Startups For the Rest of Us

How do you pivot your SaaS when things aren’t working?

This week Rob talks with Nathan Tyler, founder of BlinkMetrics, about the messy, uncertain process of finding product market fit in real time. Nathan walks through why his original EOS scorecard idea didn't work, how hundreds of coffee chats led to a done for you reporting business, and why he just launched a second product, BlinkPages, right in the middle of it all.

Topics we cover:

(2:43) – The Staging Pilot exit to Pantheon

(4:44) – BlinkMetrics origin story

(5:59) – 104 coffee chats, real revenue

(8:09) – Why not launch 12 products in 12 weeks

(9:39) – Launching a second product: BlinkPages

(13:09) – Squarespace to BlinkPages migration

(17:03) – Why static sites beat WordPress now

(21:02) – Knowing when to pivot

(25:26) – Market pull vs. shiny object

(32:10) – Pricing migrations, hosting, and AI costs

Links from the show:

Get your Ticket for MicroConf US - Austin, Texas on April 18 - 20, 2027 | Use promo code ROB50 

BlinkMetrics

BlinkPages

The SaaS Playbook

Exit Strategy Book

Nathan Tyler | LinkedIn 

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

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How do you onboard a hire onto a codebase you built alone?

In this episode, Derrick Reimer joins Rob to tackle four listener questions. They cover hiring and onboarding your first developer as a bootstrapped founder, then move into the temptation to build features just because AI makes them cheap to ship, getting past social anxiety as a founder, and whether it's worth trademarking your product name.

Topics we cover:

(3:59) – How do you hire your first developer?  

(5:14) – Qualities to look for in a first developer hire

(13:37) – Onboarding a new hire into your codebase with AI

(16:49) – Reducing hiring risk: pairing, reliability, recruiters

(22:50) – The temptation to build features just because AI makes it cheap

(30:43) – Getting over social anxiety as a founder

(35:25) – Is trademarking your product name worth it?

Links from the show:

TinySummit | December 5–7, 2026 · JW Marriott, Cancun

MicroConf US | April 18–20, 2027 · Austin, TX

Partnerships: sponsors@microconf.com

Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants (book wait list)

Rob Walling Newsletter

Remote First Recruiting 

SavvyCal

Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Ever gotten a vague cease and desist from a competitor and wondered if you actually did something wrong?

This week I tackle four listener questions: how seriously to take competitor terms of service threats, whether AI is really a platform risk (or just a feature risk), how to build confidence and get past the fear of reaching out to prospects, and when a non-founder employee should walk away from a company that's missing founder activation energy.

Want to get your question answered? Submit your question for an upcoming episode.

Episode Sponsor:

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Topics we cover:

(01:05) – Are terms of service threats legitimate?

(04:25) – No attorney-client privilege with LLMs

(06:39) – AI as platform risk explained

(08:21) – Will AI subsume your features?

(10:55) – Will AI costs drop over time?

(14:22) – Mitigating LLM downtime risk

(16:06) – Structuring an enterprise pilot program

(17:56) – Building confidence despite social anxiety

(23:05) – When to quit as a non-founder

Links from the show:

Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants (book wait list) 

Rob Walling Newsletter

TinySeed Portfolio

TinySeed Accelerator

Rob Walling YouTube Channel 

MicroConf

The SaaS Playbook

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Does validation still matter when AI has made building software almost free?

In this solo episode, Rob breaks down the origin story of Liquid Death, the canned water company now valued at over a billion dollars, and pulls out the mental models that apply directly to B2B SaaS. He covers why ideas come from being in the arena, how founder Mike Cessario validated the concept with a fake product before manufacturing anything, and why "I just want to build" is usually an excuse worth dropping.

Topics we cover:

(1:05) – Where the Liquid Death idea came from

(4:12) – Mike Cessario's punk and advertising background

(5:22) – The backstage Monster tour water insight

(7:18) – Ideas come from being in the arena

(8:02) – Why "give me 10 ideas" doesn't work

(9:35) – Putting in the reps to build skills

(11:23) – Why validation still matters with AI

(12:11) – How Cessario validated with a fake product

(15:46) – The repeatable framework behind it all

(18:07) – Learning from outliers and the bootstrapper's gift

Links from the show:

MicroConf US | April 18–20, 2027 · Austin, TX

Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants (book wait list)

Michael Girdley YouTube Channel

Liquid Death

Mike Cessario | LinkedIn

The SaaS Playbook

TinySeed

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries 

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

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Would you spend a year on distribution for a product that doesn't exist yet?

In this solo episode, Rob answers listener questions about how second and third-time founders think differently, from filtering a dozen good ideas down to one, to why distribution and validation matter more the second time around. He also digs into how to sell and price AI agents, and whether a long enterprise sales cycle is worth the wait for a bootstrapper.

Want to get your question answered? Submit your question for an upcoming episode.

Topics we cover:

(2:54) – Selecting an idea after an exit

(5:26) – Using spreadsheets and advisors to filter

(8:52) – Founder retreats for big decisions

(10:01) – How to sell an AI agent

(12:32) – Pricing agents on value replaced

(17:13) – What later-stage founders care about

(18:59) – Distribution and validation for repeat founders

(23:12) – Long enterprise sales cycles

(26:33) – Optimizing for learning speed

Links from the show:

MicroConf Europe┃Reykjavik, Iceland · Sept 21–23, 2026

TinySeed Accelerator | Join our email list - Applications open in September 2026

Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants (book wait list)

The SaaS Playbook

Rob Walling Newsletter

Zen Founder Guide to Founder Retreats by Dr. Sherry Walling

Episode 681 | Why Launching a Second Product is Usually a Bad Idea

SignWell (Ruben Gamez)

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you'd like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We'd love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify