Tweets

BTW – if you're curious about doing better support for your SaaS, you should definitely be following @HelenRyles.

(We have an upcoming episode of @buildyoursaas where we also discuss how to hire someone to help you with Customer Success)

@derrickreimer Lol. Yup I say that all the time too!

The most challenging part about making real-life decisions is there’s no A/B testing.

@swapnilsarwe @aarondfrancis @laravelphp @andrewculver @rails In the meantime you can manually add the RSS feed like this:

https://feeds.transistor.fm/framework-friends

@swapnilsarwe @aarondfrancis @laravelphp @andrewculver @rails It looks like Google hasn’t finished indexing the podcast for some reason. I’ll take a closer look. 👍

@alphacolin @asmartbear @vinthanedar Does that happen quite often?

(I wish all numbers were available to me at all times 🤣 It would be amazing to know, in absolute terms, which path is empirically better)

🎯 "Business all the time isn't healthy."

(I need to get out and snowboard some more before the season is done) https://twitter.com/sherrywalling/status/1504158497075707904

In the last 10 days, @sherrywalling has gained over 200 new followers. 💃

███████░░░░ 65% toward her goal!

@asmartbear @vinthanedar Jason, I’d just like to figure out a way of analyzing this in a manner that confirms my personal biases. 😜

@asmartbear @vinthanedar I’d be interested in seeing results with a certain selection bias:

VC-backed businesses that get funded

VS

Bootstrapped businesses that get to $10k MRR+

In which group do founders earn more?

@RHJOfficial @statamic @TransistorFM @tailwindcss Yup! It's on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4tqBUYJeog

Live coding: adding a new section @transistorfm's homepage ? (HTML, @tailwindcss, @statamic) https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1LyxBojrybrKN

@typeoneerror lol

Anecdotally, I know a handful of VC-funded founders who have taken smaller salaries to appease investors.

And (again, anecdotally) the founders I know with healthy bootstrapped businesses are earning much more.

(You'd be surprised how much more money some bootstrapped founders get paid, compared to their VC-funded counterparts)

@r00k 🙏 I wish @BankMercury had personal accounts (and did accounts in 🇨🇦)

💯 "bootstrapping a profitable firm to $1 million is equally impressive as impressive as building a billion-dollar unicorn"

It's also:
- more likely to pay the founder more $
- more calm https://twitter.com/AmeetM/status/1476168640273727492

@brennandunn @jayclouse @TransistorFM @ConvertKit SWEET! 🙌

@cgenco NICE! 🙌

@GuillaumeMbh If I could only follow one person, I’d probably quit Twitter and just use email. 😂

@AWaselnuk Yup. And I’ve lots of people come back to me and say: “now I get it! I felt it!”

Yesssss!! 🙌

@aarondfrancis (a @laravelphp developer) and @andrewculver (a @rails dev) have a new podcast where they come together to talk about both frameworks. 🤝

I really enjoyed the first episode. 👍

https://www.frameworkfriends.com/

@Mattylantz I think a short book/course on how to properly onboard and care for new engineering hires would be 💯. https://twitter.com/Mattylantz/status/1319627059560435713

Keep testing out the water! But get out if it doesn’t feel right.

“If I get an idea, I immediately take a step forward and see how that feels. If it feels good, I take another step forward. If it feels bad, I take a step back. I learn by doing.”

– Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia https://twitter.com/awazels/status/1504108337427890192

If you’re kayaking down a river, you can be creative in how your respond to the rapids, but you can’t change the flow of the water.

The same is true for startups: we can be innovative in how we respond to customers, but we can’t manifest market demand where there is none.

@alphacolin I’d test this out as QR code tattoo that links to a referral code.

(Gotta have attribution tracking)

@dan_copy Yup, I think that’s a big part of it.

RT @mijustin: It's cliché, but the best decision I made for myself was finding a therapist.

I get a lot of questions (especially from dude…

@minafrind @TransistorFM @buildyoursaas @HelenRyles @jsonperl We use @useShortcut for project management and GitHub for tracking code changes.

We use @crisp_im to manage all of our customer support (live chat, support emails).

We chat on Slack.

Weekly, @HelenRyles leads a team meeting highlighting the top support issues.

@StevenDSanders @buildyoursaas 😆 It’s true!

Lol. 💯 true. https://twitter.com/ReamBraden/status/1475943270836580362

@RyanAspire @crisp_im Really? It seems to capture email addresses pretty quick for us. (Especially from existing customers)

I like the widget design.

@TylerMKing @TransistorFM Yup, our ticket/ARR ratio is lower. Definitely manageable.

How many FT people do you have?

This is a fairly representative week of support tickets at @TransistorFM.

