Build Your SaaS

By Transistor.fm

What's Build Your SaaS about?

Interested in building your own SaaS company? Follow the journey of Transistor.fm as they bootstrap a podcast hosting startup.

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Build Your SaaS episodes:

02.10.2024
Is ONCE enough?
A panel discussion on 37signals' first ONCE product, the launch of Campfire ("pay for it once, install it, and run it on your own server"). Ian Landsman, Tyler Tringas, and Justin Jackson share what they expected to happen before the...
01.25.2024
How Ben and David bootstrapped the Acquired podcast
Fast Company called Acquired "the #1 tech podcast sensation." I've been a huge fan of the show for years. So, I was surprised when they contacted me and wanted to switch to Transistor for podcast hosting! Since switching, they've had...
09.26.2023
Nashville team retreat: scary birds, country music, and a photo shoot
The whole team is on the show! Jon, Helen, Jason, Josh, and Justin are on the mics to discuss our recent team retreat to Nashville, Tennessee. If you're wondering what a retreat looks like for a remote team, you'll get...
08.01.2023
Paul Jarvis: gaining freedom by building an indie business
Justin catches up with his old internet friend Paul Jarvis. Today, Paul co-founded Fathom Analytics with Jack Ellis: a simple alternative to Google Analytics. Paul is also the author of the book "Company of One," which has influenced a whole...
06.20.2023
How Tim worked on side-projects for 10+ years, and finally went full-time (with kids)
Tim reached out after the Aaron Francis episode: "I wanted to pitch you on the idea of coming on the podcast and sharing my journey of building side projects for the last decade while raising a family. I can also...
06.07.2023
Startup coaching: helping founders and team members realize their full potential
This week Jon and Justin are joined by Marcella Chamorro. Previously, she worked in startup marketing but has recently transitioned to coaching founders and teams. We discussed how startup founders and their team members can realize their full potential. Here...
05.16.2023
Michele Hansen update: Section 174 and bootstrapping with kids
In this podcast episode, Michele Hansen (Geocodio) gives us an update on Section 174 and provides her take on "bootstrapping with kids." Michele explains you can be a part of the Small Software Business Alliance, and fight Section 174. If...
05.09.2023
Should a parent with young kids try to bootstrap a new startup?
In this episode, Justin speaks with Aaron Francis about being a new parent and trying to bootstrap a startup. Aaron argued the other side of Justin's tweet thread: "Wait until your kids are older to start a company." Aaron is...
04.20.2023
Why we hired someone new
Jon and Justin welcome Joshua Anderton to the Transistor team! Josh is an amazingly talented full-stack web developer (Laravel, Rails, Tailwind CSS, Alpine, and more!) He's been helping us as a part-time contractor since Oct 2022, and we're excited to...
03.28.2023
Act now before it's too late: Section 174
Michele Hansen (co-founder of Geocodio) is raising the alarm about Section 174. This legislation could dramatically increase your tax bill this year if you're a small software company in the USA. Michele is organizing a response through the Small Software...
03.21.2023
This would kill our company immediately
Jon's back from his first real vacation in years. In this episode, we discuss how we've been removing inactive accounts on Transistor, SVB, Section 174, Revin is shutting down their Merchant of Record service, SaaS sales tax compliance: (00:37) - Jon...
03.01.2023
One pepperoni pizza please
"I don't get it: if that money is for the government, how come the pizza place put it in their cash register?!?" (Jon is on vacation - our next real episode is coming soon!) Listen to our past episodes on...
02.21.2023
Super Fun SaaS Sales Tax (Part Deux)
Last week's episode hit a nerve! "The idea that every small software company in the world will be able to be in perfect compliance will every foreign federal, provincial, state, and municipal government that imposes a sales tax is ridiculous....
02.10.2023
Nobody wants to talk about this (SaaS sales tax)
Sales tax compliance: nobody in SaaS wants to talk about it. Jon and Justin tried to do something about it and it turned into a nightmare. According to Stripe Tax, there are about 90 different regions that software companies may...
10.18.2022
The gang goes to Montréal
The whole Transistor team got together for a retreat in Montréal. Jon, Justin, Helen, and Jason chat about the experience. What should we talk about next? Twitter: @buildyoursaas, @mijustin, @jonbuda, @jsonpearl, and @helenrylesLeave a review/comment on Podchaser; it's like Reddit, but...
08.16.2022
Jon & Justin reveal everything (part 2)
As a part of Transistor's 4-year anniversary, Jon and Justin answer your questions
08.10.2022
Jon & Justin reveal everything (part 1)
Transistor celebrates 4 years since the launch
07.12.2022
Bootstrapping in France (Baptiste Jamin from Crisp)
An interview with Baptiste Jamin, the co-founder of Crisp. Crisp is affordable, high-quality customer support software.
06.14.2022
What's it like getting acquired by Spotify? (Dave Zohrob from Chartable)
An interview with Dave Zohrob, co-founder of Chartable podcast analytics
05.31.2022
Patrick Campbell: why ProfitWell sold to Paddle for $200M
Competing with ChartMogul and Baremetrics, whether you should "go big," and why the market is important
04.26.2022
Going from $0 to $2 million in ARR in 7 years (the Missive story)
Three French Canadians built a profitable indie SaaS
04.05.2022
Taylor Otwell: the business of Laravel in 2022
Becoming a better leader, so that your product can grow and thrive.
03.22.2022
Why Customer Support = Startup Success
"Customer Support may be the most under-appreciated role in SaaS."
03.15.2022
What's it really like to work at Transistor?
We got the whole band together: Helen and Jason join Jon and Justin to talk about what it's really like to work at Transistor Helen, Jason, Jon, Justin, all squeezed into the podcasting closet to make an episode0:55 Jason's first...
01.18.2022
Founders' retreat
Jon and Justin are reunited in the COVID capital of British Columbia
12.24.2021
Reflecting on 2021
Jon and Justin record one last episode for 2021
12.07.2021
Brian Casel, of Bootstrapped Web, chats about his new app
Brian talks about why ZipMessage feels different than his other SaaS projects
11.26.2021
What does my daughter think of the podcast industry?
Justin interviews his daughter about podcast ads, women in podcasting, and how to attract more young listeners.
10.12.2021
A few questions
We answer listener questions about bootstrapping, SaaS, and partnerships
09.07.2021
Why should we care about our customers' feelings?
Get inspired to interview customers (with Michele Hansen)
08.17.2021
This is a big step for us
Plus, what's with this summer SaaS slowdown?
08.03.2021
Is venture capital bad?
Talking about venture capital with guest Spencer Fry (Podia)
05.04.2021
Basecamp | Hiring | How to have a calm company
What happened at Basecamp? We announce our first full-time team member. And: cost/benefit analysis.
04.06.2021
A good business will change your life (for real)
And, evil crypto Teletubbies
01.26.2021
We're doing this and it's weird
Just the weirdness of it
01.19.2021
Podcast companies losing money?
2021 and still no flying cars
12.29.2020
Jason Fried – you can't control the market
A disagreement on Twitter leads to a Skype call
12.15.2020
What happened after Simon went full time on his SaaS?
Spoiler: he doubled revenue!
11.17.2020
Landsman on software
Ian Landsman talks about his 15-year history of building HelpSpot
11.10.2020
How fragile is the prosumer SaaS market?
Justin lost his voice and sounds like Steve-O.
09.22.2020
What it takes to launch a SaaS
Justin was a guest on the Framework podcast
09.15.2020
THE FEAR
Justin is worried. Jon says "chill."
09.08.2020
Do you really need to build an audience?
Reverse engineering success
08.04.2020
Break out
What do you do when you can't solve a problem on your own?
06.30.2020
Talking about an acquisition
One of our competitors was acquired; what does that mean for us?
06.16.2020
It's just too much
What happens when your SaaS grows 300% over the quarantine?
06.09.2020
Waking up
Resisting oppression and resisting being an oppressor
05.26.2020
Why there's no episode today
A quick update from Justin
05.19.2020
Building software for 2030
Will we still be supporting Internet Explorer in a decade?
05.13.2020
Simon is going full-time
Simon is quitting his job and going full-time on SnapShooter

