62: How to stay married while bootstrapping a SaaS (with Mel Tye)

About this episode

Gavin and his wife Mel discuss the challenges and dynamics of balancing marriage and entrepreneurship while bootstrapping a SaaS business.

In this episode, Gavin is joined by his wife Mel to unpack how they met, how they process risk differently, what it is like watching SixSides grow from the sidelines, and why trust, communication, and the occasional hard conversation matter when you are building a bootstrapped SaaS around family life. Chapters (00:00) - Mel’s first podcast begins (02:10) - How Gavin and Mel met (07:40) - Same values, very different ways of processing information (13:20) - Work, motherhood, control, and learning to let go (18:50) - Gavin’s many business ideas before SixSides (26:30) - From Sales Market Fit to DealBuddi (33:20) - How Mel reacted to SixSides and meeting Mitch (42:00) - When your co-founder becomes part of the family (49:10) - Big client wins and the next phase of SixSides (56:30) - Advice for founders and their partners In this episode, we cover: Mel’s first ever podcast appearance How Gavin and Mel met while working in recruitment and electrical contracting First impressions, nervousness, arrogance, and how people can be misread The difference between Gavin and Mel’s decision-making styles Getting comfortable with risk when your partner is a founder Gavin’s long list of past…

People in this episode

Host: Gavin

Guest: Mel Tye

Topics covered

• marriage and business
• bootstrapping a SaaS
• risk management
• communication in relationships
• entrepreneurship
• family dynamics

Keywords

• bootstrapping
• SaaS
• marriage
• entrepreneurship
• risk
• communication
• family

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SixSides

Books & works: Cards Against Humanity, DealBuddi

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