Being a founder is hard. It's a well-known trope in the business world that giving up a comfortable job with a reliable salary is a risky move. Whenever I talk about how entrepreneurship is a desirable way of creating wealth, I find someone responding that "some people just prefer security over risk." It's all about … Continue reading Entrepreneurship, Job Security, and Wealth Creation
Author: Arvid Kahl
Arvid Kahl is a software engineer turned entrepreneur. He co-founded and ran FeedbackPanda, an online teacher productivity SaaS company, with his partner Danielle Simpson. They sold the business for a life-changing amount of money in 2019, two years after founding the business.
Arvid writes on TheBootstrappedFounder.com because bootstrapping is a desirable, value- and wealth-generating way of running a company.
He has written the best-selling book Zero to Sold and is currently writing The Embedded Entrepreneur.
In over a decade of working in startup businesses of all sizes, Arvid has learned a thing or two about what works, what doesn't, and how to increase the chances of building a successful business.
Accountability Systems for Founders
Some days, I don't feel like doing anything entrepreneurial at all. It's not that I'm burned out or disinterested, not at all. But there are those days where all I want to do is curl up on the couch and read a good book. Often, I take the day off and indulge in whatever distraction … Continue reading Accountability Systems for Founders
All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Navigating Bootstrapping Advice
A few years ago, I was spending three hours a day sitting on a train, zooming through Germany, commuting from my home to work and back. During those days, I would consume a lot of podcasts, books, and blog posts. I was looking for advice. I wanted to learn everything there was about starting and … Continue reading All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Navigating Bootstrapping Advice
SaaS, Self-Talk, and Many Small Bets
I often find myself trapped in the stories I tell myself. This week, I switched out the payment system of my SaaS PermanentLink. This is a critical part of my business, so I expected the actual coding part to be a high-pressure activity. After all, if I mess up the account management logic, paying customers … Continue reading SaaS, Self-Talk, and Many Small Bets
Audience Graduation
A third-grade math teacher is particularly good at teaching one specific audience: third-grade math students. Every year, a new group of students appears, and they receive a top-notch math education. Private math tutors, however, have to teach students of all ages. They have to educate a very diverse group of people, using many different educational … Continue reading Audience Graduation
Lifetime Deals and SaaS Businesses
If there is one polarizing topic in the bootstrapped SaaS space, it's running lifetime deals for a subscription business. Founders either love the idea of offering a one-time-payment for "forever access," or they hate it. It's right up there with the question, "should you take venture capital funding?" — an equally divisive topic. Michael Aubry … Continue reading Lifetime Deals and SaaS Businesses
The Goals of Audience-Building
Too many people see audience building as a means to an end: they expect to build a following of people that are just sitting there, waiting to be sold something. The goal of this very limited audience-building approach is to find as many potential sales targets as possible, sell to them, and that's it. I … Continue reading The Goals of Audience-Building
The Shape of a Problem in the Wild
The wonderful thing about humans is that they have a hundred different ways to talk about their dreams, desires, needs, and challenges. No two people will talk about their experiences the same way. Thankfully, we can group these messages into several easy-to-recognize categories while we observe our potential customers in their communities. Here's an important … Continue reading The Shape of a Problem in the Wild
On Re-Using Content
Creating valuable content is hard. Producing it reliably is even more challenging. Many creators are holding themselves back by believing that they need to create original work at all times. They think that re-using content is a cardinal sin. I believe differently. There is incredible value in re-using your content. There is a misunderstanding of … Continue reading On Re-Using Content
Audience Discovery: The Importance of Budget
When founders are looking for that perfect target audience for their business, they often get many things right. They pick audiences that they know intimately, that have interesting problems to solve, and that they really care about helping. However, I see too many founders struggle with a vital part of the Audience Discovery process: making … Continue reading Audience Discovery: The Importance of Budget
