Starting a business begins with one powerful idea, but how do you come up with your first one? In this episode of Building MarsBased, we share the real story behind our company’s early days and how a simple concept evolved into a long-lasting, profitable business.

You’ll learn how to identify opportunities, validate ideas, and turn side projects into sustainable ventures, all based on real-world experience from a fully bootstrapped tech company.

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, freelancer, or agency owner, this video will help you find direction and clarity for your next move.

💡 Want to build your next digital product with a trusted partner? Let’s talk: https://marsbased.com/

Contact: [email protected]

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

What really makes company culture crack as you scale from 10 to 30+ people? In this candid conversation, Aaron Schmookler (co-founder of The Yes Works) sits down with Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit (CEO, MarsBased) to unpack the patterns they have seen across startups and mid-size teams, remote and on-site.

We dive into: preventing culture erosion during hypergrowth, why manager span of control matters, how to sell services without hard selling, practical leadership habits (Be Obvious), and the realities of building trust in distributed teams. Real stories touch on TextExpander, Medtronic, and SOG Knives, with step-by-step ideas you can apply tomorrow.

If you lead a team, sell B2B services, or you are scaling a product org, this episode gives you actionable frameworks for structure, communication, and conflict, without the fluff.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

We’re launching a new Life on Mars series: How to Build an Agency, a practical, transparent guide for freelancers, micro-agencies, and growing studios. We’ll cover everything from picking a name and services, getting your first client, contracts and NDAs, and building a portfolio, to harder topics like crisis management, pricing, hiring and firing, founder dynamics, and keeping long-tenured teams motivated. Episodes will mix solo deep dives, voices from the MarsBased team, expert guests, and community Q&A, slotted between our regular interviews. You’ll also see more in-person recordings from our Barcelona studio (while we keep remote interviews for global guests). 

Inspired by friends in the industry (Infinite Red, Thoughtbot, Pivotal Labs, Mobile Jazz, Codegram), this series distills 10+ years of agency lessons into actionable episodes you can apply the same day.

Send us your questions in the comments or via our social channels, and we’ll include them in upcoming Q&A episodes.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

What does it really take to scale a SaaS from a tiny Barcelona startup to a global leader protecting brands like major clubs and top electronics companies? In this candid conversation, Laura Urquizu (CEO, Red Points) shares hard-won lessons on going from SMB to enterprise, hiring fast in NYC (and fixing the fallout), balancing long-term strategy with short-term execution, and why the best CEOs become “irrelevant” day-to-day as teams outperform.

We dive into go-to-market, NRR as the north star, fundraising mistakes after a big round, building in the U.S. from Europe, and the AI behind Red Points (95% automated detection, 30M checks/day). If you’re a founder, operator, or investor, this one’s a masterclass in scaling under permanent uncertainty.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

In this new episode of Life on Mars, we take you behind the scenes at MarsBased to share how the first half of 2025 has unfolded for us as a team and company.

This year has marked the beginning of a new chapter, one shaped by growth, clarity, and transformation. We’ve strengthened our pipeline, expanded the team, and taken meaningful steps toward building a more mature and intentional company culture. But more importantly, we’re doing it all while staying true to our values of transparency, trust, and long-term thinking.

From company structure and team communication to leadership challenges and internal reflection, this episode is a candid account of how we're evolving to meet the demands of our clients, our people, and ourselves.

If you’re interested in how a boutique agency scales with intention, this is for you.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

After 10 years building MarsBased as a fully remote, bootstrapped, and values-driven tech company, we’re finally sharing the full story. This keynote, recorded for our 10th anniversary, is a reflection on everything we've learned about building sustainable software, nurturing company culture, and growing a business without external investors, shortcuts or growth hacks.

We talk about how we made remote work function from day one, why we chose to bootstrap instead of seeking venture capital, and how ethical decision-making has shaped every part of our journey. You'll also hear our philosophy on writing clean, maintainable code, and how long-term thinking has guided the way we run the company: slowly, intentionally, and with purpose.

