What a fascinating episode with Daniel Vassallo, creator of smallbets.com. From leaving Amazon to become self-employed, to experimenting and iterating on business models, software, books, courses, and finally his flagship community, Small Bets.De către Brian Casel

Had a fascinating conversation today with Joel Hooks who runs egghead.io and badass.dev. We talked about about the evolving landscape of online education in the developer space. Recorded on September 5th, 2024.De către Brian Casel

Chris Oliver, the creator behind GoRails, Jumpstart, HatchBox and his new product, SellRepo, joins me to talk bootstrapping his Ruby on Rails training business and related tools with only a team of 3! A great wide-ranging conversation. Recorded on September 4th, 2024 Note: Sorry! My short intro audio is left speaker only... But that's fixed after t…

I caught up with Josh Pigford today, founder of Maybe, ToolStash, and many other projects. We covered a lot of ground across many of his different projects, but spent the bulk of this chat geeking out about programmatic SEO. The strategy, the technical approach, and exactly what (and how) he built some of his AI-generated content marketing strategi…

Mike McAllister is a designer of brands, websites, products, and WordPress goodness... Here in part 2 of our conversation, we dive into Mike's current work on OllieWP, a new product that brings great design to the WordPress ecosystem. We also talked about the balance of working on products with taking on selective design consulting partnerships wit…

Mike McAllister has an incredible track record as a designer of brands, websites, products, and WordPress goodness... In part 1, we talked about Mike's experience building a successful WordPress products business that was acquired by WPEngine, and what he learned from the transition between indie product founder to acquihired in a large organizatio…

Here's my conversation with Shawn Adrian, co-founder of Input Logic, a product design and development agency. They're also launching their own product in 2024 in the AI journaling space, called Stilo.ai. This conversation was recorded on March 5th, 2024.De către Brian Casel

Daniel Coulbourne is the cofounder of Thunk.dev and the co-host of the Talking Businessly podcast. We had a great conversation about the "80/20 model" in software development consulting, striking a balance between working with clients and building your own products and projects. This conversation was recorded on February 27th, 2024.…

Jack McDade is the creator of the new course, Radical Design. He's also the founder of Statamic CMS. In this contuation of our conversation, we talked about Jack's unique approach to designing things and how he strikes a balance between fun refreshing projects like this, and running a successful product company. Brian and Jack's conversation was re…

Jack McDade is the founder of Statamic CMS and the creator of the new course, Radical Design. In this conversation, Jack shared his story of going from film maker to full stack designer and developer to building a website CMS product. Brian and Jack's conversation was recorded on February 20th, 2024.…

Sam Selikoff, cofounder of BuildUI, returns to the show and we talk all about NYC! New York City, one of my favorite places. Brian and Sam’s conversation was recorded on December 15th, 2023. (00:00) - Software founder life in NYC with Sam Selikoff (02:59) - What is the crowd like? (05:08) - New York's downfall - sports teams (06:56) - Working remot…

Kevin Powell returns to the show where we talk about the business side of his work as a YouTuber and teacher of front-end development and CSS. Brian and Kevin’s conversation was recorded on December 7th, 2023. (00:00) - Building a Courses Business with a YouTube audience with Kevin Powell (01:34) - Kevin's ideal customer journey (03:18) - Using cal…

Lianna Patch wasn’t thrilled with the work she was doing, who she was doing it for, and the lack of fun she was having as a professional copywriter. So she changed everything and relaunched her Punchline Copy business with a focus on comedic copy. Brian and Lianna’s conversation was recorded on December 13th, 2023. (00:00) - How Lianna Patch Reinve…

I invited James Lewis on to help understand the idea of a “fractional product manager” (and we covered that) but it turned into James’ story of how we transitioned from that into cofounder of a new SaaS, Lemon, in the payments space. Brian and James’ conversation was recorded on December 8th, 2023. (00:00) - Fractional Product Management to SaaS Co…

Justin Ferriman returns and we discuss his post-exit transition to becoming a business coach for other founders. Brian and Justin’s conversation was recorded on November 10th, 2023. (00:00) - From Founder to Coaching Founders with Justin Ferriman (01:26) - Justin's coaching story (03:09) - The Know/Like/Trust list (04:13) - Ideation to execution (0…

Sam Selikoff, cofounder of BuildUI joins me for a wide-ranging (and sometimes technical) conversation about his journey as a software engineer, and his business teaching UI development with video courses and YouTube. Brian and Sam’s conversation was recorded on December 15th, 2023. (00:00) - Teaching User Interface Development with Sam Selikoff (Bu…

Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, returns to the show and we have a fun episode where we talk about our lives away from the cameras and mics to talk about how we stay fit and healthy (or at least try to be). Brian and Jay’s conversation was recorded on November 8th, 2023. (00:00) - The Health Pendulum as Entrepreneurs (01:39) - Physical healt…

