Podcasts by Release Notes
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Further podcasts by Charles Perry and Joe Cieplinski
Podcast on the topic Firmengründung
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#450: Finale from 2022-01-03T15:29:24
Episode 450! Today we announce that this will be final episode of the Release Notes podcast. We talk about what led to this decision, what comes next, and we take a look at the journey we shared fo...
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#449: I Feel Like Taking a Nap from 2021-12-27T14:09:28
It’s the end of 2021, so today we look forward to 2022 and what we hope to achieve. Joe talks about the upcoming inflection point he faces with his current long-term contract, and Charles discusses...
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#448: More to the Right than Up from 2021-12-20T13:33:11
Today we continue with our look at how we did living up to the goals that we set for ourselves in 2021. Last week we focused on Joe. This week it’s Charles’ chance to be in the hot seat as we evalu...
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#447: More Like an Envelope from 2021-12-13T14:30:04
As is our tradition, today we start taking a look at how we did living up to the goals that we set for ourselves in 2021. In this episode we review Joe’s goals and get caught up on how he did this ...
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#446: Smallest Fish in the Pond from 2021-12-06T14:44:36
Today we discuss Charles’ ad campaigns in 2021 and look forward to 2022. We talk about why RelaNet’s final advertisement in 2021 was rejected, risks that this cancellation have revealed in RelaNet’...
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#445: Not JavaScript from 2021-11-29T15:39:21
Today Charles takes his turn on the couch and talks to Joe about some problems he’s been dealing with. We talk about a feature update that has taken much longer than expected, how to push a contrac...
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#444: Hundreds and Hundreds of Rejections from 2021-11-15T15:22:02
Today we are again discussing the Apple vs Epic lawsuit. This time we talk about the recent court order that denied Apples motion to delay removal of the App Store anti-steering provisions, what Ap...
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#443: Sort by Revenue from 2021-11-08T15:01:25
Charles has returned from Hawaii, so today we discuss how indies can plan ahead to have more relaxing vacations. We talk about things you can do before your vacation to minimize work interruptions,...
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#442: Love Letters to Laptops from 2021-11-01T13:50:02
Today we talk about the recent Apple Event and the new line of laptops that Apple announced. We discuss the new technology in Apple’s new CPUs, the return of ports on MacBook Pros, and why Joe isn’...
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#441: Jonathan Rhyne (part 2) from 2021-10-25T13:50:32
We are joined again today by Jonathan Rhyne, CEO and Co-Founder of PSPDFKit. We invited Jonathan on the show again because PSPDFKit just raised its first round of funding. Today Jonathan continues ...
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#440: Jonathan Rhyne (part 1) from 2021-10-18T13:28:37
We are joined today by Jonathan Rhyne, CEO and Co-Founder of PSPDFKit. We invited Jonathan on the show again because PSPDFKit just raised its first round of funding. Jonathan gives us an overview o...
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#439: Locked in the Pokey from 2021-10-11T14:02:49
In this episode Charles shares the story of how he can’t get Apple to quit sending him money. Charles hasn’t had an app available in the iOS App Store for years, and yet he hasn’t found the magic i...
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#438: A Series of Red Flags from 2021-10-04T14:33:54
Today we catch up on the goings on in our businesses. Joe talks about dumping the Apple Card and selecting a new credit card, we discuss the differences between personal and business credit cards, ...
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#437: Definitely a Pipe Dream from 2021-09-27T12:50:05
Today we look at the recent settlement between Apple and the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) that will allow so called “reader apps” in the App Store to direct their customers to outside paym...
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#436: Photos of Bugs from 2021-09-20T13:39:49
Today we’re talking about the recent Apple event, and the hardware that was introduced. We discuss the trouble that Joe ran into ordering his new iPhone, all the new hardware that was announced, an...
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#435: Swimming with Turtles from 2021-09-13T14:07:19
Today we talk about a grab bag of issues that have been on our mind. Joe talks about a tax problem that he’s run into, Charles shares a nice resource for writing checks, and then we talk about the ...
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#434: More Than a Vibe in the Air from 2021-09-06T11:53:25
Joe attended a conference! Live and in-person! So today Charles talks to Joe about his time attending 360iDev in Denver. We find out what it was like attending an in-person conference in the midst ...
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#433: We’re Looking at You, Comic Sans from 2021-08-30T13:56:24
Today we continue the discussion about website design that we began last week. We talk about how to select great fonts for your website, being careful with contrast, and some considerations to keep...
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#432: Poopy Brown from 2021-08-23T13:57:11
Today we’re talking about design, specifically website design. We start with an brief introduction to color theory and talk about tools that can be used to help you choose color schemes that look g...
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#431: The Longest Sherlock Ever from 2021-08-16T12:30:59
Today we talk about the latest fuss to overtake our technology community: 1Password and its decision to use Electron for the next version of its password manager rather than native technologies. We...
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#430: John Wilker from 2021-08-09T13:09:12
Today we’re joined by John Wilker, organizer of 360iDev, to continue last week’s discussion about conferences. John tells us what we got right and wrong in last week’s episode, he shares his first-...
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#429: Fast Zombies from 2021-08-02T13:21:43
Even if we can’t attend in-person conferences these days, we can at least talk about them. So today we talk about the conference outlook for the rest of 2021—at least as we see it. We share our tho...
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#428: Somewhat Figure-out-able from 2021-07-26T13:17:37
Today we talk about some of the “strong opinions” that exist surrounding the changes that have been made to Safari in the current betas of iOS and MacOS. In particular, we discuss public reactions ...
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#427: Champagne Taste, Coca Cola Budget from 2021-07-19T13:00:26
Today we catch up with Charles and the email advertising campaign that he recently ran for RelaNet. Charles shares some numbers on the performance of the campaign, and he expresses frustration abou...
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#426: Guess and Check from 2021-07-12T13:34:41
Today we talk to Joe about an issue he’s been facing with the product he’s contracting on: How can you tell when it’s time to put your foot on the gas, and when does your product need a little more...
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#425: Take Your Foot Off the Pedal from 2021-07-05T13:31:34
Today we’re talking about an article from Justin Harter that really resonated with us. It’s a story of someone who owned his own services business, struggled to make it work, found some success, an...
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#424: Help Me Help You from 2021-06-28T13:46:39
Today we tackle the question of when to part ways with a customer. Charles shares the story of a customer that he recently had to fire, then we do a postmortem to consider whether firing the custom...
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#423: CaaS from 2021-06-21T12:59:57
We’re joined again today by Curtis Herbert, developer of Slopes, to discuss WWDC. Last week we talked about announcements that made the keynote. Today we dive into some of the WWDC sessions that Jo...
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#422: A Middle Finger to Android from 2021-06-14T13:47:09
We’re joined today by Curtis Herbert, developer of Slopes, to discuss the WWDC keynote and how the announcements that Apple made will affect the businesses of iOS and Mac developers. We talk about ...
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#421: It’s Cheap…But It’s Also Cheap from 2021-06-07T14:16:26
Charles is preparing for another round of cold email marketing, so today we continue our discussion about email marketing. We talk about doing the pre-work that’s necessary to make sure your pitch ...
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#420: I Think Mine Are Helpful from 2021-05-31T13:55:14
Charles is preparing for another round of cold email marketing, so today we discuss some of the considerations that go into a cold email campaign. We talk about getting over the uncomfortable feeli...
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#419: Caring About 2 Cents from 2021-05-24T13:50:10
Today we catch up with Joe on what’s going on in his world. He gives us an update on the status of his 2021 goals, and shares a funny story (in hind sight) about his taxes that came to a conclusion...
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#418: Brady Cassidy (part 2) from 2021-05-17T13:57:50
We are joined again today by Brady Cassidy, co-founder of Rewardful, a SaaS to help you run an affiliate program for your business. Last week we heard about Brady’s journey as an entrepreneur and l...
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#417: Brady Cassidy (part 1) from 2021-05-10T14:10:34
Today we are joined by Brady Cassidy, co-founder of Rewardful, a SaaS to help you run an affiliate program for your business. We talk to Brady about his experience bootstrapping Rewardful, how he g...
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#416: I Hate Anything Forever from 2021-05-03T14:00:22
In this episode we continue talking about Charles’ plan for marketing RelaNet in 2021. Today we discuss Charles’ plan to start an affiliate program and focus on state-level organizations. We talk a...
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#415: They Had No Guidelines from 2021-04-26T14:17:03
Improving his marketing is one of Charles’ main goals for 2021, and with the end of tax season quickly approaching, he finally has a little more focus about what he’s going to change. Today we talk...
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#414: Maybe I Should Tick Somebody Off from 2021-04-19T14:34:17
Today we continue talking about the changes that Charles is making to RelaNet pricing tiers. In particular, today we discuss how to handle customers whose pricing would be different under the new p...
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#413: I Could be Talked Out of This from 2021-04-12T14:46:40
Today Charles talks about his plan to change his pricing tiers for RelaNet. We talk about RelaNet’s current pricing tiers, the problems he’s found with this current pricing, the changes he has in m...
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#412: Dermot Daly (part 2) from 2021-04-05T13:57:31
Today we continue our conversation with Dermot Daly, founder of Tapadoo, one of the premier iOS client services outfits in Dublin, Ireland. In this episode, we talk about how the pandemic has affec...
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#411: Dermot Daly (part 1) from 2021-03-29T13:25:21
Today we talk to Dermot Daly, founder of Tapadoo, one of the premier iOS client services outfits in Dublin, Ireland. We wanted to talk to Dermot today about how his past year has gone. Dermot share...
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#411: Throwing Roast Pheasant at Me from 2021-03-22T14:43:05
In today’s episode, we talk about creating product roadmaps, each from our own perspective. Charles discusses prioritizing what comes next in the context of a one-man operation, and Joe tackles the...
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#410: Throwing Roast Pheasant at Me from 2021-03-22T13:43:05
In today’s episode, we talk about creating product roadmaps, each from our own perspective. Charles discusses prioritizing what comes next in the context of a one-man operation, and Joe tackles the...
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#409: I’m Not Sure I Want to Dump Money Into That from 2021-03-15T14:31:45
Today we talk about the imminent demise of the iOS Identifier for Advertisers (or “IDFA”), and how we expect to be affected by this change scheduled to be introduced in iOS 14.5. Joe shares how the...
