This is a heavy one! Let us know at @buildyoursaas if you listen to the whole thing.

• On a micro-scale many folks believe "how much MRR is enough?" is a silly question, because, in our current global economic model, your business has to keep growing (or it will eventually die). (CHURN will kill you)
• But on a macro-scale, our economic system relies on perpetually increasing:
  • resource extraction
  • population growth
  • energy usage
  • (Not sustainable)
• As founders, it's hard enough to wrestle with the "normal" issues, much less wrestle with existential questions. But this is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night...
• "To succeed is to destroy ourselves. To fail is to destroy ourselves. That is the bind we have created." – George Monbiot (Guardian article)
• A remember Paul Hawken having a brighter take when I read "The Ecology of Commerce" years ago while I was taking my undergrad. I should read it again.
• “Social theorists often take just one of these moments and view it as the “silver bullet” that causes all change. We have technological determinists (Tom Friedman), environmental determinists (Jared Diamond), daily life determinists (Paul Hawken), labor process determinists (the autonomistas), class struggle determinists (most Marxist political parties), institutionalists, and so on and so forth.”
• Budgeting over time:
  • Early: we spent as little as we could
  • When we went full-time (April and July): still be lean, but investing in more tools
  • Now: realizing (maybe) its better for us to invest in tools, infrastructure, equipment? Also: better to pay ourselves more?
• Profit first:
  • We started with: 50% salaries, 15% saved for taxes, 5% profit, the rest expenses
  • Maybe we need to move to: 60% - 70% salaries?

★ Thanks to our sponsors:

• ActiveCampaign. Get the world's most advanced marketing & sales automation platform. Use the code activecampaign.com/buildyoursaas and get two months free + 2 free One-on-Ones!
• Honeybadger. A web developer's secret weapon! Modern error management that gives you more than an email and a backtrace. They also have an amazing podcast: FounderQuest.

Show notes:

• Tweet thread
• Guardian article
• Why is economic growth important?
• Interview with Patagonia’s founder
• Rich Roll interview with Pat Brown
• Paul Hawken's book: the Ecology of Commerce

You can reply to this podcast here:

• Leave a comment on PodHunt; it's like Reddit, but for podcasts.
• Leave a comment on Breaker, the podcast app for iPhone.
• Interact on WhatPods.
• Otherwise, get us on Twitter: @transistorfm or email us: [email protected]

Thanks to our monthly supporters:

• New: Eric Lima
• James Sowers with UserInput.io
• Travis Fischer
• Matt Buckley, from Nice Things
• Russell Brown
• Evandro Sasse
• Pradyumna Shembekar (PD)
• Noah Prail
• David Colgan
• Robert Simplicio
• Colin Gray alitu.com
• Josh Smith
• Ivan Curkovic
• Brian Rhea (Pronounced “Ray”)
• Shane Smith
• Austin Loveless
• Simon Bennett 
• Corey Haines
• Michael Sitver
• Paul Jarvis and Jack Ellis
• Dan Buda danbuda.com
• Darby Frey
• Samori Augusto
• Dave Young
• Brad from Canada
• Sammy Schuckert
• Dan Ericson
• Mike Walker
• Adam DuVander
• Dave Giunta (JOOnta)
• Kyle Fox GetRewardful.com
• ProfitWell
• ActiveCampaign
• Honeybadger
• GetRewardful.com

Want to start a podcast on Transistor? Justin has a special coupon for you: get 15% off your first year of hosting: transistor.fm/justin