A fresh perspective on the stages of building a SaaS business

About the Searching For SaaS Podcast

A fresh perspective on the stages of building a software as a service (SaaS) business.

In this podcast we hear from Josh Ho and Nate Bosscher, two founders in very different stages of their SaaS journey.

Josh is in the company building phase. While Nate struggles to start a profitable SaaS of his own.

Follow their journey as Josh helps Nate find his footing and they meander the world of SaaS.

Meet the hosts

Nate Bosscher

Nate is a software engineer and entrepreneur. When he isn’t consulting at Blue Giraffe, he’s working on his next startup idea.

He’s had a lot of failed attempts but each attempt is closer and closer to success.

Josh Ho

Josh is the founder of Referral Rock a SaaS business in the marketing technology space.

He’s an engineer by trade but now spends his time wherever the business needs him most.

He sometimes blogs at mojoho, but aspires to write more. You can also find him on LinkedIn but mostly Twitter.

Recent episodes with our SaaS founders

Keeping successful partnerships aligned (in business + life)

Searching For SaaS Podcast
Searching For SaaS Podcast
Keeping successful partnerships aligned (in business + life)
/

Today on the show, we dig into partnerships – what makes them work and what doesn’t, what keeps them alive and what undermines them. Josh has had over 5 partnerships and he weighs in on some of the insights he’s uncovered.

Further reading:
– https://joshho.substack.com/p/staying-aligned-on-the-big-things

This is episode 81

Show Notes »

To Build in Public or Not to Build in Public

Searching For SaaS Podcast
Searching For SaaS Podcast
To Build in Public or Not to Build in Public
/

Today on the show we have Mike from Wafris talking about his fledgling internet security company and how he’s using social media to get off the ground. We explore where social is working for Mike and what he can do to get even more reach.

Links:
– https://wafris.org/
– https://wafris.org/ip-lookup

This is episode 80

Show Notes »

Designing a High Touch Signup Flow

Searching For SaaS Podcast
Searching For SaaS Podcast
Designing a High Touch Signup Flow
/

Today on the show we talk about the signup process for Nate’s new SaaS – Testing Taxi. Self-guided trials are not an option so what should he do?

We also check in on Nate’s SEO push on Status List and where he’s running stuck.

Links:
https://testing.taxi

This is episode 79

Show Notes »

Would we buy either of these SEO, AI, or Chrome Plug-in SaaS?

Searching For SaaS Podcast
Searching For SaaS Podcast
Would we buy either of these SEO, AI, or Chrome Plug-in SaaS?
/

Today Nate and Josh dive into 3 different SaaS companies and ask: would this be a good business to buy? We dive into how we might market, position or turn a profit with each. The results may surprise you.

We also dig into the AI-powered things SaaS businesses are spinning up lately – a full gamut on the show today.

This is episode 78

Show Notes »

Time to market Nate’s new project?

Searching For SaaS Podcast
Searching For SaaS Podcast
Time to market Nate’s new project?
/

Today we talk about Nate’s latest project and if it’s time to buy a domain and tell the world. Josh weights in and gives some helpful SEO tips to get started.

Also today, we talk about abilities and environment and how those have both shaped our entrepreneurial journey.

Links:
https://lawrenceandco.com/your-oxygen-mask-first

This is episode 77

Show Notes »

Domain Hoarding: Guilty Pleasure or Asset?

Searching For SaaS Podcast
Searching For SaaS Podcast
Domain Hoarding: Guilty Pleasure or Asset?
/

Today, Josh and Nate discuss the value of domains. What would you pay
for a used domain? Why do people pay millions of dollars for special
domain names? Some of us like to hold 90+ domains for a “rainy day”.
Others only buy domains when they’re ready to launch something.

More on aquisition of chat.com
https://twitter.com/dharmesh/status/1641094109187260421

This is episode 76

Show Notes »

Why we started our SaaS podcast

Starting a SaaS business isn’t easy, but it’s definitely more fun with a friend to help you along the way. Since they launched this podcast in early 2021, the most downloaded episode is Episode 4 – Why, why why? Why start this podcast, Why SaaS, Why not other types of businesses?.

Josh and Nate are avid podcast listeners who listen and learn from the best SaaS podcasts and SaaS entrepreneurs such as:

  • The Official Saastr Podcast by Jason Lemkin
  • SaaS Breakthrough
  • Nathan Latka
  • Dan Martell
  • The Saas Revolution Show by Alex Theuma of SaaStock
  • Saas Startup podcast
  • The Saas Podcast by Omer Khan of SaaS Club
  • Startup Chat by Hiten Shah and Steli Efti
 

But they truly drew inspiration from the the Software Social Podcast where their friends Colleen and Michele have created a fantastic dynamic between two SaaS founders at different stages of their business. 

Legend has it that Josh say’s this exact quote to Nate: “What do you think about starting a podcast? I’ll be Michele, you can be Colleen”.

What types of SaaS business topics are covered?

So far they’ve learned a lot about how they each approach ideation, market validation, and the mentality of building assets. They plan on covering more SaaS topics in the future like MRR, ARR, churn, onboarding, customer success, bootstrapping, co-founders, SaaS product, B2B SaaS, growth hacking, entrepreneurship, SaaS marketing, case studies, content marketing, SEO, growth strategies, being a serial entrepreneur, and marketing strategies.  All with both actionable advice and actionable insights.

While both Nate and Josh are bootstrapped, this startup chat style podcast is not exclusively about bootstrapping.

Both Nate and Josh agree that the process of sharing our journey’s as in public as SaaS founders has been both rewarding and fun. Nate approaches this whole process with a beginner’s mindset, yet he’s far from a beginner. While Josh tries to stay open-minded and is careful not to give blanket advice.

Join the guys each week for new episodes wherever you listen to podcasts. (and yes there maybe some SaaS but mostly just josh-splaining)