Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Ben and Chris muse on the nature of weather-related happiness. Also, Ben works on instrumenting Formkeep's activation funnel, utilizes a monitoring utility to optimize sign-up flow, and vows to almost certainly not toy with pricing any more. Meanwhile on Upcase, Chris confronts multiple root causes for a dip in MRR, updates content displays, and overhauls the checkout. Upcase Formkeep The Hedonic Treadmill FullStory

Ben and Chris discuss taxes and financial (as well as bedtime) routines. On Upcase, Chris showcases "The Weekly Iteration" on the site, reveals a long-term dream for the platform, and patches a critical security issue. Ben adds a bunch of features to cut down on support requests, does some UX cleanup, and performs other general tasks to improve usability on Formkeep. Upcase Formkeep Philips Hue The Weekly Iteration Campaign Monitor- HTML Email Design Guidelines Git remote code execution vulnerability Flexbox Flexbox on The Weekly Iteration AccountDock calendly Thank you to Hired for sponsoring this episode!

Chris makes progress on Upcase's to-dos in order to shift focus to after-the-funnel improvements, and makes a renewed vow to talk to customers for direct feedback. Meanwhile, Ben attends a conference, and while he picked up some great strategies for Formkeep onboarding, he mostly just wants to fix the airline industry. Upcase Formkeep Advanced ActiveRecord Querying- Bloopers Gail Goodman: When software and people mix- Business of Software 2012 Startups For the Rest of Us Ep 212- The Long, Slow Death of SaaS Ramp MicroConf Thank you to Hired for sponsoring this episode!

Chris keeps improving MRR on Upcase, patches a Javascript problem with a Javascript solution, and implements benefit focused text on course descriptions. On Formkeep, Ben discovers a flaw in an A/B test, deals with squirrely payment code, and prepares for a conference talk. Upcase Formkeep MicroConf Briefs Dark Patterns on Tentative Podcast Percy.io- Visual regression testing Paul Fernell (Litmus) on Giant Robots Weekly Iteration- Intro to Accessibility Thank you to Hired for sponsoring this episode!

Ben decides to A/B test pricing, begins grandfathering existing customers to the new tiers, teases new features on Formkeep, and recounts some interesting customer interactions. Meanwhile, Chris drives conversions through e-mail and Twitter, identifies unique customer segments, and brings in more of the thoughtbot voice to Upcase. Formkeep Upcase Visual Website Optomizer Split Gem Honeybadger thoughtbot YouTube Thank you to Hired for sponsoring this episode!

Chris welcomes a new member to team Upcase, confronts a drop in MRR, and looks forward to increased content production. On Formkeep, Ben introduces tiered pricing and trials, considers tier differentiators, and muses on what next to implement. Formkeep Upcase Zapier a smart bear Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business- Jason Cohen

Ben and Chris welcome on Ryan Buckley, co-founder of Scripted, for an honest discussion on the shortcomings, pain-points, and benefits that arise from restructuring a product's focus. Formkeep Upcase: 50% Off Your First Month For Giant Robots Listeners! Scripted Ryan on Twitter

Ben welcomes SaaS growth and customer success pioneer Lincoln Murphy to discuss the true importance of providing value to existing customers and focusing on their success, as every tactic you undertake as a business is predicated on understanding their desired outcome. He also delves into how focusing on customer type is beneficial for both consumers and producers, as well as gives Ben some feedback about Formkeep. Formkeep The Value of Keeping the Right Customers 80/20 Rule Jobs-to-be-Done Ideal Customer Profile Framework Sixteen Ventures Lincoln on Twitter

Ben accidentally launches a Vim course, debates a B2B vs B2C focus, and feels out different Formkeep pricing tiers. Chris welcomes back a handful of former subscribers to Upcase, continues to work on content production, and integrates relevant content into broader thoughtbot docs. Upcase Formkeep Become a Daily Vim User Vim Tips With Ben Podcast Sublime Text Factory Girl docs with Upcase introductory video

Chris converts with email campaigns, lays out a time-table to churn out a ton of content, and tries to analyze a dip in revenue. Meanwhile, Ben tests the definition of what constitutes a "conference", focuses on how to enrich Formkeep for specific use cases, and makes headway on tiered pricing. Upcase Formkeep Moraware- Countertop Fabricator Software Clearbit

Ben finalizes Formkeep's Ember removal, toys with the idea of manual on boarding, and positions himself to begin experimenting with plans and pricing. Meanwhile, Chris deals with credit card fraud, too many inodes on Upcase's server, and finishes the changes required to offer free videos. Upcase Formkeep Barbell Investment Strategy Designing Forms That Convert Free Gitsh Video from The Weekly Iteration What is 2.5 * 26?

