Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Ben decides to hire a support firm, document support processes, completes the Hound pricing change, and prepares to make products their own division for next year. Meanwhile, on Drip, Derrick addresses a performance challenge. Podcast Swag Bundles Upcase FormKeep CoSupport Bootstrapped Web Podcast The Checklist Manifesto: Atul Gawande The Checklist I Use To Start My Day Hound Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Ben is joined by Mike Perham, author of Sidekiq, to discuss running a business solo, taking a side project from hobby to full time job, and scaling support as an app grows. Upcase FormKeep Indie Hackers- Sidekiq Sidekiq Open Core Software Business Model MikePerham.com Kill Your Dependencies Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

On Drip, Derrick launches a free tier, and utilizes credit card anti-fraud measures. Ben publicly launches FormLinter, pauses exploring new product ideas in favor of giving attention to existing ones, and starts to rebuild the product team. They also discuss the merits of remote vs in-person collaboration, the pros and cons of open offices, and dealing with interruptions from notifications and meetings. Upcase FormKeep Drip Stripe: Radar Caffeine Effects on Sleep Study The Development Abstraction Layer- Joel Spolsky Announcing FormLinter Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Ben and Nick get super nerdy this week and chat about Meetspace's architecture using Go, Postgres, and HMAC including custom cookie signing, rendering, error handling, tooling, and more! Upcase FormKeep Meetspace- use code GIANTROBOTS30 for 30% off your first month Go Postgres Driver Google's Websocket Driver WebRTC Uniform Interface Secure Signed Cookies- Nick Gauthier HMAC errcheck Go linter Think Like a Software Developer- Geoffrey Grosenbach Tubesock Jeff Casimir on Giant Robots Nick on Twitter Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Sadly, Ben is stuck in hammock somewhere, and we are without a new episode this week. However, we would love you all to check out thoughtbot's newest podcast, interviewing inspirational designers, developers, and other makers in tech, The Laila & Brenda Show! Give their latest episode a listen here, and if you like it subscribe to their feed however you listen to podcasts! The Laila & Brenda Show Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Ben and Nick chat about ways to pitch your product, working solo as well as sustainably, and the costs of doing business. Upcase FormKeep Meetspace- use code GIANTROBOTS30 for 30% off your first month Staying Motivated While Working Solo Nick on Twitter Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Ben talks to Nick Gauthier, founder of MeetSpace, about the importance of validating ideas, reading through API documentation, and pricing surveys. Podcast Patreon Survey Upcase FormKeep MeetSpace- use code GIANTROBOTS30 for 30% off your first month HMAC Random Postgres Docs App Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter How Our Users Picked Our Pricing Go Newsletter SaaSFest Nick on Twitter Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Derrick finds some new areas to improve after walking new hires through Drip's architecture, and discusses his custom billing engine. On Hound, Ben delegates the new-pricing project, and validates a new product idea. Podcast Patreon Survey Upcase FormKeep Drip Briefs FullStory Hound techzing podcast The War of Art Content Marketing ROI Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Derrick brings a few more new hires onto the team, and ships a change to make clients' Javascript snippets more performant. On Hound, Ben does some direct outreach sales, considers bringing on someone to help with marketing, and muses on the balancing act between product manager, developer, and marketing. Podcast Patreon Survey Upcase FormKeep Drip Bootstrapped Web Podcast Greg Pollack Founder's Talk Hound Third-Party JavaScript ZenFounder Podcast Grand Trunk Hammocks Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

On Hound, Ben sends out announcements for pricing changes, questions when a decision is the "right" decision when it comes to customer feedback, and toys with per-seat pricing model feasibility. Derrick has a successful first week on-boarding the new dev-ops hire, offers Ben some advice on balancing features with price, and discusses some customer acquisition campaigns. Podcast Patreon Survey Upcase FormKeep Drip Schlep Blindness- Paul Graham (Ben meant 'Schlep' rather than 'Slog') Conversion Cast Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots