Growth Stage by FastSpring

Hosted by FastSpring

Business ManagementInterviews guests

Website RSS feed LinkedIn Instagram

Episodes

Latest episode

Jul 2026

Language

About the show

A podcast featuring insightful conversations with diverse digital product industry leaders from around the world who share key lessons from every stage of their business journey. Listen to compelling stories from bootstrapped and VC-funded founders, C-suite executives, and developers across SaaS, software, video gaming, and mobile apps. Discover actionable growth strategies to elevate your own business. This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring. As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance—enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

Listen to episodes

48 recent

July 7, 2026Episode 4845 min

Getting the Most Out of Web2App with FastSpring + FunnelFox, with Andrey Shakhtin

In order to grow your app in an increasingly competitive landscape, you'll need to master a variety of strategies to stand out and maximize your chances of success. One of the key ways to maximize your chances of success is to take advantage of web2app to increase your profitability and the conversion rates of your UA ad campaigns. But how do you go about launching web2app in a way that won't upend your product roadmap while still delivering material results for your business? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Andrey Shakhtin, the CEO and Co-Founder of web2app platform FunnelFox, about his thoughts on: What the top challenges for growing a mobile app business are in today's landscape. How web2app is opening up new opportunities for app publishers. What is allowed / not allowed with direct monetization. What you can do to take advantage of this trend, including leveraging the newly accounted FastSpring + FunnelFox integration. If you're thinking of adopting web2app, or you already have and are looking for tips to bring your campaigns to the next level, don't miss this episode. Watch or listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

June 30, 2026Episode 471 hr 7 min

Cold Outreach in the Era of AI: What Actually Works With Kseniia Skobelska of Snov.io

Most SaaS founders have sent cold emails, but between AI-generated noise, spam filters, and domain reputation pitfalls, getting a reply in 2026 is harder than ever. How can digital product companies build outreach that actually reaches the inbox, earns a response, and scales without burning their domain in the process? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Kseniia Skobelska, Growth Market Strategist at Snov.io. With over 3 million users on their platform, Snov.io has a unique window into what separates outreach that works from outreach that wastes everyone's time, and Kseniia is here to share what the data actually shows on: • Why open rates are misleading and what metric you should actually be optimizing for. • What's really triggering your emails to land in spam and how to fix it. • How to build a cold outreach system from scratch that's deliverable, human, and worth replying to. If you're a founder doing ad hoc outreach or a small team trying to build a repeatable pipeline motion, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch or listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

June 17, 2026Episode 4631 min

Tips for Adopting Advanced Agentic Engineering with Chris Bunk of FastSpring

At this point, agentic development likely plays some role within your engineering team, but you may be seeing uneven adoption, effectiveness, and coverage leading to a chaotic experience for your team. How can digital product companies leverage agentic engineering to move faster without tearing their teams and technology apart? In this episode of Growth Stage we interview Chris Bunk the CPTO of FastSpring. Chris has spent the last two years diving into the deep-end of agentic engineering and will share his thoughts on what he thinks is the difference in agentic development vs. engineering, where we're at & where we're going with agentic engineering, and how you can adopt agentic engineering in a way that helps your team do their best work in a healthy way. If you're still trying to find success with your adoption and scale with agentic engineering, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch or listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

June 11, 2026Episode 4544 min

How AI is Changing Consumer Subscription Growth with Phil Carter of Elemental Growth

Consumer subscription apps are one of the most compelling business models out there — low overhead, high margins, and global distribution right out of the box. But even the best apps lose more than half their subscribers after year one. So what separates the ones that thrive from the ones that stall? In this episode of Growth Stage, we speak with Phil Carter, founder and CEO of Elemental Growth and advisor to companies like Perplexity, Gamma, and ElevenLabs, about how AI is changing the game for consumer subscription growth. Learn how top apps are using AI to create better experiences, acquire users more cheaply, and rethink their pricing models — and what you can do to apply these lessons to your own business. This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

April 30, 2026Episode 4440 min

Optimizing Ecommerce for Emerging Markets with Sudipto Manna and Lauren Steyn

One of the fastest ways to grow your business is to expand globally especially in emerging markets like India, Brazil, and others, but how do you successfully monetize in emerging markets while avoiding risk and burdensome compliance requirements for you and your team? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Sudipto Manna and Lauren Steyn of FastSpring about their thoughts on how to approach payments and ecommerce in emerging markets, and some of the requirements needed to get access to local payment methods and currencies. If you're wondering how you're going to get the most bang for your buck when it's time for you to expand into new emerging markets, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch or listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

