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Business of Software Podcast

Business of Software Podcast

By Business of Software

Business of Software is a place that brings together the brightest minds and greatest practitioners in software into one place. World-Class software leaders such as Joel Spolsky, Gail Goodman, Seth Godin, DHH, Dharmesh Shah, & Kathy Sierra come to teach everything except the code in how to scale great software companies that stay profitable in the long term. Expect the latest thinking and fresh perspectives from some of the world's leading software practitioners. Stay up to date and hear about new talks, videos, podcasts and conference updates. http://businessofsoftware.org/updates
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Ep 115 Autobooks Connecting Sales with Marketing (with Derik Sutton and Kyle Bazzy)

Business of Software PodcastAug 09, 2023

00:00
42:34
Ep 115 Autobooks Connecting Sales with Marketing (with Derik Sutton and Kyle Bazzy)

Ep 115 Autobooks Connecting Sales with Marketing (with Derik Sutton and Kyle Bazzy)

In our upcoming BoS USA conference in Raleigh NC on 2-4 October, we're doing a really interesting afternoon digging into a case study with the great folks at Autobooks. Mark sits down with to of the four Autobookers taking to the stage in the fall to discuss connecting sales with marketing. Happy listening!

Aug 09, 202342:34
Ep. 114 How to Hire an Agency (with Lucy Heskins)

Ep. 114 How to Hire an Agency (with Lucy Heskins)

Mark Littlewood talks to Oh Blimey's founder Lucy Heskins about how you can/should hire an agency.

May 16, 202337:38
Ep 113: Mergers and Acquisitions (with Christopher Moore)

Ep 113: Mergers and Acquisitions (with Christopher Moore)

Quiet Light knows how to help SaaS founders like you to get the best value and deal terms for selling the business on. Christopher Moore joins Mark for a chat about the market for SaaS and Software companies.

Nov 16, 202236:21
Ep 112 Are You Recession Ready?

Ep 112 Are You Recession Ready?

Jason Cohen of WP Engine fame introduced Mark to Jonathan Slain at Recession.com earlier this year. He and the WP Engine team work with Jonathan and found he is a pretty interesting guy. We invited him on the podcast to discuss how SaaS and software companies can prepare for, and take advantage of, a recession.

Oct 11, 202241:42
Ep 111 JTBD in your Copy (with Claire Suellentrop)

Ep 111 JTBD in your Copy (with Claire Suellentrop)

Typically, when software companies write up their homepage, features page, or pricing page, they use messages and words their internal team is accustomed to using – but often, those words mean very little to their customers, users or prospects. Then they wonder why it’s so hard to acquire new customers.

Jun 28, 202225:36
Ep 110 The Lost Art of Meaningful Content (with Dave Collins)

Ep 110 The Lost Art of Meaningful Content (with Dave Collins)

Stand up against the pointless content that only distracts or overwhelms you, with Dave Collins

Jun 14, 202253:47
Ep 109 Customer Centered Innovation (with Tony Ulwick)

Ep 109 Customer Centered Innovation (with Tony Ulwick)

What are your customers trying to achieve, and how can you help them get there? Simple questions, but creating a disciplined approach to uncovering and capturing the answers is a huge step forward for your business. 

Jun 07, 202244:08
Ep 108 - Things I Wish I’d Known Before Selling My SaaS Business (with Jon Hainstock)
May 31, 202244:03
Ep 107 A BoS Conf Retrospective (with Steve McLeod & Joe Leech)
May 24, 202229:36
Ep 106 Strategy and Making Progress (with Bob Moesta & April Dunford)

Ep 106 Strategy and Making Progress (with Bob Moesta & April Dunford)

BoS Online Fall 2021 started with a conversation on Jobs to be Done and marketing with April Dunford and Bob Moesta.

May 17, 202235:08
Ep 105 Allyship (with B. Pagels-Minor)

Ep 105 Allyship (with B. Pagels-Minor)

In this talk, B Pagels-Minor will help you understand a little bit more what allyship might look like and how you can actually be a great ally in your workplace.