Lianna Patch is known as a fantastic copywriter. Why? Because she’s also a comedian! We talk about Lianna’s passion for the craft of comedy, her comedic roots, and how she translated that into a thriving career as a copywriter. Brian and Lianna’s conversation was recorded on December 13th, 2023. (00:00) - Geeking out on Comedy with Lianna Patch (01…

I spoke to Kevin Powell, YouTuber and front-end CSS teacher about how he operates his YouTube content business and how he grew to over 800,000 subscribers. Brian and Kevin’s conversation was recorded on December 7th, 2023. (00:00) - Teaching CSS to 800k YouTube Subscribers with Kevin Powell (05:10) - A week in the life of Kevin Powell (07:49) - Kev…

Aaron Francis, creator of screencasting.com and prolific YouTuber returns to the show to talk all things video, screencasting and growing a business on YouTube. Brian and Aaron's conversation was recorded on November 16th, 2023. (00:00) - YouTube as a business with Aaron Francis (01:06) - Talking video and screencasting.com (02:46) - Growing multip…

Justin Ferriman, founder of LearnDash, talks to me about how he started, grew, and exited from this WordPress business in the LMS space. Brian and Justin’s conversation was recorded on November 10th, 2023. (00:00) - From Selling a WordPress Business to SaaS with Justin Ferriman (01:22) - Justin's business transition to coaching (04:10) - Highlights…

Jay Clouse, who runs Creator Science, joins me to talk all things creator businesses. Brian and Jay’s conversation was recorded on November 8th, 2023 (00:00) - The Science Behind a Creator Business (03:35) - Content as a product (10:03) - Seperating personal and creator brands (16:35) - Creator Science breakdown (26:11) - Creative energy and priori…

Adam Gilbert, founder of My Body Tutor, joins me to talk about how he scaled a personal fitness coaching business. Brian and Adam’s conversation was recorded on November 3rd, 2023. (00:00) - Scaling a Fitness Coaching Business with Adam Gilbert (01:30) - What is My Body Tutor? (02:34) - The evolution of Adam's business (05:15) - Adam's background i…

Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc, returns to the show to talk about his life as a digital nomad for 3+ years. Brian and Dru's conversation was recorded on November 20th, 2023. (00:00) - 3+ Years of Nomad Life w/ Dru Riley (01:10) - Where in the world is Dru? (03:18) - Why choose the digital nomad lifestyle? (06:48) - Favorite places (so far)? (07:55…

Aaron Francis, creator of screencasting.com and prolific YouTuber joins me to talk about his “Era of Maximum Effort”. We get into building products businesses vs. creator businesses, and more. Brian and Aaron's conversation was recorded on November 16th, 2023. (00:00) - Product vs. Creator Businesses with Aaron Francis (00:45) - Conversations acros…

Ian Landsman of HelpSpot joins me to unpack all things Laravel ecosystem. Brian and Ian's conversation was recorded on November 3rd, 2023. (00:00) - The Laravel Ecosystem with Ian Landsman (00:34) - Ian returns to talk Laravel (04:20) - Laravel vs. Rails (06:51) - Developer ecosystem (08:55) - Upgrading Laravel (10:09) - Front-end frameworks for La…

Colleen Schnettler, founder of HelloQuery, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion around the question of choosing the right product idea to commit to as an entrepreneur. Brian and Colleen recorded this conversation on November 17th, 2023. (00:00) - Colleen Schnettler (01:02) - Twitter, Conference, and Podcast friends! (02:44) - Transitioning betwee…

Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc joins me to talk about building his Newsletter and Community business and the systems and processes he’s used to grow it. Brian and Dru's conversation was recorded on November 20th, 2023. (00:00) - Systems to run & grow a newsletter business w/ Dru Riley (Trends.vc) (01:17) - Newsletter + Community (04:23) - Breakdow…

Ian Landsman and his team at Userscape work on HelpSpot, a well-established SaaS product for customer support. And after well over 10 years in business, they decided to embark on a full rebuild of their app. Brian and Ian's conversation was recorded on November 3rd, 2023. (00:00) - Rebuilding a SaaS with Ian Landsman (00:48) - Ian returns! (01:39) …

Open Threads is returning! This is a quick update where I (Brian Casel) give you a preview of what's to come in the upcoming weekly episodes of Open Threads. Plus a note on some changes to the format, including an interesting use of "dynamic audio" in Open Threads. Listen in to hear more. The next full episode will drop on Wednesday, December 13th,…

Hey! Just want to let you know that I’ll be taking a break (for a bit) from recording new episodes of this Open Threads podcast. But don’t unsubscribe! I promise to come back to this feed with new conversations as soon as the opportunity arises. In the meantime, be sure to check out my other podcast, Bootstrapped Web, which my co-host Jordan and I …