Chris talks with growth expert Brian Balfour on starting and sustaining SaaS business, and his team's approach to addressing growth issues. Upcase Pirate Metrics Airbnb Growth Study Be the Best at Getting Better Traction vs Growth How to Become a Customer Acquisition Expert Power Law Coelevate- Brian’s personal writings Brian on Twitter

Chris gets a surprise while reviewing Upcase's Q4 profit & loss statement, gains some insight into e-mail marketing, wrestles with the added complexity of adding github auth-to-access, and brainstorms new community-driven projects. Meanwhile, Ben gets his hands dirty with Formkeep's Ember removal, is tempted by the siren's call of distraction, and gets an open review from the Bootstrapped Web podcast. Also, Chris does a live user-test of Formkeep's new user activation flow. Formkeep Upcase The Chris Toomey of Real Estate Deep Work- Cal Newport Bootstrapped Web Ep 98- Formkeep Teardown! xkcd: Nerd Sniping Pave the Cowpaths Cooper Press

Ben resolves to cut back on dashboard checkins, makes progress on Formkeep's Ember extraction, and struggles with product-market fit. Meanwhile, Chris tackles some analytics issues, opens up Upcase landing pages from behind the paywall to improve marketing and SEO, and steps up his marketing and social-media game. Formkeep Upcase baremetrics Formkeep Blog The Pragmatic Programmer SPIN Selling Radical Candor Bootstrapped Web Podcast

Ben and Chris both struggle with cancelations coming into the new year, Formkeep continues to strip out Ember and focus on content marketing, and Upcase resolves a major issue in the exercise system and improves the checkout flow. Formkeep Upcase The Mythical Man-Month Levenshtein Distance Edgar Laura Roeder on Giant Robots How to 3x your productivity in 10 minutes a week- Mitchell Harper gitolite Test All the F***in Time Finding Your Flywheel- Rob Walling SPIN Selling

Chris tracks new members after the release of the new Mastering Git course from Upcase, launches a drip e-mail campaign to attract more members, and focuses on increased content output. Ben continues removing Ember from Formkeep, rethinks an activation sequence A/B test, conducts user tests to improve the checkout flow, and adopts a mindset of continuous improvement. Formkeep Upcase Mastering Git course on Upcase Drip Marketing Mastermind Alliance Startup Playbook- Sam Altman Rob Walling on Giant Robots How to 10x in 15 Months The Content Marketing Handbook Airbnb vs Hotels The Effective Executive- Peter F. Drucker

As Ben transitions from Upcase to Formkeep, so too will the podcast transition to an open discussion around growing thoughtbot's internal projects and maintaining them as businesses, highlighting our hopes, experiments, tactics, failures, and success along the way! Today Ben and new co-host Chris discuss finding that magic feature or metric around which to structure pricing, selecting the right framework for your app, and customer acquisition tactics. Formkeep Upcase Price Intelligently Audience Ops Bootstrapped Web Podcast Middleman Traction Wistia Turnstile Rob Walling on Giant Robots Visual Website Optimizer Mastering Git course on Upcase Chris on Twitter

Ben talks with Ashe Dryden about ways to approach diversity in the tech community from workplace, conference, and personal perspectives. AlterConf The Diverse Team The Inclusive Event Model View Culture Brianna Wu - 9 Ways to Stop Hurting and Start Helping Women in Tech Fund Club Ashe on Twitter

Ben and Laura Roeder, founder of Edgar, chat about anthropomorphizing your brand to build better engagement, going the extra step to care about customer success, and some tips for social media marketing best practices. This episode is brought to you by Formkeep: Form endpoints for designers and developers Edgar Edgar is my boyfriend- Sticker shown at the top of this glowing love-letter to Edgar thoughtbot Playbook Laura on Twitter

Ben talks with Hiten Shah, co-founder of Crazy Egg and Kissmetrics, on the value of helping others, frameworks for a better life, being an infovore, and tips for finding a successful product niche. Upcase: 50% Off Your First Month For Giant Robots Listeners! Crazy Egg Kissmetrics Jeff Bezos - Regret Minimization Framework Hacks for Infovores "Be Good"- Paul Graham The Lean Startup Jack Dorsey on CEO as Editor The Startup Chat Podcast Saas Weekly Hiten on Twitter