plugin.fm

This is the first episode of the season and the one where we explain why Goran is joining as the new co-host. We dig into why marketing is the bridge between a great product and a great business, how marketing is evolving, and why you should be really specific about whom you target and when. 

The episode also explores key themes like understanding your audience, avoiding common marketing mistakes, and the growing importance of being authentic and ultra-specific with your marketing. Goran also provides actionable advice on crafting simple but effective marketing strategies, the role of storytelling in connecting with customers, etc.

-------

Thanks to Goran for joining us and providing such valuable advice about authentic and effective B2B SaaS marketing. Join us next week with Lindsay Tjepkema, 3x founder, brand strategist, startup advisor, and one of the leading voices in B2B marketing. 

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Vova Feldman is a self-confessed serial entrepreneur and full-stack developer with a passion for helping software product makers earn a living from their passion projects.

In 2011, while doing enterprise sales, Vova learned the importance of tailoring a price to a buyer and why psychology can powerfully impact the sales process. Years later, Vova experimented with prices and packaging for a micro-SaaS he developed. At Freemius, he’s been actively involved in creating and experimenting with the company’s pricing page to optimize results.

The final episode of plugin.fm season 2 distills a decade of pricing mastery into an insightful hour-long conversation.

---

Thanks to Vova for joining us and providing such valuable advice about software pricing pages and the psychology behind them. 

Season 2 is a wrap and we’d like to thank all of our guests for the valuable insights and experiences they provided! Look out for news on season 3 shortly 😉

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Jason Cohen is the founder of the renowned WordPress hosting company WP Engine. His background in building and scaling successful businesses means he’s not only a serial entrepreneur but also an investor and startup mentor. His journey as a founder includes various undertakings — including co-founding Smart Bear Software — which makes him an expert in growing businesses and organizations.

This episode is a deep dive into the art of scaling. It explores various topics: the mindset required as a founder, challenges, exhilarating moments, and the struggles along the way. Jason shares invaluable insights and lessons learned through his entrepreneurial journey, shedding light on what it takes to navigate the complexities of scaling a business.

Prepare for a conversation that is enlightening, inspiring, and packed with actionable advice for anyone looking to skyrocket their business.

-----

Thanks to Jason for joining us and providing such valuable advice about the art of scaling a business.  Join us next week with Freemius founder and CEO Vova Feldman to learn about mastering the art of mastering software pricing pages.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Joost de Valk shaped the landscape of WordPress SEO with his company Yoast. What started as a small bootstrapped product grew into a 40-person enterprise with over 12 million websites using the flagship product Yoast SEO. Incredibly, this was just the beginning of Joost’s journey. In 2021, Joost and his wife Marieke van de Rakt exited Yoast, which set him on a new, exciting path into the world of investing with Emilia Capital.

In this episode, Joost shares his unique experience and perspective of the software creator ecosystem as seen from both sides of the fence. We explore his investment criteria, outcome expectations, and the intricate dance between profit and growth.

----

Thanks to Joost for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Jason Cohen, a serial entrepreneur and the founder of the renowned WP Engine, as we explore how to build and scale successful businesses.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Amir Helzer is the founder of OnTheGoSystems, the company behind WPML, a leading multilingual plugin used by over a million websites. Originally, WPML was a freemium plugin, but due to unfortunate — even somewhat controversial — circumstances, Amir and his team decided to make the product paid only. This business model shift would end up transforming his company for the better.

In this episode, we dive into the challenges and dynamics of taking a product from freemium to premium successfully, from community buy-in and market positioning to pricing models and retaining users. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a budding entrepreneur, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the ever-changing landscape of software monetization.

----

Thanks to Amir for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Yoast founder Joost de Valk for his insights about the power of raising funds in bootstrapping ecosystems.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Justin Ferriman is the founder and former CEO of LearnDash, a platform that he grew from a simple blog to one of the leading solutions in the LMS space through a mixture of aggressive marketing and clever ‘guerilla’ tactics that helped him take on bigger competitors. He’s a non-technical founder who approaches business with a competitive streak that’s seen him go from underdog to top dog in the eLearning industry.

At the height of LearnDash’s success, Justin sold the company at 32% YoY growth with a whopping 76% profit margin. He’s since settled into the role of elite business coach at his company BrightGrowth, where he nurtures and guides the star entrepreneurs of the future.

