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Where should you hire writers? How much should you pay them? Craig and Dave talk about making content marketing hiring and system mistakes, while looking for the right fit.  Dave made progress on Recapture’s SMS launch, but feels like he is falling behind on paid acquisition. He’s not getting as much feedback or tight integration from his agency. On top of all that, Dave’s content marketing hiring has gone awry—but he’s still able to laugh about it and share lessons learned.  Craig continues down the path of his journey with Castos. He understands the importance of details and hiring a specialist or productized service to get exactly what you want for content marketing to be competitive and lead to conversions.

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig share the latest news in the SaaS world, like the recent changes and trends in the discussion of Easy Digital Downloads versus WooCommerce. On the business side, Dave discusses some freelance adventures. Meanwhile, Craig dives deep into streamlining his hiring process. He talks about taking steps to create employee handbooks, and what it means to feel like a “grown-up business”.   Today’s topic comes from a blog post from Chris Lema. How do you take a corner in your field of expertise? How are you making a name for yourself? What are you taking a stand about? This prompts a discussion about what they’ve done to plant a flag in the corners of their respective industries.  Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  WooCommerce Easy Digital Downloads Wise (formerly Transferwise) QSEHRA Gusto Chris Lema’s Blog “Taking a corner: Be known for something” by Chris Lema Recapture.io Castos

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about skiing, seasonal affective disorder, the evolution of EOS at Castos, Recapture’s content struggles, integration news. They also talk about the big news involving Indie.VC shutting down it’s fund. What does this mean for the industry? Is this the future for other funds? If you have thoughts, comments, or questions about Indie.vc, funding, or anything other topics that were covered today, feel free to send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  “The End if Indie” Bryce Roberts, Medium (about Indie.VC) Recapture.io Castos

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about what Q1 has looked like for both Recapture and Castos. In addition to that, they cover a wide array of topics in this episode. As the vaccine rolls out, what is going to happen to office spaces and remote working? What does the growth/outlook space look like in ecommerce? How fast did you go from foreign language learning to bourbon during 2020? Dave and Craig also talk about makers and what it can mean when you get bored while running your business on a day-to-day basis. What social media platforms are you on? What are your thoughts on branding your business alongside your social media profiles? Which platforms are more toxic than others? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Recapture.io Castos

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about the 2021 BigSnow “conference”, marketing and conversion spreadsheets, an update on Dave’s investment journey, Q1 rocks, and Craig’s horrible internet connection. They also talk about the concept of kaizen (making little changes) in business and for your health. What are your thoughts? Do you prefer big changes or small changes? Long term improvements with small goals or big ambitious goals? What are your thoughts about where Dave and Craig are in their progress so far this year? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Kaizen (wiki definition) Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (Amazon) Recapture.io Castos

Today, Craig is talking with his coach Adii Pienaar about life profitability. Adii is a successful SaaS entrepreneur with three SaaS companies and two successful exits under his belt.  In this episode, Craig and Adii talk about what it’s like being and having a coach. What are the benefits of having a coach? What should you be looking for in a coach? How do you know if you want to join a Mastermind Group versus having a one-on-one coach?  They also go over Adii’s new book, the process of writing a book, and a new way of looking at work/life balance. Adii talks about life costs, building a business that is profitable for your life in many ways (not only financially), and trading time for money versus trading time for happiness.  Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  “RS193: A Little Bit Carnegie, A Little Bit Tennyson – Adii Pienaar On Life And Two Exits” Adii Pienaar’s personal website Life Profitability by Adii Pienaar Recapture.io Castos

This week’s episode is all about goal setting and making priority lists. Craig starts the podcast off with an app suggestion for people who like to (or need to) work off of to-do lists. Dave talks about updates on Recapture. They also talk about short-term and long-term goals. What do you need to do in order to gauge your long-term goals? What obstacles are in your way? How do you prioritize your tasks? Do you use the Eisenhower Matrix? Do you make SMART goals, or do you use EOS with your company?  What are your goals for your business? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Things App Reference about The Eisenhower Matrix Recapture.io Castos

