Startups For the Rest of Us

Where do the best SaaS ideas actually come from? In this episode, Rob reads a chapter from his new book, Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants in the Age of AI. He walks through the five places problems tend to show up, eight strategic approaches for finding and shaping a product idea (with real examples), and when it makes sense to replicate an existing idea. Pre-order the hardback before November 10th to get bonus PDFs, a seat in a live Q&A to ask your early stage questions, and a free copy of the ebook or audiobook ideatotractionbook.com. Topics we cover: (1:41) – Why Rob wrote Idea to Traction (3:29) – What the new book covers (6:03) – Pre-order bonuses and live Q&A (7:32) – Chapter three: how to find startup ideas (9:09) – Solve a problem, not a moonshot (10:34) – Five places problems come from (12:52) – Approach 1: Translate an idea to a new niche (13:50) – Approach 2: Find a hated competitor (14:57) – Approach 3: Build on your audience (16:04) – Approach 4: Build on your network (16:50) – Approach 5: Undercut a clunky enterprise competitor (17:49) – Approach 6: Enter a fast-growing ecosystem (19:15) – Approach 7: Build on an existing product (20:13) – Approach 8: Audit your day job spending (21:20) – Can you replicate an existing idea? Links from the show: Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants in the Age of AI Start Small, Stay Small The SaaS Playbook MicroConf State of Independent SaaS Report TinySeed The Stair Step Method of Bootstrapping Derek Sivers Jason Cohen Basecamp WP Engine Builder Prime Bidsketch SignWell SparkToro ScrapingBee ScatterSpoke Clarity.fm DealForma ScoutDNS Baremetrics StaticKit SavvyCal Seriously Simple Podcasting / Castos CartHook 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:

Should you be worried that another founder will steal your idea if you ask them for advice? In this episode, Rob is joined by Ruben Gamez to answer four listener questions: whether reaching out to more advanced founders puts your idea at risk, how to convince big name customers to agree to a case study, what to do when a platform ecosystem (like Shopify's app store) turns hostile, and how to sell a B2G SaaS product when your sales cycle only runs during the hours you're already at a day job. Want to get your question answered? Submit your question for an upcoming episode. Topics we cover: (1:59) – Fear that outreach could get an idea stolen (3:50) – Why no one actually steals ideas (9:12) – Getting copied is inevitable once you're public (13:45) – How to land big brand case studies (15:39) – Using discounts to secure case studies (18:11) – Shopify's fake review extortion (20:21) – Should you move to a standalone SaaS (25:06) – B2G SaaS around a day job (28:29) – Why GovTech rarely attracts angel investment Links from the show: Tiny Summit | December 5–7, 2026 · Cancun, Mexico TinySeed SaaS Institute MicroConf SignWell Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks) | X 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

How do you onboard a hire onto a codebase you built alone? In this episode, Derrick Reimer joins Rob to tackle four listener questions. They cover hiring and onboarding your first developer as a bootstrapped founder, then move into the temptation to build features just because AI makes them cheap to ship, getting past social anxiety as a founder, and whether it's worth trademarking your product name. Topics we cover: (3:59) – How do you hire your first developer? (5:14) – Qualities to look for in a first developer hire (13:37) – Onboarding a new hire into your codebase with AI (16:49) – Reducing hiring risk: pairing, reliability, recruiters (22:50) – The temptation to build features just because AI makes it cheap (30:43) – Getting over social anxiety as a founder (35:25) – Is trademarking your product name worth it? Links from the show: TinySummit | December 5–7, 2026 · JW Marriott, Cancun MicroConf US | April 18–20, 2027 · Austin, TX Partnerships: [email protected] Idea to Traction: Stop Building SaaS Nobody Wants (book wait list) Rob Walling Newsletter Remote First Recruiting SavvyCal Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn 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