Cover art for podcast Bootstrapping Saas

Bootstrapping Saas

70 EpisodesProduced by Val SopiWebsite

Bootstrapping Saas is a podcast where I document my attempts at getting to $10K in MRR with my Saas products as a one man show (designer, developer, marketer). I cover things like sales strategies, failed attempts, successful outcomes, lessons, and a few personal things here and there.Once in a whil… read more

episodes iconAll Episodes

The road to 5000 paid blogs

December 12th, 2022

9:52

A quick look at what it will take to get to 5,000 paid blogs in total and make blogstatic a self-sustaining operation.

The week that tanked and what's next

November 20th, 2022

12:33

It was a rough week. With the registrations and payments crashing down to zero.

Saas business lessons with Michele Hansen

March 21st, 2022

48:04

Sat down with Michele to talk about Geocodio, Saas lessons, luck, switching gears, and more.

Challenges founders face with Stefan Manku

March 14th, 2022

53:58

Stefan Manku is a founder whisperer. He has the ability to help founders guide themselves. We sat down to talk about various challenges founders face based on Stefan's continuous work with other founders.

SEO & Content Talk with Dominic Kent

March 7th, 2022

1:10:33

Dominic's blog-writing course with 30% off for Bootstrapping Saas listeners 

https://domkent.gumroad.com/l/khHYb

Code: bootsaas for 30% off

with Spencer Jones: indiehacking, parenting, big startup jobs...

February 16th, 2022

1:03:49

Indiehacking vs working at big Startups, marketing vs product, rebranding, and what it's like to make products while raising a family.

with Brian Casel — "How far we can push with marketing until we notice the pull"

February 8th, 2022

1:07:29

I sit down with Brian to talk about his new product ZipMessage, picking fights with the Goliath, Saas lessons from his journey, marketing, selling, …

Resilience, purpose, and being as we are with Alex Mathers

January 26th, 2022

1:00:35

Sat down with Alex to talk about presenting in public, happiness, social anxiety, productivity, some deep aspects of self and everything in between.

How to sell ethically with Martin Stellar

January 17th, 2022

1:02:42

Martin Stellar (https://twitter.com/martinstellar) talks about what it means being a Monk and how all that relates to ethical selling. We talk about products, Martin's coaching, his new services and apps, and even …

Cam Sloan: "You don't need to get your personal brand from your business!"

January 10th, 2022

59:40

I got a chance to talk to my long time online friend, Cam Sloan, who's currently working on Hopscotch. We talk about the challenges of being a solo …

Talking shop with Noah Bragg

December 14th, 2021

43:29

Noah just quit his job to fully focus on Potion.so. We go deep and talk about the benefits of running a growing product, exiting, VC money, growth, …

Talking to Ben: Does going slow(er) sabotage our growth?

November 22nd, 2021

42:46

Ben Mann (@digitaltrouble) comes up to share what he's been up to.

The pull

October 7th, 2021

10:28

blogstatic's momentum is growing and I'm trying to maintain my pace without being overwhelmed.

Reloading

September 8th, 2021

5:58

A quick update after a 5-month break from recording.

Claritask, sold!

April 8th, 2021

33:23

Lessons from selling Claritask and what's next

A quick update

January 11th, 2021

9:54

Agency work, new ideas, Claritask...

Wellbeing

October 29th, 2020

28:26

I share my tools that help me stay healthy emotionally and physically.

Back after the break

October 15th, 2020

14:29

Back after a 3-month break. Talking about what I've been up to. Claritask update. Client work. And what I'm up to now/next.

Taking a little breather

July 11th, 2020

7:29

Signup for Claritask.com to run your team and projects

A list of various Podcasts on bootstrapping:
https://transistor.fm/podcasts-for-bootstrappers

Bootstrapping Saas Playlist on Spotify:

Spilling beer with Ben Mann

July 3rd, 2020

54:32

Ben is the founder of https://playgroup.community/ who just launched it with their first paying client, the notorious MegaMaker forum. You can also find Ben on Twitter at https://twitter.com/digitaltrouble

He runs his …

Giving Value vs Solving a Problem, with Louis Nicholls

June 25th, 2020

1:02:56

This show was an elaboration of a discussion/argument we had with Louis a few weeks ago on Twitter. You can find the entire tweet here: https://twitter.com/valsopi/status/1267489835863998472

Some questions we try to …

Claritask as a side project

May 25th, 2020

21:38

This week I am listening to: Hermanos Gutierrez and their album Hoy Como Ayer

HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters:

Catching up with Corey — Part Deux

May 15th, 2020

1:07:26

It's Friday, so we slip into philosophical thoughts and let that lead us to the end.