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#408: Can’t Argue with 3000% from 2021-03-08T15:32:09
Today Charles and Joe catch up on what’s been going on. We talk about a variety of topics, including office and desk setups, paying back technical debt, the pain of third-party dependencies, and so...
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#407: The Famous Shade of Grey from 2021-03-01T16:29:57
Today we continue our conversation about a refresh of the RelaNet website that Charles recently completed. In this episode we talk about favicons, updating website content, comparing RelaNet to com...
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#406: Ready for Form 8879 from 2021-02-22T15:00:21
Today we talk about a refresh of the RelaNet website that Charles recently completed. Some of the things we discuss include website templates, changes to marketing language, making the website fast...
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#408: It’s Good to Be Useful from 2021-02-15T14:50:47
Today we talk about how we’re maintaining our network after almost a year of pandemic restrictions. We talk about what’s helped us keep up with colleagues, how we’ve sometimes failed, and what we e...
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#405: It’s Good to Be Useful from 2021-02-15T13:50:47
Today we talk about how we’re maintaining our network after almost a year of pandemic restrictions. We talk about what’s helped us keep up with colleagues, how we’ve sometimes failed, and what we e...
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#404: You Misspelled “Conversation” from 2021-02-08T15:25:11
Today we talk to Joe about a new role that he’s taken in the contracting team he’s been working with: sole iOS developer. We talk to Joe about how this came about, how his responsibilities are chan...
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#403: The Law Firm of Perry, Perry, and Google from 2021-02-01T14:25:35
Charles put in an offer on the e-signature product that we discussed last week, so in this episode we talk about how things turned out. We talk about negotiations, sales terms, and what to do when ...
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#402: I Bought Him a New Car from 2021-01-25T15:18:55
Charles has reached an inflection point where he either needs to purchase several licenses to the e-signature solution he’s using, or he needs to purchase the entire product outright. Today Joe hel...
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#401: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Buy ‘Em from 2021-01-18T14:50:21
In this episode we continue looking forward to 2021 and what we hope to achieve. Today we talk to Charles about his plans, and discuss his strategic, marketing, technology, and other goals. Mailing...
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#400: Walking Around Would Be a Start from 2021-01-11T14:28:36
It’s a new year, and with that comes new goals. Today we talk to Joe about his plans for 2021, and what he hopes to achieve with his contracting business, his app business, and his personal financi...
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#399: Not That Kind of Hockey Stick from 2021-01-04T14:05:51
Today we continue our look back at 2020 and the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. In this episode we talk to Charles about his goals for 2020 and see how he fared with onboar...
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#398: I Don’t Work, I Don’t Eat from 2020-12-28T15:00:13
Today we begin our look back at 2020 and the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. In this episode we talk to Joe about his goals for 2020 and see how much the ongoing global pan...
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#397: Chris Liscio (part 3) from 2020-12-21T14:16:35
Today we conclude our conversation with Chris Liscio of SuperMegaUltraGrovy (SMUG), makers of Capo, an app that helps you learn to play music. Today we discuss how Chris reaches Capo’s target marke...
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#396: Chris Liscio (part 2) from 2020-12-14T15:07:50
Today we continue our conversation with Chris Liscio of SuperMegaUltraGrovy (SMUG), makers of Capo, an app that helps you learn to play music. In this episode Chris tells us about the details of tr...
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#395: Chris Liscio (part 1) from 2020-12-07T14:17:54
Today we talk with Chris Liscio of SuperMegaUltraGrovy (SMUG), makers of Capo, an app that helps you learn to play music. Today we start a discussion that has been three years in the making about S...
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#394: Selling Products that Don’t Exist from 2020-11-30T14:37:30
Today Charles gives an update on the development of some new features that he’s hired a contractor to complete. In particular, we talk about a schedule that has slipped, a looming deadline, and the...
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#393: Small Fry from 2020-11-23T15:12:07
Today we discuss a change that many thought would never come. Apple is reducing its commission for small businesses on the App Store. We talk about what’s been announced, what is still unclear, and...
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#392: Not Enough Outdoor Patio Heaters from 2020-11-16T15:04:07
Today we talk about hodgepodge of topics. Charles closes a sale after months of follow-up, Joe orders a new ARM powered MacBook Pro, and we both consider our workplace setups as we contemplate re-e...
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#391: A Spock Situation from 2020-11-09T15:16:40
Today we talk to Joe about a situation he ran into on his current contracting job. It’s the story of a crash-on-launch bug that got caught in QA, and how they fixed it while balancing competing pri...
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#390: All You Have to Do is Pay Me from 2020-11-02T13:30:13
Today we talk about being flexible with clients. How willing should you be to accommodate client requests that are unreasonable, or maybe just beyond the scope of work? When should you take the sho...
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#389: I Don’t Want to Say Solved from 2020-10-26T13:47:40
Today Charles and Joe share their recent woes, both revolving around slowness. Joe’s new RECaf beta had some problems being killed on launch by the watchdog, and Charles’ web server was brought to ...
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#388: Maybe the Bathroom? from 2020-10-19T13:29:46
Today we discuss the recent Apple event. We talk about the new HomePod mini, as well as all the new iPhones, including the iPhone 12 mini. The mini is the form factor that Charles and Joe have been...
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#387: Maybe I Can A/B Test the Period from 2020-10-12T13:31:55
Today we talk about a hodge-podge of topics. We talk about the wisdom of tweeting about customers (even in a non-identifying way), Charles’ first attempt at advertising in a newsletter, and Joe’s e...
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#386: Three Random Names and Your Cousin from 2020-10-05T14:12:04
Today we catch up with Charles about what’s going on with RelaNet, and his quest to incorporate knowledge-based authentication into RelaNet’s e-signature solution. We talk about third-party API pro...
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#385: Not Everyone Hated It from 2020-09-28T13:55:53
Today we catch up with Joe about his app RECaf. We talk about what he’s been up to on RECaf, its recent update, and some experiments in advertising that he’s been running. Mailing List Every month ...
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#384: I Can Buy Two Pizzas this Month from 2020-09-21T13:38:29
Today we discuss our reaction to a few Tweets that we saw about Apple features, marketing, and alternate channels for indies with little or no marketing budget. We talk about different the differen...
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#383: David Barnard (part 2) from 2020-09-14T13:55:23
Today we continue our conversation with David Barnard about the de facto deprecation in iOS 14 of the Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA. Today we focus on the effects of this change. We talk abou...
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#382: David Barnard (part 1) from 2020-09-07T12:04:01
Today we talk to David Barnard about the de facto deprecation in iOS 14 of the Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA. We discuss the history of the IDFA, what’s changing in iOS 14, why Apple is makin...
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#381: There Was No Grand Plan from 2020-08-31T14:00:03
Today we talk about “product-user fit” as a concept distinct from “product-market fit.” We discuss what exactly product-user fit is, how venture capitalists look at it, and why product-user fit (ra...
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#380: The Most Garish Version from 2020-08-24T12:53:13
Today we tackle a hodgepodge of topics: Joe got a new fancy monitor, Charles complains about customers that want ugly websites, Charles considers future advertising opportunities, and we talk about...
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#379: John Wilker (part 2) from 2020-08-17T14:15:52
Today we continue our conversation with John Wilker, organizer of 360iDev. Today we focus on the business of running a conference in the midst of a global pandemic, discussing the negotiations invo...
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#378: John Wilker (part 1) from 2020-08-10T13:19:55
Today we start discussing Joe’s preparations for his talk at 360iDev, only to be joined midway through by the organizer of 360iDev, John Wilker. We talk about the differences between an online and ...
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#377: Sounds Like a John Hughes Movie from 2020-08-03T15:14:53
Today Joe catches us up on his RECaf update and the woes of using multiple measurement units, and Charles gives an update on his experience working with a reluctant contractor. Mailing List Every m...
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#376: I’ll Go Halfsies With You from 2020-07-27T20:02:29
Today we talk about a problem that Charles is having with a potential contractor. Charles shares the backstory of the problem and what he thinks might be wrong, and then Joe offers some advice from...
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#375: Better to be Lucky Than Good from 2020-07-20T13:29:44
Today we catch up with Charles and talk about the results of his recent advertising campaign. We talk about how it was organized, the results, and how the results of this advertising campaign compa...
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#374: I Wasn’t Sleepwalking from 2020-07-13T13:05:01
Today Joe shares his experience with all of Apple’s pre-release hardware and software – at least as much as he can. We talk about what he’s doing with the ARM-powered developer transition kit (DTK)...
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#373: It’s Worth More than Nothin’ from 2020-07-06T14:13:37
Today we continue our conversation about WWDC 2020, focusing on how the announcements have affected Joe’s plans. We talk about sleep tracking in RECaf, plans for a Mac app, and X2Y lives for anothe...
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#372: Screaming at the Clouds from 2020-06-29T13:50:28
Today we talk about some of the announcements made at WWDC 2020 from a business perspective. We discuss some of the technical changes made to iOS, changes announced for testing IAP, updates to the ...
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#371: Adding the Word “Email” to That List from 2020-06-22T13:06:01
Today we weigh in on Basecamp and their app’s recent rejection from the App Store. We talk about what should have been foreseen by Basecamp, Apple’s relationship with its developer community, and d...
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#370: I Had To Work For It from 2020-06-15T13:15:20
Today we talk about how Charles resolved the pricing dilemma we discussed a couple weeks ago. We talk about the features he added to existing plans, the new Team plan he created, and how he is pres...
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#369: Chaotic Neutral from 2020-06-08T13:55:56
Today we talk about our new laptops! Joe got a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Charles got a new Dell XPS 13 running Linux. We talk about the new hardware, how the two laptops compare, and Charles’ ex...
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#368: Curtis Herbert (part 2) from 2020-06-01T13:30:51
Today we continue our conversation with Curtis Herbert about his iOS app Slopes and his work to bring it to Android. Curtis talks to us today about his experience hiring a developer for the first t...
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#367: Curtis Herbert from 2020-05-25T13:49:07
Today we talk to Curtis Herbert about his iOS app Slopes and his work to bring it to Android. Curtis shares the story of hiring and firing an Android developer and the effect that this year’s weath...
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#366: Your Customers Can Add from 2020-05-18T14:37:06
Today we talk to Charles about the new features that RelaNet will soon be offering, and how he plans to incorporate them into his pricing. We talk about his plans to offer a more expensive team pla...