🚀 We are martians. And this is how we built MarsBased.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

What happens when your company outgrows the culture that once defined it?
In this episode of the MarsBased Podcast, Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit sits down with Greg from TextExpander to discuss how growing to 30+ employees forced them to revisit their values, communication style, and internal training.

Greg explains how to recognize the right moment to redefine your company culture and why they decided to introduce internal training programs to support that shift. He shares how seemingly simple tools, like their cultural mantra “Be Obvious”, played a powerful role in improving team communication. The conversation also explores how remote companies can foster stronger ownership and alignment across teams, and what actually makes a training program worth the investment.

Greg also opens up about how they involved the entire team in redefining values, brought in external coaches to support the process, and measured the cultural impact over time. Skipping this process, he says, could have been their most expensive mistake.

Whether you're scaling a remote team or wondering how to make culture actionable, not just aspirational, this episode is packed with real talk and practical insights.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

10 moments. 10 guests. Total unpredictability on Life on Mars.

This isn’t your average “best of” episode. it’s a chaotic, hilarious, insightful rollercoaster through the most unforgettable english-language moments from life on mars, the startup podcast by MarsBased.

🔥 from death metal growls to burning down offices (literally), surprise cofounders, and existential founder questions... this episode has it all.

if you’re into tech, startups, or just love a good story, hit play.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

Turn your AI demo into a real business.
In this episode of Life on Mars, real founders share their experiences, strategies, lessons, and mistakes behind building scalable AI startups and growing products beyond the demo phase.

Join Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit (CEO of MarsBased) as he sits down with Ricardo Ghekiere (Founder of BetterPic) and Tanya Van Gastel (from Multiverse AI) to discuss the hard truths about scaling AI products, how to build a sustainable business, and what it takes to move from prototype to profit.

🧠 What you'll learn:

• How to turn a prototype into a profitable AI business.
• Marketing tactics that still work for AI companies (SEO, affiliates, etc.).
• The difference between side projects and scalable startups.
• Why one-time payments are a funding trap for AI companies.
• Subscription models, team culture, transparency, and avoiding common startup mistakes.

💥 Whether you're launching your own AI product or seeking to avoid common traps, this episode is packed with real-world advice that will help you build something that lasts.

🔔 Subscribe for more episodes on AI startups, SaaS growth, tech entrepreneurship, and product development.

📺 Watch more episodes here:
 [Link a la playlist de YouTube]

Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 – Intro: Why most AI tools don’t scale.
• 01:42 – Meet the guests: Ricardo Ghekiere & Tanya Van Gastel.
• 03:10 – The AI demo trap: Why cool tools often die early.
• 06:45 – Going from product to company: The real transition.
• 09:30 – Challenges scaling a one-time payment product.
• 12:00 – Subscription vs. one-off pricing in AI startups.
• 14:35 – The importance of marketing early (SEO, affiliates, and more).
• 18:20 – How BetterPic grew without paid ads.
• 21:50 – Why many AI founders avoid the hard stuff (distribution, customer support...).
• 25:10 – Culture and transparency in remote teams.
• 28:05 – Fundraising as a solo founder: Lessons from Ricardo.
• 32:40 – Turning an AI project into a real business: Final thoughts.
• 35:00 – Outro and where to find the guests.

👥 Guests:
👉 Ricardo Ghekiere – Founder of BetterPic
👉 Tanya Van Gastel – From AI Sheets, Multiverse AI

🧑‍🚀 Hosted by: Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit – CEO of MarsBased

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

In this episode of Road to CTO, we sit down with Charles Chase, a serial entrepreneur and investor, who shares his journey from aspiring accountant to building multiple successful companies, including Velocify. Charles reveals how a pivotal moment in the late 90s sparked his passion for programming, leading him to abandon his original career path and dive into tech.

Despite mastering coding, Charles chose not to follow the traditional route into CTO roles. Instead, he embraced operational leadership, seeing company-building as a form of engineering. He believes creating systems, processes, and teams requires the same careful design as good software.

Now based in Barcelona, Charles shares his unique perspective on entrepreneurship, emphasizing the psychological qualities needed to succeed. His investment philosophy focuses on the person behind the product, prioritizing vision and problem-solving over the product itself.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/