Tweets

Do you remember what brought you to my twitter account?

(Was it a specific topic, tweet, vibe?)

I'm in a bunch of worlds right now (podcasting, building SaaS, web dev, bootstrapping, creator economy, marketing, personal growth).

Trying to figure out what to focus on here. 🤞

Decided to ditch Screenflow for editing my next explainer video, and I'm using @DescriptApp instead.

LOVING IT.

The visual editing interface is super fast.

(Initial recording was done in Ecamm Live)

What a beauty.

Another example:

❌ "My market is small SaaS companies."

This isn't a great market definition because it doesn't tell us anything about what they're buying.

✅ "I'm in the helpdesk market. Last year, small SaaS companies spent $10 million on helpdesk apps."

@hnshah 🎙 http://transistor.fm – podcast publishing platform.

This is dope! 👍

https://twitter.com/calebporzio/status/1122924167769264130?s=21

⚡ Most effective sales channel for my SaaS business this year?

This surprised me: affiliates.

So far, 22% of new revenue has come from our Rewardful affiliate program.

https://www.getrewardful.com/?via=twitter

"The way to have a great life is to have a bunch of great days." – @tferriss

☝️ the idea is to practice daily habits that make every day better.

New article today:

"Two things that kill bootstrapped companies."

https://justinjackson.ca/risks/

🤔 Which trend do you think is "just getting started now" but will be BIG in 5 years?

Thanks to everyone who's checked out "Build Your SaaS" on @ProductHunt today! 🙌

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/build-your-saas

I have massive respect for people who want to make things better. They do research, come up with new ideas, and work to make progress.

Conversely, folks who are quick to criticize (but have no suggestions of their own) are just a drag to be around.

Two interesting questions to ask customers:

1. What caused you to buy today?
2. How did you originally find me?

What makes good work exceptional?

Editing.

New rule: don't get too excited about an idea until you've been able to get at least 100 people to sign up for a waiting list.

If you’re a founder of a small software company based in the USA, sign this today:

http://ssballiance.org

We only have until April 10!

Looking at @levelsio's response to @stripe's @patrickc.

Which of these do you want the most?

For me it's:

+1 Stripe as main business account
+1 Stripe liability insurance

For me, my indie SaaS (@TransistorFM) has given me the most financial margin, the most free time, and the least amount of stress.

Again, I’m thankful, but I could have really used this about 11 years ago when I had 2 kids in diapers. 😅

The @IndieHackers podcast is consistently excellent.

(I often use it as an example for new @TransistorFM customers)

@csallen's latest episode with @nathanbarry is particularly good:

https://share.transistor.fm/s/1b391853

“Cognitive psychologists demonstrated that learning itself is best done slowly, even when that means performing poorly on tests of immediate progress. That is, the most effective learning looks inefficient; it looks like falling behind.”

– @DavidEpstein, Range

Startups ≠ B2B bootstrapped SaaS

A B2B bootstrapped SaaS grows when it:

- finds reliable distribution channels that don't cost too much
- consistently gets new trials
- consistently converts those trials to customers
- has relatively low churn https://twitter.com/Julian/status/1306984963242209286

@hnshah Well you’re in luck: @sivers gives them away for FREE. 😍

https://sive.rs/book

This tweet by @BerniceKing shook me. If I'm not willing to trade places with Black people, First Nations people, Hispanic people what does that say about the society I live in?

My inaction is just protecting my white privilege.

https://twitter.com/BerniceKing/status/1266730015196090368

This video is horrifying.

Two college kids are driving home. They're stopped by police (without cause), had their windows broken, forcibly pulled from the car, and one was tasered.

Imagine these were your kids.

End police brutality! End racism!

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/us/atlanta-police-charged-protest/index.html

@jspector @anthilemoon @ftinterested Every Saturday morning I send an email to my list.

I talk about bootstrapping, making stuff with computers, and earning a living on the internet.

https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

whelp. I spent 2.5 hours trying to optimize images and improve my PageSpeed Insights score...

