SaaS Life (saaslife.fm)

By Chris McAleenan, Sam SchrupBusiness Entrepreneurship Technology

SaaS Life (saaslife.fm) episodes

March 22, 2022Ep 14: Everyone Loves a Budget
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about how everyone loves budgeting, especially to not lose focus on planning priorities and making progress when it comes to new integrations, hires, and products.
Highlights from this Episode:
Sam’s Strategy: Deeper integration with existing eCommerce platforms.
MarketerHire: Sam hired a contractor comfortable with a small marketing budget.
Experiments: What kind of marketing budget is needed to do things effectively?
Chris’s New Product: PipeTech Inspection Interface (PII) Slice for sewers.
Customers’ Needs: Do they strive for simplicity or all the bells and whistles?
WWETT Show: Conversation with Chris leads to wanting to write plugin for app.
Tools to Try: Summit is like Excel on steroids to build models and create results.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Hub/Project
BigCommerce
MarketerHire
Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) Show
Summit
Foresight
Finmark
Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
48 min
March 01, 2022Ep 13: A Whole Lotta Updates
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan give a lot of updates on their businesses, TextRetailer and PipeTech. It takes not being a bottleneck!
They talk about everything from conferences and integrations to tools to use to track issues and music to improve focus, meditation, and sleep.
Highlights from this Episode:
PipeTech at Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT).
TextRetailer integration with ShipStation for merchants to manage orders.
Areas of Improvement: Need to get better at systematic marketing to scale.
Content: What to say, who to say it to, why say it, what’s most important to say.
Deadlines: Would you rather have something done right or done right now?
Customer Confusion: Chris clarifies what PipeTech project vs. application does.
Names, Logos, New Hires: Necessary evils because they’re used in many ways.
Views/Collections: New features to slice and dice data, build custom reports.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
WWETT Floor Plan
ShipStation
ShipBob
ClickFunnels
Creative Melon
BigCommerce
Designjoy
Fiverr
99designs
Linear
Brain.fm
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
The Khan Dynasty

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
53 min
February 16, 2022Ep 12: Tradeshows & TinySeed
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about tasks, TinySeed, tradeshows, trends, and technology.
Sometimes, everything goes as planned. Other times, things fall apart. There may or may not be a lot of progress, and you may need to pivot to find funding as bootstrapped founders. Big things are coming down the pipe to build brand awareness!
Highlights from this Episode:
TextRetailer Update: Final week of first block of mini-goals for the year.
Tasks: How Sam stays focused to complete everything within his control.
Tracking Issues: Chris has been using Linear and loves it.
TinySeed: Why Sam applied for accelerator program for bootstrapped founders.
TinySeed Playbook: How to properly price app and better optimize business.
Funding/Financing: Freedom to build business without paying money back.
Raising Money: Is it the right direction, time to deploy funds for the company?
PipeTech Project: Chris continues customer onboarding to jump on application.
Tradeshow Goals: Talk strategy, see familiar faces, learn new technology/trends.
Marketing News: Chris was able to acquire the domain name, pipetech.com.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
TinySeed
Startups for the Rest of Us Podcast
Rob Walling
SimpleRink
MicroConf
GitHub Issues
Linear
Underground Construction Technology (UCT) Conference
Pumper Cleaner Expo
Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
37 min
January 26, 2022Ep. 11: Hello, 2022!
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about how growing a family changes impacts growing a business. As founders of startups, paternity leave isn’t always possible when you are your own boss and a one-man-show.
Looking ahead, 2022 will be a year of change due to collaboration and shift to survival mode. It’s the year to get stuff done, expand, and accelerate progress.
Highlights from this Episode:
Delivery Deadline: Sam doesn’t plan on building anything new for TextRetailer.
Delivery Date: Once baby arrives in May, Sam will answer emails in wee hours.
2021 Recap:
Sam and Upwork contractor work on major infrastructure update.
Chris started working with a UX designer to create utility service app.
Hiring Process: How to use Upwork to get and vett contractors/experts.
Best Practices: Takes opinions/experience to know what works and what doesn’t.
2022 Plans:
TextRetailer: Strategize and be cognizant of the company’s priorities.
PipeTech: Get through backlog of customers that need to be onboarded.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
Upwork
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Figma
Windows Tray App
Electron
The Art of Product Podcast, Episode 191 – Shaping Up with Adam Wathan
Shape Up by Ryan Singer
Shopify App Store
Gjetost Norwegian Cheese

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
48 min
December 27, 2021Ep 10: Looking Back on 2021
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan take some time to reflect on 2021.
Highlights from this Episode:
New TextRetailer Merchant: Sam shares news about onboarding My Beauty Text.
Inbound Issues: Chris gets to focus on other priorities while things get done.
Sales: Chris got two existing customers onboard with new PipeTech software.
Marketing Strategies: Build upon long-standing relationships versus fresh leads.
Tough Decision: Chris delayed an enterprise beta customer’s official launch.
Balancing Act: Catering to customers versus what’s best for the business.
Year in Review and Beyond:
TextRetailer: Sam built MVP in two phases and shares metrics/stats.
PipeTech Project: Chris focused on what needed to be done.
Guiding Lights and Inflection Points:
Sam focuses on ideal customers and features they want included.
Chris decided to take on the risk to grow and take PipeTech to next level.
Systematic Planning: Should resources focus on one priority? How to choose?
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
My Beauty Text
Retool
Flow State Coffee by NooWave
YouTube Repair Videos

