Full Stack Founder

Jack McDade is the founder of Statamic CMS and the creator of the new course, Radical Design.  In this conversation, Jack shared his story of going from film maker to full stack designer and developer to building a website CMS product.Brian and Jack's conversation was recorded on February 20th, 2024.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024. Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Sam Selikoff, cofounder of BuildUI, returns to the show and we talk all about NYC! New York City, one of my favorite places.  Brian and Sam’s conversation was recorded on December 15th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Software founder life in NYC with Sam Selikoff (04:45) - What is the crowd like? (06:54) - New York's downfall - sports teams (08:42) - Working remotely in NYC (13:16) - City life vs. Suburb life (15:08) - NY energy (crazy and all!) (16:56) - Cost of living   Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Kevin Powell returns to the show where we talk about the business side of his work as a YouTuber and teacher of front-end development and CSS.  Brian and Kevin’s conversation was recorded on December 7th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Building a Courses Business with a YouTube audience with Kevin Powell (03:20) - Kevin's ideal customer journey (05:04) - Using call-to-action cards on YouTube (07:21) - Kevin's channels of revenue (11:09) - Running a Discord community (14:13) - Pricing and course organization (19:22) - Once off vs Memberships (21:23) - Deciding what to create next (23:14) - Kevin's 2024 resolutions Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Lianna Patch wasn’t thrilled with the work she was doing, who she was doing it for, and the lack of fun she was having as a professional copywriter. So she changed everything and relaunched her Punchline Copy business with a focus on comedic copy. Brian and Lianna’s conversation was recorded on  December 13th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - How Lianna Patch Reinvented Her Copywriting Business (03:34) - The evolution of Pubchline copy (08:48) - Lianna's main client base (10:12) - How to be an ideal client (12:49) - How Lianna structures her business (17:30) - Offering productized services (21:31) - ..And larger projects? (22:35) - 2024's roadmap (26:34) - Moving from consulting to "passive" revenue Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

I invited James Lewis on to help understand the idea of a “fractional product manager” (and we covered that) but it turned into James’ story of how we transitioned from that into cofounder of a new SaaS, Lemon, in the payments space.  Brian and James’ conversation was recorded on December 8th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Fractional Product Management to SaaS Cofounder with James Lewis (03:59) - James' current day to day (06:50) - Transitioning from dev to project management (09:56) - The first big move and early learnings (15:36) - Working as a fractional product manager for lemon (17:56) - How James landed the lemon role (20:31) - Dusting off the dev hat (23:34) - What is lemon? (25:24) - ...And how does it work? (28:44) - lemon's current roadmap Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Justin Ferriman returns and we discuss his post-exit transition to becoming a business coach for other founders. Brian and Justin’s conversation was recorded on November 10th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - From Founder to Coaching Founders with Justin Ferriman (03:12) - Justin's coaching story (04:55) - The Know/Like/Trust list (05:59) - Ideation to execution (07:24) - How Justin is structuring his coaching offerings (14:27) - Keeping room for growth (16:04) - Justin on marketing his coaching business (18:00) - Being active in a community > Hard sell (20:49) - Using quality content to build trust Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Sam Selikoff, cofounder of BuildUI joins me for a wide-ranging (and sometimes technical) conversation about his journey as a software engineer, and his business teaching UI development with video courses and YouTube.  Brian and Sam’s conversation was recorded on December 15th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Teaching User Interface Development with Sam Selikoff (BuildUI) (06:33) - Sam's elevator pitch (08:02) - Marketing as front end only (at first)z (11:36) - BuildUI courses and staying up to date (20:03) - BuildUI's UI (...and UX) (23:22) - Sam's time at TED (28:06) - Transition from TED to BuildUI (31:31) - BuildUI origin story (34:41) - Pivoting moments for BuildUI   Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science, returns to the show and we have a fun episode where we talk about our lives away from the cameras and mics to talk about how we stay fit and healthy (or at least try to be).  Brian and Jay’s conversation was recorded on November 8th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - The Health Pendulum as Entrepreneurs (03:25) - Physical health = mental health (05:28) - Jay's health and fitness "stack" (07:45) - Diet and portion control (10:39) - Morning person/Night troll? Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Lianna Patch is known as a fantastic copywriter. Why? Because she’s also a comedian! We talk about Lianna’s passion for the craft of comedy, her comedic roots, and how she translated that into a thriving career as a copywriter.  Brian and Lianna’s conversation was recorded on December 13th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Geeking out on Comedy with Lianna Patch (03:36) - Lianna's introduction to comedy (06:54) - Niching down in comedy (12:25) - Building a comedy set (15:27) - Dealing with stage fright (and monkey brain "anxiety" ) (18:27) - Lianna's comedic inspiration (20:12) - Combining comedy with copy (22:19) - Lianna's journey to "punchline copy" Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

