Product People

Product People episodes:

• 08.07.2019

  EP101 – Scott Young: teach yourself how to program, finally!

  How to master a new skill (even if you think you're too old to try)

  
• 01.24.2019

  EP100 – James Clear: improving your life in 2019 with Atomic Habits

  "Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become."

  
• 01.02.2019

  EP99 – Ben Orenstein's new startup is focused on pair programming

  Ben is the co-founder of Tuple.app and is running a new course called Habits for Hackers.

  
• 12.17.2018

  EP98 – The hard truth about bootstrapping startups (Part 2 with Jason Cohen)

  Jason Cohen asks Justin Jackson hard questions about his startup, and what it's going to take to go full-time.

  
• 12.14.2018

  EP97 – Can you bootstrap a company on the side? (Part 1 with Jason Cohen)

  Justin Jackson interviews Jason Cohen from WPengine about bootstrapping, and what it really takes to grow a company.

  
• 11.23.2018

  EP96 – My secret phone call with Hamish

  After a live event, Hamish and I talked offline about the realities of being a maker in tech.

  
• 11.05.2018

  EP95 – "Programming's gateway drug" with Samantha Geitz

  Should you double down on your strengths, or learn something new?

  
• 06.11.2018

  EP94 – Does the old SaaS playbook still work in 2018?

  Ben Orenstein, Derrick Reimer, and Justin Jackson are all building a new product. What still works?

  
• 06.01.2018

  EP93 – SaaS pricing with Patrick Campbell

  You need to price your software on two pillars: who you're selling to, and your value metric.

  
• 03.15.2018

  EP92 – 2018 MicroConf guide with Mike Taber

  Are you coming to MicroConf in Las Vegas this year?

  
• 01.06.2018

  EP91 – Josh Nielsen from Zencastr: software for podcasters

  Josh started out trying to build a "GitHub for music." When that idea didn't pan out, he still wanted to do something with Web Audio and WebRTC. So he started building Zencastr, which gives podcasters the ability to record "double-ender"...

  
• 11.18.2017

  EP90 – "Give yourself time." Building a profitable business on the Shopify apps platform

  6 years ago, Bjorn Forsberg built an app called OrderlyPrint for Shopify. His goal was to increase his freedom, and to spend more time with his family. Was able to achieve it? (This is the 5th case study in the...

  
• 10.28.2017

  EP89 – "We never wanted to fire anyone," Natalie Nagele on Wildbit's journey

  Back in the early 2000s, Wildbit was an agency building Flash websites for Philly nightclubs. Then, in 2007, they launched their first product, Beanstalk. Two years later, they quit doing consulting. Natalie Nagele takes us through their story!

  
• 10.21.2017

  EP88 – Pippin Williamson from beer money to over $1 million in revenue with WordPress plugins

  Pippin Williamson started out like a lot of us do: building websites for whoever would pay him. He decided to try selling one of his WordPress plugins. Now, Pippin's Plugins earns over $1 million in revenue a year. This Mega...

  
• 10.04.2017

  EP87 – How Nick Disabato built a profitable productized service

  It's time for another Mega Profitable interview! This series aims to help founders, like you, get profitable. Learn how Nick went from having $21 in the bank (in his first year) to creating a solid, profitable solo-founder business.

  
• 09.20.2017

  EP86 – Mega profitable with Brennan Dunn

  Introducing a new series: Mega Profitable. What's the difference between a founder who is mega profitable, and a product person who's just making a living? Brennan Dunn joins me to talk about his journey.

  
• 08.11.2017

  EP85 – Facing your launch fears with Mike Taber of Bluetick.io

  You'll recognize Mike from Startups for the Rest of Us and the MicroConf conference. He's launching a new product called Bluetick. We talked about the pressure we put on ourselves to succeed, setting the ego aside, and growing a SaaS.

  
• 05.16.2017

  EP84 – Contrarian bootstrapper Ian Landsman

  "Charge more!" "Use content marketing!" "Start with an ebook!" There's a lot of folklore in the startup and bootstrapping community. Do they all stand up to scrutiny? This is my interview with long-time SaaS entrepreneur, Ian Landsman.