May 10, 202256:18
Ep 104 Setting up your business for a successful sale with FE International's Thomas Smale

Ep 104 Setting up your business for a successful sale with FE International's Thomas Smale

FE International works with founders and business owners to value, exit plan and ultimately sell their businesses on the best terms. FE uses hundreds of thousands of internal data points, accumulated from over a decade of successful exits to market and position businesses to the right buyers from day one.

May 03, 202254:13
Ep 103 Mapping the Future of your Business with Simon Wardley

Ep 103 Mapping the Future of your Business with Simon Wardley

In this talk from our Online Spring Conference in 2021, Simon Wardley walks us through how Wardley mapping helps you to understand where your business is, identify opportunities and threats to its existence, make plans for the future and, gameplay the routes to getting to where you want to be. It is a powerful tool to inform your strategy and monitor your progress.

Apr 26, 202258:10
Ep 102 The Three Mistakes That Defined Our Company (with Chris Savage)

Ep 102 The Three Mistakes That Defined Our Company (with Chris Savage)

Explore the good, the bad, and the downright dangerous as Wistia's Chris Savage talks about the three mistakes he and co-founder Brendan Schwartz learned from whilst building Wisita.

Mar 15, 202246:01
Ep 101 Impossible Outcomes (with Bruce McCarthy)

Ep 101 Impossible Outcomes (with Bruce McCarthy)

In this session, Bruce will walk you through the cultures and practices of these organisations and help you think about how to tackle the big, scary challenges in your organisation with a few examples where the right vision, team, and plan have led to winning formulas.

Mar 08, 202242:11
Ep 100 The Pros and Cons of Setting Your Own Goals (with Sahil Lavingia)

Ep 100 The Pros and Cons of Setting Your Own Goals (with Sahil Lavingia)

Sahil Lavingia discusses why and how he runs Gumroad with no full time employees, no meetings, no deadlines and no company perks.

NB, This was a talk that polarized opinions
Feb 22, 202201:03:28
Ep 99 The Effort:Experience Ratio (with Ruth Everard)

Ep 99 The Effort:Experience Ratio (with Ruth Everard)

You will learn how to prioritise your goals and achievements in all aspects of your life by weighing up the effort necessary against the experience to be gained in pursuing them with more everyday, mainstream, examples.

Feb 15, 202215:07
Ep 98 Positioning Jujitsu (with April Dunford)

Ep 98 Positioning Jujitsu (with April Dunford)

In this talk you will learn how to:

  • use strategic positioning to carve out a place in the market where you can win against any competitor of any size and share a set of detailed examples where she did exactly that.
  • make sure your customers understand who your REAL competition is.
  • take on a large competitor by literally naming them and then positioning them into a corner – using their own positioning against them.
  • arm your sales people to teach customers how to think about the market – in a way that advantages you (at least for your real target customers).
Feb 01, 202257:26
Ep 97 Building an Accidental Business (with Cesar Kuriyama)

Ep 97 Building an Accidental Business (with Cesar Kuriyama)

Cesar worked in advertising before leaving it all behind to pursue his own personal creative endeavours; among them a personal project – 1SecondEveryday.

Jan 25, 202201:07:45
Ep 96 Lessons learned in 2021

Ep 96 Lessons learned in 2021

We are back for another year! 

To kick us off, BoS's own Mark Littlewood joins Kirk for a discussion about what he has learned and will take away from 2021.

Don't forget to sig up for the BoS newsletter and get regular updates about new events and talks at businessofsoftware.org/update


Jan 18, 202233:22
Ep 95 Developing Sales Talent (with Paul Kenny)

Ep 95 Developing Sales Talent (with Paul Kenny)

Understand and conquer the challenges of scaling sales teams rapidly with a focus on the challenge of getting new hires up and running quickly and effectively with Paul Kenny

Dec 21, 202157:60
Ep 94 Old School Copywriting For New School Businesses (with Joanna Wiebe)

Ep 94 Old School Copywriting For New School Businesses (with Joanna Wiebe)

Joanna looks at some old school copywriters' tips to help your SaaS stand out, including the Seven Sweeps to give your copy before you ship it.

Dec 14, 202146:04
Ep 93 Switching from Consulting to a Product Led Business (with Laura Roeder)

Ep 93 Switching from Consulting to a Product Led Business (with Laura Roeder)

Almost everyone running a consulting, training or agency business, however successful, will admit at some point that they wish they could run a product business. Why don’t they? Laura Roeder talks about her experience. 