April 14, 2026Episode 4344 min

7 Things That Are 'Absolutely' Going to Happen in Gaming in 2026 with Bill Grosso, CEO of Game Data Pros

What will define gaming in 2026 — and what did the industry miss coming in? Bill Grosso has been making bold annual predictions about the gaming industry for years, with a track record to back it up. Now, a few months into the year, it's the perfect time to pressure-test those calls with the benefit of hindsight. In this episode of Growth Stage, host Chip Thurston interviews Bill Grosso, CEO of Game Data Pros, about his seven predictions for the gaming industry in 2026 — including the ongoing headcount contraction, why mobile gaming skills are bleeding into adjacent verticals, how the Google-Epic settlement changes everything for D2C, what Grand Theft Auto 6 means for the future of live ops, and why the PS6 may not arrive until 2028. If you want a clear-eyed view of where gaming is headed and what smart operators should be watching right now, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

February 3, 2026Episode 4251 min

Act Global, Play Local: What it Takes to Build Global Payments for Games with Lindsay Walker

Are you wondering what it takes to deliver an exceptional experience for your players when it comes to payments and D2C, but don't know where to start? In this episode, we interview payments veteran Lindsay Walker about her thoughts around what it takes to build a global payment offering that players will love. Lindsay shares her thoughts on what good looks like, what really matters when it comes to local payment methods, and how you can think about your payment strategy based on the kinds of games you're making. If direct payments outside of app stores or marketplaces is a new topic for you, and you're wondering how you'll take full advantage of the new trends in D2C, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch or listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

December 23, 2025Episode 4127 min

In-Game Steering That Actually Works with Mike DeLaet (Live from GamesBeat Next)

With the rise of in-game steering in the US, many publishers are left wondering: What actually works, and what is even allowed? While most studios keep their steering strategies close to their chest, there’s a massive opportunity for those who can navigate the "crawl, walk, run" approach to D2C. If you’ve been waiting for a peek behind the curtain of real-world implementation, this episode is for you. In this special live recording from GamesBeat Next , FastSpring CMO David Vogelpohl sits down with gaming veteran Mike DeLaet of Ares Interactive to break down the mechanics of steering. They discuss anonymized but real-world examples of in-game steering for games currently live in the app stores, offering a rare look at what other publishers are doing to successfully (and safely) leverage D2C strategies. If you’re looking for actionable insights to inform your own steering strategy and drive more revenue to your web store, don’t miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch / Listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

December 10, 2025Episode 4024 min

D2C Without a Tax Degree: How to Sell On a Web Shop Without Becoming a Tax Expert

You didn’t build a game studio to become an expert in global tax law. But as more publishers move from marketplaces to direct-to-consumer (D2C) web shops, the burden of tax compliance shifts from Apple and Google directly to you. In this episode, we sit down with Rachel Harding, Senior Director of Tax at FastSpring, to demystify the complex world of digital goods taxation. Rachel breaks down exactly what developers need to know about selling skins, battle passes, and currencies globally—without needing a finance degree. Tune in to learn how to navigate the biggest compliance risks and keep your studio focused on what matters most: making great games. This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.

December 3, 2025Episode 3931 min

How to Scale Playable/Interactive Ad Strategies with Elina Arponen of Quicksave

Thanks to technologies like WebGL, mobile UA teams now have powerful tools for building incredibly interactive and playable ads that take what is possible to an entirely new level. While many of us have embraced this trend, there still remains one huge problem. TIME. Producing playable/interactive ads can bring our creative teams to their knees while our best ideas get stuck in backlog jail. Yuck! What if there was a better way? In this episode of Growth Stage, we interview Elina Arponen the CEO of Quicksave about her thoughts on why playable/interactive ads are so compelling, what makes them so hard to produce, how creative teams can accelerate production, and other insights into how WebGL is revolutionizing ad production, publisher websites, web stores, and beyond. If you're wondering how you'll scale compelling player and user experiences across UA, your website, and your games or apps, don't miss this episode of Growth Stage. Watch / Listen now! This podcast is brought to you by FastSpring . As the leading merchant of record payment platform for digital products, FastSpring delivers an all-in-one solution for payments, subscriptions, and automated tax compliance — enabling digital businesses to expand globally with reduced complexity and lower costs.