This is the archive of Bootstrapped.fm. A seminal Bootstrapper-oriented podcast started in 2013 by Ian Landsman and Andrey Butov. The first iteration ran for 104 episodes. In 2019, Steve McLeod took over for another 139 episodes. We've set this podcast to release order so you can experience it as it was initially presented.
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March 19, 2013Episode 143 min
#1: Bootstrapped and Profitable
In this episode, Ian and Andrey talk about running a web-app company vs. running a mobile-app company, having one large product vs. many smaller products, starting out by making products ‘because you can’, instead of products that have a market, SaaS and recurring revenue, Enron email and spam filters, how the iPhone almost brought down Andrey’s company, planning vs. falling into it, being late to the SaaS party, installable software and support, B2B vs. B2C, and things that seemed exciting in the first year of running a software company, but are a chore to do 9 years later.Two software companies, Userscape, founded in 2004, and Antair, founded in 2005.Both companies, bootstrapped and profitable.Join Ian and Andrey, the founders, as they share their experiences in running their companies.
March 25, 2013Episode 257 min
#2: Lollipop Sticks
In this episode, Ian and Andrey talk about software version numbers, SaaS apps, hiring, modern web application development, server hosting, what to do with old servers, monitors and hard drives, doing what it takes to fund your business, Andrey’s psychological state, physical world products vs software.Links:Eric Barnes – Laracon 2013 talkLaravel – The awesome PHP frameworkCodeIgniterBackBone – JS front end frameworkCoffeescript – A little language that compiles to JavaScriptLESS – The only way to write CSSEngineHosting – Sweet VPS based hosting solutionLinode – Linux VPS providerHard drive station – Find a use for those old hard drivesAre You Serious About Starting a Business – Ian’s blog post on selling his car to fund UserScapeCreating a Business Logo – Ian’s blog post on creating the UserScape and HelpSpot logo’sImpostor Syndrome – A psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishmentsAntair Spam Filter – Andrey’s spam filter productInterview with Jason Cohen – talks about tons of useful things including cancellations we reference in the podcastQLab – Live show controls for OSXFogBugz – Bug trackingThe Business of Software Forums – Joel Spolsky forum site where a lot of us got our startLollipop Sticks – Andrey on physical productsSwamp LoggersSnappy – Ian’s latest product.Uberdeck – the product Andrey is currently working on.
March 31, 2013Episode 31 hr 28 min
#3: Pivoting all over the place
In this episode, Ian and Andrey talk about not being able to remember anything that happened before today, Ian’s rules for the practical entrepreneur, having so many products that you can’t list them all, entering a fragmented market, preferring B2B, The Pivot, Andrey not having any kind of strategy for choosing which products to make, damned phones, when selling to a business is not really selling to a business, clear and simple revenue model, bridging the internet world with the real world, not using your own products, doing support, how recent the 90’s were, dealing with criticism, competitors who are clearly doing it wrong, Steve Jobs being brilliant at what he does, customers not caring about which technology you use, being the perfect developer for your own company, bootstrapping a company when you have kids, the sense of being continuously rushed, BioIsChanged.com, DAS Keyboard, and customer-hosted vs. SaaS.Links:Ian’s 4 Rules for the Practical Entrepreneur$10,000 – Ian’s sale numbers from the early days of selling Helpspot.A partial list of Andrey’s products – including the early ones like Printer Friendly, Chinchilla, and Asteroid Jane.Uberdeck – Andrey’s upcoming product.Pixelmator, and Acorn – Photoshop competitors on the Mac.Pivoting, as a company strategy.Authorize.NET, Stripe, and Square – payment processing.Hubspot – marketingSeamless Web – online food ordering.Patrick McKenzie’s Appointment ReminderLet’s Take This Offline – Joel Spolsky quits blogging.Dave Winer – interviews here and here.Steve Jobs Insult ResponseIan choosing a development stack for Helpspot.John CarmackEric Barnes, and his talk.Ethan – Andrey’s son.Tyler – Ian’s first child.37signals on interruptionsJim Gaffigan (comedian)BioIsChanged.comDAS KeyboardOpenSourceHelpdeskList.comAmy Hoy’s TwiStoryFogcreek’s FogBugzSnappy – Ian’s latest product.GitHub’s enterprise version
