Tweets

@straighttalkeva @KHayhoe It’s really good. 👍

I bought @KHayhoe’s book on a whim, when I was feeling particularly depressed about the climate crisis.

Reading it has been a huge encouragement for me.

She knows her science, but she also understands psychology (and how to get people onboard). 💯

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08BZW2BQG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Katharine’s background:

She’s a climate scientist but she lives in Texas (the heart of the oil industry). She’s also an evangelical Christian.

She’s learned how to speak to all kinds of people about the climate crisis in terms that resonate.

@KHayhoe’s example is inspiring.

If you are overwhelmed by climate change, and feel powerless to act, I highly recommend this book by @KHayhoe.

She demonstrates how to have meaningful dialogue with folks all over the political spectrum on the climate crisis.

It’s a book about hope and practical action.

@sbyrnes Here’s my stack:

- remote recording: @RiversidedotFM
- editing: @DescriptApp
- hosting & stats: @TransistorFM
- website: @PodcastSites

https://transistor.fm/how-to-start-a-podcast/

@adamstac really appreciated your episode with @jack. Thanks for putting that out. 👍

Any opinions on the Music Hall turntables?

https://www.spinnerssoundcentre.ca/store/p511/Music_Hall_MMF-1.5.html

@rezzz @TransistorFM I know the mods of /r/podcasting 👍

Building good connections with mods is key.

A lot of my content ideas come from questions being asked on Reddit.

For example, here someone was having low mic volume problems in Riverside.

So I recorded a quick video response that I also made public on @TransistorFM's YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/HQwX_6RkyaY

I'm writing an update to my newsletter on our Product Hunt launch for @PodcastSites.

Anything specific you'd like to know?

My friends at @ratiovernon just sent me this:

"Japan's anti-procrastination cafe: no leaving until your work is done."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZPw7gRc-VU

@BryanBarletta @ogrover 🤣

Business idea:

FaaS
"Force me to do shit; as a service"

I call you up, and you stay on the line and make sure that I do work that I've been procrastinating on (taxes, paperwork, cleaning my office, whatever).

Reminder: Andreessen Horowitz invested at least $100M in Clubhouse.

@lovevalgeisler @SlackHQ Lol. Reminds me of when my teenage son saw me using on Slack on my phone:

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1458906465016565761

As predicted:

https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/clubhouse-social-audio-executive-departures

@DCoulbourne Hahaha. Yup! 🌸

Evening stroll

@vikingmute 🙌

@ivantopo @Patticus @ProfitWell @PaddleHQ You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful.

"Building a technology company is an infinite assumption machine. There are tens of thousands of variables that all affect each other." – @itsurboyevan

https://every.to/napkin-math/the-inventor-of-the-iphone-has-some-thoughts

@justinvincent That's my definition of a wave.

A wave of customer demand builds over time. Depending on the timing, a wave of demand will have a different size and shape.

This is the way I've been describing it for years.

https://justinjackson.ca/surfing

@justinvincent 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.

Butterfield's whole "we don't sell saddles" didn't help him win against MSFT.

@andrewculver Wow! 🙌 Shows people are eager for some ENERGY in the rails community.

@TheOmarZenhom @Patticus Just published the whole thing on my YouTube channel as well:
https://youtu.be/IvB98pzqfnA

@onurozer @Patticus Thanks for sharing it!

The full episode is now up on YouTube as well:
https://youtu.be/IvB98pzqfnA

@selamatpagiamir Glad you liked that one!

The full @Patticus interview is now up on my YouTube channel:

"Why I'm selling my bootstrapped startup (@ProfitWell) to @PaddleHQ now, in 2022."

https://youtu.be/IvB98pzqfnA

@earthlingworks Yup! I worked for Inkdit. (Now closed)

@JackRhysider 😳 whoa

RT @mijustin: I wonder if the proliferation of vague headlines, value-props, and sentiment-based "benefit-driven" copy is actually working.…

@earthlingworks Nice work!

@sankalpdomore Certain online courses for sure.

@FlorianMielke Thanks! I’m glad you liked it!

RT @mijustin: In my experience, the better the business opportunity, the simpler your marketing efforts need to be.

If you're needing to l…

@levelsio 100%

Everyday photos with my iPhone 13 look incredible.

@aarondfrancis @Netlify 👍

@misterparker Congrats!

