Building Astropad

It's tough to be a hiring manager right now. It's even harder when you're a bootstrapped company up against VC-backed startups and Big Tech companies with seemingly endless pockets.  Listen in to hear what we're doing to compete.

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter

Do you want to build a product but don't know what to make? Yea, I know the pain. On this episode, I discuss the 3 main ways we come up with product ideas at Astropad.

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter

We’re adding more managers to the Astropad team, and that got me thinking about the resources I suggest for new managers. It’s not an easy transition from an individual contributor to a people manager.  If you read these books, you’ll be way ahead of the vast majority of managers out there.

Tune in to hear why I recommend these 3 books:

- The Making of Manager
- Radical Candor
- High Output Management

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter

The week I recorded this episode, a popular iPad app made the switch to subscriptions and totally screwed it up. Drawing on that example and our own experience, I give suggestions on switching an existing app to subscriptions. Tune in to hear my 3 lessons for making the switch without blowing up your business.

On this episode, you'll learn:

• Why you should be extra generous with existing customers
• Why you shouldn't take away features
• How to structure your communications
• And why more apps should switch to subscriptions

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• My Twitter thread on app subscriptions
• A followup blog post that goes into more detail

Earlier this summer, we were feeling pretty stuck. We had been working on Luna Display for Windows going on 2 years and we still hadn't shipped. So we put together a plan, picked a ship date, and committed to a final sprint. The result was...

... our second biggest launch of all time! 🙌 On this episode, I talk with Savannah about the planning that went into our incredibly successful Luna Display for Windows. We talk about our biggest sources of web traffic, why we think the launch did so well, and what surprised us as a pretty big launch failure (so far). Finally, hear how we faired on Product Hunt and why we might skip it in the future.

On this episode, you'll learn:

• How we drove traffic for our launch
• What we expected to work that didn't
• Why we think the launch went so well
• Why we might skip Product Hunt next time
• Plus an update on how our 8,000 unit goal is going

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• Savannah Reising on Twitter

I talk with Aneela Idnani of HabitAware, a company dedicated to helping people with Body Focused Repetitive Behavior – like hair pulling, skin picking, and nail biting. HabitAware makes a smart bracelet called Keen that helps control unwanted repetitive behavior. 

They've been incredibly successful too, winning the MN Cup, named a Best Invention of 2018 by Time Magazine, and they've won government research grants from the NIH and NSF.

On this episode, we talk about she got started building hardware, what the early days of the company were like, why she is so passionate about mental health, and how they've funded the business so far.

On this episode, you'll learn:

• What BFRB's are and why they are focused on curing them
• How they built their first hardware prototypes (and why they built custom hardware)
• Why there's a big space to help people with mental health
• How Aneela has funded her business through unconventional methods
• What's next for HabitAware

Other resources

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• Aneela's powerful TEDx Talk
• HabitAware
• HabitAware on Twitter

Love it or hate it writing marketing copy is necessary for all businesses. That's why I chat with Mark Lambert, a long-time copywriter, about his work with us and how he got started. We talk about the two main schools of thought in copywriting: the old school approach and the new storybrand method. We discuss how to pick a writing approach and resources to get started. We also talk about the importance of storytelling and how to improve at it.

Links

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• Mark Lambert on Twitter
• Mark's website

Resources for learning copywriting

• Old school approach: Copywriting Secrets by Jim Edwards
• Storybrand: Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller
• For good writing: Elements of Style by Strunk
• Great storytelling: MrBallen

I recently tweeted that I think the market for beautifully built, bespoke Mac apps is all but gone. Many people found this to be quite controversial, so on this episode, I break down why I think Mac apps are no longer a viable business model.

Tune in to hear why I believe the App Store, the web, Apple, and the shift to mobile have forever changed the Mac app market.

Links

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• My controversial tweet

On this episode, Matt summarizes what's happened with regulators closing in on Apple's App Store and where he believes this is headed.

ALOT has happened in the past month:

• South Korea just passed a new law requiring alternate in-app payment methods
• Japan settled an antitrust inquiry and now "reader" apps can "special" link 
• The EU, UK, Russia and India have activate investigations
• And a class-action lawsuit was just settled with US App Store developers

And we can't forget the biggest of all:

• The new Open App Markets Act backed by Sen. Blumenthal, Blackburn, and Klobuchar

..which Matt believes is the most exciting development. So tune in to catch up on the latest App Store anti-trust news.

Links

• Matt Ronge on Twitter

On this episode, Matt talks about why every company eventually needs to pivot and how it's not a sign of failure. He shares Astropad's story of pivoting and his lessons from that experience. Also hear examples from famous companies that had to pivot like Intel, Netflix, Nintendo, and even Apple. 

Links

• Matt Ronge on Twitter
• We've been sherlocked by Apple, now what? | Ep. 1
• Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove