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Arvid Kahl

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).

Featured Post

The Hidden Cost of Being First — The Bootstrapped Founder 398

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, Here’s a story that every founder needs to hear, because it reveals something fundamental about markets, competition, and the hidden costs of being first. THE BOOTSTRAPPED FOUNDER • EPISODE 398 The Hidden Cost of Being First 11:54 MORE INFO In the world of Python programming, there’s been a tool called pip that has dominated package installation for years. pip has been the de facto way to install Python packages through all the many different versions of...

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, I’ve been talking a lot about Podscan and the positive developments—the improvements, the good things that have happened to the company and to me over the last year and a half since I started this journey. But building in public is about sharing the ups and the downs, the wild joy ride and roller coaster that is entrepreneurship. And it’s time to share the not-so-happy parts of this business. Recently, I announced that Podscan was profitable. And it...

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, Jack Friks (@jackfriks) is the founder of PostBridge, a social media scheduling tool that grew from his own frustration with spending hours posting across platforms to a $18k/month business. We explore the evolution of social media toward authenticity, the challenges of building lean products as a solopreneur, and how to navigate the noise while maintaining a genuine human connection in an AI-driven world. THE BOOTSTRAPPED FOUNDER • EPISODE 396 396: Jack...

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, If you're into PHP, Laravel, and how Taylor Otwell turned an open-source framework into a thriving multi-million dollar empire, check out this week's interview episode of my podcast! There’s something deeply unsettling about being dramatically more productive while feeling like you’re barely working. That’s the strange dichotomy I find myself in every day now with AI-assisted coding. My output has multiplied significantly over the last few months, yet I...

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Taylor Otwell, the creator of the popular PHP framework Laravel. THE BOOTSTRAPPED FOUNDER • EPISODE 394 394: Taylor Otwell — The (Quite Entrepreneurial) Creator of Laravel 41:55 MORE INFO Not only did he invent this highly popular open-source framework; he also turned it into a very profitable business that helps developers build profitable businesses themselves. I know very few other open-source devs that have...

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, Just a few more days left on this deal: I recently recorded an in-depth session for Rob Walling's SaaS Launchpad. This module is called AI in SaaS, and I share over a dozen pitfalls, unobvious risks, and hard-earned insights from my own AI SaaS building journey. Use the code ARVID150 to get $150 off until June 8th. Today I want to share something that’s been on my mind ever since a conversation I had with an investor friend of mine, Tyler Tringas. THE...

Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, Before we get into this week's AI-centric issue, I want to let you know that I recently recorded an in-depth session for Rob Walling's SaaS Launchpad. This module is called AI in SaaS, and I share over a dozen pitfalls, unobvious risks, and hard-earned insights from my own AI SaaS building journey. The course was already great, but... you know... ;) Use the code ARVID150 to get $150 off until June 8th. Alright, let's get to it. There’s a term I’ve been...

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Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, Last week, I read a tweet by Channing Allen, one of the co-founders of IndieHackers, about the term “second brain.” He was saying how it was kind of crazy that just a couple years ago, folks were publishing bestselling books on the brilliance of spending hours a day doing manual data entry into spreadsheet apps like Notion and calling these “brains.” And over the last couple years, we’ve developed completely new technology for this with large language...

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Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, Today I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately – and probably yours too if you’re building anything with AI. It’s the age-old question: should you run language models locally or just use APIs? Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Arvid, Local AI vs APIs been debated to death.” But here’s the thing – most of these conversations happen in a vacuum, full of theoretical scenarios and benchmark comparisons. What I want to share today is what...

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Podcast, YouTube, Blog Dear founder, After about a year of building Podscan.fm, my podcast platform and social monitoring tool, I’ve finally reached that general area of profitability. It’s that break-even moment that every founder aims for, and now I’m at a point where I really need to focus on things besides building the product. Why? Because the product is clear. The value proposition is fairly clear. I know who my customers are, and I know how to talk to them. Now, what I should be...