Thanks to a combination of savvy business instincts, constant content creation, and confident competitiveness, Justin has realized great success. In this episode, we examine the specific strategies and tactics he used to take on bigger competitors with more resources to emerge as the victor.

----

Thanks to Justin for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Amir Helzer, the founder of OnTheGoSystems. His company is responsible for WPML, the leading multilingual plugin used by more than a million websites.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Arvid Kahl co-founded FeedBack Panda, which he bootstrapped and later sold for a life-changing amount to SureSwift Capital. He is also a published author and writes extensively about entrepreneurship and bootstrapping.

But he’s much more than a software creator and value-driven entrepreneur: Arvid is passionate about sharing the journey. His openness, honesty, and transparency during product development and beyond have rightfully positioned him as a passionate advocate of the ‘build in public’ movement.

In this episode of plugin.fm, Arvid shares his insights about how software product founders can tread the fine line between transparency and business strategy. More than this, we explore the profound impact that building in public can have on software product makers' lives and careers.

----

Thanks to Arvid for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with non-technical founder Justin Ferriman as he discusses how underdog entrepreneurs can overpower bigger software companies.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Chris Badgett is the co-founder and CEO of LifterLMS, a popular LMS  (learning management system) plugin for creating, launching, and scaling courses. So far, LifterLMS has helped achieve 8 million+ enrollments and 12 million+ completed courses and lessons. It stands to reason that Chris is rightfully regarded as one of the leading voices in open-source eLearning and educational technology. 

Chris is a passionate advocate for democratizing online education, and as a non-technical founder, he offers a unique business perspective on eLearning. He frequently shares this knowledge and expertise on LMScast, his podcast for innovators in the eLearning community. 

Before developing LifterLMS, Chris’s company built custom course and membership platforms for clients. Even to this day, some of those platforms gross over 1 million dollars per year, year on year.

In this episode, we pick his brain and explore the transformative potential of educational marketing through course creation, focusing specifically on the possibilities for software product makers.

----

Thanks to Chris for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with co-founder, bootstrapper, writer, and podcaster Arvid Kahl to learn about the positive impact that building in public can have on software product makers’ lives and careers.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Kim Coleman and Jason Coleman are two entrepreneurs who have shared the journey of building a software company. However, their mission has been much more than a professional partnership. They’re a married couple with two kids who’ve built a successful company and several software products together: it’s safe to say they bring a unique perspective to the world of bootstrapping. 

In 2006, they launched Stranger Studios, a web design and software development studio. In 2011 they launched their now flagship product Paid Memberships Pro. The big success followed in 2015 when they started building the team.       

For most folks,  logging off or commuting home at the end of the day is enough to separate your work life and your personal life. But for Kim and Jason, the lines are not as clear cut. In this episode, they discuss navigating personal and professional challenges, that range from compromising (or not) on hard decisions to facilitating a healthy work environment that encourages team morale, all while maintaining a harmonious marriage.

---

Thanks to Kim and Jason for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with co-founder, bootstrapper, writer, and podcaster Arvid Kahl to learn about the positive impact that building in public can have on software product makers' lives and careers.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Matt Mullenweg is best known as the visionary co-founder of WordPress and Automattic. He’s rightfully secured his place as one of the most prominent figures in the tech world and — more specifically — a pioneer of remote working,

Despite having no physical headquarters, Automattic currently has around 2000 employees working from 90+ countries and was recently valued at US$7.5 billion, making it one of the largest globally distributed companies in the world. WordPress is the biggest CMS in the world (and a movement of sorts), powering over 43% of the internet. Matt’s influence on tech has been far-reaching and revolutionary, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that his initiatives have changed the game.

While Automattic is Matt’s main focus, he also advises and invests in startups through his company Audrey Capital, and hosts Distributed, a podcast about the future of work and the foremost companies and leaders driving it. 

In the first episode of plugin.fm season 2, we pick Matt’s brain about the challenges of building a remote-first company and the wins that arise from succeeding. Matt shares his insights and advice on navigating the pitfalls of a flexible workplace and building a successful remote-first company — ranging from accountability and compensation to hiring and productivity.

----

Thanks to Matt for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Stranger Studios owners Kim and Justin Coleman as they discuss the challenges of bootstrapping a software company with your spouse.  

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.