Tweets

In startups, self-delusion is the enemy.

Don’t be satisfied when people say they “like your idea.”

Take it the extra mile. Ask for some sort of commitment.

About @csallen:

He took the idea of doing founder interviews to a whole new level.

His site, @IndieHackers, is well-built, beautifully designed, and tells founders' stories better than anyone else.

Now Indie Hackers is one of the most vibrant startup communities on the web.

Committed some code to @TransistorFM last night.

One thing I love about Rails: MVC makes it easy for jackasses like me to make little tweaks to the UI. 👌

Today I took six monkeys skiing by myself and I survived.

The irony is that most C-level execs have never had to build a profitable business on their own.

https://twitter.com/nathanbarry/status/920323846904750080

Margins matter!

tl;dr – a digital product could do 3x less in sales $ and still make more than a physical product.

Most workplaces optimize for being busy, as opposed to making progress.

(Our project management software makes this problem worse)

Getting people to buy is just Step 1.

True *product/market fit* comes only when you deliver the progress you promised people. #jtbd

You know you’re distracted & unfocused when you catch yourself browsing LinkedIn. 😳

Anyone else here feel the weight from the accumulated detritus of old projects:

domain names, email addresses, social handles, Stripe accounts, recurring hosting bills.

It’s so fun to make new things. But accumulating projects, and keeping them going, can feel heavy.

Wow. The FTC just banned non-compete agreements!!

(These contracts typically restrict employees from moving to a new job in the same industry)

Let's make a list of our favorite @laravelphp (and "Laravel-adjacent") podcasts.

Reply with your favorite podcast and suggest an episode people should check out. 👉

(I'll start the thread with some of my faves)

For SaaS founders who are interested, here’s Transistor’s initial journey to 1,000 customers. https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1639747097074483202

Amsterdam 😍

The product validation stage is less about asking:

“Would you pay for this? Would you use this? Have you struggled with this?”

And more about discovering people who are:

- already searching for a solution
- already using a solution but are looking for something better

I just found this ChatGPT utility that will split long text files (blog posts, podcast transcripts, etc) into multiple prompts so you don't get the "message too long" error.

Super helpful. 👍

https://chatgpt-prompt-splitter.jjdiaz.dev/

Hey friends, the episode that @aarondfrancis and I did on "Should you bootstrap a new startup if you have kids?" is out now on @buildyoursaas. 🎉

https://saas.transistor.fm/episodes/bootstrapping-with-kids

More thoughts on why ChatGPT is not a traditional startup platform.

🧵

Out for a walk.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! 🇨🇦🍁🦃

@ashleyrcarman Whoa. “Counts as an IAB download.”

Morning run

I had nearly 1,000 people reply to this tweet.

Here are 3 bigger ideas for promoting your product (plus 3 quick wins) 👉 https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1509232410856091648

If you're truly curious about

📜 the history of free speech,
🖥️ how it applies to online platforms,
👩‍💻 and the complexity of moderating user-created content,

Read @Klonick's paper in Harvard Law Review:

https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/1598-1670_Online.pdf

Ok, @kylefox and I were chatting in the DMs, and his crypto analogy makes sense to me.

"I don’t think we’re in the 'BBS days' of crypto; I think we’re in the 'http://pets.com days' of crypto."

👉

The truth is, being the founder a small, profitable startup will give you a way better quality of life than any billionaire.

More calm.
More privacy.
More freedom.
More space to live.
Less complexity.
Less drama.
Less evil. 😉

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/983809377797791750

Podcasts feel like the open-sourcing of human experience.

Inner code, that’s usually kept private, is revealed.

As a listener, you get a window into how people truly think and feel.

It’s cathartic to hear someone express a feeling you’ve also had: “I’ve felt that too!”

In the past, I've had phases where I wanted every section of my calendar blocked off.

But these days, I want my calendar to look like this.

BREATHING ROOM.