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#365: The Transitive Property of Programming from 2020-05-11T14:12:23
Release Notes Happy Hour on May 14! See show notes for details. So, it turns out that Joe is Android-curious. Today we talk to him about his interest in learning Android development, the current ma...
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#364: A Full-Fledged Fork from 2020-05-04T12:54:29
Today Charles talks more about the e-signature solution that he settled on, and how he is using the product’s vendor as a pseudo-low-cost contractor to get the custom changes he needs in the short-...
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#363: A Couple of Boo Boos from 2020-04-27T13:15:57
Today Charles shares the story of how he crashed a server and survived a self-inflicted DDOS, all in one week. We talk about the backstory, the recovery, and lessons learned. Mailing List Every mon...
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#362: Regular Sierra from 2020-04-20T14:29:55
Today Charles reveals that he’s considering getting a new laptop… and it might not be Mac. We talk about why he considering running Linux on a Dell, and why he is desperately hoping Joe can talk hi...
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#361: Basically, the Next Great Depression from 2020-04-13T13:17:24
Today we look at how the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn has affected the contracting business, specifically Joe’s. We talk about growing layoffs among contractors, the necessity of co...
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#360: The Weird Older Brother from 2020-04-06T14:22:07
Today we discuss the 10th anniversary of the launch of the iPad. We talk about the evolution of the iPad into a device that supports a keyboard and trackpad, whether we could use an iPad as our mai...
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#359: There Might Be Multiple People on This Team from 2020-03-30T16:46:30
Today Charles talks about his failed attempt at advertising, his theories on why his advertisement didn’t perform, thoughts on why the response from his email list was better, and the progress he’s...
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#358: Hyper Not-Wanting-to-be-Smarmy from 2020-03-23T13:22:49
Today Charles talks about how the recent postponement of the U.S. income tax filing date is affecting his business. We talk about seizing an unexpected advertising opportunity, a sudden new deadlin...
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#357: Pandemic Edition from 2020-03-16T13:26:12
Welcome to Release Note: Pandemic Edition. The COVID-19 pandemic is in the news and in everyone’s conversations, so on today’s show we talk about how we expect this pandemic to affect our businesse...
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#356: Two Terabytes?! from 2020-03-09T13:31:19
Today Charles tells the tale of how he accidentally put his new client portal into production. We also talk about the potential risks involved with launching a product in this way, the advantages o...
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#355: No, But I Could Build It For Ya from 2020-03-02T18:49:30
Today we continue our conversation about Charles’ new client portal and talk more about the e-signature solution that he’s searching for. We talk about the benefits of “buying” versus “renting” sof...
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#354: See How Much Squawking I Get from 2020-02-24T13:37:13
Today we talk about about Charles’ recent realization that he probably shouldn’t be writing code anymore. We talk about how he came to that realization, how it makes him feel, and what it means for...
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#353: Shake a Lotta Hands, Kiss a Lotta Babies from 2020-02-17T14:19:18
Today Charles talks to Joe some more about his upcoming move to Colorado. In particular, we discuss how he plans to connect with the local development community, how he might attract some local cli...
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352: The Problem is There’s Nothing Wrong from 2020-02-10T13:57:48
Today we talk about servers and how we use them in our products. Charles shares his progress setting up new servers based on CentOS 8, and then Joe shares how he uses servers with his apps, and how...
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#351: I Can Handle Twenty-Five from 2020-02-03T13:33:58
One of our favorite events every year is FemtoConf, a small conference in Darmstadt, Germany aimed at bootstrapped entrepreneurs. Recently, FemtoConf 2020 was announced for May 8-10, 2020, so today...
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#350: You Might Want to Invest in a Good Pair of Boots from 2020-01-27T13:55:51
Today Joe announces a personal move, and we discuss how this move might affect his business. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS dev...
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#349: The Business Side of the Hobby Business from 2020-01-20T14:48:21
Today we discuss the results of the conference survey that we recently encouraged our audience to complete. We talk about the survey itself, share the key results, and then talk about about how the...
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#348: Kinda Like Diffusing a Bomb from 2020-01-13T13:57:08
Last week we talked to Joe about his goals for 2020. This week we turn to Charles and learn what he has planned for the new year, as well as the technical and financial goals he would like to achie...
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#347: It’s Not Going to be a Coffee Shop from 2020-01-06T14:31:57
‘Tis the season for goal setting! Today Joe shares with us the goals that he has set for himself and his business in the new year, and why he’s not opening a coffee shop in 2020. Mailing List Every...
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#346: Do I Get a Little Pin? from 2019-12-30T13:37:20
We want to learn more about you! Take our survey at https://releasenotes.tv/survey. As is our custom, we’re spending the last two episodes of the year reviewing our goals for 2019 and evaluating ho...
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#345: We’ll Call That One an Outlier from 2019-12-23T13:46:33
We want to learn more about you! Take our survey at https://releasenotes.tv/survey. As is our custom, we’re spending the last two episodes of the year reviewing our goals for 2019 and evaluating ho...
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#344: A Nice, Firm Grip from 2019-12-16T14:02:05
We want to learn more about you! Take our survey at https://releasenotes.tv/survey. Today we talk about a few different topics related to sales. Charles shares a story that illustrates the importan...
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#343: That Sounds Like a Lot of Work from 2019-12-09T14:35:14
We want to learn more about you! Take our survey at https://releasenotes.tv/survey. Today we’re discussing a survey that we’ve put together so that we can better understand what our audience wants ...
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#342: Apologies Are Cheap from 2019-12-02T14:54:39
Today we continue catching up on what’s going on in our businesses. This time we focus on Charles and RelaNet. Charles talks about a problem he’s having with onboarding new customers and gets Joe’s...
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#341: I Don’t Care if You Choose to Accept It from 2019-11-25T14:21:58
Today we begin catching up with Joe and Charles about their individual businesses. We start off with Joe and talk to him about a long term contract that he’s been working on, progress that he’s mad...
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#340: Tell Them It’s a Magic Keyboard from 2019-11-18T14:47:11
Today we talk about the newly released 16-inch MacBook Pro and our thoughts on this update. We talk keyboards, Touch Bars, design compromises, and discuss whether Charles or Joe is going to buy one...
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#339: I Don’t Want to Support This from 2019-11-11T14:18:39
Today we conduct a “therapy session” for Charles as he tries to decide whether to continue development of the home-grown client portal he uses for his RelaNet clients, or whether it would be better...
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#338: Drinking Guinness and Shaking Hands from 2019-11-04T13:54
Today Joe fills us in on a recent trip that he took to Ireland for the Belfast International Homecoming, a conference he got connected with through his networking efforts in New York. It’s an inter...
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#337: A Little Worse Off from 2019-10-28T13:59:27
Today we continue our discussion of macOS Catalina and whether and how Charles should update from Sierra. (Yes, Sierra.) We discuss the sort of zombie state that Adobe Creative Suite 6 has been lef...
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#336: I’ve Got a Lot of Nos from 2019-10-21T13:05:45
Today we talk about technology upgrades – specifically, we’re talking about iOS 13 and macOS Catalina. Charles had avoided both upgrades for a quite a while, and today he’s sharing the story of how...
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#335: I Want to Say, Corpse? from 2019-10-14T13:55:25
Today we take look back at Release Notes 2019, mere days after the event, and consider what went well, what could have gone better, and the overall experience of hosting a conference in Mexico. And...
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#334: Until the Heat Death of the Universe from 2019-10-07T13:55:59
Today Charles gives some detail on his recent email marketing efforts. We talk about the power of finding a marketing channel that works, juggling the rush of responses that resulted from the email...
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#333: Benedikt Deicke (part 2) from 2019-09-30T13:55:43
We’re joined again today by Benedikt Deicke of Userlist.io. Last week we talked a lot about Userlist.io, so this week we wanted to talk about FemtoConf, the small conference that he hosts each year...
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#332 – Benedikt Deicke from 2019-09-23T13:54:45
Today we’re joined by Benedikt Deicke of Userlist.io. Benedikt talks to us about his new project Userlist.io, their big launch day when they were featured on ProductHunt, finding new customers, and...
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#331: Curtis Herbert (part 2) from 2019-09-16T13:11:52
We’re joined again today by Curtis Herbert, creator of Slopes. Today we talk about building an Android version of Slopes, and tracking finances year-over-year. Curtis offers his insight on how an i...
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#330: Curtis Herbert (part 1) from 2019-09-09T13:57:56
Today we’re joined by Curtis Herbert, creator of Slopes. We discuss some of the non-technical changes that Curtis has been experimenting with in his business. Curtis shares his experience with subs...
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#329: Coffee, Tea, Caffeine Tracker, Inc. from 2019-09-03T12:53:20
Today we talk about Joe’s recent trip to the 360iDev conference in Denver. We talk about the interesting talks he saw and conversations he had while he was out there, quite a bit about App Store op...
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#328: Sorry, There Will Be No Features This Year from 2019-08-26T13:55:52
Today Charles talks to Joe about his roadmap for the rest of the year. We talk about Joe’s apps, the challenges of operating on an uncertain Apple-defined schedule, the features he wants to complet...
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#327: I Like the Symmetry of Three Boxes from 2019-08-19T12:59:38
Today we start the first of two of our periodic “therapy sessions.” In this episode, we talk about some of Charles’ looming deadlines, and how he’s planning for them. We talk about Charles’ plan fo...
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#326: The Top End of Merely Doing Okay from 2019-08-12T13:33:06
Today we tackle a topic that’s not so pleasant to think about: What would it take for us to give up and call it all quits. We discuss an insightful article from Tracy Osborn about “the dangerous lu...
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#325: There’s No Such Thing as Bad News from 2019-08-05T13:53:53
Today we continue our discussion about Zoom Video Communications and the security fiasco that they recently went through, with special guest Dermot Daly. We talk about how we should think about sec...
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#324: You Installed a What? from 2019-07-29T13:36:45
Today we’re talking about Zoom Video Communications and the security fiasco that they recently went through, with special guest Dermot Daly. In particular, we talk about how we should think about s...
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#323: Shai Schechter (part 2) from 2019-07-22T13:17:25
We’re joined again today by Shai Schechter of RightMessage. In this episode, we continue talking to Shai about why and how to personalize your website’s calls to action in order to improve response...