It's about ~100 conversations per week:

60-70% of those are new conversations,
30-40% is us responding to existing threads.

@mjwhansen Umm... This is a total Google+ throwback!

We've tried lots of live chat widgets, and @crisp_im is the best by far. It's an incredible value. 👍

https://twitter.com/hapsize/status/1503825592646574093

@hapsize @TransistorFM We use @crisp_im; highly recommend it. 👍

People ask me all the time: “how can you compete in a crowded category against bigger competitors?”

The answer is *care about the customer more than they do*.

Go the extra mile.
Engage with them.
Be curious about what they’re trying to accomplish.

At @transistorfm, we've had a live chat widget from the beginning.

I know some founders don't like them (or find them overwhelming), but from my perspective it's been a goldmine.

There's something special about being able to help customers right away.

Customer service is one of the most important pillars for an indie SaaS.

It's a clear way for you to differentiate yourself from the big incumbents who are trying to automate support with chat bots.

Good customer support should be part of your brand.

Customer Support is the most under-appreciated role in SaaS.

When you're doing support, you're also doing:

- Marketing (word-of-mouth)
- Customer interviews
- Public relations
- Inbound sales
- Onboarding

@johnspurlock @Podnews @TransistorFM @HelenRyles @jsonperl @jonbuda @buildyoursaas 🙌

We got the whole @TransistorFM band together for a @buildyoursaas episode!

@HelenRyles and @jsonperl shared what it’s like to work with Jon and I. 😆

https://overcast.fm/+MBmWqnFkM

@iroughol Yes! 🙌

@mjwhansen @r00k Could be!

But I also think small talk, when used properly, is the perfect onboarding to deeper conversation.

“Where did you grow up?”
“Where are you from?”
“What do you do for work?”

Those are all great on-ramps.

Similar to UX where you introduce the basics first. 👍

@AWaselnuk 😆👍

@mjwhansen @r00k Yup, that’s a good one for a conference / networking event. 👍

The difference here is that folks have likely come prepared to share something like this (“what project am I excited about?, what am I learning right now that’s firing me up?”)

Many contexts require more small talk.

I’m going to start a club for founders who don’t want to wake up at 4am to journal, but would definitely love to grab brunch at 10:30am. 😄🍳☕️

@lkr @r00k 💯

@r00k It’s true!

A lot of these ideas are awesome. 🤙

But some of these questions would definitely be “too strong” for certain contexts. 😅

@r00k The context seems important here. 😉

If you’re at a conference mingling, it’s going to be totally different than a first date, lunch meeting, or family reunion.

Love seeing the websites people are building with these new @TransistorFM themes.

This one from @AiImagen is 💯.

https://imagen.transistor.fm/

@sokirill @yongfook Lol. Came here to post this one. 🤣

Classic. Perfection. HN chef’s kiss.

@InSearchofReal just listening to your conversation on the @BlisterReview podcast.

I really appreciated your perspective. 👍

https://overcast.fm/+f9T-KpCkY

@jclermont @JacobBennett Hey Joel! I just retweeted this from the @buildyoursaas account. 👍

I've got a bunch more tips here:
https://transistor.fm/ideas-promote-podcast

@sirbiro Focus on ideas that make you feel like this:

https://justinjackson.ca/fish

@fideloper @aarondfrancis @petersuhm @mattwensing @gonedark Listening to your episode with @aarondfrancis now!

(You sound great btw)

Leaving a review on @ApplePodcasts and @spotifypodcasts for you as well.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pushing-boulders/id1610831604

@JoelGMcKinnon We’re not sure if we’ll be adding the blog post ability.

That’s something we’re still debating!

@IamJahnoy @arvidkahl Those are all the things that got me motivated to start on my indie hacker journey!

Here's a teaser:

Please join me! We're really excited about this one. 🙌 https://twitter.com/TransistorFM/status/1503477863483289600

For me, it's a mix of:

❤️ doing product & marketing (podcasts, videos, blog posts)
❤️ the freedom and flexibility I get from being my own boss
❤️ serving the podcasting category and customers
❤️ making good $ and providing for my family
❤️ working with the @transistorfm team

What do you love about running your own business?

@jmckinven @BrettFromDJ @indiebitespod Great episode! Listened this morning.

(Love how you convinced your guest to get a microphone first 😆)

@iroughol Wtf. That’s seriously awful. Who talks to people like that?

@tranhelen So odd. We watched this as a family on Friday and thought it was great!

Method 5: record YouTube product reviews and see which ones get the most traction

Look for SaaS categories that interest you, and make review videos:

- Alternative to [X]
- Best software for [X]
- [X] vs [Y]

Method 4: observe whenever people complain about a product

Whenever your peers, or folks on Twitter, complain about an incumbent, write a note in your notes app.