@aarondfrancis @Netlify Cool. Can you show me a sample image you’re generating?

@aarondfrancis @Netlify Oh interesting. Are you using any PHP packages to generate images?

(Glide?)

BTW – @sherrywalling is an amazing resource on mental health for founders. If you're not following her already, you should be!

A good reminder from @sherrywalling. https://twitter.com/sherrywalling/status/1198792132191870976

@TheOmarZenhom @BrianEDean @noahkagan Agreed. Brian is 💯

@adamd 😆

Listen to @Patticus' whole story about building @ProfitWell, and selling to @PaddleHQ here:

https://saas.transistor.fm/episodes/patrick-campbell-why-profitwell-sold-to-paddle-for-200m

"The advice to anyone listening is: don't underestimate the velocity of your market. If you're in a market that is squeezed, I would say go to another market (unless you're a glutton for punishment)." – @Patticus, @ProfitWell

Great thoughts on choosing a good SaaS market. 👍

@AliAbdaal For many years, I had “label anxiety,” largely around: “how should I introduce myself at meetups? What am I?”

The nice thing about the “founder” label is it can encompass many things.

@brennandunn We’ve been using Rewardful for years at Transistor and really like it. 👍

@machadogj Except, the leaders in a given product category are usually of that caliber.

So you're still in the ring with high-level competitors.

@charliprangley Yikes. That really sucks.

Does TikTok have an easy way to report stolen content?

@arvidkahl Congrats!!! 🎉

Look at that consistent growth!

@NotechAna Yes. All sorts of personalities can succeed.

@brennandunn @louisnicholls_ @Shpigford I’m not talking about pre-destination. 😉

Again, the original thread is just about the statistics:

Many people try to build a business that gives them a FT income, most fail and don’t keep trying.

When anyone can put out a shingle, it makes sense that most biz will fail.

@louisnicholls_ @Shpigford What “bad advice” am I giving here Louis?

@AdamModulate I talked about that in the “building fundamentals” section of this post:

https://justinjackson.ca/surfing

@pavel_ivanovsky @earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus @thedannorris I agree with Dan: ultimately a business should give you *more* than you’d get from a full-time job. (You’re betting some of the best years of your life hoping for a payoff).

But earning a “FT income + freedom” is a good initial barometer for success.

@hieu_ngvan @Shpigford There are other limitations as well: you might run out of money, have limited time, have other demands (kids), and not be able to afford the opportunity costs of trying to build a business.

@Samkingftw @Patticus Thanks Sam!

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus A lot of the time, they haven’t found the right market/opportunity yet.

Market “pull” is different in SaaS. Took me a while to figure it out.

It’s why “quitting an idea that’s not working” is usually the right advice. 👍

It’s better to look for another opportunity.

@TheOmarZenhom @earthlingworks Online courses.

https://justinjackson.ca/2018-review

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus Yes. I’ve written about that quite a bit:

https://justinjackson.ca/quit

https://justinjackson.ca/moving-on

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus I was earning more $ from my businesses (than my ft jobs) before Transistor.

This is best wave I’ve ridden though.

Jon and I are definitely good at riding this wave together. Neither of us could have done this alone.

Without market pull, we definitely wouldn’t be as successful

Related: https://twitter.com/sweatystartup/status/1345855694440960000

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus I mention growth and potential a bunch of times.

But statistically, most people who try to build a business that makes a FT income will fail.

Most won’t persist.

And, markets can’t have “unlimited” winners. Many will try and fail.

My framing of “success” here is aimed specifically at those indie founders who are hoping to make at least a full-time income from their business.

@Shpigford My meta point is statistical: because it’s easy to want/start a business that gives you FT income, many will try, and most will fail.

(Your definition is more broad. I agree that we should encourage folks to make stuff, experiment, etc)

@Shpigford Failure is probably less subjective than we think.

I think most indie founders would say that initial success = “more freedom and more money than I’d get from a job.”

There’s still a big chance that most who try won’t reach that mark.

Most can’t afford to keep trying forever.

@JackEllis Most people bomb when they try standup comedy (even funny people).

Those that succeed have two characteristics:

1. They’re funny
2. They spent the time to work on their material, learn, grow, etc

If you have potential, you still need to develop your fundamentals to compete.

I’m not saying we should block anyone from trying to be an entrepreneur: it’s good to try!