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#322: Shai Schechter (part 1) from 2019-07-15T12:57:58
Today we’re joined by Shai Schechter of RightMessage. We talk to Shai about his background in entrepreneurship, then we discuss the surprising affect that personalization had on his website visitor...
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#321: An Allergic Reaction to Closed Source from 2019-07-08T15:13:37
Today we continue our discussion about the announcements that Apple made at WWDC 2019. We start by talking about SwiftUI, then we continue by taking a look at how these announcements will affect Jo...
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#320: The Annual Dub Dub Hamster Wheel from 2019-07-01T13:50:58
Today we dive into WWDC 2019 and the announcements that Apple made. As is usually the case, we wanted to take a look at these from primarily a business perspective, so today we discuss “Sign In Wit...
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#319: Jane Portman from 2019-06-24T13:52:29
We’re joined today by Jane Portman an expert in UI/UX and co-founder of Userlist.io. Today we talk to Jane about her entrepreneurial journey from consulting to productized services to SaaS, we disc...
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#318: It’s a Victimless Crime from 2019-06-17T13:15:09
In this episode we continue talking about Charles’ efforts to advertise RelaNet to his target audience. Today, we discuss the details of the advertising email campaigns: timing of the campaigns, fo...
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#317: You Wouldn’t Believe the Spreadsheet from 2019-06-10T13:55:57
Today we talk about Charles’ recent effort to advertise RelaNet to his target audience of small accounting firms. We dive into how he’s using paid email campaigns to reach this audience, how much a...
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#316: Natalie Nagele (part 2) from 2019-06-03T14:03:25
We’re joined again today by Natalie Nagele, co-founder of Wildbit, and a presenter at Release Notes 2019. Today we continue the conversation we started last week and talk about the importance of ha...
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#315: Natalie Nagele (part 1) from 2019-05-27T15:18:19
We’re joined today by Natalie Nagele, co-founder of Wildbit, and a presenter at Release Notes 2019. We talk about how Natalie got her start in entrepreneurship, how her role at Wildbit has changed ...
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#314: Luckily, We’ve Never Had to Test This Setup from 2019-05-20T13:44:50
Today we return to a recurring theme of this podcast and discuss single points of failure in our businesses. We talk about the ways we, sole proprietors, are the most significant single point of fa...
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#313: You Might Know it as Pinot Noir from 2019-05-13T13:31:33
After much traveling, we return today to talk about our recent trip to Germany to attend FemtoConf. We recap our our pre-conference event in Bacharach, Germany, then talk about FemtoConf itself. We...
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#312: Jonathan Rhyne (part 2) from 2019-05-06T13:55:41
Today we continue our conversation with Jonathan Rhyne, co-founder of PSPDFKit. We talk about targeting your sales effort at decision makers, what selling to enterprise has in common with selling t...
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#311: Jonathan Rhyne (part 1) from 2019-04-29T13:55:49
Today we talk to Jonathan Rhyne, co-founder of PSPDFKit. We talk about his career move from being an attorney to becoming a co-founder of a technology startup, his experience selling PSPDFKit to en...
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#310: Multiply by Pi from 2019-04-22T14:10:50
In today’s episode we talk about a new proposal that Joe sent out. We talk about the origin of the proposal, and then we dig into some of the decisions that Joe had to make regarding time and cost....
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#309: Go Talk to SaaS People from 2019-04-15T13:31:06
Today we talk about Joe’s recent trip to Peers Conference. We talk about the talks he enjoyed, his own talk which he presented from the Peers stage, and of course New Orleans where Peers was held t...
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#308: 2019 Conference Details (part 2) from 2019-04-08T13:55:06
Today we continue the discussion we started last week of all the details surrounding our conference, Release Notes 2019. In this episode we finish our discussion of Finest Playa Mujeres, the resort...
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#307: 2019 Conference Details (part 1) from 2019-04-01T14:00:41
Today is the big day! Today we reveal all the details surrounding our conference Release Notes 2019. In this episode we do a deep dive into Finest Playa Mujeres, the resort that will host our event...
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#306: More Jet Lag from 2019-03-25T13:52:15
Today Joe talks to us about his recent trip to Amsterdam to speak at AppDevCon, and we bemoan jet lag, the bane of travelers everywhere. Release Notes 2019 – Announcing Details on April 1 We’re hap...
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#305: Craig Hewitt (part 2) from 2019-03-18T15:55:05
We’re joined again by Craig Hewitt, founder of Podcast Motor and Castos, and co-host of the Rogue Startups podcast. Today we talk to Craig about the location independence that his businesses have a...
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#304: Craig Hewitt (part 1) from 2019-03-11T13:55:56
We’re joined today by Craig Hewitt, founder of Podcast Motor and Castos, and co-host of the Rogue Startups podcast. We talk to Craig today about how he got his start in entrepreneurship, take a loo...
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#303: You’re Probably Going to Screw it Up from 2019-03-04T14:17:46
Today we talk about automation. Charles shares a recent automation-related win. We discuss what types of tasks we automate, and just as importantly what types of tasks we don’t automate. Release No...
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#302: The Deadbeat Returns from 2019-02-25T14:57:49
Charles shares a story about a deadbeat client that came back asking for his website to be reactivated. This prompts a discussion about when you should take back clients that never paid, under what...
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#301: Haggling Over Celery from 2019-02-18T14:51:53
In today’s episode we talk about negotiation. Charles shares a recent experience he had in negotiating an advertising deal, we talk about different situations where we have negotiated better prices...
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#300: We Tick Tock Tick Ticked from 2019-02-11T14:50:01
Welcome to episode 300! ? Today we respond to a discussion that happened on the Core Intuition podcast. They talked a bit about our conference, and posed some really good questions about why we are...
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#299: Can I Sign Up For That Job? from 2019-02-04T14:35:04
Today we tackle a hodgepodge of topics including a small pre-event gathering we’re hosting at FemtoConf, Charles’ attempt to control costs by changing email marketing automation platforms, Joe gett...
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#298: Is it Like Cholesterol? from 2019-01-28T14:30:02
Today we answer a question from a listener who asks how we handle support (whether we use homegrown or third-party tools) and if it’s possible for an indie business owner (particularly one with cus...
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#297: Conversations Over a Coconut Drink from 2019-01-21T17:07:09
Today we are pleased to announce Release Notes 2019, and this year it’s in Mexico! That’s right, your favorite conference about the business of software will be returning October 3-5, 2019 in Playa...
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#296: Consensuses? from 2019-01-14T14:42:23
Today we discuss how Joe might improve his free trial conversion rate in his caffeine tracking app RECaf. We talk about nurturing customers before offering the free trial, the difference between se...
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#295: Doing the Adulting Thing from 2019-01-07T15:26:41
Although it might some days seem nice to be able to hold your customers at arm’s length and communicate with them only through email, sometimes there’s really no substitute for a phone call. Today ...
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#294: Setting Goals for 2019 from 2018-12-31T14:50:01
On this New Year’s Eve, we look forward to 2019 and the things we want to accomplish in the year ahead. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac ...
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#293: The 2018 Goal Scorecard from 2018-12-24T14:50:24
Today we take a look at the goals we set for ourselves in 2018 and how we did at accomplishing those goals. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of ...
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#292: Pa?draig O? Cinne?ide and Oisi?n Prendiville of Supertop from 2018-12-17T15:33:47
Today we speak with Pádraig Ó Cinnéide and Oisín Prendiville of Supertop who make Castro, one of the top podcast apps in the iOS App Store. Although Pádraig and Oisín still work on Castro, they rec...
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#291: Justin Harter (part 2) from 2018-12-10T14:44:03
Today we continue our conversation with Justin Harter, owner of SuperPixel and author of What Does Your Website Do All Day? Today we talk about saying “No” to clients, how Justin has grown his agen...
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#290: Justin Harter (part 1) from 2018-12-03T14:34:50
Today we’re joined by Justin Harter, owner of SuperPixel and author of What Does Your Website Do All Day? We talk about how Justin has built a business serving “the vast middle” – successful small ...
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#289: Burnt English Muffins from 2018-11-26T15:06:48
Today we talk about what’s on our gift lists for 2018. We talk tech, gadgets, travel gear, and even a some cooking equipment. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content abou...
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#288: Do They Know You Exist? from 2018-11-19T14:38:24
Today Charles talks to Joe about subcontracting. We talk about the role that subcontracting (as opposed to direct contracting) plays in Joe’s business, how he handles communication with the end cli...
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#287: I Want My Two Dollars! from 2018-11-12T14:18:54
Today Charles mines Joe’s experience on how to handle deadbeat clients – those customers that seem happy with the product, but just won’t pay. We talk about how to avoid these sorts of clients to b...
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#286: Castles on Sand from 2018-11-05T13:49:09
Today we talk about Charles’ decision to remove his last app from the App Store. We talk about the background of the decision, the change that made him finally remove the app, and what’s next now t...
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#285: Tiny Gardener from 2018-10-29T14:13:25
Today we talk about ways to build up enough of a financial “runway” to allow your new business to take off. We talk about ways that both Charles and Joe have used to support our new businesses; Cha...
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#284: Ariel Michaeli (part 2) from 2018-10-22T14:03:24
Joe is joined again today by Ariel Michaeli of Appfigures. They talk about making it easy to consume complex data, tracking the financial performance of subscription-based apps, and Appfigures’ sof...
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#283: Ariel Michaeli (part 1) from 2018-10-15T14:58:10
Charles is out sick today, so Joe is joined by Ariel Michaeli of Appfigures. Joe and Ariel talk about how Appfigures got started in the mobile developer financial data space, how Appfigures address...
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#282: Works is a Pretty Good Threshold from 2018-10-08T13:55:57
Today we continue our discussion with Joe about the rough road his new app RECaf traveled into this world, Joe’s efforts to fix the problems that occurred, and some of the things he’d do differentl...
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#281: Biblical Tweets from 2018-10-01T13:55:02
We’ve all been there. The difficult launch. Today we talk to Joe about the rough road his new app RECaf traveled into this world, Joe’s efforts to fix the problems that occurred, and some of the th...
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#280: Reasonably Lower-Priced? from 2018-09-24T13:50:06
Today we deliver on the promise we made last week by weighing in on the recent event where Apple announced their new fall line up for mobile. We talk about the Apple Watch as your “health guardian,...
