Jason Cohen

In this show, Bob and Pat interview serial startup founder Jason Cohen. Jason shares with us and you exactly how he did the market research for his latest startup (and our new WordPress awesome hosting service) WPEngine.com, how to price, the challenges of growing a successful startup, the realities of what people want, how to compete with free, and more.

This is one of our longer shows (about 56 minutes), but it’s absolutely one of the best shows, thanks to Jason’s insight, experience and passion. Jason’s blog, A Smart Bear, is a must-read for aspiring startup founders.

(Note: The Startup Success Podcast is currently in reruns. This was show #52, an interview with the Silicon Valley insider and visionary, Sramana Mitra, originally released December 20, 2010.)

Tired of being stuck in neutral in your startup? Why not do a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Instead of hypotheticals and too much information, Bob will work with you for an hour via Skype developing 8 to 10 specific todos that will get your startup in gear. Details at 47hats.com.

Play it now!

Download Show #146 here: Show #146 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh blogs at 47Hats, is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• WPEngine. Highly recommended!
• A Smart Bear Blog site.
• Vetting a startup (or two): The systematic birth of @WPEngine
• Jason on Twitter.

The Startup Success Podcast

Bob and Pat talk again with entrepreneur and Silicon Valley consultant Sramana Mitra, this time about her newest book, Positioning: How To Test, Validate, And Bring Your Idea To Market. This is the third volume in Sramana’s Entrepreneur Journeys series. This was a fascinating interview that sliced through the what do I build – how do I find my market conundrum.

(Note: The Startup Success Podcast is currently in reruns. This was show #52, an interview with the Silicon Valley insider and visionary, Sramana Mitra, originally released January 20, 2010.)

Play it now!

Download Show #145 here: Show #145 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Please call in your suggestions, comments and constructive criticisms to our Listener Hotline at 206-202-6473. When you call, tell us if it’s okay to play your comment in our podcast.

Bob Walsh is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• Positioning: How To Test, Validate, And Bring Your Idea To Market (Volume Three) by Sramana Mitra.
• BubbleTimer.
• Sramana Mitra on Strategy.
• Great excerpt from this book.
• Sramana offers free weekly strategy roundtables for entrepreneurs to address positioning, financing, and other aspects of a startup venture. Up to 1,000 people can attend each session, but only the first five who register to pitch will be able to present their business ideas. All attendees are able to join in on the conversations via a live chat.

The Startup Success Podcast

This week Bob and Pat talk with Sramana Mitra; technology entrepreneur, Silicon Valley strategy consultant, blogger and author of Entrepreneur Journeys, Volume 2 – Weapon of Mass Reconstruction. We talk with Sramana about the startup founders she’s interviewed, the right way to raise money, the state of startups today and much more.

(Note: The Startup Success Podcast is currently in reruns. This was show #28, an interview with the Silicon Valley insider and visionary, Sramana Mitra, originally released June 19, 2009.)

Bob talks about taming the Info Beast – a excerpt from his The Web Startup Success Guide coming out in July and Pat talks about Microsoft conferences.

Play it now!

Download Show #144 here: StartupSuccess144.mp3 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Please review it on iTunes: we need your feedback!

Bob Walsh is on twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley is on twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

Show Notes:

URLs mentioned in this episode of the Startup Success Podcast:

• The Web Startup Success Guide.
• Page2RSS.
• FeedYes.
• Entrepreneur Journeys (Volume Two) Bootstrapping, Weapon Of Mass Reconstruction
• Sramana’s One Million by One Million (1M/1M)
• Sramana Mitra’s blog is at http://www.sramanamitra.com.
• Sramana Mitra’s articles at Forbes.com.
• 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.
• PDC 2008 Recorded Sessions.

The Startup Success Podcast

A very special interview with author and marketing authority Seth Godin on how startups can succeed in a world where fitting in doesn’t work anymore.

Seth is the author of a dozen bestselling books including Purple Cow, Tribes, Permission Marketing and most recently and perhaps most importantly, Linchpin.