You’ll see evidence for existing demand everywhere:

- folks cobbling together their own solution in Excel
- users using multiple apps to complete a single task
- seeing the same question over and over again in Slack
- lots of people buying the same type of good at the same time

Some of the most exciting indie SaaS apps are being built on @laravelphp right now:

- @usefathom (they're using Vapor + AWS Lambda)
- @SnapShooterio

Plus, there are more mature startups like @CartHook that are built on Laravel, killing it, and scaling well.

For example: @TransistorFM is a Rails app, but we use @tailwindcss + @Alpine_JS (both came out of the Laravel community).

Plus, our marketing site is essentially a Laravel app (@statamic CMS).

Fuck I'm mad.

“What is rare is not raw talent, skill, or even confidence, but humility, diligence, and self-awareness.”

— Ego Is the Enemy by @RyanHoliday

“If you want to get better at something, you have to do it over and over and over again and incrementally improve with each new try.” – @susanthesquark

Too often, we’re looking for good ideas, when what we should be looking for is good markets.

I like the questions that @a16z recommends that founders ask here:

1. Who really wants this today?
2. How many of those people are out in the wild?
3. What macro story must play out in the market [for there to be] market-wide demand?

This doesn’t mean folks shouldn’t create complex art, or build complex systems. (I love a lot of that stuff!)

But if you’re indie, solo, or bootstrapping, simple is better. 👍

Today I learned that @IndieHackers has "interest groups," including one for podcasters! 🎙️

https://www.indiehackers.com/group/podcasters

sending my kids some dms

"What do I do when someone on the internet gets upset with me?"

This is really sage advice from @robwalling.

I've benefitted from Rob's counsel multiple times. I really appreciate him putting stuff like this out into the world. So helpful. 👍

It shows that in the long run:

A bootstrapper who's focused on profits, and growing slowly, can beat a startup that's venture-backed and focused on hyper-growth. 💪

🤔 I get this question quite a bit:

✉️ "Can you tell me if my idea is good before I spend too much time building it?"

Here's my advice 👉

Most successful B2B companies focus on professionals who are headed towards a specific destination:

- "Help me increase sales by 30%."
- "Teach me how to ___, so I can ___."
- "Take away my downtime."
- "Equip me to design better ___."

Help professionals unlock their potential!

#microconf is such a successful conference now, it's hard to imagine them ever struggling to get attendees.

But... that's exactly how it was in the beginning.

When you don't know the history, it can seem like the founders were "awesome from the beginning."

It takes time!

I spent $30,000 to get product-market fit.

Here's the story:
https://justinjackson.ca/30k/

Don't try to "be" your heroes.

They've doubled down on what makes them exceptional. They've used all of their built-in advantages to get to where they're at.

You need to look at your life, and determine what your strong points are. Focus on those! Develop those!

Self driving cars will kill the podcast.

Here's a teaser of my #laracon2017 talk.

"How do you build an app that people actually want?"

I know a lot of creatives that are scared to put stuff out in the world because of what *their peers will think*.

Forget about your peers.

Folks, some of you are creating *really* amazing stuff that no one knows about.

Make “building your network” a part of your craft.

Wow. If you're a designer, a maker, or an educator and you want to be inspired, watch “If You Build It” on Netflix:

http://www.ifyoubuilditmovie.com

“No such thing as spare time.
No such thing as free time.
No such thing as down time.
All you got is a life time.
Go.”
— Henry Rollins

Had an amazing dinner last night with @andrewculver and his wife.

Forgot to take a group photo, but I did take a picture of this giant pork shank.

Just purchased an annual plan of @damengchen's http://PDF.AI service so that I could ask it questions about my home insurance.

Totally worth it to quickly get peace of mind.

The ultimate goal of an indie startup shouldn't be "growth," "market domination," etc...

It should simply be:

1. Build a product that makes customers' lives better
2. Build a company that gives your team a better life.

"Founders: what are we building these companies for?

We build products to improve the lives of our customers.

