About Me

From FeedbackPanda to Podscan

Together with my partner Danielle Simpson, I co-founded and bootstrapped FeedbackPanda, a productivity tool for online teachers. We sold the business in 2019. I wrote about how we founded, ran, and sold it in under two years, and those experiences became the foundation of my book Zero to Sold and its free online guide.

I later founded and bootstrapped Podscan.fm, a podcast intelligence platform. In 2026, Audiohook acquired Podscan, and I joined Audiohook to continue working on the platform.

I shared that journey here as it happened: the experiments, the technical decisions, the customer conversations, and the things that didn’t work. A few places to start:

• Podscan, One Month in — the early product and finding my footing.
• Funded! — why I chose bootstrapper-compatible funding from Calm Company Fund.
• One Year of Podscan — what a year of building taught me about the technology and the business.
• When Profitability Disappears — sharing a setback while I was still working through it.
• When Long-Term Investments Finally Pay Off — the work that needed time to compound.

You can find more in the Podscan archive.

What I share here

The Bootstrapped Founder is where I write and talk about building businesses and the life around them. That includes finding customers, growing an audience, writing software, working with AI, selling a company, and figuring out what comes next. Sometimes it’s a practical guide. Sometimes it’s a conversation with another founder. Sometimes it’s me thinking through a problem before I have an answer.

I believe bootstrapping gives founders room to build useful, lasting businesses on their own terms. I want to make that path easier to understand by sharing what I’ve learned, including where my own expectations turned out to be wrong.

Founder mental health matters to me. Running a small business can be isolating and stressful. Alongside the product and business decisions, I write about the emotional side of the founder journey.

I’m also the author of Zero to Sold and The Embedded Entrepreneur, and the creator of Find your Following.

You can browse the posts, listen to the podcast, or follow the blog with RSS. I’m also on X / Twitter.

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Earlier talks and interviews

Together with Danielle, I gave this talk at MicroConf Europe 2019, just after we sold FeedbackPanda:

You can find podcasts and interviews with me on Podchaser. If you want to have me as a guest, reach out via Email or MatchMaker.fm.

• Smart Passive Income Podcast: SPI 517: The Best Way to Start a Successful Business Today with Arvid Kahl (October 2021, hosted by Pat Flynn)
• Indie Hackers:
  • Vital Learnings from Bootstrapping and Selling a $55k a Month Business with Arvid Kahl of FeedbackPanda (late 2019, hosted by Courtland Allen)
  • Actionable Steps for Building the Right Business with Arvid Kahl (Mid 2021, hosted by Courtland Allen)
• Alchemist Camp: Scaling an Elixir/Vue SaaS to $55k MRR in under 2 years with Arvid Kahl (hosted by Mark Wilbur)
• Built to Sell Radio: How To Scratch Your Itch (hosted by John Warrillow, I appear with Danielle Simpson) — video version available
• Rogue Startups: RS209: $0 to $55K MRR in 2 Years, Then an Exit with Arvid Kahl and Danielle Simpson (hosted by Craig Hewitt, I appear with Danielle Simpson)
• Product Journey: Finding Validation with Arvid Kahl of FeedbackPanda (hosted by Ben Mann and Noah Bragg)
• No CS Degree: Learning to code with no CS degree and making $55k a month (interviewed by Pete Codes)
• Balance the Grind: Balancing the Grind With Arvid Kahl, Founder of FeedbackPanda & Blogger at The Bootstrapped Founder (interviewed by Hao Nguyen)
• Startups for The Rest of Us: From Zero to $55k MRR to Exit (in 2 Years) with Feedback Panda (interviewed by Rob Walling, I appear with Danielle Simpson)
• UI Breakfast: Episode 166: Continuous Product Validation with Arvid Kahl (interviewed by Jane Portman)
• Writer on the Side: Ep. 049 Over $8,400 in 1 Week from His First Book (interviewed by Hassan Osman)
• Makerpad Workshop: Taking Your Business From Zero to Sold with Arvid Kahl pt.1 (with Tom Osman)
• The SaaS Podcast: Bootstrapping a SaaS from Zero to $55K MRR in 2 Years – with Arvid Kahl [259] (with Omer Khan)
• Bruno Talks With: [Premiere, Episode #1] Bruno Talks With Arvid Kahl • Give value in order to get value (with Bruno Raljic)
• Ideas Inspire Action: # 11 Arvid Kahl – How to build a bootstrapped business with $55.000 MRR in 2 years, plus finding a niche and new business opportunities (with Tom Schöntaube)
• Forging Ahead: Audience First with Arvid Kahl (with Thomas Sullivan)
• Hypefury Presents: #5 Arvid Kahl on how to validate and build a profitable business (with Yannick Veys)
• SaaS Pirates: Building and Selling a SaaS – Arvid Kahl of PermanentLink (with Mike Slaats)
• Growth Leap Podcast: From launch to successful exit in less than two years with bootstrapped startup expert Arvid Kahl (with Michel Gagnon)
• The business and product of writing nonfiction, with Arvid Kahl and Rob Fitzpatrick (with, obviously, Rob Fitzpatrick)
• The Audience Explorer: Arvid Kahl: Your audience is already out there! (with Matthias Bohlen)
• The Entrepreneurial Coder: #43 – Arvid Kahl – How to Build and Sell a SaaS Company (with Ryan Chenkie)
• Indie Feast: Extended: Lessons learned bootstrapping and selling a $55k p/m SaaS (with James McKiven)
• Searching for SaaS: EP16: Author Arvid Kahl On The Audience-First Approach To Starting A Business (with Josh Ho and Nathan Bosscher)
• Startup Shit: Arvid Kahl from TheBootstrappedFounder – Audience Building, Inspiring Others, and Tiring Sacrifices (with Dan “roxkstar74” Giaime)

I did an Ask Me Anything on Indie Hackers in 2020. And another one in 2021.

If you’re interested in a consultation for your business, please reach out to me through the Consulting page.