Helping SaaS founders for 15 years via @startupspod. Educating and investing in startups through @microconf and @tinyseedfund. Wrote saasplaybook.com.
Joined October 2009
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20 Aug 2024
The TinySeed Millionaire Rate is 43%.
Definition: Of @tinyseedfund companies no longer in operation (sold OR shut down), 43% of those founders are now millionaires.💰
This % will obviously change over time. It's still early, and the numbers are still small (~2% of companies have shut down. ~4% have sold).
But this is yet another reminder of how resilient and insanely valuable SaaS companies are.
Personally, I find this number incredible. Much higher than I would have expected, and it brings me nothing but joy knowing the lives that have been changed through entrepreneurship.
(cc @einarvollset)
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Jun 13
Tibo’s points may be valid, but they are not reasons to never sell.
If you know what you’re signing up for, pocketing $8M is worth some sacrifice.
His post actually points to better advice, which is: don’t agree to aggressive performance milestones.
Jun 12
if you're selling your startup - don't
I sold my startups for $8m & I'll never sell again
quick context: I sold Tweet Hunter and Taplio for $8m in 2024. $2m upfront, the rest as an earnout based on performance - on paper, a dream exit
in reality, 3 things broke me
first, I gave up my baby. the products I spent years building, the vision I had in my head
all of it went to someone else. and now I sit here watching the new owners ship things I'd never ship, kill features I loved, and just make the product shitty
looking at Tweet Hunter like this hurts more than I expected it to 😞
--
second, the earnout was kind of a 2-year prison
we wanted a high multiple, so we agreed to performance-based milestones
that meant 2 years of waking up every single day knowing the only thing that mattered was hitting aggressive revenue targets
I was technically still running the company but I had a boss now: the contract 🥲
hitting milestones used to feel like winning but with an earnout it flips. every win is just dodging a loss
and missing one doesn't feel like falling short - it feels like being a loser
--
third, the money itself breaks you - nobody warns you about it
you have no idea what to do with that kind of money
you don't get the time to adjust to it and you start taking bad decisions. you stop identifying as the same person you were before and you go a little crazy, faster than you think
and then comes the worst part
after all this, when I got back to building, I realized everyone around me already saw me as the "successful guy who exited" and that froze me
for months I couldn't ship anything new because I was scared of breaking the perception
I've talked to a lot of founders who sold their companies. every single one of them feels this
but I got back to it anyway - building is what I love
and today I'm building a SaaS portfolio that crossed $1m MRR this year
so if you're sitting on a term sheet right now, do me a favor
don't read what the buyer is offering
read what you'd be giving up
and then make a decision
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Jun 9
👇🏼👇🏼
Some PE firms in 2026 won't show your deal to their investment committee without at least one AI moat.
@einarvollset and @robwalling break down all five and what they mean for SaaS founders in this market.
Ep 836 👇
startupsfortherestofus.com/e…
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Jun 9
What should I talk about at MicroConf Iceland this fall?
I’m looking for ideas for a 35-minute main-stage talk.
A couple constraints:
• No early-stage validation or “how to launch” topics
• No AI talks, I’ve covered that ground plenty
What are you thinking about these days? What’s a topic you’d want me to unpack?
(Even if you’re not attending, the talk will be on YouTube a few months after the event.)
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Rob Walling retweeted
Huh - TinySeed Fund 1 is top 3% of all 2019 vintage funds on Carta (we have > 1x DPI).
Kinda insane that less than half of funds in that vintage has returned even a single dollar.
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Jun 6
Across the 241 SaaS companies I'm invested in, less than 5% had any notable social media audience when they started (or have built one since).
As a data point, about 22% of them are doing 7 or 8-figures of ARR.
If you want to do SaaS, build your network, not your audience.
Jun 6
real talk: having a decent sized audience *helps* but is by absolutely zero means a guarantee that anything succeeds/works/makes money.
have put out TONS of things that got all of about 3 people to actually sign up for.
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Jun 6
More thoughts on this topic here if you’re interested: youtu.be/n_CEYs1TUiE?si=VvCn…
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Rob Walling retweeted
May 27
First TinySeed company with a Times Square Billboard! Whoop!
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Rob Walling retweeted
Is AI actually making your work better or just average?
@robwalling and @ericries dig into Lean Startup 15 years on, his new book Incorruptible, and what it takes to build a company that lasts in episode 834👇
startupsfortherestofus.com/e…
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May 19
Heck yes I just pre-ordered the new Zero Click Marketing book from @randfish and @amandanat 🎉
(link below)
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May 19
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May 14
I wish someone would warn startup founders that lower prices usually (I.e. almost always) lead to higher churn.
May 14
i've lost MRR since lowering my price from $99 to $19
Also, churn has gone up to almost 20%
i tried to be PJ Celis and failed
Something gotta change asap
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Rob Walling retweeted
May 1
"I wish I could take a business vacation with 200 of my closest #SaaS founder friends," you say. "And I wish there could be a thermal lagoon involved." Wish granted: microconf.com/europe
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Rob Walling retweeted
Apr 17
microconf is basically therapy for solo founders
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Apr 17
A founder's VA dove into Claude Code, eager to learn. Within two days, she'd deleted all his leads.
She wasn't careless — she was smart, motivated, and taught herself the tool. The tool just had full access to dangerous operations with no guardrails.
I hosted a roundtable at @MicroConf on "Managing Cybernetic Organisms" — hiring and managing teams that are part human, part AI agent. The takeaway: job descriptions, onboarding, guardrails, feedback loops — same discipline whether the worker is carbon or silicon.
The founders who treat agent management as an organizational design problem will build the most effective teams. The ones who treat it as an engineering problem will keep deleting their own leads.
movingavg.com/essays/managin…
#MicroConf #AIStrategy #FounderLife #Hiring
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Rob Walling retweeted
Apr 15
My first sober conference!
@MicroConf Portland was fantastic, and I enjoyed it without booze
Last year in New Orleans I missed the second day of programming after a few too many cocktails and far too many shots
This year I challenged myself to stay focused on my health goals - no alcohol, and training every day before the conference
It was challenging and there were lots of temptations, but I am leaving today feeling proud of myself
I also had some FANTASTIC conversations with folks like @asmartbear @harisenbon79 @oakuzmenkov @punchlinecopy @mynameis_davis and many many others
I also got to hang out with my coach @TheCraigHewitt IRL
If you're a bootstrapper, @MicroConf should be top of your list
It's a place where smart, interesting, ambitious founders come together to connect, share, and lift each other up
Everyone is equally valid and celebrated, whether at $1 or $1,000,000 MRR
Every time I leave feeling connected, seen, and ready to hit my goals
Thanks @robwalling for creating something so special
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Apr 15
What an amazing couple days at #MicroConf 2026. Here’s a video recapping some of the highlights 👇
Apr 15
That's a wrap on #MicroConf US 2026 in Portland!
Couldn't make it? Here's everything you missed:
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Apr 14
.@TheCraigHewitt takes the stage to close out #MicroConf 2026 talking about how to run a SaaS in a post-software / agentic world.
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Rob Walling retweeted
Apr 13
I’m at MicroConf, my home away from home. It’s a conference for mostly software bootstrappers.
As with every year, I’ll be live tweeting this, and you can expect an elevated volume of tweets for the next two days.
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Rob Walling retweeted
Apr 13
Next up at MicroConf: @einarvollset on maximizing for the value you receive when selling your SaaS business.
"When to sell your B2B SaaS"
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