- Name of product
- What people are unhappy with (pricing, bugs, features)

Method 3: observe what people buy in Slack

If you're a part of community Slacks, or you've been invited to a company Slack as a consultant, observe whenever there's a purchasing decision:

- What are they thinking about buying?
- How do they evaluate the purchase?

Keyword explorers to try:

- @ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com/keyword-generator
- @moz: https://moz.com/explorer
- @semrush: https://www.semrush.com/analytics/keywordoverview/

Method 2: look for popular product searches

Search for "best software for" in various places and see what gets recommended. (Add additional qualifiers that interest you: "best software for audio")

Places to try:

- Google
- Twitter search
- FB search
- Reddit
- Keyword explorer

To learn more about doing customer interviews, read these books:

📕 "The Mom Test" by @robfitz

📗 "@DeployEmpathy" by @mjwhansen

Method 1: interviews

Interview a bunch of people you'd love to have as customers. Ask them:

- "What was the last software subscription you paid for?"
- "What's one product you're currently using that you're not happy with?"
- "What alternatives have you considered?"

Here are 5 methods for finding new SaaS ideas:

🧵

@fredrivett Just donated!

❤️ 🇺🇦

RT @mijustin: “So, what’s a good churn rate?”

👉 It depends on too many variables to give generalized advice.

“Do lower priced plans churn…

@dannoblaster That’s a ridiculous false-equivalence.

Quit equating reasonable public health recommendations with an invasion of a peaceful country.

“So, what’s a good churn rate?”

👉 It depends on too many variables to give generalized advice.

“Do lower priced plans churn more often?”

👉 Generally, yes. But their growth rate is often quite a bit higher! Depending on your market, a lower priced plan might be the way to go.

When we talk about “improving churn,” there’s also an “illusion of control.”

Yes, if your product is buggy, churn will go up (you can probably fix that).

But churn is also affected by variables outside of your control:

- world events
- market dynamics
- competitive pressure

Which would you prefer?

- Churn is 10%, but revenue is growing at 20%
- Churn is 3%, but revenue growth is 10%

@ryanstrickler I think Twitter could be great for connecting with Rails devs!

In SaaS, churn is just one pressure gauge on your dashboard.

Don’t blindly aim for a specific churn %!

The rate at which your customers cancel is connected to a bigger picture.

It’s only by looking at all other variables that you’ll know if your churn is “good” or “bad.”

@lukeburgis What constitutes “the fullness of humanity?” Who gets to define that, and how do we measure it?

What % of “10s” are we aiming for? What % of “1s” is acceptable? How do we measure it?

@AliAbdaal Course creation: @mariepoulin

Understanding customers: @mjwhansen

Podcasting: @OnaOghogho

@tylertringas @laravelphp I think what’s being presented in the podcast is that (especially when working for larger companies) the stack is getting increasingly complex and more specialized.

The lens is particularly interesting in a “indie vs bigger company” way.

Watching 1971 on @AppleTV, and it’s captivating.

“The year that music changed everything.”

Worth checking out.

https://tv.apple.com/ca/show/1971-the-year-that-music-changed-everything/umc.cmc.6dkxf7hxdcaueu4jhe1wm2k2n

@allanbranch All of Jared Hess’ movies really make me laugh:

1. Gentlemen Broncos
2. Nacho Libre
3. Masterminds

@MattGiovanisci I think the desire to diversify is natural (that’s part of my aim for investing in @meepsapp).

But, we really are limited as humans. We only have so much bandwidth.

Indie makers: fish where the fish are.

Don’t double down on an idea that won’t attract a steady stream of customers.

https://justinjackson.ca/fish

@jlogic @dohertyjf “Hidden from the real-life reactions of their victims, the web is the perfect channel for bitter people to channel their hate.”

https://justinjackson.ca/haters

@jdnoc @DescriptApp I just learned how to do that second part in Descript as well!

In Descript:
- add image background
- add “fancy captions”
- add waveform + progress bar

RT @timkmak: Morning from Ukraine to all those reading.

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

However, tensions are high along the Ukraine-B…

@simonswiss Oh man, that sounds awful (and exhausting!)

@dr “I run a software company”

“I run a software company that helps people do X”

@allanbranch Thanks, I love it.

@carson_bassett_ TMI is so 2019

I wrote a post about this (when should you quit?):

https://justinjackson.ca/quit

"Doing more things" to earn more $ is a slippery slope.

Each project/job you add might increase your revenue, but it also increases your chance of burnout.

Doubling down on 1-2 things that are really working is far better than trying to maintain 10+ projects at once.

@RikNieu Also true.

Who you’ll be in the future is determined by what you start doing today (and what you keep doing tomorrow).