April 10, 2013Episode 41 hr 21 min
#4: The customer is seldom right
In this episode, Ian and Andrey cover a host of issues, including an apology of sorts to Patrick McKenzie, a discussion on if in fact the customer is always right, how you support .99 cent apps, non-mistakes from Ian’s past, VC funding and an extremely important tax tip!Links:Appointment Reminder – by Patrick McKenziePatrick McKenzie InterviewPodcast with Patrick & Amy HoyFreckleShutting down Charm – Interesting look at shutting down a SaaS app before it launchesHistory of “the customer is always right”What Now Podcast – Andrey’s other podcastRetro DreamerAutomattic Hosting – WordPress hostingSpiderweb Games – RPG games (not $.99!)Ian’s ChatSpot Live non-mistake – Glad I didn’t build it, but still like the logo by Mike RohdeCreating a Business Logo – history of UserScape & HelpSpot logo’sMixergy Paul Singh InterviewSpryfoxRob WallingStackoverflow initial VC fundingStartup.com MovieStardockFigure53Atlassian financingSection 199 Domestic Production Tax Credit – this is awesome, talk to your accountant today!Handling B2B TransactionsDNL – Ian’s Brother & cousins web consultancyJason Cohen on consultancy mathBusiness of Software conference – Go, it’s awesome
April 17, 2013Episode 51 hr 38 min
#5: Let’s all go to the movies!
In this episode, Ian and Andrey talk about a gauntlet of client work, consulting, competitors, talking about your product early, stock options and bonuses, a little bit on wall street programming, hiring, contributing to open source, life after programming, and movies!Links:Bitsplitting Podcast – episode 2, with Erika Hall of Mule Design Studio.Shipping an Empty Box – Andrey’s blog post about supporting large companies.Helpspot – Ian’s product.Snappy – Ian’s newest product.Uberdeck – Andrey’s upcoming product.Snappy on DribbleBill Cosby, “Himself” – full stand-up specialCode Rush – full documentaryJamie ZawinskiViola web browserEric Sink – wrote the browser that eventually became Internet ExplorerDNA Lounge – nightclub owned by Jamie ZawinskiDNA Pizza – pizza joint owned by Jamie ZawinskiThe Living Room in NYCComedians In Cars Getting Coffee – Seinfeld’s online showStartup.com – full movie12 Weeks with Geeks – full moviePirates of Silicon Valley – full movieTriumph of the Nerds, Part I, Part II, Part III – full documentary in 3 parts.Good EatsBill Nye the Science GuyJohn Carmack’s QuakeCon 2012 Keynote – full videoSwamp LoggersWall StreetScarfaceThe GodfatherThe MatrixMad MenBreaking BadGrand Theft AutoScarface video gameEuro Truck SimulatorGame Dev Story, an iPhone game where you run a game software companyWhitesBlack BooksDeviantArtPasteVault – Ian’s open source project.LaravelKudos – Ian’s open source blog engineTurnJS – Javascript libraryPackery – Javascript libraryTipped – Javascript componentHighcharts – Javascript libraryid source codeDave Winer
April 23, 2013Episode 61 hr 32 min
#6: Authorize This
In this episode, Ian and Andrey discuss screen real estate, hiring a part time developer, Apple II parts, a segment which went way too long on Authorize.net, funding open source projects and code naming.See Andrey’s setupDivvy – Mac windows managerAntair part time developer position – 20-30 hours a monthHacker News – Hacker New Popular Twitter streamVienna RSS – Andrey’s choice for a Mac desktop RSS readerDave Winer discusses the concept of a River of News – (audio)Temperature in David Letterman’s studio is 58 degrees ( ref)Apple II store – This is awesomeWall-EDescription of Andrey’s first app – sadly no actual zip provided Authorize.net – (please use Stripe or other modern solutions)Merchant AccountsStripeBrian Kernighan’s “Advanced Programming Techniques”PasteVault.com – expiring text/passwordsGittipInfo on Shareware, for you kidsOpenJDK – open source JavaGo to UberDeck and sign up for the betaStar Trek: Deep Space Nine
April 30, 2013Episode 71 hr 9 min
#7: Just wasting my time!