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#279: Still a Black Box from 2018-09-17T13:39:58
Today we get an update from Joe about his new app RECaf. We talk about beta testing, marketing preparations, subscriptions, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and cont...
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#278: Not So Much Nudge as Shove from 2018-09-10T13:32:12
Apple has announced that all apps submitted to their App Store must have a privacy policy as of October 2018. With that as background, we talk about privacy policies for mobile apps, websites, and ...
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#277: You’re Gonna Get a Discussion from 2018-09-03T13:10:31
Today we talk about two conferences that we recently attended. We spend most of the episode talking about 360iDev which Joe spoke at in Denver, and discuss his talk as well as some of the presentat...
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#276: Hi, Tax Professional from 2018-08-27T13:49:02
Today we’re talking about an email promotion that Charles recently ran in support of his RelaNet business. The promotion was an email sent by a professional organization to its membership on behalf...
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#275: Mustache-Twirling Hipster Stuff from 2018-08-20T13:47:14
Today we talk about RECaf, the new caffeine tracking app that Joe is working on. We talk about RECaf, what it will do, where the idea came from, the value of side projects, as well as RECaf’s targe...
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#274: Shooting Other People…or I Don’t Know from 2018-08-13T14:34:04
Apple recently started removing apps from individual developers that implement gambling or “simulate a gambling experience. Today we use this development as a starting point for a discussion on mit...
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#273: Mike Taber (part 2) from 2018-08-06T13:44:18
We’re joined again by Mike Taber, founder of Bluetick.io and co-host of the podcast “Startups for the Rest of Us.” Last time we talked to Mike about his start in entrepreneurship. Today we talk to ...
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#272: Mike Taber (part 1) from 2018-07-30T14:27:02
Today we’re joined by Mike Taber, founder of Bluetick.io and co-host of the podcast “Startups for the Rest of Us.” We talk to Mike today about some of his background, his start in entrepreneurship,...
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#271: A Really Big Random Number from 2018-07-23T14:20:11
Today we talk about top-level domains like .com, .biz, .app, and others. How important is it to get a .com these days? From there, our conversation wanders into the importance of having an SSL cert...
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#270: Some French Guy Named Bezier from 2018-07-16T13:54:26
Today we return to a topic that we’ve discussed before: Pricing. We talk about about pricing for the value you provide, the pro vs. prosumer vs. consumer markets, and why both Charles and Joe feel ...
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#269: Ken Wallace (part 2) from 2018-07-09T13:41
Today we continue our discussion about masterminds, with Ken Wallace of Mastermind Jam, a service that helps people form mastermind groups. Today we talk to Ken about the natural lifespan of a mast...
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#268: Ken Wallace (part 1) from 2018-07-02T13:27:42
Today we’re talking about masterminds, which are groups of like-minded entrepreneurs that periodically discuss the details of their business. It’s sort of like a business support group. To help us ...
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#267: The Magic Spreadsheet from 2018-06-25T14:07:50
If you’re anywhere near social media you may have recently seen lots of posts along the lines of, “By age 35 you should have X saved for retirement.” Today we take a look at that advice, and discus...
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#266: Andrew Culver (part 2) from 2018-06-18T13:27:10
Today we continue our conversation with Andrew Culver, founder of SaaS products like Bullet Train and Churnbuster. We talk to Andrew today about his new product Bullet Train – what it is, how it ca...
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#265: The Cupertino Mafia from 2018-06-11T13:55:58
This week Charles talks to Joe about his time in San Jose at WWDC, and we chat about some of the changes that were announced. We talk about the event itself, some of the technology announcements th...
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#264: Andrew Culver (part 1) from 2018-06-04T13:29:27
We’re joined today by Andrew Culver, founder of SaaS products like Bullet Train and Churnbuster. We talk to Andrew today about how he got into entrepreneurship, his start at Borrowed and Blue, and ...
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#263: Don’t Compete With Llamas from 2018-05-28T13:55:50
Today we discuss different ways that we can help foster a sense of community within our development community and help make things better for those who come after us. We talk about Developers Union...
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#262: This Isn’t Middle School from 2018-05-21T13:30:30
Today we’re talking about Twitter’s newly announced pricing structure for access to their API, and we use that as an excuse to to talk more generally about the risks and benefits of building your b...
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#261: Hope Not to Break Things from 2018-05-14T13:55:17
Today we talk about Charles’ adventures in implementing automated testing in his WordPress-based client portal. We talk about why Charles has resisted unit testing, his epiphany about feature testi...
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#260: Luckily, I Have Very Sharp Elbows from 2018-05-07T15:08:35
Today Charles talks about his recent experience at MicroConf in Las Vegas, and then we dive deeper into networking events and discuss our “elevator pitches” – how we explain to others what it is we...
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#259: Peers from 2018-04-30T12:00:22
Today Charles and Joe reflect on their recent trip to Peers Conference. We talk about the great community and give a quick rundown of a few of our favorite talks. Mailing List Every month there are...
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#258: I Felt Like I Was on a Hamster Wheel from 2018-04-23T13:55:52
Today we have a quick update on Apple’s preparations for GDPR which are soon going into effect, as well as a discussion about Charles’ first hire on UpWork. Mailing List Every month there are more ...
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#257: The World Backup Day Pledge from 2018-04-16T13:49:59
Backing up your computers isn’t sexy, but it’s important for the long-term health of your business. So today we (once again) discuss our backup strategies, and in particular how they have changed s...
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#256: The Pied Piper of Conferences from 2018-04-09T13:58:16
Today we talk about Charles’ recent trip to Darmstadt, Germany to attend FemtoConf, a conference for indie/bootstrapped/self-funded entrepreneurs. We talk about what it’s like to attend a conferenc...
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#255: Not a Fly-By-Night from 2018-04-02T14:15:07
After a few months of talking and learning about business websites, we wrap up this series with a real-life example. Joe takes a look at Charles’ new RelaNet website and does a live tear-down of wh...
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#254: They Can See Everybody’s Cookies from 2018-03-26T13:56:25
Today we continue our series on business websites with a discussion on analytics and maintenance. We talk about how we measure who’s coming to our website, where they are coming from, the tools we ...
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#253: I Hate It When They Do That from 2018-03-19T14:45:12
Today we continue our series on business websites by talking about testing. We share some of our favorite tools for testing for correct markup and CSS, how our sites look on mobile devices, the spe...
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#252: My Tools are Not the Reason My Code Sucks from 2018-03-12T18:19:04
Continuing our series on websites, today we talk about the software tools that we use to develop our websites. We discuss IDEs, text editors, image editors, and more. Mailing List Every month there...
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#251: I Chose Poorly, or You Got Lucky from 2018-03-05T14:58:18
Today we continue our series on websites and landing pages by talking about the technology that underlies those sites. We discuss hosting options, content management systems, and more. Mailing List...
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#250: Justin Jackson (part 2) from 2018-02-26T15:58:24
We’re joined again today by Justin Jackson, founder of MegaMaker and professional online marketer. Today we continue our conversation about landing pages, doing a deep dive into what makes a great ...
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#249: Justin Jackson (part 1) from 2018-02-19T15:38:20
We’re joined today by Justin Jackson, founder of MegaMaker and professional online marketer. Today we tap Justin’s experience to learn more about landing pages. We talk about using landing pages fo...
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#248: Click the Big Orange Button from 2018-02-12T15:17:06
Today, in part 4 of our series on business web sites, we talk about landing pages. We discuss what landing pages are, customizing landing pages for your audience, and how the design of landing page...
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#247: An Elephant Rabbit Hole from 2018-02-05T14:51:57
Continuing our series on webpages, today we talk more about home page design. We discuss appropriate use of color, controlling file size (and with it download time), as well as calls-to-action. Mai...
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#246: Animal Husbandry from 2018-01-29T14:36:26
We’re continuing our series on webpages, by today looking at the design of homepages. We start with a discussion of why you might not want to hire a pro to handle the design of your website. For al...
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#245: I’m Not That Handsome from 2018-01-22T14:32:25
Today we’re starting a series of episodes about business websites. In this episode, we tackle the do’s and don’ts of home pages. We talk about the goal of a home page, its audience, why you should ...
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#244: They Don’t Fit Down the Tubes from 2018-01-15T15:07:50
Today we’re talking about the relatively new phenomenon of “cashless” brick-and-mortar storefronts, that have started appearing in New York where Joe lives. We use that as a jumping off point to ta...
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#243: That’s Going to Take a While from 2018-01-08T15:21:02
Today we’re talking about what we want to achieve in the new year. We discuss our goals, and how we want to achieve them. We also have an announcement about our conference in 2018. Mailing List Eve...
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#242: 100,000,000 GB of RAM, Approximately from 2018-01-02T03:10:25
Today we share our take on some Apple news and rumors that have recently come to light. We discuss some changes to the App Store Review Guidelines that will affect white label apps in the iOS App S...
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#241: Brute Force Customers (part 2) from 2017-12-25T14:58:03
In this episode we continue our conversation about Charles’ efforts to attract new RelaNet customers using cold email outreach. Today we talk statistics: response rates, positive response rates, ra...
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#240: Brute Force Customers from 2017-12-18T15:42:04
Today we talk about Charles’ efforts to attract new RelaNet customers using cold email outreach. We talk about his source of email addresses, his vetting process, the email scripts he uses, how he ...
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#239: 7 is a Lot Closer to 10 than 1 from 2017-12-11T14:53:53
Today we chat with Charles and get an update on his new business, RelaNet. We talk about how he almost (but not quite) reached his 2017 goal, his struggles with taking on a sales role, learning fro...
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#238: If You’re Free, Go to the Party from 2017-12-04T15:41:40
Through his freelance design business, Joe has had clients for many years. Charles, on the other hand, is new to managing client relationships. So today we talk about how to handle those client rel...
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#237: Ian Landsman (part 2) from 2017-11-27T14:45:07
Today we’re again joined by Ian Landsman, creator of HelpSpot and co-host of the Bootstrapped podcast. Ian has been building and running his self-funded helpdesk product HelpSpot for 13 years, and ...
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#236: Ian Landsman (part 1) from 2017-11-20T14:37:22
Today we’re joined by Ian Landsman, creator of HelpSpot and co-host of the Bootstrapped podcast. Ian has been building and running his self-funded helpdesk product HelpSpot for 13 years, and along ...