But we build *companies* to improve our lives and the lives of our employees."

Really proud of this episode I did with @arvidkahl; it's one of the good ones:

Trying out this new web-based Mastodon client, Elk, and OMG IT IS SO NICE.

Check it out: https://elk.zone/home

(If you're new to Mastodon, this feels like a good way to experience it)

And when you walk down the street
Say hello to friends you know
And everyone you meet

“When scientists disagree, there’s an unwritten understanding: either I’m right and you’re wrong, you’re right and I’m wrong, or we’re both wrong.

Most often, the answer in a debate is ‘we need more data, so let’s go have a beer.’” – @neiltyson

☝️ need more of this in society

“Hey, are you the guy from @TransistorFM?”

So fun to run into a customer downtown Victoria, BC today! 😄

Check out @robinc’s show: @TalkRLPodcast (interesting chats about Reinforcement Learning).

🎧 https://www.talkrl.com/

Curious: what do you think is the highest leverage activity people can do to increase their income?

When Jon and I started @transistorfm, our personal motivation was to have a better life.

We wanted to build something we could be proud of. We were tired of working for other people. We wanted more freedom.

As a founder, it's worth asking: "why are you doing this?"

Just had a nap here. 😴

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

If you're needing to layer on increasingly complicated acquisition tactics, it's likely that people don't really desire what you're selling.

The limits of our imagination defines our limits.

I grew up in a small town (80s and 90s). All I knew was what I could see around me; it limited what I thought was possible.

It wasn't until I got out of my bubble and started exploring & connecting that my world opened up.

Your startup’s revenue ceiling and growth rate are mostly shaped by the market category you’re in.

Example: in podcast hosting, Libsyn is one of the biggest. Their ARR is ~$25m.

Not every market can support multiple players at $100m ARR! 🤪 https://twitter.com/jasonlk/status/1453802766313275393

AND THIS IS WHY WE WORK IN PUBLIC 😅🤞

https://twitter.com/schlimmson/status/1448368063498366978

Props for recognizing that "building a team with part-time contractors" wasn't working, and talking about it publicly. 👍

Founders often take cues from each other ("dang, should I be building my company like that?").

It's nice to see the results from real-world experiments. https://twitter.com/Shpigford/status/1437553757651415043

🎯 This is just it.

We want to stay:

👩‍💻 Small: less than 5 people.
😇 Calm: low stress, minimize complexity
📈 Profitable: maintain our current margins, without having to commit to more stress.

https://twitter.com/mjwhansen/status/1418682784688771072

I really wish North America had more passenger trains (especially out west).

Mosts indie creators have an annual revenue goal in mind ($120k, $200k, $300k).

Many of these indie makers would be unbelievable employees, but aren't currently looking at job postings.

Make them an offer that helps them achieve their financial + freedom goals to entice them!

Six months after hitting $10k (April 2019), we hit $30k MRR (Oct 2019).

For me, hitting this milestone meant that (maybe for the first time in my adult life?) I was able to relax. Less pressure.

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1181679385780187136

I just deployed a new top-nav for the @TransistorFM website.

Is it working for y'all out there? Did I miss anything? 😅

https://transistor.fm/

Too many creators optimize their work solely around "what resonates the most."

But... you can't pay the bills with views, listens, likes, or retweets.

What you want is work that:

1. Fulfills you personally
2. Resonates with your audience
3. Sustains your lifestyle ($)

Got to chat with Uncle @ianlandsman.

So refreshing to hear someone just tell it like it is:

"Nobody in bootstrapping really talks about what to do when you go from not having money, to having money."

(Should be live shortly on the @buildyoursaas feed:
https://saas.transistor.fm/subscribe)

🎯 A random video you found on youtube is not more trustworthy than the NYT, WP, BBC, CBC, PBS, etc...

Yes, mainstream media isn't perfect. There are definitely issues of trust and bias that need to be addressed.

