Make Lemonade

Hosted by JR Farr, Lemon Squeezy

Business Entrepreneurship

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Jun 2024

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About the show

The show for creators, by creators. Helping inspire today's entrepreneurs to earn money from their own lemonade stand.

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52 recent

June 27, 202441 min

Indie acquisitions, platform risk and life after selling Tweet Hunter for 8-figures

Today we’re joined by Tibo Louis-Lucas, who is most well known for starting Tweet Hunter and Taplio in 2021, before selling the company in 2022 for 8 figures. Since then, Tibo has gone on to acquire an AI video creation tool, Typeframes, which he spun Revid.ai, and Feather.so, a Notion blogging platform.Timestamps00:00 Intro01:17 Leaving Lempire and starting from scratch03:00 Learning from failures05:29 Growing MRR with influencers13:38 How Tibo felt selling Tweet Hunter18:55 Why Tibo will never sell a project again25:14 Feeling paralysis after selling your startup27:36 How Tibo has approached acquiring products29:28 Have Tibo's acquisitions been a success?34:15 Why Tibo acquired another project for $250,00036:01 Did Tibo waste $250,000 on buying Feather?As always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on X @lmsqueezy.

June 20, 202442 min

Lemon Squeezy CEO mid-year reflection: funding, features and football

Today we’re doing a a behind the scenes episode with JR. We haven’t looked at what’s going on since December, so it’s about time I posed some questions to JR about everything from features to growth and more.LinksJohn O'Nolan episode: https://youtu.be/QXwiTZiO46gSimon Pittman episode: https://youtu.be/L11ii1qKD5oRob Walling episode: https://youtu.be/M_JbjtIYUh0JR's features tweet: https://x.com/jrfarr/status/1791819342784655760Product links feature: https://x.com/lmsqueezy/status/1801252160941797848Timestamps00:00 - Intro00:50 - Guess that guest quote06:02 - Reflecting on 1 year since rejecting venture capital07:57 - Marketing for Lemon Squeezy11:07 - JR embracing the hat-free life12:26 - New features launched14:26 - Do people still want or need merchant of record?18:38 - Lemon Squeezy JavaScript SDK package going gangbusters21:25 - Update on feature requests28:38 - Trends for sellers JR is seeing30:06 - Was Lemon Squeezy easier to build than Mojo?34:56 - JR's dream non-founder guest38:08 - Why JR hates soccer41:43 - How is life for the CEO of Lemon SqueezyAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on X @lmsqueezy.

June 6, 202445 min

Taking on Adobe with his bootstrapped tool, Screen Studio - Adam Pietrasiak

Today we're joined by one of the most successful sellers on Lemon Squeezy, Adam Pietrasiak. Adam is the founder of Screen Studio, a beautiful tool for creating and editing screen recordings that he started at the end of 2022 and now has thousands of paying users. In this episode we talk about how Adam made $30k in his first month, his approach to creating a well-polished product, and why he's not planning to take VC funding any time soon.Timestamps00:00 Intro00:47 Adam's background02:23 Learning from past failures05:20 Life building from Poland07:46 Screen Studio founding story10:25 Building without validating12:44 Building in a very competitive market18:44 Being a designer developer19:53 Making $30,000 in the first month25:18 Discovering marketing and growth channels27:50 Adam setting up a powerful affiliate programme34:23 How Adam designs in code37:10 VC funding or bootstrapping39:42 Monthly recurring vs single license pricing

May 23, 202448 min

Building a $7m non-profit tech company - John O'Nolan

John O’Nolan is the founder of Ghost, an independent publishing platform. John sees Ghost as an experiment in doing the opposite of what every other tech company does. They haven’t raised VC, instead setting Ghost up as a non-profit that can never be bought or sold. The core product is open source, with a simple SaaS model to fund future development. John is opinionated and outspoken but with many views that are hard to argue, so I can’t wait to dive into some of those today.Timestamps00:00 Intro00:48 From music to software01:50 The benefits of anonymity06:44 Launching Ghost as a non-profit14:26 Why launch on Kickstarter19:12 Is the longevity of blogging susprising?22:25 What companies is venture capital right for?23:40 Should more companies follow the non profit model?25:50 John's approach to making great products27:45 How John views competition29:41 How do they ship at Ghost36:38 The fediverse and ActivityPub42:15 John's favourite newsletters43:41 John's hobbiesAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

May 16, 202447 min

Building a calm company with a strong financial engine - Justin Jackson

Justin is the co-founder of Transistor.fm, a podcast hosting platform that hosts over 27,000 podcasts. Justin has bootstrapped the business since 2018 and has used it to build a better life for himself and his employees.Justin was on the pod back in January and we ended feeling like there was left with lots more to discuss, particularly Justin’s thoughts on building a Calm Company and what he plans to do with his life and money.Timestamps00:00 Intro01:40 Having the #1 podcast in the world on Transistor04:24 Why Acquired is such a top class podcast08:22 Justin's financial engine metaphor16:44 Why the market is so important18:30 Calm companies27:41 How much the market impacts success32:03 Justin's family business experiment41:07 How Justin approaches investingAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