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#235: Might Want to Pep That Up a Bit from 2017-11-13T15:10:25
Today we start wrapping up the year by talking to Joe about how he’s done this year. We talk about his his goals for the year, what progress he made on them, and his plans for the future. Mailing L...
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#234: Tapdancing Lessons from 2017-11-06T20:50:07
One of the nice things of being indie, is that it affords you the opportunity to travel without having to worry about vacation time or other concerns that employed folks have. So today we’re talkin...
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#233: Maybe They’re Talking Behind Our Backs from 2017-10-30T13:46:39
Today we’re sharing a recording of part of our Release Notes 2017 conference post-mortem. We talk about what went well, what could have gone better, and why we made some of the compromises that we ...
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#232: Man, These People Really Need Help from 2017-10-23T13:52:31
A few weeks ago, Charles announced that he was shutting down MetaTax, his reference product for tax preparers. Today we talk about why he made that decision and the mechanics of shutting down a pro...
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#231: Pike’s Peak, or Wherever from 2017-10-16T13:58:48
In today’s episode we discuss some of the recent security problems that have come to light with High Sierra and it’s interaction with the new APFS filesystem. We talk about the bug itself, but also...
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#230: Apple Got its AWS Bill from 2017-10-09T14:35:44
Today we tackle a variety of topics including the removal of some Games sub-categories in the App Store, some follow-up on the recent change to the App Store Review Guidelines that prohibit white l...
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#229: You’re Still Going to be Broke from 2017-10-02T14:58:11
A few episodes back, we mentioned in passing a change to the App Store Review Guidelines that seemed to outlaw white label apps. Turns out we aren’t the only ones that noticed this. The events indu...
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#228: Is That What We’re Calling Them Now? Ears? from 2017-09-25T15:19:57
Today we talk about the recent Apple Keynote. We talk about the new Apple Watch, new 4k AppleTV, and of course the new iPhones, including the new iPhone X. We talk about the hardware announcements,...
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#227: Dave Rodenbaugh (part 2) from 2017-09-18T13:51:13
Today we have part two of our conversation with Dave Rodenbaugh, a self-funded entrepreneur who has been selling WordPress plugins since 2009. He’s also one half of the Rogue Startups podcast. Toda...
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#226: Dave Rodenbaugh (part 1) from 2017-09-11T14:01:15
We’re joined today by Dave Rodenbaugh, a self-funded entrepreneur who has been selling WordPress plugins since 2009. He’s also one half of the Rogue Startups podcast. Dave talks to us today about h...
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#225: I Want to be Driving a Lamborghini from 2017-09-04T16:56:58
Today we (finally) discuss CrashPlan’s exit from the consumer market. We talk about what CrashPlan did right with this transition, why Charles doesn’t consider BackBlaze a suitable alternative to C...
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#224: More Like a Fisherman from 2017-08-28T14:46:55
Today we’re talking about conferences (again). Joe recently spoke at 360|iDev, and Charles had his first experience sponsoring a conference at a recent Indiana CPA Society conference. We discuss fu...
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#223: Jean MacDonald from 2017-08-21T13:19:39
We’re joined today by Jean MacDonald who talks to us about founding App Camp for Girls, growing the program, and then stepping away and handing off the reins of the program to another leader. We ch...
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#222: It’s Kinda Like…Squishy from 2017-08-14T12:36:44
In this episode, Joe gives a preview of the talk he’s giving today at 360|iDev about the idea that it’s not just salespeople that are in sales—everyone is. No matter your position or role in an org...
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#221: Shaving That Yak Pretty Good from 2017-08-07T13:41:40
Today we talk about Charles’ efforts to acquire new customers for RelaNet, his business for tax preparers. In particular, we talk about Charles’ efforts with cold emails. Topics include targeting p...
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#220: At That Point, You’re the Jerk from 2017-07-31T13:58:32
Today we talk about Panic and their new update to Transmit, their FTP client for the Mac. We discuss the seven year (!) gap between paid updates for the product, speculate about why Panic might hav...
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#219: I’m Not Saying It’s Logical from 2017-07-24T14:36:49
Today we talk about 1Password, the password manager create by AgileBits. We discuss AgileBit’s recent push to encourage customers to use the cloud version of their product, the backlash from the se...
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#218: It Rains Whenever it Feels Like from 2017-07-17T13:55:40
Joe’s on the road spending a few weeks in San Francisco, so we’re using that as an excuse to talk about travel and how that affects our work. We talk about how our choice in hardware and software c...
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#217: What’s the Opposite of Risk? from 2017-07-10T14:30:14
Today we talk about pricing tiers, and specifically about some of the decisions that Charles made when creating pricing tiers for RelaNet. And Charles tells the story of how he shamelessly threw Ap...
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#216: So I’ve Got These Clients… from 2017-07-03T14:20:49
Charles has a new client and realized that he has a lot to learn, so today he asks Joe about how he manages communication with his clients. Release Notes 2017 Release Notes 2017 is SOLD OUT! Releas...
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#215: The RelaNet Charity Drive from 2017-06-26T14:22:48
Today Charles shares the good news about attracting his first RelaNet customer, how he’s using email marketing with RelaNet, why he likes the email automation service Drip so much, and why he recen...
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#214: Charles’ Therapy Session from 2017-06-19T13:58:36
Today we continue our series of mid-year business check-ups and talk to Charles about how his different products are doing this year. We get a quick update on Benjamin and it’s revenue, we discuss ...
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#213: Almost an Onion Article from 2017-06-12T13:58:27
Today we talk about WWDC and announcements that were made in the Keynote and State of the Union. Joe gives his impression of San Jose as a venue, and we talk about some of the key announcements tha...
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#212: Joe’s Therapy Session from 2017-06-05T13:39:15
Today we talk about the current state of affairs of Joe’s different business ventures. Joe tells us about Bombing Brain’s plans to convert his bread-and-butter app to a subscription model, future p...
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#211: Curtis Herbert (part 2) from 2017-05-29T14:17:24
We’re joined again today by Curtis Herbert, the developer behind Slopes and one of our speakers at Release Notes 2017. We talk about freemium, the relative benefits of subscriptions over paid up fr...
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#210: Curtis Herbert (part 1) from 2017-05-22T14:35:21
We’re joined today by Curtis Herbert, the developer behind Slopes and one of our speakers at Release Notes 2017. We talk about his pricing experiments with Slopes and his experience taking Slopes f...
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#209: Jared Sinclair (part 2) from 2017-05-15T13:58:01
We’re joined again today by Jared Sinclair who joins in a free-wheeling conversation about development in the iOS ecosystem. We talk about getting started as a developer today in iOS, side projects...
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#208: Jared Sinclair (part 1) from 2017-05-08T13:53:02
We’re joined today by Jared Sinclair who talks to us about Stormcrow, his new Twitter client for tweet storms. Stormcrow isn’t his main job, though, so we talk to Jared about his experience balanci...
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#207: Our Big Announcement from 2017-05-01T16:00:54
Today we get to share everything that we’ve been working on for Release Notes 2017! We have details about the speakers, venue, hotel, and more. Tickets are on sale right now, so go to 2017.releasen...
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#206: Bait, I Guess from 2017-04-24T14:00:29
Today we chat about some product launches we’ve recently prepared. Joe talks about why he didn’t spend much time on launching the update to his app Fin, Charles talks about some of the email sequen...
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#205: Ben Scheirman (part 2) from 2017-04-17T16:32:14
Today we’re joined again by Ben Scheirman, who leads the team that builds the 5 Calls iOS app that encourages its users to engage with their elected representatives. Today we talk about measuring w...
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#204: Ben Scheirman from 2017-04-10T13:58:33
Today we’re joined by Ben Scheirman, who leads the team that builds the 5 Calls iOS app that encourages its users to engage with their elected representatives. We talk to Ben about what it’s like t...
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#203: Negotiating with Review Terrorists from 2017-04-03T13:42:48
Last week Apple made a major change to the App Store to allow developers to respond to reviews. Today we talk about this change, consider how helpful it will prove to be, and discuss how we plan to...
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#202: We All Need a Dream Crusher from 2017-03-27T14:23:51
Today we talk about updates: When should you release a minor update and when should you save up those small changes for a bigger release? This conversation morphs into a strategy session for Joe’s ...
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#201: Never Write Your Own Encryption Code (part 2) from 2017-03-20T15:02:26
Today we continue our discussion of security, concentrating this week on our own security. We talk about our use of two-factor authentication, password managers, full-disk encryption, backups, and ...
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#200: Never Write Your Own Encryption Code (part 1) from 2017-03-13T14:42:10
In light of the recent WikiLeaks disclosure of CIA hacking tools, we talk about computer and network security from a developer perspective. We talk about the responsibility we have to our customers...
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#199: We Basically Stopped Researching from 2017-03-06T15:13:48
Today we share the story of the day our email stopped working and how we fixed it in a hurry. (Spoiler: We threw money at the problem.) We weigh the advantages of free services versus paid services...
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#198: Craig Hockenberry (part 2) from 2017-02-27T15:06:37
We are joined again today by Craig Hockenberry of The Iconfactory, makers of Twitterrific, Linea, great icons, and more. Today, we continue talking to Craig about Project Phoenix, The Iconfactory’s...
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#197: Craig Hockenberry (part 1) from 2017-02-20T13:27:33
We are joined today by Craig Hockenberry of The Iconfactory, makers of Twitterrific, Linea, great icons, and more. Craig talks to us about the start of The Iconfactory, working as a part of a distr...
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#196: The Answer is Slowly from 2017-02-13T14:43:30
Today Joe talks to Charles about his new business, RelaNet. We discuss Charles’ new business, the value of specializing in one market vertical, and why Charles seems to be migrating his business ef...
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#195: Probably is Better than Definitely from 2017-02-06T15:20:55
Today we talk about a potentially unpleasant topic: rejection. Specifically rejection in the context of business. We talk about how we deal with hearing “no” in general, and then dive into a few sp...
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#194: Oh, This Guy is an Idiot from 2017-01-30T14:58:43
The first beta for iOS 10.3 dropped a few days ago, and this new version includes several changes that will affect your business: a built-in app review interface, new options for deep linking to th...