  
• 04.08.2017

  EP83: Laura Elizabeth – unmistakable product validation

  How do you find product ideas that resonate? Hear how Laura knew there was demand for her project, Client Portal. (This is my special MicroConf 2017 episode!)

  
• 12.23.2016

  EP82: Adam Wathan is back with a new launch story

  When we last chatted with Adam he'd just written his first book, which did really well. His next project is a course called Test Driven Laravel. You won't believe his launch results! Happy holidays everyone!

  
• 11.01.2016

  EP81: Behind Adam Wathan's $100k book launch

  Adam Wathan has always been passionate about learning new things, and sharing what he's learned with the world. Then he discovered that he could earn an independent living doing it.

  
• 08.12.2016

  EP80: Are we at peak SaaS?

  Should you start a SaaS company in 2016? Does it still make sense to run a SaaS as a solopreneur? (Originally posted on the MegaMaker podcast)

  
• 06.21.2016

  EP79: Josh Pigford - "We're all winging it"

  Josh is the founder of Baremetrics. He talks about the pros and cons of running a transparent startup, dealing with scrutiny, and his life as an entrepreneur.

  
• 04.06.2016

  EP78: Nathan Barry - cash flow therapy (Part 2)

  This is part 2 of my conversation with Nathan Barry. In the past four months, he's taken his burgeoning SaaS company (ConvertKit) from $1 million in annual recurring revenue to $2 million. That sounds exciting, but it wasn't easy getting there....

  
• 04.01.2016

  EP77 - Nathan Barry – Three years in the desert (Part 1)

  The last time I talked to Nathan, his web app (ConvertKit) had just hit $5,000 in MRR. In this two part series, Nathan describes how they grew that to $182,000 in monthly recurring revenue.

  
• 02.09.2016

  EP76: Tom & Dan get physical with Studio Neat

  Tom and Dan had one of the most successful Kickstarters of 2010 when they released the Glif. But was that enough to launch full-time careers as product makers?

  
• 09.24.2015

  EP75: Jason Zook on why he’s selling his future

  Jason Zook has a different perspective on life and business. He's not afraid to try weird and crazy business ideas. In 2008 he started a business called I Wear Your Shirt. Over 5 years he earned over $1 million in...

  
• 09.21.2015

  EP74: Tracy Osborn – launching a Kickstarter, a book, a SaaS!

  If you want to launch your own Kickstarter, write your own book, or build your own web application you're going to love this episode. Tracy Osborn is a serious bad-ass who's done all three!

  
• 06.26.2015

  EP73: Justin Jackson – “How I got into products”

  Chris Hawkins (from Chasing Product) takes over interviewing and asks Justin the questions.

  
• 05.04.2015

  EP72: Nathan Barry – “The hardest thing I’ve ever done is SaaS”

  After having great success with books and courses, Nathan Barry has shifted his attention to his SaaS: a web application called ConvertKit.

  
• 12.12.2014

  EP71: Des Traynor on the forgotten job of every SaaS product

  Des Traynor is one of my favorite writers and speakers on the topic of SaaS businesses, and jobs-to-be-done.

  
• 11.07.2014

  EP70: Samuel Hulick talks about building Useronboard

  Samuel has become the internet's authority on user onboarding. In this personal and open interview, Samuel talks about how he was able to discover his niche, build an audience, and launch his first product. He also talks about what to...

  
• 10.31.2014

  EP69: Nir Eyal on how to build habit forming products

  In June of 2013, I was introduced to Nir Eyal through Ryan Hoover. Nir had been blogging a lot about psychology and analyzing what makes a highly engaging product.

  
• 10.23.2014

  EP68: Brian Casel on productized services

  Brian Casel is a bootstrapper with a lot of projects: he has a podcast, a hosting platform called Restaurant Engine, and a new course called Productize.