Dec 07, 202138:36
Ep 92 The case for mindfulness at work (with Matthew Bellows)

Ep 92 The case for mindfulness at work (with Matthew Bellows)

Join Yesware's Matthew Bellows as he discusses the importance and helpfulness of mindfulness in the workplace.

Nov 23, 202150:14
Ep 91 How To Grow and Scale A Culture with Limited Funds (with Alicia Navarro)

Ep 91 How To Grow and Scale A Culture with Limited Funds (with Alicia Navarro)

Scaling is a challenge which presents itself to any company starting out. Further to this, cash flow is the single greatest reason companies fail in the beginning. So how do you scale, whilst remaining respectful of your budget?

Nov 16, 202150:34
Ep 90 Life's too short for bad software (with Leon Barnard)

Ep 90 Life's too short for bad software (with Leon Barnard)

Mark Littlewood spent some time with Leon Barnard, Balsamiq's education team lead, to discuss how Balsamiq's approach to marketing was conceived, why the focus of all their efforts has always been to support the growth and development of product design as a discipline.

Nov 09, 202155:00
Ep 89 Making Social Media Work in B2B (with Laura Fitton)

Ep 89 Making Social Media Work in B2B (with Laura Fitton)

Once upon a time dubbed a “Queen” of Twitter, Laura “@Pistachio” Fitton co-authored Twitter for Dummies and founded oneforty.com (acquired by HubSpot) in 2009 when she recognised that software built on Twitter’s API was going to change the world.

Nov 02, 202139:13
Ep 88 Talk Sh*t, delegate & know what you want (with Michael Lopp)

Ep 88 Talk Sh*t, delegate & know what you want (with Michael Lopp)

In this talk, Michael will explore the soft skills necessary for building a product in a company full of bright people who all think they are right.

Oct 19, 202151:02
Ep 87 A Practioners Guide to Ecosystem Development (with Mike Milinkovich)

Ep 87 A Practioners Guide to Ecosystem Development (with Mike Milinkovich)

Software Ecosystems is a continuously evolving ideology in the field of software engineering. Mike Milinkovich’s talk at BoS Conf USA 2008 looks at providing you with a practitioner’s guide to ecosystem development.

Oct 12, 202157:21
Ep86 Founders at Work (with Jessica Livingston)

Ep86 Founders at Work (with Jessica Livingston)

In this talk Jessica Livingston - author of Founders at work - talks about the many lessons she learned from her interviews with the likes of Paul Graham, Steve Wozniak, Mitch Kapor and Joel Spolsky to name but a few.

Oct 05, 202143:19
Ep 85 Evolution and Challenge in Business Intelligence (with Charles Caldwell)

Ep 85 Evolution and Challenge in Business Intelligence (with Charles Caldwell)

Fascinating and wide-ranging conversation with Charles Caldwell, VP of Product, Logi Analytics


Sep 21, 202101:05:54
Ep 84 Predicting Your Company’s Success (with Matt Wensing)

Ep 84 Predicting Your Company’s Success (with Matt Wensing)

Drawing on his research, his experience, and physics Matt explains strategies and techniques CEOs can employ to spot patterns and trends in order to reduce uncertainty and get better at predicting strategic outcomes.


Sep 14, 202155:28
Ep 83 Why a SaaS Pricing Consultancy Gives Away Free Software (with Patrick Campbell)

Ep 83 Why a SaaS Pricing Consultancy Gives Away Free Software (with Patrick Campbell)

SaaS companies obsessed by User Acquisition and User Acquisition Cost are focusing on the wrong metrics, missing the far more important growth drivers for a SaaS business: monetization and retention. In this talk from ProfitWell's Patrick Campbell, we look at the importance of developing your product in collaboration with your current users to understand the needs of the people that are paying for your product.

Sep 07, 202144:34
Ep 82 From side hustle to 1000 people (with Jason VandeBoom)

Ep 82 From side hustle to 1000 people (with Jason VandeBoom)

Jason went against a lot of traditional advice for startups: staying in your lane; not going after big companies as your first customers; treating customer support as a cost center. Those unorthodox decisions have been key to the growth of ActiveCampaign.