What's Build Your SaaS about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Build Your SaaS episodes:

Is ONCE enough?

How Ben and David bootstrapped the Acquired podcast

Nashville team retreat: scary birds, country music, and a photo shoot

Paul Jarvis: gaining freedom by building an indie business

How Tim worked on side-projects for 10+ years, and finally went full-time (with kids)

Startup coaching: helping founders and team members realize their full potential

Michele Hansen update: Section 174 and bootstrapping with kids

Should a parent with young kids try to bootstrap a new startup?

Why we hired someone new

Act now before it's too late: Section 174

This would kill our company immediately

One pepperoni pizza please

Super Fun SaaS Sales Tax (Part Deux)

Nobody wants to talk about this (SaaS sales tax)

The gang goes to Montréal

Jon & Justin reveal everything (part 2)

Jon & Justin reveal everything (part 1)

Bootstrapping in France (Baptiste Jamin from Crisp)

What's it like getting acquired by Spotify? (Dave Zohrob from Chartable)

Patrick Campbell: why ProfitWell sold to Paddle for $200M

Going from $0 to $2 million in ARR in 7 years (the Missive story)

Taylor Otwell: the business of Laravel in 2022

Why Customer Support = Startup Success

What's it really like to work at Transistor?

Founders' retreat

Reflecting on 2021

Brian Casel, of Bootstrapped Web, chats about his new app

What does my daughter think of the podcast industry?

A few questions

Why should we care about our customers' feelings?

This is a big step for us

Is venture capital bad?

Basecamp | Hiring | How to have a calm company

A good business will change your life (for real)

We're doing this and it's weird

Podcast companies losing money?

Jason Fried – you can't control the market

What happened after Simon went full time on his SaaS?

Landsman on software

How fragile is the prosumer SaaS market?

What it takes to launch a SaaS

THE FEAR

Do you really need to build an audience?

Break out

Talking about an acquisition

It's just too much

Waking up

Why there's no episode today

Building software for 2030

Simon is going full-time