Only to find that it was the Kayako widget that was bringing us down to a 76 🤦‍♂️

Once I removed it, we shot up to a 98. 🙄

https://youtu.be/RcYyA9jiJIU

Dreams take a long time to achieve, so you should start working on them way before you need them to come true.

OMG. As some of you have noticed, there are a lot of "Justin Jacksons" in pro sports.

@pjrvs ordered me a cameo video from @J_ManPrime21 (NFL, LA Chargers):

https://www.cameo.com/v/5c8a71d340a2490150e04746

Hahahaha. “I’m sorry I messed up your google rankings.” So good.

@laravelphp 🤔 I wouldn't be surprised if Laravel is the fastest growing framework on the web right now.

👉 There were tons of PHP devs waiting for something like this (who didn't want to switch langs).
👉 Some of the coolest stuff (like @tailwindcss) is coming out of the Laravel community.

"Be bold, brash, and brave. 90% of users won't get excited about a moderate improvement."
– @RyanHoliday, Perennial Seller

Making something that's just "a little bit better" than the competition won't cause people to switch!

Break new ground. 💪

🤔 New realization: targetting folks who are "starting out" is maybe not the best strategy.

https://justinjackson.ca/beginners/

I've been checking out a bunch of your bios.

Y'all are insanely smart and talented.

Why the heck are you following me? 😜

How do you quit your day job?

The freedom ladder.

https://justinjackson.ca/freedom/

Airport Dad Mode (even when I’m not traveling with kids)

🤣🤣 I love Business Dad Ian.

@ianlandsman "Millennials will pay $800/month for ConvertKit, but won't pay a lawyer one-time to generate terms of service."

Honestly, my biggest reflection on @LaraconUS this year was how dang happy I was.

Seeing old internet friends (like @jeremyvaught pictured here) just brought me so much joy.

📸 @ninjaparade #laracon

I love this drive down to town from the mountain. #vernonbc

In the future, AI will generate any photo you’d take with your camera, before you even snap the picture.

No more bringing your camera on trips!

Actually you don’t need to go on trips at all; AI will generate photos of you on vacations you’ve never taken.

The truth is, many people are working really hard just to survive.

Here's an example for Hartford, CT:

💰 Median household income: $75,381 (US median is $65,712)
💸 But just to attain an "adequate standard of living" a family of 4 would need to earn $94,849 (ht @EconomicPolicy)

"Researchers found that the average age of a business founder in the United States is 41.9 years old. They discovered that older founders consistently had higher probabilities of success, at least until the age of sixty."

– @SethS_D, Don't Trust Your Gut

What are you working on this week?

👩‍💻 Looking for a web designer/dev who would be excited to build a podcast website template using @TransistorFM's new Liquid engine.

If you know anyone, let me know!

If that's you, reply/DM me with your portfolio/samples of your work. 👍

http://Transistor.fm's pagespeed (vs a competitor)

Thank god for the ability to start remote internet companies; nobody realizes how short I am. 😄 https://twitter.com/wesyang/status/1408778365738291202

Folks in their 40s-50s have been making stuff on the internet since the early 90s, but soon we’ll all be working for 22 year-old billionaires who got rich minting NFTs and buying dogecoin. 😅

Delighted to have all these incredible people using @TransistorFM for their podcast! 😍

https://transistor.fm/shows/

Apple makes $1 billion A DAY.

If Basecamp has made a billion, it took them 21 YEARS to do it.

The scale here (both in terms of revenue and power) is completely in Apple's favor.

(It's likely that Convertkit will also make $1 billion in its lifetime. Why the hate for Basecamp?)

There are many marketing channels you can use for your business, but (for me) these two have consistently outperformed everything else:

1. Intent-based searches on Google
2. Word-of-mouth referrals

✈️ Flying to NYC today.

Tues: meeting with Spotify
Weds: @LaraconUS 🙌
Thurs: @LaraconUS 💥
Fri, Sat, Sun: available to hang!

If you’re around, let’s meet up!

