How do you find employees who care as much as the founders? And in an AI-driven world, should you stick to traditional SEO or pivot to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

In this episode of Building MarsBased, CEO Alex Rodriguez Bacardit answers two deep-dive questions from the agency community. We explore the "Champion" profile, why former freelancers and entrepreneurs are the secret to delegation, and how MarsBased hit 30 people in 2025 by restructuring their leadership.

We also discuss the marketing strategy behind their new spin-off, GPT apps. Alex explains why they are using paid ads for the first time in 12 years and how to optimize your content so AI bots recommend your brand.

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

In this fifth episode of Building MarsBased, Àlex Rodriguez Bacardit reflects on nearly 12 years of operating as a remote-first company since 2014. Inspired by the 37signals philosophy, MarsBased was designed as a "hard remote" entity to optimize for productivity over mere presence, a model that forced the founders to defend their professional authority without a physical office during the early years.

To maintain human connection in a distributed team, the company established rituals like Martian Days, quarterly in-person meetings, and Martian Tapas, where team members showcase new skills or tools. A key principle in avoiding "second-class citizens" is ensuring that no major company decisions are made during informal hangouts in Barcelona, keeping the playing field level for everyone regardless of their location.

The MarsBased hiring strategy specifically filters for seniors, former entrepreneurs, or freelancers who are exceptional written communicators, as remote environments can feel isolating or "hostile" for those who lack experience in self-management. This professional maturity is supported by a streamlined tech stack, evolving from Basecamp to Linear, and a culture of 100% trust from day one, rather than a system of surveillance.

While remoteness brings challenges like the "loneliness slump" around month 12, the company remains 95% faithful to its original 2014 vision. By treating employees like adults and prioritizing quality over quantity, MarsBased continues to thrive as an independent, bootstrapped lifestyle business.

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

In this episode of Building MarsBased, Alex Rodríguez Bacardit, CEO and founder, discusses the internal debate of whether the company should operate as a generalist vs specialist. This conversation offers key business tips for how to start a business, emphasizing the need for strategic thinking to foster business growth. We explore the essential elements of a sound business strategy for long-term success.

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

In the volatile world of Silicon Valley, where the average CEO tenure is often less than five years and startups burn out as quickly as they rise, Ray Zinn stands as a monumental exception. For 37 years, Zinn served as the CEO of Micrel, the semiconductor company he founded in 1978, holding the record as the longest-serving CEO of a publicly traded company in the Valley. His tenure wasn't just about longevity; it was a masterclass in disciplined consistency. Under his leadership, Micrel achieved a staggering record of being profitable for 36 out of those 37 years, a feat almost unheard of in the tech industry.

This video dives deep into the story of the man they call the "Iron Man" of the semiconductor industry. We explore how Zinn famously rejected the standard Venture Capital model, choosing instead to bootstrap Micrel using his own savings and bank loans to maintain total control over the company's culture and destiny. You will learn about his unique management philosophy, "Tough Things First," which prioritized discipline and employee well-being over short-term stock manipulation.

Beyond the business metrics, we also uncover the incredible personal resilience of Ray Zinn. Later in his career, he went legally blind, yet continued to run the company effectively, relying on his vivid memory and the deep trust he had built with his team. From the early days of 1978 to the final acquisition by Microchip Technology in 2015, this is the definitive story of an outlier who proved that slow, steady, and disciplined leadership can outlast the hype of Silicon Valley.

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

There is a recurring piece of advice in the startup world that says you should never mix friendship with business. However, after 12 years of profitability and organic growth at MarsBased, reality has taught us that working with friends is not only possible but can be a competitive advantage if expectations are managed from day zero.

In this episode of Building MarsBased, I open up the black box of our founding story to explain how Xavi, Jordi, and I went from being classmates to co-founders, and why we made the difficult decision to leave a fourth friend out just before signing the company incorporation. I take a deep dive into our atypical organizational structure where we decided not to have a single CEO, but rather divide leadership into three areas of absolute responsibility (Tech, Operations, and Marketing) while democratizing cross-functional decisions.

Throughout the video, I detail how we resolve conflicts using asynchronous communication via Linear to remove ego from discussions, how we define our salaries based on the company’s financial health (bootstrapping) rather than investment rounds, and what our philosophy is regarding equal equity splits. If you are considering starting something with your close circle, here you will find our real-world experience on how to align priorities, manage friction, and prevent silent resentment from killing both the company and the friendship.

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

Welcome to another episode of Road to CTO, our series where we sit down with some of the most experienced and influential technology leaders in the world.

In this episode, we talk with Dorion Carroll, a veteran with 35 years of tech leadership experience, former CTO at Zynga, VP at Amazon, and one of the most insightful engineering minds in the industry.

From scaling engineering teams from 280 to 3,600 people, to navigating billion-dollar decisions, to understanding what truly makes a great CTO, Dorion shares the lessons, stories and frameworks that shaped his extraordinary career.

If you're an aspiring CTO, an engineering manager, or simply passionate about how world-class tech organisations operate behind the scenes, this is a masterclass.

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

When is the right time to start your company?
In this second episode of Building MarsBased, we answer a listener’s question that every aspiring founder wrestles with: Should I launch while keeping my day job, or go all in?

We unpack the real factors behind that decision: macro timing, industry waves, personal runway, team alignment, and share how we made the call that led to MarsBased.

You’ll hear why the 2012–2014 window mattered in Spain’s post-crisis context, what the “mobile app boom” taught us about riding vs ignoring a hot trend, why nights and weekends rarely scale, and the exact moment (December 2013) we took the leap. We also discuss the investor point of view on “founder commitment” and a practical way to spot opportunities from inside your current company.

In this episode, you’ll learn how macro conditions shape founder timing, what makes the difference between a viable and an advantaged moment to start, what the realities of bootstrapping look like compared to fundraising, why part-time efforts usually stall and what to do instead, and how to use your current job to validate a real problem worth solving.

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

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]

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🎬 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.

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🎬 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.

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