Tweets

Product/utility idea:

"Paste in a bunch of Twitter URLs and auto-generate Tailwind HTML that looks like this"

First ⛷🏂 day of the season. 🎉

I'll go even further than Tom here. 🌶️

I'm not convinced listeners actually care about any of these things:

- making podcasts "more discoverable"
- making podcasts "more interactive"
- making podcasts "more social"
- the "podcasting 2.0" label https://twitter.com/webby2001/status/1423372126707453967

The creator economy is going to generate millions of sole-proprietors who have Stripe, Gumroad, Paddle revenue deposited directly into their personal bank accounts.

No paystubs.

What happens when all those folks start applying for mortgages?

@VelocityWong Thank you for all the incredible stories you've told.

Sending you, and the rest of my Basecamp friends, lots of ❤️ today.

VCs are hungry for there to be a "centralized platform" for podcasting, where "discovery, consumption, and monetization can happen in the same place."

That desire serves no one but VCs and the centralized platform.

One centralized platform = bad for creators.

Podcasting has been growing "slow & steady" for a decade.

Last year "monthly listeners" grew by 15%.

The year before it was 23%.

Before that, it was 8%.

These numbers are healthy but don't represent meteoric growth.

The ripple effects of this massive work-from-home trend are pretty mind boggling.

https://marker.medium.com/remote-work-is-killing-the-hidden-trillion-dollar-office-economy-5800af06b007

Gmail's original marketing site was beautifully simple:

"Gmail is a new kind of webmail"
(quickly describes "what is this?")

Features:
- Searchable
- 1000 MB of storage
- Grouped replies (displayed as thread)
- No pop-up ads

Who's the product for? Whoever wants these features!

Please note, “bringing our whole selves” to the conversation doesn’t give us license to be:

- rude
- careless
- offensive
- obnoxious
- inconsiderate
- discriminatory

It’s the opposite! We have to be more considerate, more kind, more thoughtful.

The best visualization I’ve seen so far of how #covid19 infection spreads, and why extreme social distancing works.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Whoa! WordPress acquires Tumblr. 😮 https://twitter.com/photomatt/status/1161025678013341697

Preparing my #laracon talk and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of all my nerd friends.

Is it:
- Front end
- Front-end
- Frontend

pleaze help thx

I'm interviewing @JamesClear tomorrow about Atomic Habits.

I don't want to ask him the same old questions!

🤔 What questions *do you* want him to answer about habits, performance, and the book?

Isn't it crazy that we're all on Twitter.

"Less successful people:
- run in conflicting directions
- are drawn to distractions
- say yes to everything
- are chained to emotional obstacles"

Great piece by @sivers 👌

https://sivers.org/subtract

Reading @patio11's excellent "Guide to building a SaaS." So much good information condensed into a single piece:

https://stripe.com/atlas/guides/business-of-saas

Put customer success above everything else:

- tech stack
- business model
- fame, glory, attention
- your dreams of a better life

Your SaaS' homepage doesn't need to be complicated.

@earthlingworks' page lists 3 benefits, and has one big call-to-action:
"Download a sample proposal."

He's laser-focused on that one CTA.

(Look how small the "start free trial" link is!)

You haven't really tested your website until you've tried it on airport wifi.

Nostalgia: *this* was the initial MVP of @ProductHunt.

Fun to see all these original product hunters!

I use my phone a lot...

... but almost every task I do on my phone...

... I'd rather be doing on my computer.

💻>📱

A note to founders who don't want to talk about politics:

The US is one of the best places in the world to build a small business.

This didn't happen by accident—it's the result of decades of policy choices.

Day to day, it might seem that government decisions don't affect you…

You can now recommend other podcasts on @TransistorFM!

(A callback to the classic blogrolls of the past)

First ride in looooong time. 🚵

You don’t realize how out of shape you are until you’re chasing your 14 year old up a mountain. 😅

@cassidoo I asked my son (who never answers my texts) and he replied in 0.3 seconds.

Sad reality:

Some of the best ideas get very little distribution.

And, often, bad ideas get a lot of traction.

Video is having its moment in podcasting right now, but I still think most new podcasters should start with an audio podcast.

In the beginning, you should keep your gear and production complexity low so you can learn how to craft something compelling.

Plus: Appearing on video…

The coffee shops in Berlin have a nice creative, cosmopolitan vibe.

Lots of different languages: feels like the world is meeting here and working on projects together.

@asmartbear 👋 For @transistorfm (podcast hosting)

Plans: $19, $49, $99, $199, etc

First beta customer: Feb 27, 2018
Official launch: August 1, 2018
We hit 1,000 customers on July 2, 2019

(So it took us 490 days or 1.34 years)

Fixed the warning Twitter is showing whenever you visit a Mastodon link.

Hey! The @transistorfm team and I are working on something new for podcasters.