HUGE Thanks to my Patreon supporters:

The importance of having the right co-founder

May 11th, 2020

44:45

Among other things, I talk about:

  • My personal experience with cofounders
  • Thoughts on finding a co-founder
  • Audio clips from:

Online Friends

May 2nd, 2020

28:38

In this episode...

  • Spoke about the importance of having friends that share the same journey
  • Claritask Scrum being ready
  • How we don't have to be …

1 Year of Bootstrapping Saas

April 19th, 2020

30:48

My panic attack, Claritask progress, issues, and hope ahead.

Mentioned in the show:

Sales and marketing efforts

March 8th, 2020

16:26

I talk about about, how I am using

  • Linkedin 
  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Direct Email
  • Blogging

A BIG Thanks to my Patreon supporters:

  • Jace Richardson
    RepoGuard. …

Selling a solution VS a comodity

February 28th, 2020

10:08

I had a thought earlier today about how maybe selling a solution (like Claritask) requires an offline effort (networking, in person sales, …

Claritask is 1

February 16th, 2020

24:37

Enjoying Claritask, more than ever because:

  • Claritask is quite complete
  • Current clients are happy
  • New pricing
  • New activity 
  • New paying clients
  • My …

How to find an idea... my way

February 9th, 2020

22:16

I was invited on Product Journey podcast to share my story and had a great time speaking to Noah and Ben. One thing that got my mind churning was on …

Talking Shop with Helen Ryles

February 1st, 2020

52:21

Had the pleasure to speak to my long time internet friend, Helen Ryles (@HelenRyles). We covered topics from product making, validation, marketing, timing/luck, staying sane, and more.

One of the longest episodes I …

How I got here

January 26th, 2020

25:36
  • Would I have been able to make Claritask as a side project?
  • The talk I had with my wife
  • April Dunford's Obviously Awesome book

HUGE Thanks to my …

Feeling like a cheat

January 11th, 2020

20:51

Among other things...

  • Running a product in the sea of many competitors
  • My readings: David & Goliath, Stillness is the Key, Atomic Habits, …

Moving forward this 2020

January 3rd, 2020

30:19
  • A recap of last year: bad things & good things
  • The $20K bank loan I was about to take
  • New Pricing and why I did it (the reasoning behind it)

Get Lucky! (A blog post)

December 19th, 2019

5:25

Not a regular episode, just something I wrote about how I think about Luck and Getting Lucky!

Back from MIA

December 15th, 2019

17:55

There wont be any ads in the show moving forward. Instead, I will give shoutouts to my maker friends. Want to keep the show ad free

Shoutouts:

Is Bootstrapped Investor a thing?

November 1st, 2019

28:49

Thankful for EP25 supporters:

  • Userlist is a tool for sending behavior-based messages to your SaaS customers. It’s great for onboarding users and …

Back on Claritask

October 20th, 2019

26:24

Even though I am excited to come back to Claritask, I still have to find a long-term working model.

Started Cold Emailing and landed the first demo …

What I wished for my birthday

October 14th, 2019

28:26

Other things I talk about:

I need a new business model

October 9th, 2019

23:40

Bootstrapping with client work on one side and Claritask on another is proving to be hard.

Among other things I talk about:

  • Bootstrapping is hard in …

Speaking to Corey Gwin

October 6th, 2019

1:16:40

Corey and I have been talking for quite some time on and off. We finally found the time to sit down and talk about this "fancy" bootstrapping life of ours.

Among other things we challenged the bootstrapping way of …

Things are good

September 22nd, 2019

36:51

In this show I talk about how I am saving ~$1200 on yearly bank fees.