I spoke to Kevin Powell, YouTuber and front-end CSS teacher about how he operates his YouTube content business and how he grew to over 800,000 subscribers.  Brian and Kevin’s conversation was recorded on December 7th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Teaching CSS to 800k YouTube Subscribers with Kevin Powell (06:56) - A week in the life of Kevin Powell (09:35) - Kevin's YouTube origin story (10:35) - Who is your target audience? (14:48) - Staying on the cutting edge (16:58) - Content ideation and maintaining a calendar (19:40) - Crafting the perfect video title (22:50) - The YouTube analytics rabbit hole (25:41) - Scripting and planning a video (28:35) - Outsourcing editing and post-production (30:38) - Long form vs short form content (33:18) - YouTube algorithms (or what we know about them) (34:59) - Subcribers to customers! (36:25) - Engaging with the YouTube community (39:17) - Separating content avenues Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Aaron Francis, creator of screencasting.com and prolific YouTuber returns to the show to talk all things video, screencasting and growing a business on YouTube.Brian and Aaron's conversation was recorded on November 16th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - YouTube as a business with Aaron Francis (02:52) - Talking video and screencasting.com (04:32) - Growing multiple YouTube channels (08:08) - How many YouTube subscribers is "enough"? (13:15) - YouTube Monetization (19:14) - Imposter Syndrome as a Teacher (22:17) - Hours & commitment in a YouTube business (27:12) - Staying authentic on YouTube Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Justin Ferriman, founder of LearnDash, talks to me about how he started, grew, and exited from this WordPress business in the LMS space.  Brian and Justin’s conversation was recorded on  November 10th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - From Selling a WordPress Business to SaaS with Justin Ferriman (03:08) - Justin's business transition to coaching (05:56) - Highlights of building a business (07:44) - Taking advantage of untapped markets (11:50) - Using your audience to promote your products (13:57) - Know where your audience hangs out (15:40) - Pricing *gasp* before subscriptions (16:56) - Growing the LearnDash team (18:19) - Biggest challenges growing LearnDash (21:49) - Justin's LearnDash exit (26:47) - After the exit: What next? (32:20) - AI and it's implications on software dev Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