(And one characteristic of those who “make it” is they try, repeatedly, until they make it)

But statistically, most folks won’t persist or succeed (same is true in music, art, sports).

@Shpigford You clearly had what it took to “grind, learn, gain skills, and develop” as a founder. 👍

I’m also not saying we should block anyone from trying.

But statistically, it’s just true that most people won’t “make it” (same is true in music, art, professional sports).

This is what makes business so interesting: anyone can suit up and play at the highest level.

This isn’t true for most high-level pursuits: if you run on an NBA court, you’ll be asked to leave. ⛹️😄

In business anyone can play, but you’re up against serious contenders.

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1531817666117177344

And, like most pursuits, on any given day, an unskilled fighter might land a lucky punch.

But it’s rare, and founders like this usually can’t do it twice.

Entrepreneurship is an incredibly competitive pursuit where anyone (regardless of ability) can participate.

Some new founders have what it takes to grind, learn, gain skills, and develop into competitors.

But the vast majority of people who try don’t have what it takes.

Most of us would get destroyed if we hopped into a ring at the UFC.

But in business, anyone can hop in the ring and say “I’m an entrepreneur!”

It should come as no surprise that “most businesses fail.”

When anyone is allowed to jump in the ring, most will get knocked out.

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus I have to run, but here's a quick video response:

https://share.descript.com/view/Yp7EL2mSzG3

@earthlingworks @JackEllis @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus 🤣

@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus Of course, in most markets, there is always going to be a type of founder who is likely to fail no matter what. (“Wildly different levels of success”)

What we want to avoid is good founders choosing bad markets.

(Help founders who have "what it takes” to choose better markets)

@JackEllis @Patticus Nice. DM me! I want to hear what they were. 😉

@misterparker "Going to bed too late."

You can also watch an extended clip from this @Patticus interview on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ72YPsANbg

You can listen to the whole interview on @TransistorFM's @buildyoursaas podcast:

https://saas.transistor.fm/episodes/patrick-campbell-why-profitwell-sold-to-paddle-for-200m

I've been getting so many DMs from SaaS founders about this @Patticus interview.

A really 🔥 clip:

"The dynamics of your market guide everything. The thing I got wrong was 'the market.' Some markets are not big enough!"

The episode with @Patticus is out now! 🎉

https://overcast.fm/+MBmUOkQ6M

@mattwensing 8 people walking into a bar is a perfect example of "market pull" 😄

@yongfook One thing I spoke to @patticus about today was this industry-wide graph on @ProfitWell.

Overall growth rates for SaaS companies:

- In June 2020, growth rates for $100+ ARPU SaaS companies were 4.23-5.29%.
- Now they're 1.62-2.81%

@sherrywalling @robwalling Looks like you just need a larger spatula drawer.

@arvidkahl your idea of “it not being a ladder to wealth creation, but more of a web” reminded me of @SachaGreif’s article:

@sachagreif/the-spiderweb-strategy-12ebd2f35595" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://medium.com/@sachagreif/the-spiderweb-strategy-12ebd2f35595

@arvidkahl @dvassallo @csallen @ChanningAllen listening to this now and really enjoying it 👍

https://overcast.fm/+JmiNG8DzQ

Ok. Just finished scheduling this episode with @Patticus to be published tomorrow morning.

You'll hear all about the ProfitWell sale to Paddle. 👍

Subscribe here to get it:
https://saas.transistor.fm/subscribe

@TheOmarZenhom @Patticus @ProfitWell @PaddleHQ @buildyoursaas Scheduling it for tomorrow (12:01 AM pacific, may 31)

"Hey @patticus, were those @paddlehq sneakers part of the deal?"

(Good negotiation tactic @christianbowens 😉)

"Some of these markets are not big enough [to build a good business on]. Take, for example, the subscription market: it's not that big! There are, max, 150,000 companies!" – @Patticus

@jayclouse @clouseplant Beautiful! Congrats you two! 🎉

Just finished an amazing chat with @Patticus.

We talked about the @ProfitWell team selling to @PaddleHQ, but also got into a ton of other stuff surrounding SaaS, how to think about markets, whether to go big, etc.

Hoping to publish it on @buildyoursaas soon! 🙌

@CasJam hahahaha. that's amazing.

@jamesvandyne oh noooo!

@OnaOghogho @BlkPod 🙌

@AndrewFeeney 🤣