(Note: The Startup Success Podcast is currently in reruns. This was show #57, an interview with the extraordinary Seth Godin, originally released February 25, 2010.)

In this interview Bob and Pat have the opportunity to ask Seth how Linchpin applies to startups, the IT industry, what art means to developers, what keeps you from shipping, what Ayn Rand would say and succeeding in this post-industrial world. And, we get to several of the questions you asked us to ask.

If you listen to just one of our podcasts this year, this is the one.

Play it now!

Download Show #143 here: Show #143 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? (non-affiliate link)
• Seth Godin’s Blog.
• Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain (video)
• Linchpin materials at Scribd.
• The difference between a bonus and free.
• Seth Godin’s Wikipedia entry.
• Squidoo.

The Startup Success Podcast

Bob interviews Jason Fried, co-founder and president of 37signals and co-author of Getting Real and now REWORK. Jason is the archetype of a successful web-based software company founder (Basecamp, Highrise, Campfire, Backpack), a strong proponent for a reality-based (versus VC-funded) approach to building a tech company with a point of view, and a strong believer most of the accepted ways of doing business don’t scale down to startups.

(Note: The Startup Success Podcast is currently in reruns. This was show #63, an interview with 37signals co-founder Jason Fried, originally released April 8th, 2010.)

In this interview, we dig into not just Jason and David Heinemeier Hansson’s new book about the business of startups, but why and how they arrived at 37signals’ successful approach to building a software company. Jason generously shares a range of advice and experience about building your startup that is anything but a rehash of all the other advice you’ve heard.

Play it now!

Download Show #142 here: Show #142 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• REWORK.
• 37signals main site.
• Rework at Amazon (affiliate link).
• 37signals’ blog, Signal vs. Noise.
• The 37signals manifesto.

Marc Nager

Bob and Pat talk with Marc Nager, CEO of Startup Weekend.

Startup Weekend is changing the definition of what it takes to create a startup, one weekend and one city at a time. In 3 short years since Marc became CEO, Startup Weekend has had 587 events in 312 cities in 93 countries helping over 57,000 would-be startup founders and teams go from glimmer of an idea to working prototype and beyond.

Over a third of the startups formed at Startup Weekend events are still going strong three months later – good odds in the startup world. We talk with Marc about what makes Startup Weekend a startup powerhouse, what people get out of the experience, how to handle real-world details like ownership and lawyers and lots more.

And Pat and Bob share a bit of a tearful moment as Pat leaves the show to pursue founding and building his own startup dream, Tribbon. Next week, The Startup Success Podcast will go into reruns for a while, bringing some of our best shows over the past 3 years to you while Bob helps to launch a new podcast, FreelancerZen.

Play it now!

Download Show #141 here: Show #141 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• Startup Weekend.
• Tribbon.
• FreelancerZen.

Cody Barbierri

Bob and Pat talk with Cody Barbierri, the founder of a startup every startup founder should know about: BetaBait.

BetaBait is a free discovery platform for early adopters to learn about new startups and new startups to find beta testers, customers and supporters.

Drawing on a professional background in PR and marketing, Cody and his cofounder Rory Thompson have in a few short months built a 5,500+ daily email list for anyone interested in the latest and greatest startups. We talk about BetaBait’s mission, who pays the bills at BetaBait and more.

Play it now!

Download Show #140 here: Show #140 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

Who’s shipping!

1. Sasmito Adibowo has shipped Tweetascope, an iOS app for the most newsworthy/interesting tweets among your friends.
2. Robert Siebeck has actually been shipping AgreeDo, a meeting organizer service since the spring of 2011, but wanted to let our listeners compare and contrast with the service of Show #139’s Edwin Siebesma MeetingKing service.

If you’re one of our listeners and you’ve launched, let us know!

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• BetaBait.com.
• Cody Barbierri – Co-Founder of BetaBait.

Edwin Siebesma

Bob and Pat talk with Edwin Siebesma about his startup, MeetingKing.