But they're better than trusting anon Twitter accounts. https://twitter.com/sol_orwell/status/1326203753863782400

Question (for folks who don't have a podcast):

If you were going to start one, what would you type into Google?

(Can you actually search those terms for me on Google? Which link would you click first?)

I think when Wayne Gretzky said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it's been,” he was talking about hockey (not startups, politics, the stock market, or crypto).

The market you choose, and the idea that you focus on, are the most important business decisions you’ll make. They determine your trajectory.

Yes, how you execute is a part of that, but your ceiling for success is set by the idea itself.

Because of the pandemic, thousands of local retailers are trying to launch their online store with @Square/@weebly.

I've been helping my local friends with this and the #1 question I get is:

"How do I connect my custom domain to my Square site?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0MmMdsao8&feature=youtu.be

Who hosts their podcast on @TransistorFM?

I just updated this list:
https://transistor.fm/shows

I get this question a lot:

“Why do you need podcast hosting? Don’t I just upload my podcast to Apple and Spotify?”

So I just wrote my answer here:
https://transistor.fm/podcast-hosting

Here we goooooo #laracon

@adamwathan is on stage giving the @tailwindcss talk he’d want to see from a framework creator.

What's a podcast episode I absolutely HAVE TO listen to?

I've been using React since my punch card programming days. https://twitter.com/richgilbank/status/1124044544948023298

Interesting to be watching #microconf from afar.

You can really see when a point resonates.

This quote from @shl definitely struck a nerve:

"It doesn't matter how awesome your product is, the market you're in will determine most of your growth."

No ads.
No hashtags.
No selling your data.

If you're sick of Instagram, check out my friend @smithtimmytim's new project:

https://bokeh.pics/

New blog post:

“This attidude will kill your progress.” https://justinjackson.ca/cynical

Just added great deals for devs + product people looking to 📈 their marketing skills:

🖥️ Marketing for Developers course + book is 50% off
✅ "Validate Your Product Idea" is 60% off
📕 My book “Jolt” is 65% off
🚀 “Build Better Landing Pages” is 50% off

https://megamaker.co/blackfriday/

Whoa! Didn't realize I was on the homepage of Hacker News today! 😮

I just re-launched my site on @statamic (hosting with @laravelforge + DO).

How did my new setup handle all of that traffic? 😅

@indievc This was the part that surprised me: MailChimp was a side-project for 6 years (earning just a few thousand to start).

Bootstrappers need to be more patient! (And maybe keep their day job)

Think of marketing as a delivery car. 🚗

You've got to have a product that's worth delivering. 🍕

If there's no desire for the product, you don't need the delivery car. 😋

Two days ago, @marcoarment suggested a new standard for podcasts:

<a rel="payment"> in a podcast's show notes would reveal a nice green "$" button on the Now Playing screen in @overcastfm.

We just deployed this to @TransistorFM!

Feedback is only useful when it comes from a trusted source.

These are all the tools I use for podcasting, email newsletters, blogging, making videos, and selling things online. ⚡️

https://justinjackson.ca/tools/

☝️I'll add that no businessperson ever made it big without some folks taking a chance on them along the way.

If you're in the position to help someone out, do it!

Entrepreneurs are the kind of folks who notice when stuff is broken in people’s lives.

And even if they don’t immediately know *how* they’ll fix it, they’re not afraid to try.

If you're a solofounder, and you're feeling "forlorn" this January, you're not alone.

In the past week I've had DMs from ~5 other folks who feel the same way.

Reflecting, evaluating, planning can make you feel down. I recommend visiting a counsellor and talking it out!

What I love about Laravel is it was a big, "uncool" opportunity.

All the hipsters had all moved to Ruby and Rails, but there was this huge group of PHP devs that wanted to stay in PHP.

@taylorotwell saw the need, and made PHP cool again.

Again: the best part about meeting people on the internet is getting to meet them off the internet!

(w @patio11 & @JoshDoody @ #microconf)