292: Josh Pigford — The Open-Source Transformation of Maybe

The Bootstrapped Founder

02/07/24

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49m

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Josh Pigford (@shpigford), who created Maybe and Baremetrics, talks about bringing his financial tool back to life by making it open-source!

This has sparked surprisingly high levels of interest and even investment.

Within two weeks.

In our chat, we delve into the challenge of building a platform that simplifies financial data, similar to how Zapier simplifies automation, all under public scrutiny. The goal? A community-supported plugin system and a customizable personal finance operating system for every life stage. Josh also discusses considering changing the technology behind his project to Rails, weighing the pros and cons of different tech choices, and the reasons people contribute to open-source projects.

Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shpigford

00:00:00 Building Maybe
00:10:44 Standardizing Financial Data Integration
00:16:40 Choosing Tech for a Development Project
00:24:37 Bootstrapping and Funding Open-Source Projects
00:33:13 Motivation and Fulfillment in Helping Others
00:38:04 Open Source Software and Long-Term Goals

This episode is sponsored by Acquire.com

The blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/josh-pigford-the-open-source-transformation-of-maybe/

The podcast episode: https://tbf.fm/episodes/292-josh-pigford-the-open-source-transformation-of-maybe

The video: https://youtu.be/wq1qYUxUxag

You'll find my weekly article on my blog: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com

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Previous Episode

291: To Pivot or Not to Pivot

February 2, 2024

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13m

Join me as I dive into a crucial choice every entrepreneur faces, balancing what excites us with what makes sense. This week, a voicemail made me deeply think about my projects, Podline and Podscan. One's a service for podcast voicemails, and the other scans podcast content.

The message brought up a common challenge for founders: the pull towards starting something new versus sticking with what you've already built. Together, let's explore how I deal with staying focused, the lure of new chances, and often, what guides many of our choices in business: the chance to make money.

This episode is sponsored by Acquire.com

The blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/to-pivot-or-not-to-pivot/

The podcast episode: https://tbf.fm/episodes/291-to-pivot-or-not-to-pivot

Send me a voicemail on Podline: https://podline.fm/arvid

You'll find my weekly article on my blog: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com

Podcast: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/podcast

Newsletter: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/newsletter

My book Zero to Sold: https://zerotosold.com/

My book The Embedded Entrepreneur: https://embeddedentrepreneur.com/

My course Find Your Following: https://findyourfollowing.com

Next Episode

293: Local AI

February 9, 2024

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Today I discuss how I've developed my own advanced AI, moving away from relying on external platforms. I've managed to evolve the Podscan system from basic alerts to being capable of answering complex questions, all thanks to using llama.cpp and Mistral 7b on my own servers.

This approach has given me complete control over our technology and made our project more attractive to potential buyers. By leveraging open-source tools, I've minimized our dependency on other platforms and improved our competitive position.

And it's because of thousands of people working on this for free that I get to do this. The community support for llama.cpp on GitHub has been a testament to the collaborative effort behind this advancement. This episode celebrates the bold initiatives taken by these awesome developers and entrepreneurs in the AI space, and you'll learn how managing AI in-house can revolutionize a small but powerful software venture.

This episode is sponsored by Acquire.com

The blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/local-ai-for-software-founders/

The podcast episode: https://tbf.fm/episodes/293-local-ai

Check out Podscan to get alerts when you're mentioned on podcasts: https://podscan.fm
Send me a voicemail on Podline: https://podline.fm/arvid

You'll find my weekly article on my blog: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com

Podcast: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/podcast

Newsletter: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/newsletter

My book Zero to Sold: https://zerotosold.com/

My book The Embedded Entrepreneur: https://embeddedentrepreneur.com/

My course Find Your Following: https://findyourfollowing.com