Arvid Kahl

I help founders and creators serve and empower their customers.

Being your own boss isn't easy, but it's worth it. Learn how to build a legacy while being kind and authentic. I want to empower as many entrepreneurs as possible to help themselves (and those they choose to serve).

What I Learned From 250 Podcast Episodes — The Bootstrapped Founder 251

This week, I celebrated the podcast reaching 250 episodes with my most recent interview with Amanda Goetz. Just last week, the podcast hit 250,000 overall downloads. Amanda went from corporate to creator — and she's not a fan of hustle culture. Listen to our chat at tbf.fm/250 and learn how to...

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6 days ago • 7 min read

Avoiding the Entrepreneurial Planning Trap — The Bootstrapped Founder 249

Ruben Gamez is doing something I've never heard of before: regularly; he turns his low-touch SaaS onboarding into a high-touch event. From that, he learns a LOT about his customers and what motivates them. Tune into my conversation with Ruben about competing with giant incumbents, call-to-cancel,...

13 days ago • 5 min read

You’re Not “Too Late” — The Bootstrapped Founder 247

Corey Haines is a spectacular product marketer. He was the first marketing hire for many (now very successful) startups, and he's working on something new. If you want to take a peek into the Conversion Factory, learn about why indie hackers struggle so much with marketing, and what to do about...

20 days ago • 3 min read

Take a Break — The Bootstrapped Founder 245

This week, I took a break. I grabbed the puppy, hopped in the car with Danielle, and then drove over to Toronto. A little staycation, of sorts. I’ve been writing, reading, and spending a lot of time with the pup. This is me working. Of course, I’m not skipping my weekly interview — particularly...

27 days ago • 1 min read

Bootstrapped SaaS Exit Planning — The Bootstrapped Founder 243

Indie Hackers NEVER make it into TechCrunch, right? Well, there's one who did. And I talked to him this week. Louis Pereira got his AI-powered tool AudioPen featured on that coveted tech news page. He shares how he found product-market fit, why he values honesty and integrity as an indie hacker...

about 1 month ago • 10 min read

Human Creativity Amidst AI Dominance — the Bootstrapped Founder 241

This issue is sponsored by ERC Approve and Lancr. Danny Postma sat down with me this week to chat about starting AI businesses, dealing with copycats, and how to serve a global audience as an indie hacker. Danny is a very popular builder-in-public, and you'll learn how he keeps creating...

about 1 month ago • 4 min read

Things That Kill the Village — the Bootstrapped Founder 239

This issue is sponsored by Mastering the Email-Based Course and fuelfinance. Brian Sierakowski was “the main character of the internet” for a day. What did he do? Well, Brian, who had recently taken over the role of CEO at Baremetrics (which had been acquired a few months before that), decided...

about 2 months ago • 6 min read

Eventual Reciprocity — The Bootstrapped Founder 237

Tony Dinh got an offer to sell his $14.000-MRR business for $500.000. He said no. His Twitter audience-building tool was something he saw growing much bigger. And then, Twitter introduced new API pricing. $42.000 a month for professional use — in tools like Tony's BlackMagic. All of a sudden,...

about 2 months ago • 4 min read

The Bad Kind of Attention — The Bootstrapped Founder 235

I was talking to Jason Cohen this week. He's the co-founder of the hosting unicorn WP Engine, and he shared his story from bootstrapping a software business to reaching the point where his business needed its own building. We touched upon all kinds of topics: getting funding, not getting funding,...

2 months ago • 6 min read

Entrepreneurship isn't genetic. It’s memetic. — The Bootstrapped Founder 233

Entrepreneurship is a meme. And I'm not talking about Keyboard Cat or Bad Luck Brian here. Entrepreneurship is something we either get exposed to through the stories told around us — or we don't. And most of us have to learn how to be a founder later in life. Most of us are first-gen...

2 months ago • 9 min read

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