Do you use the EOS system? How do you gauge when to give your team a little bit of downtime? What are your 2021 goals and initiatives? What are your online and offline businesses and how do each of those marketing and business skills transfer over? In today’s episode, Dave and Craig are talking about their holiday and New Year break, updates on Recapture and Castos, and what their 2021 Initiatives are. From quiet days at work to customers with no chill, it’s already been an interesting year of juxtapositions so far. They also briefly go over vanity metrics and what they do to analyze the numbers that really matter. The episode rounds out with the topic of EOS, level10 meetings (how they’re “supposed” to go), Craig’s goals for his team, Dave’s goals for Recapture, and Dave’s newest investment endeavor. What are your rocks? Are you ready for 2021? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Dan Martnell’s YouTube page EOS books Radical Candor – Be a Kick Ass Leader and Empower Your Team Recapture.io Castos

In this episode, Dave and Craig try to reflect on the good parts of 2020. They’re sharing eggnog stories as well as other holiday drinks and Christmas traditions that 2020 tried to ruin. Today, they tried to stay positive by talking about how the year allowed them to find time to exercise and bond with loved ones. They felt the absence of BigSnow and MicroConf but were able to maintain some of their work relationships remotely. Dave talks about learning some hard but necessary lessons in eCommerce. Craig talks about work/life balance.  It’s been a year of difficulties, lessons and weirdness. How was your 2020? What lessons did you learn in that tumultuous mother of a year? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Recapture.io Castos

In today’s episode Dave and Craig are talking about surviving Black Friday, busy schedules, churn, and marketing initiatives around the holidays. How and when do you market around the big holiday push?  Today’s big topic is all about business finance and their thoughts on how they spend money on their businesses. Craig talks about what they do personally and what they’ve heard from others in the industry. They’re tackling all of the aspects of financing from positive peer pressure to defining which direction the money flows. Dave also goes over financial literacy and the importance of teaching kids how to be financially responsible.They go over tech savvy financial apps and old-school finance lessons. How are you thinking about your money (business finance or personal finance)? How do you teach your family about money? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Famzoo – an app that teaches kids about financial responsibility and literacy Recapture.io Castos

In this episode, Dave and Craig are talking about what they’ve been up to for the past few weeks. They’re catching everyone up on Recapture and Castos as well as sharing their Black Friday/Cyber Monday stories, including Black Friday deals on Business Directory plug-ins. Craig touches on Giving Tuesday and giving back to the community. He also talks about Castos’ newest staff member and an open developer position, remote communication, trial jobs, and how it has changed since the pandemic. Dave brings up the question of marketing tactics, from emails to pop-ups.  How do you feel about pop-ups? How well do you listen to your content marketers? Have you created a positive and involved community around your product? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Recapture.io Castos

In this episode (recorded on Election Day), Dave and Craig are talking about the big topics: elections in the United States and Black Friday. This 2020 election has been about straddling lines: blue versus red, mail-in ballots versus in-person voting, etc. Craig talks about explaining the electorate voting system to adults and how difficult that is. Both Dave and Craig talk about their predictions, silent Trump supporters, and the potential for shenanigans. On the business side of things, Dave and Craig brainstorm techniques and ideas for Black Friday. What role does loyalty play in Black Friday deals? And how do you do that with a SaaS? What about the quality of customers? What about retention? They also touch base on Dave’s search for a new marketing person and chat about autoscaling. Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Recapture.io Castos

In this episode Dave and Craig talk through Dave’s recent founder retreat and his realizations about implementing EOS in his business and the changes that need to come about as a result.

