#saas

This is a personal one, so bear with me. I’m sharing mainly because I can’t imagine giving myself this kind of space ten years ago. So I’m hoping that painting the picture could help other folks who may be in a similar space. Losing a limb kind of…

Over my time running Sifter, I spent a lot of time trying out different marketing tactics. Then, working on Postmark, we tried quite a few additional tactics as well. The FOMO was always overwhelming. Retargeting. Banner ads. Blogging. A/B testing….

About 11 years ago, I quit my job to start Sifter. Today, after my knowledge of running it for 8 years, I would have been too hesitant to start it. It’s not that I would be afraid, but I’d overthink it. I’d be at a standstill over-analyzing every single…

When you spend eight straight years designing, developing, and supporting a product by yourself, you gain perspective. You truly feel the consequences of your decisions as they ripple through the years. When you work on a team and are able to…

When it comes to sharing ideas that involve visual elements, source code, and unifying concepts that span disciplines, the friction to include different types of media and information makes technical writing rather tedious, and streamlining that process a bit has helped make it more enjoyable to write.

When I sold Sifter, I regularly wondered if I’d ever be able to find the time to build another business or application now that I had a family and different responsibilities. Here’s how I’m figuring it out.

At the beginning of May, I’ll be leaving Wildbit to create some space and flexibility to work more on Adaptable. In the meantime I’m actively looking for opportunities that will help pay the bills and give me a way to do work that aligns with my hopes…

So much has changed in my 10 years since starting Sifter. My personal life has changed significantly, and technology has evolved just as much. I’ve done my best to keep up with the changing ecosystem, and after more than ten years of SaaS experience,…

There’s a big difference between creating software and shipping it. Creating is easy. Shipping is the hard part, and countless companies never quite figure it out. Sure, they might release their software, but that’s not the same as shipping. No company…

Eight years ago, I wrote a blog post about how starting was easier than sustaining. It rings just as true today. A few years after that, I wrote a book sharing what I had learned building and running a web application as a sole founder. Here we are a…

I’m working on a big update to Starting & Sustaining to add in my experience gained running Sifter through my health problems. I also have some lessons learned through selling it. What started out as a whimsical plan to fill in some gaps and expand…

On March 1st, 2016, JD and team took the reigns of Sifter. That day, it absolutely felt like the right decision, but now, with a year’s worth of perspective, how does it feel? Even better. Handing over a project after pouring eight years of your life…

You may not know this, but a few weeks ago, I had my left leg amputated below the knee. About six months before that I sold Sifter. The two events are somewhat related, but they didn’t have to be. Financially, things were great because recurring revenue…

It seems that more and more people have visions of someday being self-employed. There are plenty of good reasons to pursue this, but there’s also a strong case to be made for the steady reliability of a 9-to-5 job working for someone else. Having spent…

After I had been working on Sifter for about six years, I had a minor ankle surgery that unfortunately led to many more surgeries. While I was pleasantly surprised how well recurring-revenue software supported me through the ups and downs of surgeries…

Today I have some exciting news. It’s news that I never anticipated eight years ago when starting Sifter, but it’s news I’m excited to share nonetheless. Sifter has a new home. JD Graffam, already a caretaker for a handful of wonderful products, will be…

One of the most nefarious patterns that seems to be increasingly common is companies that accept payment online but then don’t let you cancel service with the same ease. The companies that do it don’t seem to care. This is wrong. Full stop. If your…

One of the most challenging aspects of running a business is understanding why customers leave or otherwise choose not to use your product. The underlying problem is that if a customer doesn’t like your product, they’ll generally just write it off and…

For years I’ve been planning to work fewer hours. I really don’t work all that much, maybe 50 hours per week, but with the office at home, there’s little separation between work and everything else. My plans were always centered around this or that…

Tomorrow, Sifter turns five. During those five years, I’d say that all of my mistakes and regrets boil down to fear. Sifter supports my family, provides some income to good friends who do some contract work for us, and has thousands of people that use…