(especially if you work in podcasting)

Back in 2014, I asked @studiofellow and @pjrvs if they wanted to start a “mastermind” group. (We all thought that word was kind of funny).

Here’s the story of how we’ve been running our regular hangout for the last 5 years:

https://justinjackson.ca/mastermind

Just KonMari’d my @ConvertKit sequences.

Feels good.

Got to see @csallen and @patio11 speak at #microconf today.

@stripe has hired two incredible storytellers. Some of the best talks I’ve seen. 🙌

Good marketing can't save a bad product.

“It’s possible that if I pose with a Porsche, people will buy more of my books.” http://buff.ly/264fNT1

Dignity. Class. Respect. Humility.

What a difference from what we have today.

https://twitter.com/jeffpearlman/status/1815263096476406120/video/1

"We’re focused on longevity over growth."

@peldi is a refreshing CEO to follow in the software space.

"I expect a flat or down year, maybe about $7.5M. Since I don’t want us to get addicted to growth, I don’t mind it. We’re making more money than we need, so it’s all good."

This is super smart:

When you finish recording a podcast in @RiversidedotFM, they prompt you to share these thumbnails on social media.

Perfectly lines up with a desire people have:

"Hey, just had this great conversation with @csallen, I want to share it with the world."

For new products, your website's first job is to assure visitors that they're in the right place.

People don't know your brand! Don't get fancy (yet).

Use your H1 to communicate:

- what product category you're in
- how people mostly use (and think) about your product

OMG. Zuck:

"If you want to give everybody a voice, give people free services that are ad-supported. And people, if they see ads, they want to see relevant ads."

Bullshit.

Nobody wants less privacy, more tracking, and creepy ads that follow you around the internet.

Chasing sunsets

I think there’s probably an “optimal” level of fame.

Like, once your audience gets too big, you have to deal with more and more bullshit.

There’s this equilibrium level where you’re known (but not too well-known).

At what stage does the scale get tipped?

There are so many websites now that are so desperate *not* to talk about features, that you can read the whole thing and still not know what the company does!

https://twitter.com/brasmussen/status/1276612000785850369

Net worth stats are puzzling:

Thiel: $2.5 billion
Musk: $36.7 billion

I would have thought those two would be more even!

Another one:

Collison (Stripe): $3.2 billion
Michael Jordan: $2.1 billion

In my head, Jordan should be higher?

(Phil Knight, Nike, is $37.7 billion)

@awilkinson But... have you tried CBD oil? 😜

We’ve got snow.

It only took me 9 years to switch to @sketch. 🤣

https://justinjackson.ca/tools

Should you make multiple things or just focus on one project?

https://justinjackson.ca/more-stuff-or-better-stuff

Saturdays: eat pancakes until you can’t breathe and then fall into bed in a carb-induced coma.

I published a newsletter this morning (http://justinjackson.ca/30k).

I got some interesting responses! Here are my replies to some of the folks who emailed me 👉

Last month, @jonbuda quit job.

Now, we’re both focused on building @TransistorFM full-time, and making it great. 💪

We just enabled free SSL certs for podcast websites hosted on @TransistorFM! 🎉

https://transistor.fm/ssl-podcast-website/

Pent-up demand isn't unleashed until there's a solution that satisfies an audience's desire for something better.

Every time someone tries and fails it just increases the desire for redemption and deliverance.

https://justinjackson.ca/pentup/

Here's an example from the PHP world 👉

👉 "I think the problem most beginner programmers have isn't the actual coding; it's the tooling. It's getting the local environment up and running, it's getting all your dependencies figured, and getting your machine set up."

https://clips.twitch.tv/BlightedSparklingAmazonRlyTho

I've made my first hire: ⚡️ @Tim_Aton ⚡️

He's been a reader (& customer) for a long time.

Already benefitting from his energy + expertise!

I just published “How I make my money” https://medium.com/mega-maker/how-i-make-my-money-6a658db306f7

Reading is good.
Watching movies is fun.
Listening to music is great.

But creating something is the best.

I’m planning on writing a full blog post about it, but @FullStackEU was absolutely incredible.

