In episode 758, Rob Walling is joined by Derrick Reimer to tackle a variety of listener questions. They discuss strategies for entering a market with established competitors, including how to position your product without directly attacking rivals. They also reflect on the challenges of free trials, weighing the pros and cons of extending trial periods versus incentivizing onboarding.

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• (1:18) – How to launch a SaaS product in a market with an established competitor
• (6:21) – Do I call out competitors by name?
• (14:24) – How do you really identify what moves the needle in your Saas?
• (19:59) – Breaking down the “one thing”
• (23:32) – Selling and marketing SaaS before building
• (30:36) – What is the goal of your free trial?
• (39:10) – On the fence between B2B, B2C

• TInySeed Applications are open until Feb 23rd
• Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X
• Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer.com) | Bluesky
• SavvyCal
• 757 | TinySeed Tales s4e5: Founder Breakups, Crushing Failures, and the Future
• TinySeed
• MicroConf Connect
• SaaS Institute
• Start Marketing The Day You Start Coding by Rob Walling
• Start Small Stay Small by Rob Walling

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes |

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling chats with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she navigates the complexities of her startup journey.

After a challenging period with her co-founder Aaron, Colleen reflects on their decision to part ways and the emotional toll it has taken on her. She shares her feelings of crushing failure, the uncertainty of moving forward alone, and the realization that their initial product vision may not align with market needs.

• (0:49) – Colleen and Aaron make a tough decision
• (4:09) – Voice memo, “Crushing Failure”
• (7:59) – What if you hadn’t raised money?
• (11:44) – Colleen weighs her remaining options

• Applications for TinySeed are Open Through Feb 23rd
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky
• Hello Query

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 756, Rob Walling interviews Brendan Fortune, Director of Product Management at Customer.io, to explore the skills and frameworks for effective product management. Brendan shares his journey and discusses the importance of understanding customer behavior to drive product decisions. They delve into the concept of the flywheel and how it can be leveraged to enhance user success and optimize pricing strategies.

• (2:46) – What does a product manager do?
• (10:36) – When should a SaaS company designate a full time product manager?
• (15:33) – Pricing and and creating a flywheel
• (22:41) – Deciding on your “fair” value metric
• (30:01) – Pricing experimentation in the early days

• Applications for TinySeed Spring 2025 are Open!
• Invest in TinySeed
• Ask a product question on Startups For the Rest of Us
• Brendan Fortune | LinkedIn
• Customer.io
• Product Flywheel + Pricing + Org Strategy (Miro)
• Your Pricing is WRONG (even Sam Altman Made This Mistake)

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she shares the latest developments in her startup journey.

Colleen shares the insights gained from recent customer interviews that led to a significant pivot in their product strategy. Hello Query is now focused on embedding custom reporting features within other SaaS applications and Colleen reflects on balancing product quality with minimal v1 features. Her excitement is building to get their solution into users' hands.

• (1:32) – Digging into customer interviews
• (3:54) – Filtering out the noise to achieve confidence
• (5:31) – Other competitors in the space
• (8:53) – How Colleen prepares for and sources customer conversations
• (12:11) – Is the technical implementation coming along?

• Invest in TinySeed
• Episode 748 | The Ins and Outs of Startup Investing
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky
• Hello Query

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 754, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure as he tackles listener questions on a variety of topics. He discusses strategies for converting free users to paid customers, the implications of AI advancements on the SaaS landscape, and how to navigate platform risks when larger players enter your market. Rob also shares insights on breaking through growth plateaus.

• (3:12) – When in doubt, don’t try freemium
• (6:44) – Different levers you can pull to make freemium work
• (8:53) – How will SaaS be affected by the exponential growth of AI?
• (14:09) – Big players launching features is a form of platform risk
• (17:24) – Should I spin out a portion of my product into a new product?
• (20:05) – Thinking through plateaus in your business growth

• MicroConf Connect Applications are open through Feb 5th
• Ask a Question on Startups For the Rest of Us
• TinySeed
• Episode 663 | 5 Insights SaaS Founders Should Know About A.I. (Ignore at Your Peril)
• Episode 735 | The 8 Levels of SaaS Platform Risk (A Rob Solo Adventure)
• MicroConf YouTube Channel

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling reconnects with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hammerstone, as she shares the latest developments in their startup journey.

Colleen opens up about the emotional challenges of co-founder conflicts with Aaron, highlighting the importance of communication and alignment in their partnership. They also discuss the significant pivot from their initial product offering to the newly rebranded Hello Query, a SaaS solution focused on internal reporting for teams.

• (0:59) – Breaking up with a co-founder
• (7:39) – How could this conversation have been different?
• (9:49) – Navigating a major pivot
• (14:37) – Changing the name
• (16:56) – Getting closer to finding product-market-fit
• (19:39) – Competing in a competitive market

• SaaS Institute
• TinySeed
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky
• Aaron Francis (@aarondfrancis) | X
• Aaron Francis (@aaronfrancis.com) | Bluesky
• MicroConf Recap, Episode 59 – The Hammerstone Podcast
• Hello Query

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In episode 752, Rob Walling interviews Lars Lofgren to discuss the current state of SEO. Lars shares insights on how SEO has drastically changed, especially with the rise of AI and the volatility brought on by Google’s evolving algorithm. They cover the challenges of ranking for terms, the impact of AI content, and the rise of "parasite SEO."

• (2:16) – SEO traffic that generates $7.2M annual revenue
• (4:54) – Changes in Google’s algorithm
• (9:46) – How to approach SEO as a bootstrapper
• (15:45) – SEO has changed considerably
• (19:48) – AI and SEO
• (25:54) – The advent of AI Overviews
• (31:19) – Parasite SEO and the importance of brands

• Get Your Tickets for MicroConf US by Jan 31st
• Larslofgren.com
• Lars Lofgren (@LarsLofgren) | X
• Lars Lofgren at MicroConf
• TinySeed.com
• MicroConf YouTube Channel

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling catches up with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hammerstone, about the progress her team has made since their initial check-in.

Colleen describes the tough decision to focus on one product stack, and their recent pivot toward building a reporting MVP. They also discuss Colleen’s shift into a more managerial role.

• (2:10) – Motivations behind building additional functionality
• (7:07) – Repositioning the reporting dashboard
• (10:08) – Focusing in on the successful part of the product
• (14:30) – How shifting focus affects the team dynamic
• (16:19) – ”Hiring is horrible”
• (22:20) – What has management been like?
• (26:11) – Growing as a manager

• Invest with TinySeed
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger) | X
• Colleen Schnettler (@leenyburger.bsky.social) | Bluesky
• Refine by Hammerstone
• Hello Query
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, Tahl Raz

If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify