IndieRails

In this episode, Chris shares a wealth of knowledge about creating businesses. He talks about how GoRails got started, almost failed, and was then jolted back to life. From his early childhood of building and selling with his parents, to branching out and expanding his portfolio of products from a solo operation to one with multiple hires, Chris' journey provides plenty of opportunities to learn by example. Whether you're starting your own business or looking to expand an existing one, Chris' story offers valuable lessons that can help you achieve your entrepreneurial goals.

Chris on Twitter

Businesses/Products:
GoRails.com
JumpstartRails.com
Hatchbox.io
RailsBytes.com
More can be found on excid3.com and remoteruby.com

Mentioned Links:

How Derek Sivers Uses Ruby And His Programming Philosophy

Keryx

Paul Graham default dead or default alive

Small Bets

Wardley Maps

Bunny.net

Blue Ridge Ruby

Moncef's story is sure to be an inspiration to anyone looking to start their own business. In this episode, he shares his journey from Morocco to UVA, AOL, and several other interesting experiences, ultimately leading to the creation of his own company: Ruby on Mac. Join us as we learn about the mistakes he made along the way and how he gained the training and confidence to leave the security of his full-time job and start a business!

Ruby on Mac

Moncef's Twitter
Moncef's Personal Site
30x500 Academy

Code for America

18F

The fastest and easiest way to install Ruby on a Mac in 2023
How to fix "command not found" after installing gems
Which Shell Am I Using? How Can I Switch?
How to customize Git preferences, macOS preferences, and GitHub repos in Ruby on Mac Ultimate

In this episode Dave Paola shares with us the behind-the-scenes of starting a software consultancy. We especially get into hiring and in onboarding junior developers. Dave talks about his new program The Agency of Learning, async vs sync, spikes, first drafts, PRs and so much more!

Dave's Twitter
Dave's Personal Site

Sierra Rails

Sierra Rails Junior Developer Program

Exposing your Ignorance (Sierra Rails podcast)
Hiring Junior Devs Bootcamp

Junior Developer Hiring Rubric

The Agency of Learning

EngineerKit

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Firing Well

0:20 - Questions from Eli If you were to start over with no skills or experience... - https://twitter.com/mojojoflow/status/1625233132763881494
0:35 - If I'd known then what I know now - Jess' start
2:20 - 20 years ago Jeremy - Jeremy's start
3:10 - Ruby's sharing culture
3:45 - Working on teams
4:05 - Benefit of Working at an agency
5:00 - Building a network early on
5:45 - Indie and working with others
6:17 - Working on things on the site
8:30 - Cattle not pets, diversifying income
9:30 - Felix Dennis - Getting too focused on a single craft, idealism
13:15 - Small Bets - diversifying income streams
14:17 - Service vs Products
17:20 - Taking more risks with extra margin
23:00 - Outsourcing

In this episode we go full send on the business side of IndieRails and explore with Colin how buying/selling a small SAAS works (as small as a couple of hundred MRR to 5m ARR) and the differences in building a company and buying.

Colin shares his knowledge and experience in going from many startup attempts to now buying multiple established software companies through his holding company Verne.  

Colin Keeley on Twitter

IndiePE.com (courses)

ColinKeeley.com (writing)

Verne (holding company)

Scout, Ottomatik and Blinksale

5:40 - Seller Financing

8:40 - Selling a business

9:02 - Why buy vs build?

11:15 - Are you a starter or a scaler?

12:30 - Getting experience running a saas as a developer

13:34 - Buying/Selling example breakdown

15:00 - ROI on buying a business (double your money slide)

15:50 - Brokers and Marketplaces acquire.com

16:05 - How to make your company attractive to PE

17:25 - How much cash would you need to buy a business?

18:23 - SBA Loans

18:45 - How to raise money?

19:40 - Constellation Software

20:55 - Partial / Minority Equity

21:30 - Due diligence

21:54 - How do you find a partner?

22:40 - Andrew Wilkinson & Chris Sparling

23:50 - Due diligence on the deal side (course & community)

24:30 - Working in an industry that you know. “All software tastes like chicken.”

25:30 - Game plan after acquisition

27:55 - Customer trust: in brand or person/founder?

30:10 - Marketing and Using Twitter

31:00 - https://typefully.com/ (writing threads)

31:45 - Promotional channels

32:45 - What should you be building right now?

Joe Masilotti shares his journey getting into coding, going independent, consulting in iOS and Rails, building in public, and starting RailsDevs.

Links

• Joe’s Website
• Joe’s Twitter
• Hotwire dev newsletter
• Turbo Native workshop
• RailsDevs
• Being more intentional in 2023

Your hosts:
Jeremy Smith

Jess Brown

The One Person Framework
A toolkit so powerful that it allows a single individual to create modern applications upon which they might build a competitive business. The way it used to be.