Growth Stage by FastSpring

You didn’t build a game studio to become an expert in global tax law. But as more publishers move from marketplaces to direct-to-consumer (D2C) web shops, the burden of tax compliance shifts from Apple and Google directly to you.

In this episode, we sit down with Rachel Harding, Senior Director of Tax at FastSpring, to demystify the complex world of digital goods taxation. Rachel breaks down exactly what developers need to know about selling skins, battle passes, and currencies globally—without needing a finance degree. Tune in to learn how to navigate the biggest compliance risks and keep your studio focused on what matters most: making great games.

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

Thanks to technologies like WebGL, mobile UA teams now have powerful tools for building incredibly interactive and playable ads that take what is possible to an entirely new level. While many of us have embraced this trend, there still remains one huge problem. TIME. Producing playable/interactive ads can bring our creative teams to their knees while our best ideas get stuck in backlog jail. Yuck! What if there was a better way?

In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Elina Arponen the CEO of Quicksave about her thoughts on why playable/interactive ads are so compelling, what makes them so hard to produce, how creative teams can accelerate production, and other insights into how WebGL is revolutionizing ad production, publisher websites, web stores, and beyond.

If you're wondering how you'll scale compelling player and user experiences across UA, your website, and your games or apps, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch / Listen now!

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

There are few moments in an industry's history where a trend or emerging technology introduces a step function that unlocks an entirely new level of growth. With the rise of D2C and other web based experiences, game publishers are experiencing a rare opportunity to increase profits and establish better long term relationships with players. But how can an industry often reliant on gatekeepers and walled-garden ecosystems build out innovative web teams that quickly and effectively take advantage of this historic opportunity?

In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Caleb Brown of X-Team, a provider of technology talent as a service for top game publishers, about his thoughts around the drivers behind the rise of web experiences in gaming, the key challenges of building an innovative web team from scratch, and how top game publishers & studios are approaching building out their own innovative web teams.

If you're wondering how you'll develop your own web strategy to take advantage of this historic opportunity, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch or listen now!

00:00 Introduction to the Rise of Web in Gaming
07:32 Understanding X-Team and Its Role
14:18 The Shift Towards Direct-to-Consumer Models
15:51 Building Innovative Web Teams
27:43 The Product vs. Marketing Dynamic

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

If you've recently launched a web store to take advantage of new steering rules on iOS in the US or even if you're an old pro at web store monetization, you may be wondering what is the best way to price and package my in-game items or subscriptions on my web store vs. what I offer in-game through app stores.

In this episode of Growth Stage we interview Chip Thurston, Head of Gaming at FastSpring and former monetization leader at Scopely and SciPlay, about his thoughts around how pricing and packaging strategies differ in-game vs. on a web store, what are the top considerations, the role of creators in driving web store value, and how to strike the right balance in rewarding players and increasing your profits.

If you're scratching your head wondering what the best pricing and packaging strategies are for your game and web store, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch or listen now!

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

00:00 Introduction to Pricing and Packaging Strategies
05:12 Understanding Game Economy and Player Empathy
09:54 Direct-to-Consumer: Web Store vs. App Store
15:09 Balancing Player Choices and Monetization
20:13 The Role of Creators in Driving Web Store Traffic
25:07 Attribution and Incremental Purchases
30:04 Key Takeaways for Web Store Success

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

Conversation with Kickbox Director of Operations Hank Hoffmeier about the science of email marketing.

Email marketing is often hailed as the highest-ROI channel — especially for SaaS and digital product companies. But what happens when your emails don’t even make it to the inbox?

In this episode of Growth Stage, we speak with Hank Hoffmeier, email deliverability evangelist at Kickbox, about how authentication, verification, and deliverability impact your bottom line. Listen to learn:

• Why deliverability is no longer a “set it and forget it” process.
• How to fix common mistakes that are silently killing your campaigns.

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for SaaS and software, FastSpring lets you reduce your payments, subscriptions, entitlements, fulfillment, and tax management stack down to one. We manage all the hard parts of transacting globally, allowing you to focus on moving your business farther, faster.

• (00:00) - Intro

In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview payments industry legend and VP of Payments at FastSpring, Jeremy Waxman about his thoughts on what the most common payment stack attacks are, why bad actors choose those particular types of attacks, and what you can do to make your payment stack more secure regardless of who your payment provider is.