 Jay Clouse, who runs Creator Science, joins me to talk all things creator businesses.  Brian and Jay’s conversation was recorded on November 8th, 2023 Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - The Science Behind a Creator Business (05:21) - Content as a product (11:49) - Seperating personal and creator brands (18:21) - Creator Science breakdown (28:40) - Creative energy and prioritization (31:49) - Content ideation, production and output (33:54) - Side hustle to full time creator (39:09) - Where to focus your creative energy Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Adam Gilbert, founder of My Body Tutor, joins me to talk about how he scaled a personal fitness coaching business.  Brian and Adam’s conversation was recorded on November 3rd, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Scaling a Fitness Coaching Business with Adam Gilbert (03:16) - What is My Body Tutor? (04:20) - The evolution of Adam's business (07:01) - Adam's background in health and fitness (10:01) - Taking the leap and getting those first customers (14:18) - Good businesses solve a problem (15:44) - My Body Tutor today (17:26) - Maintaining core principles in a coaching business (19:14) - My Body Tutor milestones (21:17) - From solo coach to coaching business (24:02) - Practicing routines to turn them into habits (25:31) - Business growing pains (27:26) - Adam's routines (29:27) - My Body Tutor's new plan (30:59) - Catering to a wide range of customers Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc, returns to the show to talk about his life as a digital nomad for 3+ years.Brian and Dru's conversation was recorded on November 20th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - 3+ Years of Nomad Life w/ Dru Riley (02:56) - Where in the world is Dru? (05:04) - Why choose the digital nomad lifestyle? (08:34) - Favorite places (so far)? (09:41) - Working across timezones (13:29) - Processes for life as a nomad (15:02) - Researching upcoming destinations (16:34) - Finding places to stay (18:23) - Social scenes as a digital nomad (20:04) - Challenges of living and working as a nomad Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Aaron Francis, creator of screencasting.com and prolific YouTuber joins me to talk about his “Era of Maximum Effort”. We get into building products businesses vs. creator businesses, and more.Brian and Aaron's conversation was recorded on November 16th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Product vs. Creator Businesses with Aaron Francis (02:31) - Conversations across podcasts (05:04) - Aaron's "era of maximum effort" (10:57) - Focus vs. many "small bets" (17:24) - What are your goals as a creator? (27:34) - The initial business idea really matters (31:36) - How to find a break and relax? Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Ian Landsman of HelpSpot joins me to unpack all things Laravel ecosystem.Brian and Ian's conversation was recorded on November 3rd, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - The Laravel Ecosystem with Ian Landsman (02:20) - Ian returns to talk Laravel (06:06) - Laravel vs. Rails (08:37) - Developer ecosystem (10:41) - Upgrading Laravel (12:38) - Front-end frameworks for Laravel (18:58) - Young developers learning on today's tools (22:06) - Tradeoffs (22:24) - Funding open source innovation Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Colleen Schnettler, founder of HelloQuery, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion around the question of choosing the right product idea to commit to as an entrepreneur. Brian and Colleen recorded this conversation on November 17th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Colleen Schnettler (02:48) - Twitter, Conference, and Podcast friends! (04:30) - Transitioning between between ideas (05:15) - Joining TinySeed (06:14) - the ZipMessage to Clarityflow story (as of Nov 2023) (17:41) - Emotional Runway (19:06) - Choosing a product idea (22:53) - Converting a service into a SaaS (28:03) - Riding a wave (32:00) - Evaluating potential ideas (35:34) - Validating ideas before building (43:03) - Audience growth vs. not (47:10) - What are you optimizing for? (52:34) - Survivorship bias (54:12) - Looking back on mistakes (56:33) - Shipping tiny ideas Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Dru Riley, founder of Trends.vc joins me to talk about building his Newsletter and Community business and the systems and processes he’s used to grow it.Brian and Dru's conversation was recorded on November 20th, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Systems to run & grow a newsletter business w/ Dru Riley (Trends.vc) (03:03) - Newsletter + Community (06:09) - Breakdown of revenue channels (09:04) - Launching a podcast for Trends.vc (13:15) - Pro membership model (15:24) - Process and delegation (20:31) - Choosing the right topics (24:07) - Marketing funnel Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.

Ian Landsman and his team at Userscape work on HelpSpot, a well-established SaaS product for customer support.  And after well over 10 years in business, they decided to embark on a full rebuild of their app.Brian and Ian's conversation was recorded on November 3rd, 2023.Brian's update was recorded on March 8th, 2024.(00:00) - Rebuilding a SaaS with Ian Landsman (02:34) - Ian returns! (03:25) - Rebuild? Redesign? Relaunch? What is this? (04:22) - Is this a SaaS? (08:23) - Is this the first rebuild? (11:12) - Why rebuild? Why now? (17:35) - AI in customer support tools (22:48) - Killing vs. reworking features (26:07) - Thinking about competitors (29:27) - Roadmap and timeframe (30:35) - Founder designing vs delegating (34:21) - Rolling out the rebuild Brian's Product StudioMy product studio, Instrumental Products, is where I partner with SaaS companies, creators, and founders to take product ideas from concept to launched.  Got something to ship?  Let's talk!Brian's YouTube channelSubscribe to my YouTube channel where I'm building products and showing the process.Brian's NewsletterSubscribe to my newsletter where I send my best ideas and stories from working on products.This Podcast on YouTubeThis podcast is on YouTube!  You can watch full episodes on video by subscribing to the FSF Podcast Channel on YouTube.