Aug 31, 202157:29
Ep 81 Don’t Be The Last to Know (with Claire Lew)

Ep 81 Don’t Be The Last to Know (with Claire Lew)

Be it Fear or futility, Those pesky employees aren’t telling you everything. Claire Lew looks at why and gives you actionable advice on how to build a better work culture.

For more talks, check out businessofsoftware.org

Aug 24, 202157:21
Ep 80 Humanising the Web (with Sarah Hatter)

Ep 80 Humanising the Web (with Sarah Hatter)

Are you saying ‘sorry for the inconvenience’ and ‘Thank You for the Feedback?’. Is your customer support leaving your paying customers feeling more exasperated than fulfilled? Sarah Hatter is here with a talk to remind you of what you should be saying or what might be triggering negativity.

For mroe great BoS talks, visit businessofsoftware.org/talks or sign up for our newsletter to receive regular updates direct to your inbox.

Aug 17, 202140:13
Ep 79 Praxeology – Lessons from a Lost Science (with Rory Sutherland)

Ep 79 Praxeology – Lessons from a Lost Science (with Rory Sutherland)

Psychology, philosophy, and economics together demonstrate how software developers, entrepreneurs and engineers need to embrace the forgotten science of Praxeology.

For more BoS Talks, visit businessofsoftware.org


Aug 10, 202101:03:10
Ep 78 10 Lessons Learned about Venture Capital (with Heidi Roizen)

Ep 78 10 Lessons Learned about Venture Capital (with Heidi Roizen)

Heidi Roizen Is a Silicon Valley executive, venture capitalist, and entrepreneur. 

In this BoS Talk she discussed why are VCs so difficult? Heidi, will tell you why VCs behave the way they do, and what you should do to maximize your chance of success with a venture capitalist.

For more great BoS news and updates, subscribe tot eh newsletter at businessofsoftware.org

Aug 03, 202129:57
Ep 77 Making Trend Spotting Help Your Future Business (with Eva Pascoe)

Ep 77 Making Trend Spotting Help Your Future Business (with Eva Pascoe)

Spotting trends is pretty easy if you know how. Using that knowledge is different – there’s one thing you really need to understand if you are going to capitalise on the future...

For more great talks from BoS Conf, visit businessofosftware.org


Jul 27, 202139:46
Ep 76 Continuous Discovery Habits (with Teresa Torres and Mark Littlewood)

Ep 76 Continuous Discovery Habits (with Teresa Torres and Mark Littlewood)

In this conversation with Fall 2021 and USA 2019’s BoS speaker Teresa Torres, Mark Littlewood digs into her latest on customer discovery and what to expect in her new book and her BoS Fall talk Continuous Discovery Habits.

To be part of BoS Conf Fall 21, sign up now at businessofsoftware.org/fall

Jul 20, 202140:33
Ep 75 Harnessing Culture & Using Data To Build Value For Your Business (with Sarah McVittie)

Ep 75 Harnessing Culture & Using Data To Build Value For Your Business (with Sarah McVittie)

In this talk from BoS Europe 2019, Sarah discusses why Dressipi started as a B2C play but the data it collected on customers has a much higher value to fashion retailers as it enables them to forecast demand more effectively and reduce their unsold inventory. You will leave with ideas to stimulate creative, data-driven, approaches to problem solving and how you can harness culture to build long-term value in your business.

For more great BoS content, subscribe the the BoS newsletter at businessofsoftware.org/updates

Jul 13, 202129:27
Ep 74 Creating early warning scenarios & thinking about the future (with Rita McGrath)

Ep 74 Creating early warning scenarios & thinking about the future (with Rita McGrath)

What is the world of tomorrow going to look like? They say to find out what life is like in 20 years time, ask a current 10 year old as they are the future and what matters to them may not be the same as what matters to current adults.

In this talk from BoS Conf Online Europe 2020, Rita McGrath looks at early warning scenarios and discusses with a high school student the pros and cons of the sudden dive into the deepend of online learning thanks to the 2020 pandemic.