Antwerp is spectacular, and the talks covered multiple elements of building web applications across multiple languages and frameworks.

Most of all: it brought together the most…

Web devs:

Which language/stack do you think the kids should be learning these days if they want to work for cool small companies?

(Not the FBs, Googs, Amzns of the world)

@AmandaMGoetz It's hard to know (retroactively) "what brought you to where you are today."

That being said, I wish I would have done my 20s differently.

Aggressively pursuing one direction in my 20s, and then changing direction in my 30s, ended with my 30s being incredibly difficult.

Morning laps.

Asking my co-founder if this can be a business expense

“Above the clouds”

One of my favorite views at @SilverStarMR. 🤙 #vernonbc

If you're searching for good business opportunities, and you're not seeing anything compelling, it might be that you haven't cultivated a life where good opportunities can emerge.

Complex marketing tools require a ton of investment to get right.

(Most often, they're incorrectly configured)

And, as @LarsLofgren explains, after a certain point, it's diminishing returns. Squeezing juice from a squeezed lemon. 🍋

https://cxl.com/blog/dont-build-growth-teams/

Too often, entrepreneurs don't value the time and energy they invest in their idea.

If you spend 5 years building something that doesn't work out, you've lost 5 years of investing in your career, family, etc.

If it starts feeling like a bad bet, cut your losses, and get out!

I like this line of questioning:

“What is % chance that I sell nothing?”
“What is % chance that I sell $10k, $100k, $1 million, $10 million, etc?”

And finally:

“Is that probability for success worth the risk + effort + opportunity costs?” https://twitter.com/dvassallo/status/1319757058036518912

@taylorotwell Nah. Ignore ‘em.

People complain! Let ‘em complain.

(People complained when Apple got rid of the floppy drive for gods sake)

Congrats to my friend @CorbettBarr on launching a new platform for private communities! 🙌

👉 https://palapa.co

This is crazy.

@panic (the creators of Mac apps like Transmit) just made the most adorable portable gaming system: @playdate.

I just posted it on @ProductHunt here:
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/playdate-2

☝️ it was hanging out with @JamesClear and then reading his book that really kickstarted this for me.

I realized I couldn't keep hanging out in my "gutter."

"Every time you do something, you're voting for the person you want to become."

Since reading this @timoreilly piece, I've been thinking a lot about

"Gradually, then suddenly."

Often, we want our success now, "suddenly."

But true success seems to happen only after a gradual progression.

💪 Learning even just a bit of programming is incredibly empowering.

(Even for a marketing jack-ass like me)

I've been making tiny contributions to @transistorfm, but they make me feel 💯:
- updated a readme file
- updated UI copy + tooltips
- created a new Rails landing page

Difficult question for product folks to answer:

"Ok, your product makes 'people's lives better' but does it *really* make their life better?"

Customers might like the taste of Coca-Cola, but ultimately it's hurting their health.

New video:

"How to make your next app idea successful: don't start with code. Instead, try this."

https://youtu.be/YaHXZT6RNs8

You can increase your product's chance of success by following this checklist:

1. Build something people want.
2. Tell them about it.

NERDS CAN’T DO SPORTS

(Had a nasty spill on my mountain bike yesterday at the downhill park)

Dumb wipeout near the bottom, big gash, lots of stitches. 😬

I almost always mock up my web ideas by using Inspect Element and editing HTML elements in the browser.

I just spent about 45 minutes editing a page when I accidentally clicked a link... which refreshed the page... causing me to lose all my changes. 😭

I just got logged out of my Twitter accounts.

Sounds like this happened to others too?

Soon...

The AIs write all the content on the web.

Then, other AIs will summarize the content that other AIs have written.

And then AIs will make decisions based on the AI-summarized content.

Humans will just drink soylent and nap.

Most successful software products are built on top of existing momentum.

For example, Instagram's founders recognized the existing wave ("whoa, folks like sharing photos on Twitpic, and they like applying filters with Hipstamatic").

They iterated on what already existed.