Episode 688 | Growing Boot.dev From $6k to $110k in Monthly Revenue in 15 Months

In episode 688, Rob Walling interviews Lane Wagner, founder of Boot.dev. Boot.dev is a learning platform gamified to teach backend development. They discuss the journey of bootstrapping Boot.dev, its explosive growth, and its unique business model. Lane also shares challenges of running a B2C business, why he took some funding, and the significance of customer lifetime value over MRR in his business. Topics we cover:  2:38 – Boot.dev seeing incredible growth 3:35 – Growing on YouTube with partnerships 5:42 – Teaching Python and Go as a B2C business 7:49 – “This is not really SaaS”, considering JTBD 11:18 – The beginnings of Boot.dev, serving the backend niche 14:21 – Gaining the confidence to quit the day job 15:51 – Deciding to raise funding and “mostly” bootstrap 20:31 – Enduring hardship before turning the corner on growth 26:38 – Finding the right revenue metric for the business Links from the Show:  MicroConf US - Atlanta - April 21 - 23, 2024 Interested in Sponsoring MicroConf Content? Subscribe for Exclusive Episodes Lane from Boot.dev (@wagslane) | X Boot.dev Profitable, at last! Purple Cow by Seth Godin If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify | Google

Om Podcasten

The original podcast for bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startups, this show follow the stories of founders as they start, acquire, and grow SaaS companies. Hear when they fail, struggle, succeed, and take you with them through the tumultuous life of a SaaS founder. If you like Mixergy, This Week in Startups, or SaaStr, you’ll enjoy Startup for the Rest of Us.