For more great BoS articles, discussions, events, and insights, subscribe to the BoS newsletter at businessofsoftware.org/updates

Jul 06, 202144:59
Ep 73 The Developer’s Guide To Running Sales Teams (with Jeff Szczepanski)

Ep 73 The Developer’s Guide To Running Sales Teams (with Jeff Szczepanski)

Jeff ‘Tall Jeff’ Szczepanski from Stack Exchange delivers a talk on his experiences of what happens when you think about and manage sales like you would manage a great development team.

Don't forget to sign up for the BoS Newsletter and keep up to date with everything going on at BoS. Visit businessofsoftware.org and click Subscribe!

Jun 29, 202101:01:36
Ep 72 Iterating less and achieving more (with Radhika Dutt)

Ep 72 Iterating less and achieving more (with Radhika Dutt)

In this talk from BoS Conf Online, Radhika talks about where iteration goes wrong, Methodologies such as Lean and Agile have democratized innovation by teaching us to harness the power of iteration to innovate faster, but our ability to set a clear destination hasn't kept up with the pace. When we iterate without a clear vision or strategy, our products become bloated, fragmented, and driven by irrelevant metrics. They catch “product diseases” that are often fatal to true innovation.

For more great talks, visit businessofsoftware.org

Jun 22, 202143:24
Ep 71 Hard Wiring Sales into your Organisation (with Paul Kenny)

Ep 71 Hard Wiring Sales into your Organisation (with Paul Kenny)

Having a dialogue with your customer is worth so much more to you and your business than anything else; and the most important thing that you need to know is how to work out what your sales proposition is, what your story is. 

This talk from BoS Conf USA looks at The reason you should be talking to your clients, not just emailing them, not just blogging at them, the reason you should be talking to your clients is because they each have their own unique way of describing a problem.

For more great talks, join the BoS Newsletter at businessofsoftware.org/update

Jun 15, 202101:01:25
Ep 70 Simplicity vs Value in Software Development (with Joel Spolsky)

Ep 70 Simplicity vs Value in Software Development (with Joel Spolsky)

Fly in the face of what is often perceived as wise strategy and hear how building new features does add value to your product with Stack Overflow Founder Joel Spolsky.

For more great talks, visit businessofsoftware.org and join thousands of other smart folk enjoying the benefits of the BoS community.

Jun 08, 202153:01
Ep 69 Things Great Software Companies Do That You Don’t Have To (with Rob Castaneda)

Ep 69 Things Great Software Companies Do That You Don’t Have To (with Rob Castaneda)

What works for one company might not work for another; but other peoples mistakes are worth taking note of.

In this talk, ServiceRocket's Rob Castaneda discusses the mistakes he made that could help you in your business.

For more great talks, viist businessofsoftware.org and sign up to the free newsletter for all that BoS goodness direct to your inbox.

Jun 01, 202148:16
Ep 68 Building software ecosystems (with Service Rocket's Peter Marquez & Bill Cushard)

Ep 68 Building software ecosystems (with Service Rocket's Peter Marquez & Bill Cushard)

Software companies are often torn between meeting customer needs and product velocity. A well-designed ecosystem allows you to do both. Companies with flourishing ecosystems have several competitive advantages – moats, product development, customer advocates and more. Building and maintaining an ecosystem requires a clear plan and a systematic approach. Knowing where to begin, or where you’re going wrong, can be challenging. In this conversation, Peter and Bill from ServiceRocket discuss everything you should consider.

For more great talks direct to your inbox, sign up for the free Bos Newsletter at businessofsoftware.org/update

May 25, 202147:19
Ep 67 Nine ways to stop hurting and start helping women in Tech (with Brianna Wu)

Ep 67 Nine ways to stop hurting and start helping women in Tech (with Brianna Wu)

Brianna Wu is head of development at Giant Spacekat, a company specialising in cinematic experiences using the Unreal Engine. She’s known as a frequent speaker on women in tech issues, and is an advocate for increased diversity in the games industry. In this talk from BoS USA, Brianna looks at what we can do to start helping women in tech.

For more great talks direct to your inbox, visit businessofosftware.org/update to sign up for the free BoS Newsletter.

May 18, 202159:23
Ep 66 The stories your customers tell you (with Sally Foote)
May 11, 202148:51