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#193: Farmers and Fishermen from 2017-01-23T14:51:59
Today we tackle a variety of topics including our recent announcement of Release Notes 2017 and its move to Chicago, the scourge of tax time and preparing Forms 1099-MISC (for U.S. tax payers), and...
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#192: Manton Reece from 2017-01-16T16:12:34
Today Manton Reece joins us to talk about Micro.blog, the new microblogging service that he’s developing. We talk to Manton about why he thinks a new microblogging service is needed, the importance...
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#191: Allen Pike (part 2) from 2017-01-09T15:16:31
Today we continue our conversation with Allen Pike of Steamclock Software. We talk about consistency in blogging, building a consultancy, and balancing internal products with contract work. Mailing...
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#190: Allen Pike (part 1) from 2017-01-02T15:32:02
Today we talk to Allen Pike of Steamclock Software about how he started Steamclock Software, building a music app that refuses to play Nickelback, what to do when Apple’s API is insufficient, and s...
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#189: The Tyranny of the Timeclock from 2016-12-26T14:58:46
Today, just in time for the end of the year, we discuss end-of-year activities that we should be undertaking in order to wrap up 2016 and prepare for 2017. We talk about taxes, planning, setting go...
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#188: Holiday Recommendations, 2016 (part 2) from 2016-12-19T15:03:11
Today we’re continuing our list of gift ideas for you and the geeks in your life. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development th...
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#187: Holiday Recommendations, 2016 (part 1) from 2016-12-12T15:10:27
Need a last minute gift idea for the geek in your life? We’ve got you covered. And best of all, all these gift ideas are still easily gotten in time for Christmas. (Unlike the NES Classic. ? ) Mail...
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#186: A Prudent Business Decision from 2016-12-05T15:08:24
On today’s show we talk about our computer setups and how Apple’s release of new MacBook Pros has affected our computing choices. We talk about what computers we are or are not buying, the reasons ...
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#185: I Have a Romance with Making Money from 2016-11-28T15:38:51
Today we discuss Setapp, MacPaw’s new Netflix-like service for high quality Mac apps. Last week (episode #184) MacPaw’s CEO Oleksandr Kosovan talked to us about the service. Immediately after that ...
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#184: Oleksandr Kosovan from 2016-11-21T15:41:41
Today we talk to Oleksander Kosovan, founder and CEO of MacPaw, makers of products like Devmate and CleanMyMac. Today we talk to Oleksander about a new product called Setapp. Setapp gives its custo...
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#183: Lobster – Market Price from 2016-11-14T15:36:41
Today Charles interrogates Joe about his recent experience porting his iOS app X2Y to macOS. We talk about Joe’s reason for taking X2Y to the Mac, similarities and differences between UIKit and App...
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#182: Elia Freedman (part 2) from 2016-11-07T14:58:22
Today we continue our conversation with Elia Freedman of Infinity Softworks, and talk about how he transitioned his mobile software business from the PalmPilot days to the iPhone. We talk about les...
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#181: Elia Freedman (part 1) from 2016-10-31T13:58:36
Today we’re joined by Elia Freedman of Infinity Softworks. Elia has been building and selling mobile software since the days of the Palm Pilot, and has learned a lot about the business of selling m...
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#180: I Want to See the Stickers (part 2) from 2016-10-24T13:58:06
Today we continue our discussion of iMessage sticker packs, diving deeper into intellectual property issues and app review troubles that surround sticker packs. In particular, we discuss Joe’s guit...
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#179: I Want to See the Stickers (part 1) from 2016-10-17T15:05:26
Today we talk about about iMessage sticker packs and Joe’s experience with them. We talk about building a custom sticker pack, sticker packs as impulse buys, reusing and re-monetizing sticker pack ...
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#178: An Unofficial Wink and a Nod from 2016-10-10T14:26:47
Today we catch up on a few news items that cropped up while we were busy putting on Release Notes 2016. We talk about Dash being pulled from the Mac App Store, managing business risks, and Omni’s n...
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#177: Thousands of Colons from 2016-10-03T14:06:16
In making preparations for the Release Notes conference that is just past, we paused to reflect on the role that our preparations play in ensuring a successful launch – whether that launch is of an...
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#176: Dermot Daly from 2016-09-26T13:50:41
Today we’re joined by Dermot Daly, founder of Tapadoo and co-founder of Úll, Ireland’s Apple-related conference. We talk about how he founded Tapadoo, how found himself organizing Úll, and the the ...
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#175: Rich Siegel (part 2) from 2016-09-19T14:17:35
We’re joined again today by Rich Siegel, founder of Bare Bones Software and Release Notes 2016 speaker. Today we talk to Rich about the value of providing excellent customer support, why indies mig...
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#174: Rich Siegel (part 1) from 2016-09-12T14:06:42
We’re joined today by Rich Siegel, founder of Bare Bones Software and Release Notes 2016 speaker. We talk to Rich about how he got started with BBEdit, how he’s using free apps and trials with his ...
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#173: Won’t Get Fooled Again from 2016-09-05T14:57:30
In today’s episode we discuss the recent changes to the App Store Review Guidelines that were announced last week. We look at the announcements, how we think we’ll be affected by them, and what we ...
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#172: Buffaloes Notwithstanding from 2016-08-29T17:01:25
In today’s episode, recorded live and in person at 360iDev, we reflect on the great time we had in Denver and some of the great talks we heard and lessons we learned while at the conference. Thanks...
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#171: Supertop from 2016-08-22T14:31:35
We’re joined this week by Oisín Prendiville and Pádraig Kennedy of Supertop. Supertop recently released a new version of their podcast player Castro, so we chatted with them about the new release, ...
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#170: Sarah Hatter from 2016-08-15T13:24:17
We’re joined today by Sarah Hatter, founder of CoSupport and speaker at Release Notes 2016. Sarah talks to us about her work with CoSupport, the difference between “customer support” and “customer ...
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#169: Another Purple Zeppelin from 2016-08-08T13:06:29
Today we chat about Charles’ recent adventures in naming things and the process he uses when coming up with a name for a new product or business. We discuss trademarks, choosing the right domain na...
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#168: Ariel Michaeli (part 2) from 2016-08-01T14:02:07
We’re joined again today by Ariel Michaeli, co-founder of AppFigures and speaker at Release Notes 2016. Today Ariel shares how he has gained needed expertise, his experience in hiring his first emp...
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#167: Ariel Michaeli (part 1) from 2016-07-25T13:45:56
We’re joined today by Ariel Michaeli, co-founder of AppFigures and speaker at Release Notes 2016. Ariel shares the story of how AppFigures started, his earlier history launching iOS games and other...
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#166: Guilty of Being Stupid (part 2) from 2016-07-18T14:18:30
Today we continue our conversation about our efforts in email marketing. We talk about generating regular content, stealing ideas from competitors, email frequency, automated email campaigns, and m...
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#165: Guilty of Being Stupid (part 1) from 2016-07-11T14:26:15
It’s generally accepted that a strong mailing list is an indie’s best friend when it comes to marketing your products. Today we talk about some of Charles’ recent experiments in email marketing, ho...
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#164: Ruin it with Math from 2016-07-04T13:28:27
At WWDC this year, Apple announced iMessage apps in two varieties: stickers and interactive messages. Today we talk about the business prospects of iMessage apps, why Joe is building a sticker pack...
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#163: That Ship Has Sailed from 2016-06-27T14:42:33
In this episode we talk about WWDC 2016 and Joe’s experience there. We talk about how Joe spent his time in San Francisco without a WWDC ticket, the technical announcements that we are most excited...
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#162: David Sparks (part 2) from 2016-06-20T13:18:42
We’re joined again today by David Sparks, Release Notes 2016 speaker, lawyer, and co-host of Mac Power Users. We talk about his screencast business, professional networking, giving up profitable wo...
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#161: David Sparks (part 1) from 2016-06-13T13:22:29
Today we’re joined by David Sparks, Release Notes 2016 speaker and co-host of Mac Power Users. We talk about his history podcasting, his career as a lawyer specializing in technology, and his new l...
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Special Episode: Mostly Neutral-ish from 2016-06-09T12:44:19
Yesterday Apple sat down with a number of journalists and, through them, announced some fairly major changes to the App Store, including an expansion of the subscription pricing model for apps and ...
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#160: I Don’t Want to Learn More Than Once from 2016-06-06T13:58:11
Today Joe declares his love for coffee and Comply foam tips, Charles talks a little about his recent trip to UIKonf, and we both talk about what we hope to see at WWDC in just a few days. Release N...
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#159: Questions and Answers from 2016-05-30T13:58:42
Today we take some time to answer questions we received from listeners. Questions cover making money outside the App Store, the benefits of localization, the future of indie development and more. R...
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#158: Coffee:Charles::Paper:Joe from 2016-05-23T13:58:06
Today we’re taking a break from iOS business news to talk about some of the gadgets and tools we use to make our day a little more enjoyable. Topics range across coffee, stationery, headphones, and...
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#157: Jaimee Newberry (part 2) from 2016-05-16T13:58:28
Today we continue the conversation with Jaimee Newberry that we began last week. This week Jaimee talks to us about her history as a freelancer, the importance of side work, and the hustle it takes...
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#156: Jaimee Newberry (part 1) from 2016-05-09T14:23:56
We’re joined today by Jaimee Newberry, who will also be joining us as a speaker at Release Notes 2016. Jaimee shares with us how she got into design and technology, what exactly she does as the Chi...
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#155: It’s a Flea Market, Basically (part 2) from 2016-05-02T13:53:24
Last week we discussed how we might be affected if Apple instituted paid App Store search results, as has been rumored. Today we continue that discussion. We talk about adapting to new business rea...
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#154: It’s a Flea Market Basically (part 1) from 2016-04-25T14:04:42
There’s a rumor going around that Apple may institute paid placement for search results in the App Store. We consider this rumor today and think about how paid placement would affect our apps and t...
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#153: Our Big Speaker Announcement from 2016-04-18T13:58:45
We use today’s episode to announce the speakers that we have lined up for Release Notes 2016. We’re really pleased that all these speakers agreed to join us, and we think they are going to help us ...
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#152: Hey, Why Did My Price Go Up? from 2016-04-11T14:36:40
On today’s episode we discuss the recent changes with TextExpander and their customers’ response to those changes. We ponder the nature of recurring payments, try to construct a theory of when recu...