In this episode of the Rogue Startups Podcast, Craig is joined by Steve Mcleod from the Bootstrapped podcast. Steve is also the founder of Feature Upvote and the acquirer of Saber Feedback. Bootstrapped has been creating helpful episodes for software bootstrappers since 2013. The formatting of the show consists of episodes which are interviews with experts, open discussions between bootstrappers, and (every now and then) solo episodes where Steve does a deep dive into a business topic. Today, Craig and Steve are talking about what it’s like being an expat and running a business abroad (specifically in Europe). While the positives of living and working in a different country are showcased on various social media accounts, the downsides aren’t always covered. So they decided to share information about some of the more difficult aspects like bookkeeping, language barriers, running multiple businesses, work/life balance, and being homesick. Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. If you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Bootstrapped Podcast Steve Mcleod, Twitter Saber Feedback Feature Upvote Radical Candor by Kim Scott Recapture.io Castos

Dave and Craig are back behind the mic. This week they’re talking about being pulled in different directions, bookkeepers, and perseverance. How long is too long when it comes to being persistent? They’re also covering updates on Castos and Recapture, along with Dave’s Tweetstorm about luck surface area.  We would love to hear stories about times when you’ve followed-up with someone which led to you maximizing your personal luck surface area. Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. Tweet at us: @RogueStartups. As always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Bench.co FollowUp.cc FollowUpThen.com Spark WooCommerce Dave’s Twitter Recapture.io Castos

On this episode of Rogue Startups, Dave and Craig talk about the newest member to the Castos team, expanding time zones and work hours for customers, integrations and plug in news for Recapture, Black Friday, and unplugged time. After talking with some of the people from Big Snow, Dave ponders over EOS (Entrepreneur Operating System).  Dave and Craig talk about the EOS system, how it would work within their team, doing “the Diet Coke” version, invested team-members, and what type of company would work best with EOS. We’d love to hear from you. Do you have any experience with EOS? Do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to offer with us? Or questions you’d like us to answer in any future episodes? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  VTO Organizer RS214: Implementing EOS with Kevin McArdle ninety.io Recapture.io Castos

In this episode, Craig and Dave are back talking about their current state of affairs. They’re going over everything from kids going back to school, to “Members Only” jackets, to updates with their businesses. Today’s topics include integration, the hiring process, the role of communication in remote roles, developer stories, and affiliate programs. We’d love to hear from you. Do you have a lot of experience with affiliate programs? Do you know someone who is? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com.And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a five-star review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Who: The A Method for Hiring, by Geoff Smart and Randy Street CodeSubmit.io Recapture.io Castos

In this episode, Craig and Dave are back behind the mic talking about work hours, quality time with automations, Dave’s emotions after selling, and the benefits of working with a full plate. They also explore private podcasting with Castos, the limits of not having $10 million in the bank, infrastructure changes with Recapture, as well presumptions about bootstrappers and start-up founders.  Do you think it’s easier or harder to build wealth as a single-founder start-up? Send us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com. We’d love to hear your opinion on that. And as always, if you feel like our podcast has benefited you and it might benefit someone else, please share it with them. If you have a chance, give us a five-star review on iTunes. We’ll see you next week! Resources:  Recapture.io Castos

In this episode Dave has some big news to announce. He has sold his two WordPress plugins: Business Directory and AWPCP In this episode Dave and Craig talk through: The process of getting the plugins ready for saleWhere and how to list themWorking with the right broker for the business you’re sellingThe due diligence processWhat working with a buyer looks like. The buyers of the plugin are Syed Balkhi and Stephanie Wells With the sale of the plugins Dave is now freed up to focus more on Recapture.io which is still experiencing strong growth and has massive potential to become a strong 6 or 7 figure business. Questions, comments, or virtual high fives for Dave? Shoot us an email at podcast@roguestartups.com

In this episode, Craig sits down with Alex Theuma (Founder and CEO of SaaStock). They go over conferences, the SaaS industry, and how the coronavirus is affecting everything.  Alex talks about the perks and pitfalls of online conferences. He summarizes some of the lessons when transitioning from in-person conferences to online conferences. They also chat about likelihood of burnout in the current state of the industry. Alex Theuma is an entrepreneur who knows the value of shared knowledge from those in a similar sector. He believes it’s his mission to share the newest ideas and connect the brightest minds in SaaS so everyone can benefit. Alex founded SaaStock with the goal of connecting a community of SaaS founders and investors in order to help SaaS companies get traction, grow and scale through SaaStock global conferences, local meetups, community, and content. If you enjoyed the episode, please share this episode with someone who might benefit from it. Resources Mentioned: SaaStock.com