If you're curious, sign up here:
https://www.producthunt.com/upcoming/free-podcast-website-builder

We'll be launching on @producthunt soon! 🎉

Kudos to the crypto PR department though:

Cartoon apes is way better than laser eyes. 👍

Building your own “airplane” (business) on nights and weekends isn’t easy, but it’s certainly safer than jumping off a cliff and trying to build an airplane on the way down.

Beauty day at @SilverStarMR today. ☀️

I’ve been writing this for the past four weeks, and I’ve finally published it:

https://justinjackson.ca/surfing

We’re in such a rush to “get stuff done” that we don’t consider whether we’re “working on the right stuff.”

Being thoughtful about your work will give you better results than mindlessly attacking a bunch of tasks.

Here's my first PageSpeed Insights test on the homepage.

The new @statamic + @tailwindcss site BLOWS AWAY the old site.

The culprit? WordPress plugins loading unused CSS & JS resources on EVERY DAMNED page.

Statamic + Tailwind is way leaner.

"Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to become." – @JamesClear

The realization was this: even when life doesn't work out the way you thought it would, you can still take action, every day, to become the person you want to become.

It's not too late!

Investing in customer service gives your company incredible dividends: word of mouth.

I love helping our customers, so I’m happy to do it. 👍

But...

This isn’t for everyone.

In the beginning it’s up to the founder to make the experience great.

If you don’t like answering ~10-30 support requests a day, don’t bootstrap a SaaS!

Something that doesn't get talked about enough:

What we see on YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Reddit, etc... is heavily influenced by teenagers and kids. They determine what gets popular, what gets shared, and what gets talked about.

I was working for a company called Mailout Interactive and thought I'd only be tweeting about HTML email and oh god why did I make my twitter name mijustin

https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1040681142087819265

"Properly designed software is a miracle. I like paying for my software when I’m buying it from a company that’s responsive, fast and focused."
– Seth Godin

⚡️ Email tip: REMIND PEOPLE WHO YOU ARE!

When I get an email (like the one below) I want to know:

- Who is this again?
- What does this app do?
- Why should I care?

Ok, who sent me this shirt? 😂

Love this section from @seanwes' newsletter today. 💯

"Build something people want" is hard.

Even harder? Building something...

1. People will pay for
2. Has growing demand
3. Has good margins

Nobody's gonna list all the movies you watched in your biography.

Create stuff; don't just consume it.

I woke up at 2am and thought of a good tweet.

“I’m sure I’ll remember that in the morning.”

Now it’s morning. Nope.

An important prerequisite if you want a calm company:

Your business needs a strong financial engine that’s working.

Fun afternoon lap at @SilverStarMR

(It gets a little crazy near the end 😅)

1. Build a product that people are already searching for.

It's 1000x easier to target folks already in motion.

The best opportunities are where customers realize they have a need and are doing something about it: searching Google, asking for recommendations, etc.

Any SaaS founders out there who had a significant number of customers, subscriptions, and invoices in @stripe who successfully migrated to @PaddleHQ or @lmsqueezy?

I'd be curious to hear about your experience (and whether it was worth it).

It only took 9 years, but @rrhoover finally followed me on @ProductHunt! 😺

Weirdly, indie creators have always relied on doing arbitrage on big platforms: attracting attention on Twitter, Instagram, FB, Google, YouTube, Hacker News, Medium, etc...

We're "independent," but to attract an audience we need to capture attention on big platforms.

Do you know normal people using crypto tech?

(aside from buying it as investment on Robinhood, Wealthsimple, etc)

What are they using it for?

I see very little real-world usage outside of the crypto bubble.

Curious if I’m just not seeing it?

Facebook (Zuck) and Spotify (Ek) bemoaning the loss of the "open internet" is completely hypocritical.

💯 Podcasts > Clubhouse https://twitter.com/derrickreimer/status/1359640736254337025

The most powerful concept in product marketing is inertia:

People, generally, continue to do what they're already doing.

(Or, they keep "not doing" what they're already not doing. 😉)

I tried out @heyhey's dumpster fire. 😜

TRANSISTOR THROWBACK.

Black lives matter.

Racism is real. It affects people in the bootstrapping community. It affects our peers, customers, and partners. It affects our friends and co-workers.

We all need to take action to end racism.

https://justinjackson.ca/black-lives-matter

I stream this to the Apple TV downstairs when it’s time for my boys to to bed. 😂

One thing you’ll notice with low-margin businesses: you’re always “adding more” hoping it will increase your margins.

At the skateboard shop we added a mini-ramp, did events, published a magazine, ran contests, and started doing bike repairs.

“Throwing good effort after bad.”

I have a theory that kids (5-12) drive most of the world’s YouTube views, Spotify listens, etc..

- They listen to the same songs, on repeat, every day
- They watch the same YouTube channels (religiously) every day

No other demographic has the same consumption frequency.

Search traffic beats everything else.