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#151: Our 2.0.1 from 2016-04-04T14:34:56
Tickets for Release Notes 2016 are now on sale, so today we share some of the details of what we have planned for the conference this year. We talk about the venue, travel, the dine around, our par...
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#150: A 5-Year-Old BMW from 2016-03-28T14:41:59
After chatting about Joe’s recent speaking engagement at mdevcon, we dive into the recent product announcements Apple made in their town hall event. We discuss the role customer feedback plays in A...
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#149: Most Press is Good Press from 2016-03-21T14:23:54
On today’s Release Notes we discuss Press Kits – what format they should take, what to include in them, and how to make them available to the press. We also talk about encouraging the press to writ...
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#148: A B2B Situation from 2016-03-14T14:13:07
On today’s show we talk about a new subscription app maintenance service called AppCare which was recently launched by Fifteen Jugglers Software. We go on to consider the role of sales in an app bu...
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#147: To Quote Spock, I Guess from 2016-03-07T15:34:43
Today we discuss shipping code. We talk about weighing the bugs and incomplete features that exist towards the end of a project and how we decide whether those problems are significant enough to de...
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#146: Cool, I Got a Sticker! from 2016-02-29T14:56:20
Today we talk about Just Landed which was recently removed from the App Store by its developer. We use Just Landed as a jumping off point to discuss some of the special challenges that certain App ...
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#145: Do-si-do from 2016-02-22T14:45:18
Today Joe talks to Charles about his app MetaTax and the change in strategy that Charles is preparing for. We spend some time analyzing the performance of MetaTax, consider some theories for why Me...
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#144: I Shipped It, Is What I Did from 2016-02-15T15:03:57
Today we talk about juggling all the different responsibilities that we have to balance as indies. We discuss the challenges of balancing different roles (such as development, design, and QA) withi...
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#143: Regular Humanitarians (part 2) from 2016-02-08T14:55:32
Today we continue our conversation about the shutdown of Parse and third-party dependencies in general. We talk about the opportunity costs of running your own backend, about balancing risk and opp...
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#142: Regular Humanitarians from 2016-02-01T14:48:52
Today we’re talking about the shutdown of Parse that was announced a few days ago. We talk about what we know, the impact on our community, and what other options exist for developers who have been...
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#141: They Could Burn $100 Bills from 2016-01-25T15:06:10
Today Charles asks Joe about his recent experience at the Apple TV Tech Talks in New York. We discuss the format, the talks, and some of the lessons Joe learned while there. Save the Date! If you e...
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#140: Like Watching Paint Dry from 2016-01-18T15:12:02
Last week Charles moved his blog from his company site to a new domain in order to separate his blog posts aimed at other developers from the messages he’s trying to communicate to his professional...
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#139: Looking Back and Ahead (part 2) from 2016-01-11T15:40:26
Today we continue reflecting back on 2015 and looking forward to 2016. Joe talks about his music, we share some financial figures, we look at how we did on our goals from 2015, and share what we’d ...
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#138: Looking Back and Ahead from 2016-01-04T14:24:28
Today we’re taking a look back at 2015 and forward to 2016. We talk about products we shipped, conferences we attended, and the pleasure of catching our breath after an iOS 9 release with few major...
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#137: 9,000 Fireplace Apps from 2015-12-28T14:36:48
Today we talk about grabbing fortune by the horns and taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves: Unexpected App Store features, new hardware, and holiday publicity. Save the Date! I...
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#136: More Lists from 2015-12-21T15:35:16
Today we discuss attention, motivation, distraction, and other mental obstacles to getting work done. Along the way we talk about Star Wars, Twitter, strategies for staying productive, and how we m...
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#135: Sorta Cool, Sorta Creepy from 2015-12-14T14:58:09
Today we talk about advertising apps to potential customers and some of the recent advertising efforts that Charles has performed in support of his new app MetaTax. We discuss email advertising, Fa...
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#134: You Have to Fluff Your Chest Hair from 2015-12-07T15:45:32
Today we discuss the Mac App Store and Bohemian Coding’s recent announcement that they are removing their hit app Sketch from the Mac App Store. We talk about what it means for customers, what it m...
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#133: It’s Still Not Right from 2015-11-30T15:08:11
This week we talk about how we back up our business data. Joe relates his story of keychain woe, Charles shares his multi-tiered backup strategy, and then we discuss the important difference betwee...
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#132: David Barnard (part 2) from 2015-11-23T15:15:30
Today we continue our conversation with David Barnard of Contrast. We talk about target demographics, the role that search plays in an app’s success, and lessons learned with App Store preview vide...
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#131: David Barnard (part 1) from 2015-11-16T14:34:39
We’re joined today by David Barnard of Contrast. David shares with us the story of how he got into app development, what he’s learned as a successful indie who doesn’t program, and his strategy for...
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#130: It’s a Giant Distraction Box from 2015-11-09T14:58:46
Today we’re talking about the Apple TV and the new App Store that’s available for it. We discuss the current state of sales, setting developer expectations, App Store search, and app discoverabilit...
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#129: Postmortem from 2015-11-02T14:57:37
Today we’re talking about the postmortem that we recently completed on our just-finished conference, and the importance of reflecting on progress and performance both during and after a project end...
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#128: Jeremy Olson (part 2) from 2015-10-26T14:00:43
Today we continue our conversation with Jeremy Olson of Tapity, makers of fine apps like Hours and Grades. Jeremy talks more today about Tapity’s private crowdfunding campaign, the dynamics of busi...
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#127: Jeremy Olson (part 1) from 2015-10-19T14:00:30
Today we’re joined by Jeremy Olson of Tapity, makers of fine apps like Hours and Grades. Jeremy talks to us today about some of his history in launching Tapity, Tapity’s journey to self-sufficiency...
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#126: That’s My Starting Price from 2015-10-12T12:32:33
While Charles’ new app, MetaTax, isn’t yet on the App Store (darn you App Store Review!), he is ready to start talking about it. So in this episode, we talk about MetaTax, why Charles chose this ap...
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#125: The Slow Build from 2015-10-05T13:33:43
Today we’re talking about launching new apps. How important is launch day? Under what circumstances is it not so critical? How has our approach to launches changed as the App Store has matured? We ...
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#124: Happiness is my Default Position from 2015-09-28T13:49:30
Today we tackle the difficult topic of motivation. In the short-term, how do we remain motivated to continue making progress on our apps? In the long-term, how do we avoid discouragement in the fac...
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#123: Georgia Dow from 2015-09-21T13:11:05
In this episode we’re joined by Georgia Dow, who shares her background in technology, and her experience starting her small business. Georgia also tells us a little about the psychology of pleasing...
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#122: Way Too Intuitive from 2015-09-14T13:13:45
In this episode we discuss the business implications of the recent Apple Event and announce a partnership between our conference and App Camp for Girls. Conference We’re planning a conference! Rele...
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#121: Eleven Topics from 2015-09-07T13:58:55
Today we are excited to announce the topics that each of our eleven amazing speakers will be addressing on stage at Release Notes in October. We chose these speakers for Release Notes because of th...
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#120: Go Down to Costa Rica from 2015-08-31T13:50:06
Today we talk about our recent trip to 360|iDev where we both presented. We talk about some of our favorite talks that we witnessed, give overviews of our own talks, and share some of the lessons w...
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#119: John Saddington from 2015-08-24T13:58:17
Today we’re joined by John Saddington, who will be speaking at Release Notes this October. John is the creator of the app Desk, which helps its customers publish to their blogs. John speaks to us t...
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#118: An Overbloated Monster from 2015-08-17T15:58:19
Got an idea for an app? When you look in the App Store, chances are you’ll find someone already beat you to it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t pursue your idea. Today we discu...
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#117: Chris Liscio (part 2) from 2015-08-10T16:02:58
This week we continue our discussion with Chris Liscio about the lessons he’s learned in his ten years as an indie selling products like Capo and FuzzMeasure. We discuss pricing, the Mac App Store,...
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#116: Chris Liscio (part 1) from 2015-08-03T16:16:46
Chris Liscio is a long-time indie with award winning apps like Capo, Capo touch, and Fuzz Measure, and this October he’ll be joining us on stage at Release Notes. Today Chris joins us on the podcas...
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#115: The Special Sauce is Applied with Tweezers from 2015-07-27T15:59:33
Today we follow up on last week’s discussion about trials in the App Store, before shifting gears to discuss marketing. What’s ethical? What’s tasteful? Does it matter? How far dare we push our mar...
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#114: Handing Out Flyers in Dirty Nightclubs from 2015-07-20T15:59:51
Apple doesn’t make it easy to do free trials of App Store apps, and in at least some cases forbids them by policy. Today we look at free trials, how Joe’s team has implemented them in their new app...
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#113: The Brains Behind Bombing Brain from 2015-07-13T15:56:45
A lot of indies work alone, but what happens when you have someone to help share the load? To explore the dynamics of partnerships, we’re joined today by Tim Cochrane and Gene Whitaker, Joe’s busin...
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#112: Flippin’ Burgers for the Man from 2015-07-06T16:06:48
There’s been a lot of talk this week about the App Store and its role in the success (and failure) of indie app developers. Today we add our two cents to the conversation and share our view of toda...
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#111: Someone Less Comfortable Than You from 2015-06-29T15:56:12
During our recent trip to WWDC we had the chance to meet lots of new friends and again see lots old ones, so in this episode we’re chatting about mingling and professional networking. We talk about...
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#110: Anything That Can Go Wrong from 2015-06-22T16:00:42
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or so the old saying goes. Today we’re talking about how we deal, and how we’ve dealt, with unexpected setbacks in our business and in our plans. We talk ...
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#109: A Monetizational Way from 2015-06-15T16:00:59
Live from WWDC (sort of), we present our first impressions of the changes that were recently announced and how we think they will affect our plans and our business. Conference We’re planning a conf...
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#108: It Did Pique My Interest from 2015-06-08T16:00:01
Today we’re talking about cross-platform development. What other platforms are worth considering? Android? PC? Does Microsoft’s introduction of a “Universal Windows Platform Bridge” that allows dev...
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#107: I Can’t Really Infer What That Means from 2015-06-01T16:25:51
A few weeks ago, Apple (finally!) released the app analytics in iTunesConnect that they promised at WWDC last year. Today, Charles and Joe jump in and take a look at what we got – the good, the bad...
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