  
• 10.02.2014

  EP67: Mike Rohde is building a sketchnote army

  Mike Rohde is a designer and an author, but he's probably best known for illustrating the 37signals books. Mike is now building his own products: The Sketchnote Handbook, and the Sketchnote Workbook.

  
• 09.04.2014

  EP66: Marc-André Cournoyer on making the leap

  Marc-André Cournoyer is a passionate coder and product person from Montreal, Quebec. If you're a developer, engineer, or technical person looking to make the jump to building products, you're going to love this one.

  
• 08.28.2014

  EP65: Andreea and building Startup Kit

  Andreea Mihalcea is a dynamic young founder from Romania. Her and her team are building a new product called Startup Kit. I loved her insights into how and why people buy software products.

  
• 08.21.2014

  EP64: Jarrod Drysdale on bootstrapping design

  First, you need to know that Jarrod Drysdale is a good dude. He's also the author of Bootstrapping Design, and the creator of Cascade.io. He's smart, and humble, and talented and he has tons of great things to say about...

  
• 08.15.2014

  EP63: Sacha Greif – how things get popular

  Sacha Greif joined me again for a chat on how he marketed Discover Meteor, and why certain blog posts get popular.

  
• 08.07.2014

  EP62: Paul Jarvis is always hungry

  I freakin' love Paul Jarvis. He's creative, he's unique, and he's Canadian.

  
• 07.24.2014

  EP61: Nate Kontny says “Solve your own problems!”

  Today’s interview is with one of my favourite people on the internet: Nate Kontny. He’s the solo-founder of Draft, a web application that helps you improve your writing through collaboration.

  
• 07.17.2014

  EP60: Hear how Ryan Hoover built Product Hunt in 4 days

  This week’s guest is Ryan Hoover. We've been online friends for a few years now. Back in 2013, Ryan invited me to join a new site he'd created called ProductHunt.

  
• 07.10.2014

  EP59: Dan Norris and the 7 day startup

  Dan Norris is the co-founder of WP Curve, and the author of The 7 Day Startup. He gave himself 1 year to build a profitable product.

  
• 07.03.2014

  EP58: Garrett Dimon – SaaS isn’t all rainbows and unicorns

  Garrett Dimon is the founder of Sifter and author of Starting + Sustaining. We talked about finding an idea, validating an idea, and building your product.

  
• 06.27.2014

  EP57: Brennan Dunn talks about the marketing machine

  Brennan Dunn is the go-to guy to talk about marketing automation. He's build a SaaS, called Planscope, but these days he recommends first-time entrepreneurs build something smaller (like an eBook, or a webinar).

  
• 06.19.2014

  EP56: Sean Fioritto on succeeding after failing

  I like Sean a lot. He’s from Chicago, and he struggled for years trying to build products. Then he wrote this book, and it took off. You'll hear his story, and how he succeeded after lots of failures.

  
• 04.11.2014

  EP55: Patio11 on promoting your product

  This week you'll hear from Patrick Mackenzie (Patio11 on the internet), an influential member of the self-funded, bootstrapping community, as well as a high profile member of Hacker News. Patrick is a great guest: he's a great storyteller, and is...

  
• 03.17.2014

  EP54: DHH on why 37signals is becoming Basecamp

  David Heinemeier Hansson started working with Jason Fried at 37signals about 14-15 years ago. 10 years ago, they created Basecamp, their first SaaS product. This past week they decided to stop using the 37signals brand, and sell off (or stop...

  
• 02.22.2014

  EP53: Alex Hillman is the king of JFDI

  Alex Hillman is many things: first, he’s the king of JFDI (he even has the tattoo to prove it). Second: he’s the founder of IndyHall, a co-working space in Philadelphia. Third: he’s Amy Hoy’s partner in 30×500. And fourth: he’s...

  
• 02.08.2014

  EP52: Amy Hoy – “Why it’s not about you”

  Amy Hoy is known for her unfiltered, straight-shooting opinions on building product businesses. Her and her husband  Thomas Fuchs have built  Freckle, an awesome time-tracking web app - and have become well known in the bootstrapping, design, and Ruby on Rails...