MeetingKing is a web app for planning, creating and coordinating meetings and the tasks that come out of meetings. Edwin has a unique perspective on building a startup today – having been president of one of the most successful desktop-era startups ever – WinZip.

Edwin has been there, done that and is now back for round 2 – and shares his insights on just how much has changed.

Also in this show, apologies for the long delay since show #138, and the start of our new “who’s now shipping” kudos section.

Play it now!

Download Show #139 here: Show #139 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

Who’s shipping!

1. Michael Mahemoff has launched a “dainty beta edition” of player.fm. It’s an in-browser podcast player. Anyone interested in podcasting or audio should go to player.fm and see if it’s a fit for you.
2. Dave Reynolds may just have a customer in Patrick – his site is all about hand-crafted men’s suits. If you are a man, you need a suit. Go to 7regentlane.com for more info.
3. Rudy Lacovara launched HireFlo a while ago, but we weren’t doing launch announcements when he did. So if you need to hire people, go to HireFlo.
4. Aron Freylekhman has launched Ad2Charity to kickstart his grandchildren’s college fund and to show that ads can do so good in the world – 18% of the revenue goes directly to the customers’ charity of choice
5. Phil Derksen has shipped his second WordPress plugin for Pinterest – Top Pinned Posts at Pinterest Plugins for WordPress. Phil’s the creator of the “Pin it” button WordPress plugin – downloaded over 55,000 times.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• MeetingKing.

Pat and Bob

Bob and Pat go off script bigtime – Pat talks about MicroConf 2012, we bounce up and down Pat’s new startup Tribbon, Bob does a private demo of prebeta Freelancer Cash Flow, and we talk about our soon-to-be new sponsor and some ideas we’re bouncing around to take this podcast to the next level.

Along the way we talk about customer discovery as fun, why Amy Hoy is awesome, and we ask for your feedback on a couple ideas we’re considering for the show (at 47:53 – we really want your opinion!). Also, new feature! Send us your launch announcements and we’ll mention them on the show!

Thinking about doing a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Details at 47hats.com. Or, send me your startup question via AskBob, and let’s get a conversation going!

Play it now!

Download Show #138 here: Show #138 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• microConf 2012.
• Patrick’s new startup.
• Dave Collins of Software Promotions.
• A part of the New Startup Infrastructure: KISSmetrics.
• You will want to download these lessons from Amy Hoy’s upcoming 300×50 Launch Class – they are some of the best things Bob has ever read about conceptualizing creating a startup. The 5-part 30×500 Taste Test.
• BusyEvent.
• Eliza Brock’s RailsThemes.
• Screenshots of pre-beta Freelancer Cash Flow:


Setup Wizard





Cashflow Comparison





Home Screen

Melanie Plageman

Bob and Pat talk with Melanie Plageman about the recently enacted JOBS bill, what will crowdfunding in the U.S. look like soon, and the changes coming to the startup funding landscape.

Melanie is a cofounder of Motaavi, a crowdfunding startup, and was deeply involved in the bill that opens the doors for companies to sell stock as easily as they sell goods on eBay or fund projects at Kickstarter.

We get into the behind the scenes details of how this law became a law and the visible outlines of how crowdfunding will work for companies and investors. Crowdfunding lets companies raise up to $1 million a year, anyone invest at least $2,000 a year through crowdfunding portals like Motaavi, and will rewrite the company-investor and company-consumer playbooks.

The Massive Paradigm Shift Ahead sign should be flashing in your brain right about now if you are building a business or launching a startup. If you want the real backstory, details and implications of this major shift in the startup landscape, make time to listen to this podcast.

Thinking about doing a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Details at 47hats.com. Or, send me your startup question via AskBob, and let’s get a conversation going!

Play it now!

Download Show #137 here: Show #137 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• JOBS bill passes – New era for startup funding starts now.
• Motaavi, the crowdfunding platform.
• Melanie’s on Twitter at @melanieplageman
• Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act on Wikipedia.
• Rulemaking starts at the SEC – comments submitted so far.