One of the most honest interviews I’ve ever given just went live on the @producthunt podcast:

“Increasingly, people are looking for mindful technology.”

🎧 Listen here: http://overcast.fm/+SYJk0U7VE

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.

What works for you might not work for other people.

What worked for other folks might not work for you.

Good advice for folks building a product in 2019:

https://twitter.com/awilkinson/status/978699344491692032?s=21

👨‍💻 Phil is a great example of a dev "working in public."

He's constantly sharing screenshots, videos, and updates about what he's working on.

Do this! Even if you don't have a big following, it helps.

https://twitter.com/plehoux/status/1058036788890091520

Damn, Colorado.

"Don't do a SaaS as your first business. Start with productized consulting." – @patio11 #microconf

Be committed to
- trying new things that move you forward
- improving the lives of others
- being grateful

No guarantees, but worth doing 👍

2 things you learn when you ask people to pay:

1) Whether people will pay
2) Whether you want a biz where those ppl are your customers

Listening to the latest @MostlyTechPod, and it's wild to hear how big of a response @aarondfrancis got after being laid off from PlanetScale.

Aaron built up a ton of goodwill online, and now (in his time of need), he's getting support, encouragement, and job offers! (20+?!?)

The hard part about giving marketing advice is most folks don’t want to do the uncomfortable, challenging tasks that will get you your first 10 customers.

Write 100 emails to people you already know in your industry.

"From experience, I can tell you Blue Oceans are HARD to fish in.”

💯 Bootstrapping in an established category, where people are already actively searching for a solution, is a much better path for most founders. https://twitter.com/OrionSeven/status/1744499064232874263

Lots of interesting brutalist architecture in Berlin.

@rrhoover Sunrise Calendar 🤞

@jeremyvaught @Music This sucks! Bummed for you.

😡😡😡

In an indie business, complexity and stress are the enemies of a calm, happy founder.

Complexity is sneaky. It starts as a small decision (that feels inconsequential) but balloons into a quagmire that makes the business more stressful to run.

Here are a few examples 👉

Wearing my @TransistorFM dino podcaster shirt today! 🦕

My kids are older now (13-20), and life is way less hectic now that they're self-reliant.

I found bootstrapping on the side challenging when they were young (especially 0-3).

In retrospect, I'm not sure it was healthy to be building a new business when they were that young.

The hardest part of writing an email newsletter is making it relevant.

Example: I just got an email newsletter from a lawyer's office. They're talking about their new hires, their partners, and their latest work.

My guess is that 99% of their customers don't care.

😍 I love the idea of @balsamiq's "Nest":

"As a remote-first company, we don't really need an office. So instead we built what we call "The Nest", a space for us to gather for company retreats, team mini-retreats, and yes, the occasional work session."

https://balsamiq.com/company/locations/the-nest/

I think @andrewculver and @aarondfrancis' show, Framework Friends, is one of the best new podcasts for web developers.

I've just added it to our list here:
https://transistor.fm/dev-podcasts/

Happy International Women's Day! 🎉

Here is a list of incredible women in the indie SaaS, tech, creator space you should follow on Twitter.

👉

When I get

😫 overwhelmed
😥 stressed out
😰 anxious
😡 angry

here are some techniques I use:

https://justinjackson.ca/calm-down

In business, it’s ok to slow everything down:

You don’t need to make every decision right now.

You don’t need to complete every task on your list.

You don’t need to say yes to every meeting.

It’s OK to have space in your day where you don’t do anything.

Just sit. Breathe.

Somebody needs to build a desk with a built-in vacuum that automatically sucks up all these cookie crumbs...

🧑‍💻🍪💨

@levelsio Lol. Am I that old to you? 😜

I'm open to web3 being the next big thing, but I have some reasonable concerns:

- do we really want total decentralization? what are the knock on effects of that?
- are we committing ourselves to a system that will accelerate the climate crisis?

“Creativity is just putting new things in old combinations and old things in new combinations.” – Karl Weick

How can you tell that somebody knows what they’re talking about?

I'm not anti-Spotify.

But I'm pragmatic: RSS is what's holding the "balance of power" in podcasting.

RSS' distributed nature means nobody owns podcasting. Not Apple, Google, Spotify, or Amazon.

For creators, RSS gives them power. They own the connection with their audience.

This could also be an opportunity for @immad and @BankMercury:

Just make it easier for entrepreneurs to get mortgages.

Automatically assess their eligibility based on the cashflow in their business account.

Send them an email: “You’ve been approved for an $800k mortgage.”

😢

Argh. Ok. I'm in the market for a new customer support app (live chat + email).

We're on Kayako right now and we've now had ~4 hours of downtime.

Everyone seems to recommend HelpScout. Anything else I should look at?

(I'm making a decision today)

It’s bullshit like this that makes me not want to talk to investors. https://twitter.com/ybelyayeva/status/1349466712526221316