April 19, 202459 min

How Better Creating built a 6-figure Notion template business

Simon is the founder of Better Creating, a business he started in 2020 geared towards simplifying productivity and finding the best ideas tools and tech to help people create the life they want. His YouTube channel has over 130,000 subscribers, where he makes tutorials, tech reviews and more. Simon is another creator who has gone deep on Notion, building a second brain and many other systems that he sells as templates. Today we’re going to find out what it’s like being a full-time creator and why the Notion ecosystem is booming still in 2024.LinksBetter Creating YouTube ChannelSimon’s Notion TemplatesThe Generalist CoHow to make your first 5 hires podcastJames RecommendationsShoe DogPodcastageHamiltonJR RecommendationsCharlie Munger handbookHard Thing About Hard ThingsErik Anders Lang (Adventures in Golf)Cirque Du SoleilSimon RecommendationsThinking, Fast and SlowAnything You Want (James has some spare copies of this. DM him if you’d like a copy for free)Into the WoodsScott Yu-JanSleep No MoreTimestamps00:00 Intro01:15 From theatre director to content creator05:47 Choosing to make content not based on his career07:36 Staying consistent creating content as a side project12:47 Making money with small audiences22:38 Keeping up a production schedule24:53 The Notion template business27:07 Are Notion templates a waste of time?31:38 Is the template space too crowded?34:53 Platform risk building on top of Notion38:54 Coming up with template ideas41:58 How to price Notion templates45:27 Building a team54:41 Book, YouTube and Theatre recommendationsAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

April 4, 202441 min

Building side projects as layoff insurance - Aaron Francis

On the 6th March 2024, Aaron Francis was part of layoffs at Planet Scale, where he was an educator. Since then, Aaron has had a hard decision to make: find another job, or take the leap to full-time entrepreneur. Now the job offers came in thick and fast for Aaron, with almost 600,000 people seeing his layoff tweet, but after documenting his thoughts on his own podcast, Mostly Technical, Aaron announced what he was doing next. He launched his own content studio, Tryhard Studios.Links: Follow Aaron on TwitterAaron's Tuple PageTryhard StudiosTimestamps00:00 Intro01:28 What it's like being laid off02:05 Building a studio in an apartment04:24 Why PlanetScale laid off people05:06 The reaction to being laid off07:26 How to increase your chance of getting a new job09:12 Side projects as layoff insurance12:29 Do side projects make you more hireable?15:09 Aaron's existing money making side projects18:24 Deciding to go all in and not find another job23:11 Aaron's new thing, Tryhard Studios28:01 Why the name "Tryhard Studios"30:15 The business model32:08 Dealing with the course promotion treadmill33:29 What things haven't gone so well34:53 Building a pipeline of new work37:13 Preparing for burnoutAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

March 28, 202449 min

How Statamic founder Jack McDade stands out with radical design

Jack McDade is the creator of Statamic, a content management system for Laravel. He’s just launched his new course, Radical Design, which teaches people Jack’s unique approach to design and building products. And when unique approach, I mean it. All you have to do it scroll through Jack’s sites, his personal, Statamic, the Radical Design landing page to be immediately entertained by the little nuggets of flair dropped in throughout. In a world of boring landing pages and everyone doing the same thing, it’s nice to have a bit of Jack out in the world.Follow Jack:TwitterYouTubeStatamicPersonal websiteRadical DesignTimestamps:00:00 Intro02:12 JR's question to Jack03:00 Starting Statamic04:03 Statamic growth over the years07:04 Jack's approach to the product10:03 What does Jack's day look like11:20 When to hire as a CEO15:22 Launching a course 4 years after annoucning it21:49 What is Radical Design and why make a course26:23 The secret sauce for Radical Design30:26 Embracing AI as a designer36:06 How did the launch of the course go38:59 Where do future sales come from after launching?45:57 Dabbling in fun projectsAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

March 14, 202442 min

How to build a business on top of Notion - Sara Loretta

Today we're joined by Sara Loretta, who is the 10th US Certified Notion Consultant and Founder of SYSTMS™, an operations agency for agencies and small startups. She previously owned a design studio, 99 & Saint Claire, and spent nearly a decade before that in the nonprofit sector working in business development.Follow Sara:WebsiteYouTubeTwitterTimestamps00:00 Intro00:43 How Sara Discovered Lemon Squeezy02:4 1From Non Profits to Notion Consultant - Sara's journey08:31 Having the confidence to career pivot15:37 The Notion Ecosystem18:58 Notion consultant program23:49 Why Sara hasn't gone all in on Notion templates27:24 Launching the Productized AF bundle29:05 Getting confidence charging for large retainers31:09 What systems Sara builds for clients33:32 Running an agency as a solopreneur36:31 The future for Sara38:21 Sara's schedule and embracing siestasAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.

March 7, 202442 min

Project $100k Ep. 2 - Domains, positioning and course delivery

Today we’re back with an episode of our Project 100k series, which is all about my journey as a creator going from 0-$100k selling through Lemon Squeezy. I’ve been a podcast producer for years but would like to stop trading my time for money and find a way to build an asset that makes me money while I sleep. In this episode we give our first update on the progress I’ve made on the name, positioning, course outline and distribution.Timestamps00:00 Intro01:08 James being stuck on Guernsey02:42 Deciding on the course name08:41 Delivery and pricing11:27 Pricing of cohort vs self paced17:00 Competitor research24:37 Monetization through affiliates26:25 Curriculum Continued31:36 Workshops35:28 Marketing41:01 Wrap upAs always thanks for being a listener of the Make Lemonade show. Hosted by @jrfarr & @jmckinven— brought to you by LemonSqueezy.com. If you're looking to sell digital products online, be sure to check out Lemon Squeezy or follow us on Twitter @lmsqueezy.