Also, I share some lessons on what I have learned so far running Claritask and …

Discipline

September 15th, 2019

11:05

In this episode I talk about how client work is making me more disciplined with Claritask. Also, how I am positioning Claritask more as a company and less like an indiehacker side-product, which is not. I will focus …

Grinding and fighting a (good) fight

September 8th, 2019

24:04

In this episode I talk about how client work is helping me keep the lights on with Claritask, but it's getting me away from it on daily basis, which …

Sales in a Bootstrapped Saas with Louis Nicholls

August 31st, 2019

1:06:22

Louis Nichols was a cofounder of a VC backed startup that exited and now he consults startups and founders on sales and marketing.

In this Episode we …

The one where I have a lot to say

August 23rd, 2019

32:35

Two big announcements:

  • Next show (EP17) I will have a guest who I will announce a few days before the show. He is a sales marketer for B2B #Saas …

Focusing on the ones who love Claritask

August 12th, 2019

17:29

It's tricky, focusing on tire kickers and those who are not sure about using Claritask — because they require the most time to support (time that I do not have) and chances are will not convert. These are users who it's …

How I work

August 3rd, 2019

21:50

In this episode I go into detail on how I divide my tasks in Claritask (Features & Quickies). Also talk about latest in Claritask (features & new clients).

On Youtube: https://youtu.be/1A4cib0LkfU

There's a new …

Embracing Bootstrapper Life

July 28th, 2019

16:44

In this episode I talk about how I am embracing the bootstrapping life more and more and how taking controlled risks and having more money in the …

Milestone: $500 All Time Revenue

July 20th, 2019

23:27

Also, how taking side projects in costing me more time than it's worth the cash that I am *NOT* getting.

Claritask is doing great with current clients, they are adding more people, new features are coming, existing ones …

Getting my head out of my ass

July 5th, 2019

20:17

The angel investment possibility I mentioned on EP10 didn't go through and glad it actually didn't. I can continue building Claritask on my own terms for my clients. Also a listener, Kevin Ratez from Germany

Should I be taking Angel investment?

June 21st, 2019

29:47

There are ton of positives I am feeling about my talks with the potential angel investor. There are a few things which make me reluctant in taking this investment, but overall — the mood is positive.

There's a new paying …

Not doing what I should be doing!

June 16th, 2019

18:43

I start with a little bit of venting on how I am not doing enough with my outreach efforts and hanging out in places (Twitter) where my clients are …

Loving the boring bits and the Saas grind

June 9th, 2019

32:43

I talk about the boring bits, how Saas is a long game and you really have to love the grind. Then I continue on how things are getting serious because a new client signed up with +30 staff and "daily active users" went …

When not to quit and how to run your Saas as a hobby

June 2nd, 2019

20:23

In this episode I talk about how to know when you have a product with some positive signals and how to push through. I also, quickly talk about the …

Lead problems and what I'll be doing next

May 26th, 2019

26:00

In this episode I talk about how leads are still a problem and that I will focus on content (I describe in detail what is working for me and where I …

Weekly confessions while driving

May 19th, 2019

29:58

In this episode I talk about how hard the week was. Not that anything in particular happened, but the way I feel about things going slower than I …

Content marketing, the long game, and getting lucky

May 10th, 2019

27:09

In this episode I talk about how I am focusing on Content Marketing as my sole growth channel of choice, for now.

Other notes include on how I don't

Overwhelmed with work, taking small steps, and delighting customers

May 3rd, 2019

22:07

This week starts with me explaining how I am overwhelmed with everything I am working on in and around Claritask (code, marketing, sales, growth) and …

New pricing plans & the way forward

April 26th, 2019

33:41

In this episode I talk about how I worked less (not in purpose) and actually, did more.

Also, here are quick show notes:
- Growth channels for the time being
- Current numbers (MRR, users)
- Website updates
- New "Who is it …

Growth strategies I am currently considering

April 19th, 2019

26:28

In this very first inaugural show of Bootstrapping Saas, I get to talk about various growth channels I am considering for Claritask.com. While daily …

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