Marie Poulin and Aaron Francis join us to discuss the realities of building creator-driven businesses. We talked a lot about YouTube (they describe how each got traction there) and their current video making process. They also challenged conventional wisdom about sticking to one niche. For them, pivoting between projects keeps them fresh and prevents burnout, even when the traditional wisdom is to "just focus."

Chapters:

• (00:06) - Introduction
• (03:23) - What is happening in Marie Poulin's world?
• (07:32) - What is Aaron Francis up to at Try Hard Studios?
• (08:48) - Why is open source software important to be involved in?
• (11:20) - What is the marketing flow for Marie and Notion Mastery?
• (14:34) - The power of YouTube to find new people
• (16:52) - Personality as a brand vs a studio brand name
• (25:03) - The tensions of being a creator
• (33:49) - What is your month to month routine for your business?
• (39:16) - When does creative work feel like a grind?
• (01:00:47) - What negative attention have you recieved creating content?

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Links mentioned in this episode

• 💼 Notion Mastery
• 💪 Try Hard Studios
• Marie's YouTube channel
• Aaron's YouTube channel
• Screencasting.com - Aaron's upcoming project
• ChatGPT lists Marie as #1 Notion influencer
• 🧰 Instrumental Products
• 🎤 Transistor podcast hosting

Peldi is the founder of Balsamiq and pioneered transparent business building in 2007. In this episode, he came to the Panel looking advice on "build in public." We invited Jay Clouse, of Creator Science, on to share his wisdom. Jay had tons of practical suggestions for SaaS founders looking to build community and build in public in an authentic way.

Chapters:

• (00:08) - Introduction of The Panel
• (04:24) - Why is Peldi interested in build in public in 2025?
• (09:32) - Build in public has become brag in public
• (20:44) - Can Peldi give back in some way?
• (28:25) - Could you teach people how to build in public again?
• (35:13) - How much work is it to maintain community?
• (40:46) - Sharing your struggles in public
• (47:57) - Why does Peldi still share revenue numbers?
• (51:46) - Could Balsamiq sponsor a community?
• (56:34) - What do current founders need to know?

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Links mentioned in this episode

• Instrumental Products
• Creator Science
• Balsamiq Mockups
• Transistor podcast hosting

Is web development still a good career choice in 2025? What's the future of open source? Justin and Brian dive deep with Taylor Otwell (Laravel) and Caleb Porzio (Livewire, Alpine.js, Flux) about the state of web dev, building a business on open source, and the anxiety of managing competition.

Chapters:

• (03:31) - Should people still pursue web development as a career?
• (11:04) - Are we still excited about the web? Why is Laravel growing?
• (16:27) - How big are your customers?
• (25:23) - How interested are developers on the business side of Saas?
• (34:39) - How did you think about open source when you were getting started?
• (41:19) - How do you think about being a creator when you have a large business?
• (55:57) - The next generation pipeline
• (01:00:47) - Rethinking open source
• (01:10:52) - What's your anxiety level towards competition?

• 🎤 Send us an audio or video message
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Links mentioned in this episode

• 🚀 Laravel
• 🧑‍💻 Laravel is hiring
• 🐙 Livewire
• 🎸 Alpine.js
• ✨ Flux
• 🏗️ Instrumental Rails Components
• 🎙️ Transistor podcast hosting