite-other-users-to-my-transistor-account-130y6kr/

@jayacunzo @ScottChervitz We’d love to help you at @TransistorFM!

You can host multiple podcasts (for no extra cost). Plus: we have a simple intuitive interface, and live chat to help you when you get stuck. 👍

https://transistor.fm

@DCoulbourne Is it really “members only?”

Do you have to apply to be a member?

(Is there a secret burger locker with a combination code for members?)

I also have lots of questions for @DCoulbourne about “members only burger bars” that don’t serve burgers…

I love that @calebporzio and @DCoulbourne are back with a new episode of @noplanstomerge, but I’m slightly concerned about what they think “being 42 years old” is like. 😅

https://overcast.fm/+pVpvtg25U

My guess is that Jacey didn't actually hear me on the @IndieHackers or @ProductHunt podcasts... 🙄

Marketers: stop scraping podcast RSS feeds and sending spam. 🙏

@arvidkahl You are incredibly consistent with your podcast. Well done! 🙌

@misener @pacificcontent Happy trails Dan! Can’t wait to see what you do next.

🎯 https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1547522703388704768

@yongfook I identify with this completely!

More happiness, confidence, freedom, and calm.

(And unlike what some have suggested, the feeling doesn’t go away)

I still have personal problems/hardships. But having this foundation of calm and freedom is really incredible.

@p_millerd Haha. It looks like the kind of book I'd be into!

It's already mirroring many of the things I felt/thought about in the past. 👍

@MattGiovanisci r u drinking beer right now

@tylertringas @plehoux @missiveapp I just interviewed @baptistejamin, and he definitely has this pricing philosophy for @crisp_im. 🎯

https://saas.transistor.fm/episodes/bootstrapping-in-france-baptiste-jamin-from-crisp

🥰 https://twitter.com/taragentile/status/1547246339670659074

@p_millerd Hey Paul! 👋

Love the work you're doing around "designing a life worth living." 💯

(My inspiration for what we're doing with Transistor came from these folks: https://justinjackson.ca/the-good-life)

Happy to answer any questions you have about Transistor/podcasting. 👍

If you're hosting multiple (separate) podcasts on something like Simplecast, you could save a lot of money by migrating everything to @TransistorFM.

(We've had some folks save $1,800 / year)

Host unlimited podcasts on one account, starting at $19/month:

https://transistor.fm/features/host-multiple-podcasts-on-the-same-account/

@tylertringas 💯

I should add a "Recession dynamics" section to this blog post: https://justinjackson.ca/charge-more

"Communicating compelling, differentiated value of your product" is definitely important.

Difficult to do in practice!

- In a competitive market, everyone's trying to add features that customers want
- Many features turn out to be not that compelling.😝

https://twitter.com/aprildunford/status/1546875335496683522

@heyshounak It's very much in line with my thinking.

It's a foundational truth that many founders miss!

https://justinjackson.ca/the-market

This is one of @TransistorFM's biggest positioning challenges: we serve both B2Prosumer and B2B customers! 😅

https://twitter.com/aprildunford/status/1546875330413182976

@petersuhm @adamwathan @tailwindcss Awesome move!🙌

“Common business wisdom states that a good product is only as good as the market it exists in. If Einstein were here, he would probably agree and say -that a product is only perceived as good relative to the environment its in.”

– @heyshounak

RT @baptistejamin: I had the chance to be Interviewed by Justin from @TransistorFM

@buildyoursaas Great interview with @baptistejamin, co-founder or @crisp_im!

@heidiapps Nice!

@CasJam 💯

@GaryGulman It’s crazy how the scale of how much wealth billionaires have has changed since this special aired.

@asmartbear This is a constant question that @jonbuda and I have:

“How come big companies seem so much less productive?”

With our small (4 people) @TransistorFM team it feels like we’re having way more impact than the bigger teams I’ve been on.

My hunch is that “alignment” is a key piece

🎯 https://twitter.com/cassidoo/status/1546139632903110658

Just found this short podcast episode where @hannahwitton and @AliAbdaal discuss the myth that “your 20s are the time where you need to make your mark, and get ahead.”