In this episode, Ian and Andrey discuss the Apple app store release process, making video games for a living, people and companies that “get it”, fonts for web development, trademarks and names,Helvetica – Documentary about the typeface (and design, in general).Indie Game the Movie – Documentary that follows several indie game developers.What Now podcast – Gavin’s and Andrey’s podcast about making mobile apps for a living.Typography.com – the site Andrey was referring to when he mentioned “typeface.com” in the episode.Google FontsTypekitSnappyFocus Lab – The design team behind Snappy.Bloomberg by BloombergPasteVaultWordPress open source terms of service and privacy policy.Tom Pitegoff – Ian’s (Userscape’s) corporate lawyer.Patrick McKenzieLean StartupUberdeckAntair SnippetsTechZing podcastTim Ferriss
May 7, 2013Episode 81 hr 17 min
#8: Bizarro Week
In this episode, Ian and Andrey discuss sweet games, SaaS downtime, UserScape Bizarro Week, Brooklyn, Microconf and more.Bioshock Infinite – Andrey says this is one of the great games of all times with perhaps the best ending of all timeHeavy Rain – Another great gameRainbow Six – ClassicThe Secret of Monkey Island – I assume you’ve all heard of and played thisSupervisor – A process control systemDB Tenancy InformationEngineHosting – Private resource clusters for your big app needsReview of Google Play on NookGoogle 20% time explainedFogcreek remote work positionPark Slope, BrooklynSheepshead Bay, BrooklynSetting up an office for a software company – Details on Andrey’s office setup for AntairMicroconf – Ian will eventually make it to this conferenceSummary of Jason Cohen Microconf 2013 talkMicroconf take away summaryJason Cohen: Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: MRR/25 – Interesting article on how to determine what you should be willing to bid for your cost per click ads
May 22, 2013Episode 91 hr 20 min
#9: Uberdeck
In this episode, which Ian and Andrey discuss Uberdeck, system administration, pricing strategies, news coverage for startups, Jeff Atwood, Trello, and Snappy.Uberdeck – Andrey’s latest projectAlwin Hoogerdijk (collectorz.com) – on email marketingCampaign Monitor – email campaign serviceDNS Made Easy – DNS serviceAmazon Route 53 – DNS serviceLinode – hosting for UberdeckTrello – project managementCoding Horror – Jeff Atwood’s blogAmazon SQS – hosted message queue serviceEngineHosting – hosting for SnappySnappy – Ian’s latest productPG Experts – PostgreSQL expert servicesBugSnag – real-time bug intelligenceAsyncHttp – HTTP library for AndroidJames Smith – creator of BugSnag and AsyncHttp for Android.Discourse – Jeff Atwood’s forum softwareEric Sink – on the business of software
June 5, 2013Episode 101 hr 18 min
#10: Gymboree
We go over the launch of Snappy, the Laravel 4 release, taking care of kids and kid gym options, Bootstrap conferences, app metrics and Infoproducts!Snappy goes liveEric Sink on pricingLaravel 4 – THE PHP frameworkLaravel three docsDNL OmnimediaCogeianThe Little GymGymboreeImitation Gruel – Andrey referenced this, check it outJDateBaconBizConf – Original announcement BidsketchDribbbleFocus LabSmoothMouseBeach Haven, NJKissmetricsMixpanel – recommendedSo You Want To Be a Wall Street ProgrammerAuthority by Nathan Barry
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