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
47 min
December 15, 2021Ep 9: Chris Screwed Up
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup celebrates an informal milestone and troubleshoots a unique issue with Canadian phone carriers. Chris McAleenan made a mistake and set the team temporarily off-track.
Highlights from this Episode:
Cyber Monday: TextRetailer’s first and best day for volume, number of orders.
Challenge: Issue sending messages to Canadian phone carriers too quickly.
Informal Milestone: Email inbox flooded with TextRetailer orders put in Slack.
Milestone Mistake: Deviation, acceleration, customization for PipeTech Mobile.
Disruption: Data not quite ready; delays customers waiting to pay for product.
Strategy Shift: Only paying customers, no data migration/free trials due to value.
Ultimate Goal: Faster customers are onboarded, faster the revenue comes in.
Price Expectations: Costs driven by data storage, transcoding fees, bandwidth.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
Oura Ring

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
46 min
November 24, 2021Ep 8: Chris' Turn for a Major Update
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Chris McAleenan shares specific updates and highlights progress made on the PipeTech Project. In the past week, he did not get in 40 hours of work, but did manage to find windows of time while being a family man.
Sam Schrup understands the need to triage and focus on what’s most important. He’s well-rested and relaxed because TextRetailer released quick carts and merchants are starting to use them.
Highlights from this Episode:
Milestone: Core of PipeTech Project is “done.” Paying customers onboard soon.
Product Positioning: PipeTech has a reputation and expectations to uphold
Scope Creep: Features and expectations are deeper than traditional MVP/MSP.
PipeTech Promise: Help customers supercharge and utilize their data.
Extract, Load, Transform (ETL): Get data in and out of system to make decisions.
Essentials Set: Greenfield data, gain customer feedback on features to set core.
Asset vs. Inspection Data: Internal knowledge to normalize mapping, structure.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
MongoDB
Steve Blank’s Startup Tools
TaxJar
AWS Services
Johnny Mnemonic 1995 Official Trailer
MicroAcquire
MicroMRR by MicroAcquire
12v Air Compressor

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
42 min
November 16, 2021Ep 7: A Major Update for TextRetailer
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup shares a major update for TextRetailer. He announced the launch of quick carts and other features within TextRetailer. Although he is exhausted, Sam is relieved and excited for what this means for the future of TextRetailer.
Chris McAleenan is in a similar boat - heads down, building, building, building, and not taking too much time off from work to get stuff done. He will share specific updates and highlights on the next episode of saaslife.fm.
Highlights from this Episode:
Lessons Learned and Launched: Separation of products from campaigns.
Quick Carts Concept: Basically a Web-based checkout platform.
Schema Updates/Migration Steps: Involved different versions and storing orders.
Showstoppers: Version 1 of Shopify campaigns caused major issues post launch.
Conversations: Quick carts preview motivated potential and current customers.
Convenience Factor: Make it simple for customers to buy - basis of TextRetailer.
TextRetailer Road Map: Revamp marketing site and quick carts experience.
Rebrand and Rename? Text-forward product will continue to be main emphasis.
Time to Outsource: Creative Mellen to take over WordPress marketing site.
Dev Ops/Stack: Move TextRetailer into own environment, be more professional.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
Creative Mellen
LogRocket
SavvyCal
Fast
AWS Workspaces
MongoDB
DigitalOcean

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
38 min
October 22, 2021Ep 6: One Year Anniversary of TextRetailer (kinda)
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan celebrate a couple milestones - Chris’s 40th birthday and the one-year anniversary of TextRetailer.
It’s been a full year since Sam registered the TextRetailer.com domain name, he started coding last November, and the first paying customer came in May. Chris encourages Sam to do a year in review to indicate commits and other milestones.
Highlights from this Episode:
Where did Sam hope to be by now with TextRetailer? Further than Textiful.
Textiful vs. TextRetailer: Different projects, products, potential for growth/revenue.
Sam’s Scope Creep: Build bigger product with better understanding of problem.
Growing Pains: Hire, onboard, and transfer knowledge to focus on founder tasks.
Founder Feelgoods: What doesn’t feel good - less money in Chris’ bank account.
Chris’ Customer Expectations: All need core product but different needs/features.
Links and Resources:
saaslife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project

Governor Mike Parson on Twitter
Missouri governor accuses journalist who warned state about cybersecurity flaw of criminal ‘hacking’
I hacked and rickrolled my entire high school district

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
39 min
October 05, 2021Ep 5: Can Tech Debt Be Good?
On this episode of saaslife.fm, Sam Schrup and Chris McAleenan talk about tech debt. It can be good, especially when you have the time and resources to build a product the right way for new and existing customers to drive revenue.
Sam shares lessons learned from working with various types of merchants and different ways to provide offers to sell products to customers. Chris reiterates that to have a viable product, it needs to be sellable. People need to pay money for it.
Highlights from this Episode:
Epic Refactor: Expansion of where TextRetailer needs to go to grow.
Challenge: Reinvent Shopify or put a version of TextRetailer on Shopify?
Minimum Viable vs. Sellable Product: People need to pay you money for it.
Proof of Concept: Actual customers need to use a product to validate it.
Paying Customers: What do they expect and what can you learn from them?
PipeTech’s Massive Data Migration: Needs to be dynamic to get right information.
Main Goals: Need for flexibility and customization for merchants and customers.
Good vs. Bad Debt: Necessary to take on deliberate tech debt to move quickly.
Links and Resources:
SaaSLife.fm
Sam Schrup on Twitter
Chris McAleenan on Twitter
TextRetailer
Textiful
PipeTech Project
CleanShot App

Intro music by Monkey Warhol licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
41 min

About SaaS Life (saaslife.fm)

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SaaS Life Podcast: Follow the journey of two bootstrapped solo founders as they build their SaaS companies. Chris McAleenan & Sam Schrup will pull back the curtain and reveal their weekly ups…

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SaaS Life (saaslife.fm) episodes

About SaaS Life (saaslife.fm)