With 25+ years of experience spanning Comcast, Fiserv, and Digital River, Jeremy has seen it all — from brazen carding attacks to operationally overwhelming waves of chargebacks. In this discussion, he breaks down how fraudsters operate, the costly mistakes companies make, and what you can do to stay ahead.

Listen for the full insights into:

• Why carding and account takeover attacks remain the most common (and expensive) threats to payment systems.
• How overlooking small data anomalies — like approval rates by BIN — can cost companies hundreds of thousands in decline fees.
• Why payment fraud isn’t just about fines, but also reputational risk, operational overload, and long-term damage to approval rates.

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

Building a lasting business isn’t easy. 

Knowing what really makes a company succeed long term can be even harder.

That’s why it can be helpful to learn from companies that have stood the test of time.

In this episode of Growth Stage, we celebrate FastSpring’s 20th anniversary with insights from its first CEO, Dan Engel, and current CEO, David Nachman. They share:

• What has helped FastSpring thrive for two decades.
• What mistakes to avoid when building your own business.
• What it really takes to build something that lasts.

Whether you’re planning to exit in two years or fifty, take a moment to step back and think about the long term future of your business. Watch or listen now!

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for SaaS and software, FastSpring lets you reduce your payments, subscriptions, entitlements, fulfillment, and tax management stack down to one. We manage all the hard parts of transacting globally, allowing you to focus on moving your business farther, faster.

Conversation with Equalize Digital CEO Amber Hinds about making the web more accessible for people with disabilities.

Amber Hinds is the founder and CEO of Equalize Digital, a mission-driven agency focused on digital accessibility. As the creator of the Accessibility Checker plugin for WordPress and lead organizer of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup, Amber is at the forefront of helping companies make their websites and SaaS products usable for everyone — including people who are blind, deaf, or have mobility or cognitive impairments.

In this episode, Amber shares the real-world implications of accessibility, how it intersects with SEO and compliance, and what companies can do right now to improve usability for all.

To learn more about how accessibility impacts business growth, listen for the full insights into:

•  Why accessibility improvements often lead to better SEO, lower bounce rates, and higher conversions
•  What global regulations like the European Accessibility Act mean for SaaS and ecommerce companies
•  How to start testing your website or product today — using free tools, real users, or expert audits

To hear all this and more about making the web work for everyone, listen now!

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

00:00 Introduction to Accessibility and Equalize Digital
03:05 Understanding Website Accessibility
05:58 The Importance of Accessibility
08:56 Legal Implications of Accessibility
11:45 Barriers to Implementing Accessibility
14:55 Human Testing vs. Machine Testing
17:48 User Testing and Accessibility Feedback
24:57 Effective User Testing for Accessibility
28:32 The Importance of Accessibility in Software Development
32:29 Examples of Accessibility Best Practices
38:42 Getting Started With Accessibility Improvements

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance—enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

Conversation with brandiD’s Founder and CEO Rachel Gogos about how SaaS leaders can build personal brands that drive connection, credibility, and growth.

Your personal brand is more than a polished LinkedIn profile — it’s how you stand out, connect with customers, and build long-term credibility as a founder or executive. But how do you create an authentic personal brand that actually works?

In this episode of Growth Stage, we talk with Rachel Gogos — Founder and CEO of brandiD — about her SOULiD framework and how digital business leaders can craft a brand that reflects who they truly are, while supporting their business goals.

Rachel shares:

• What makes up a strong personal brand (and why every founder already has one).
• How personal branding boosts clarity, confidence, and even company resilience.
• Practical ways SaaS leaders can uncover and express their unique identity.
• Mistakes to avoid (like overusing AI or oversharing on social media).
• Why consistency matters more than perfection.

If you're a founder, executive, or thought leader looking to stand out and connect with the right audience — without turning into a personal branding cliché — this episode is for you. Listen now!

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance—enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

Conversation with Nexus CEO Justin Sacks introducing the FastSpring and Nexus web shop integration.

If you're looking for one of the fastest ways to launch your D2C channel, you may be interested in hearing more about the incredibly easy-to-implement solution offered through a partnership with D2C payment platform FastSpring and creator program in a box provider Nexus.

In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview CEO of Nexus Justin Sacks about his thoughts on:

• The core challenges the partnership was established to address.
• How the integration works.
• Exactly how publishers can use FastSpring + Nexus to quickly launch a successful D2C channel.

If you're sitting on your hands worried that launching D2C has to be a massively disruptive project, you may be surprised what is possible for you and your players. Listen now!

Transcript available on the FastSpring blog.

This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance—enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.