On topic for this thread:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snippet-1-advice-every-20-something-year-old-needs-to-hear/id1587142091?i=1000568824925

@ThePeterMick @arvidkahl @levelsio https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1545112294840971264

RT @DanSchoonmaker: You should check it out... https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

RT @DanSchoonmaker: There are few newsletters that I enjoy reading as much as I enjoy what @mijustin puts out.

This week I got a great boo…

@DanSchoonmaker Thanks so much Dan! 👍

@cramrov Thanks for sharing it!

RT @arvidkahl: I am so glad we have @mijustin in our community, a champion of founders of all ages.

He’s been around long enough to be abl…

@alxberman @arvidkahl 👋 yup. Still here. 😄

I really enjoyed this chat between @AliAbdaal and @fortelabs.

Tiago has an unconventional perspective on “productivity advice” that I found helpful.

https://overcast.fm/+23-cFYbHE

@DmytroKrasun Weight loss is a tough industry (although there are lots of good solutions that people pursue based on their desire to look/feel better: the gym, fitness trainer, nutritionist, etc)

@kylefox Um, clearly he hates freedom.

Whelp. I guess Elon didn’t care about free speech *that* much.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/08/musk-deal-sec/

@adamwathan 💯

I see companies doing the same revenue as @TransistorFM, but have 10-20 people! 😮😧

Pretty spicy marketing from Telus right now. 🌶️

(Canada's other major wireless + internet provider, Rogers, has had massive nationwide outages yesterday and today)

@iamwillcannon “Second mouse gets the cheese.”

🐭🪤
🐭🧀

@brian_lovin @JackEllis @trycampsite Yes. 😄

@wesbos Out west we have Telus and Shaw (two reasonable options!). If one goes down, the other is usually up.

RT @asmartbear: Ironically, _not_ wanting to do something that you _need_ to do, is itself a "want" — the want to achieve the need with min…

@asmartbear 💯

Especially if you have the resources to pay for someone else to do the things you don't want to do (or aren't good at).

@NotechAna For fast food, definitely.

In software, our costs are much lower, and margins are higher.

Your pricing will largely be determined by:

- the market category you’re in
- what your competitors are charging
- how new/well-known your brand is
- your product/service’s features
- the sales volume + margins you need to be profitable

https://justinjackson.ca/charge-more

@nicolasmerouze Yup, that’s my point. “It all depends on the market.” 💯

Broadly, this phenomenon is called the “price elasticity of demand.”

If McDonald’s raises prices on burgers, the resulting loss of demand wouldn’t make up for the increase in margins.

In some SaaS categories, offering more value (for less) can increase demand + profits.

Not every product/service should “charge more.”

I know a multi-millionaire who drives a Mercedes, but keeps McDonald’s coupons in his glovebox!

Luxury car manufacturers can charge more.

But fast food restaurants keep the price of cheeseburgers low (so they sell more).

RT @mijustin: Why do older founders have an advantage?

According to @seths_d's book, it's because of their employment experience!

"Entrep…

🎯 "Many people are not ready for their lucky break when it comes to them.

Develop your skills. Study your craft. Save some money. Build a network before you need it. Lay the groundwork.

The prepared person is positioned to benefit from unexpected opportunities."

– @JamesClear

@godsathlete “A sixty-year-old start-up founder has a roughly three times higher chance of creating a valuable business than a thirty-year-old start-up founder.”

Yes, it’s multiple factors: the accumulation of skills, experiences, intuition, connections, and (yes) resources. 💯

https://twitter.com/hey_rick__/status/1545195380698120194?s=21&t=jtL1GxOvjQEZui2BFmNUQA

@hey_rick__ @TransistorFM I think a lot of it has to do with the accumulation of skills, network, experiences, connections, and (yes) resources!

@polrodriguezriu @TransistorFM @buildyoursaas Thanks! 🙌

@piergeli @TransistorFM https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1545112294840971264

@ryanchenkie @petecodes @TransistorFM 🤣 it's all AI and video filters

@souvik_kaffein @TransistorFM When I co-founded Transistor, I was 38 with 4 kids (aged 15, 12, 10, and 8 at the time), a mortgage, etc...

Definitely a challenge (you can hear my financial stress on @buildyoursaas during that time), but much easier to build the company when my kids were older.