Lemon Squeezy, the new platform for building SaaS businesses went through quite a few iterations before J.R. Farr and the Make Lemonade crew figured out what it is and who it’s for… And how to make people aware. Lots of gems in this conversation! Brian and J.R.'s conversation was recorded on February 13, 2023.…

I invited Corbett back on the show when I noticed he’s been picking up steam on his Substack-based newsletter, Starting Things. Clearly, he’s in the exploration phase of his next entrepreneurial chapter. The perfect time for an Open Threads check-in :) Brian and Corbett's conversation was recorded on February 6, 2023.…

Founder Summit was one of the best conferences I’ve attended because it’s built on the idea that a conference is really about the relationships, not the headline speakers. Tyler Tringas, founder of Calm Company Fund, takes us through how Founder Summit came together and where it’s going next. Brian and Tyler's conversation was recorded on January 3…

Harry Morton, founder of Lower Street, is back on the show today to take us inside the creative process behind big brand podcast productions. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill interview shows. This is what next-level podcasting looks like — and how Harry built an amazing agency business around it. Brian and Harry's conversation was recorded on Janu…

In 2020, after a hugely successful run building and exiting MOJO Marketplace, J.R. Farr announced the formation of a “dream team” new company known as Make Lemonade. What they’re making is truly impressive. We get into it! Brian and J.R's conversation was recorded on January 16, 2023.De către Brian Casel

After building, selling and exiting Fizzle, a community and content-based business, Corbett Barr decided to hit the reset button. How? By deleting all of his social media and past blog content to start with a clean slate. We explore what came next. Brian and Corbett's conversation was recorded on January 9, 2023.…

From bootstrapping and selling a SaaS to… Starting a fund for bootstrapped SaaS companies. Tyler Tringas talks about that transition and what he’s learned since starting and growing Calm Company Fund. Brian and Tyler's conversation was recorded on January 2, 2023.De către Brian Casel

It’s strange how little we talk about the code side of building and running a software business. So Benedikt Deicke, technical co-founder of Userlist, joins me to geek out on Rails, front-end frameworks, software testing, and more. Brian and Benedikt's conversation was recorded on December 19, 2022.De către Brian Casel

I’m on a quest to geek out with all my founder friends who are also musicians. Harry Morton shares a love for the combo of tech + creativity in music production. We geeked out about pursuing careers in recording studios, synthesizers, making music as a hobby, and buying unnecessary music gear. Brian and Harry's conversation was recorded on December…

Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos, moved to France for 5 years but he and his family have moved back here to the States. We unpack life and business abroad vs. stateside and the many tradeoffs. Brian and Craig's conversation was recorded on December 5, 2022.De către Brian Casel

In SaaS, speed matters. A lot. Benedikt Deicke, co-founder of Userlist, joins me to chat about shipping speed and how we decide what to build next. It’s too easy to get these essentials wrong! Brian and Benedikt's conversation was recorded on November 28, 2022.De către Brian Casel

I could talk for days about music. So can Justin Jackson, cofounder of Transistor. So we geeked out on our favorite bands, documentaries, and how these experiences actually shape us as entrepreneurs (believe it or not!). Brian and Justin's conversation was recorded on November 21, 2022.De către Brian Casel

After exiting his 1st SaaS and shuttering all his social media profiles, Nathan Powell is back online with a new idea for a SaaS - Feature Flux. Let’s dig into it. Brian and Nathan's conversation was recorded on November 14, 2022.De către Brian Casel

The story of why Nathan Powell quit the internet for a while after exiting his SaaS business (and why he came back to start his new company, Feature Flux). Brian and Nathan's conversation was recorded on November 7, 2022.De către Brian Casel

Tyler King, CEO and co-founder of Less Annoying CRM, is back on the show to talk about teams. Remote, in-house, culture, experience, and everything in between. Brian and Tyler's conversation was recorded on October 31, 2022.De către Brian Casel

Building in public ain’t all about the highlight reel. Craig Hewitt, founder of Castos, and I agree that there’s so much more to learn from our fails. The question is, how can we share them publicly in a helpful (and healthy) way? Brian and Craig's conversation was recorded on October 25, 2022.De către Brian Casel

Justin Jackson, co-founder of Transistor, joins me to share the story of how he started a snowboard shop in the late 90s and what, if any, parallels can be drawn to software businesses today. Brian and Justin's conversation was recorded on October 3, 2022.De către Brian Casel

Dan Rowden, founder of ilo, and I share our experiences running multiple products simultaneously vs focusing on one. Brian and Dan's conversation was recorded on September 26, 2022.De către Brian Casel

Tyler King, CEO and co-founder of Less Annoying CRM, joins me to commiserate on why marketing a SaaS is so damn hard in 2022. Brian and Tyler's conversation was recorded on September 19, 2022.De către Brian Casel