Peldi Guilizzoni is the Founder and CEO of Balsamiq, a fully bootstrapped ISV focused on prototyping UI/UX.

After studying Computer Science in Italy he moved to San Francisco, where he worked for a couple of years. Through his experience at adobe systems as an Engineering lead, he discovered an opportunity to develop a tool that could make everyone more productive and help them do a better job, something he describes as a “no going back technology”.

After a series of events that lead to quitting his job at Adobe and focusing on his project, he decided to go back to Italy and found his successful company.

In this episode we cover:

-Early Web Apps and conceiving Balsamiq from the beginning

-Staying bootstrapped & the love of the craft (money as a consequence)

-How to compete as a bootstrapped company vs. VC funded competitors

-Longevity rather than growth

-Building a business in non-VC friendly market

-Specialist product for non-specialized customers

-Usability & customer service as a growth strategy

-How a transparent startup gains customer trust

-Why you can copy technical, but you can’t copy people (the golden puzzle concept for customer output)

-Why is it important for a SaaS company to teach you what to make for dinner (unique customer interactions)

-Who can start wireframing and how can someone like me can get good at it

-Plus policies & investing in people for remarkable results

-The importance of developing company values for a better work culture (to compete with Google, Apple)

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Get in touch with Peldi:

Peldi's LinkedIn

Peldi's Twitter

Links and mentions:

Balsamiq (Use Balsamiq cloud free for 3 months! Enter the code: SAASDISTRICT)

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