294: RoxCodes — Building Dreams and Letting Go

The Bootstrapped Founder

02/14/24

•

62m

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Rox (@RoxCodes) recently sold his SaaS thumbnailtest.com. But he's pretty conflicted about the sale. What was promised to be a moment of joy and celebration quickly turned into doubt, grief, and confusion.
Today, I talk to my friend Rox about the emotional complexity of giving up something you hold dear, how to move forward, and what it means to level up even further after a successful exit. Rox opens up and talks candidly about the weight on his shoulders, the pressure, and the expectations.

"Surrender" is the operative term here. If you ever wondered just how nuanced the sale of a business can be and how a founder has to struggle their way through it, this one's for you.

Rox on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoxCodes

00:00:00 Founder Talks Acquisition and Business Surrender
00:08:07 Choosing Potential in San Francisco
00:13:04 Building Creator-Led Software
00:25:13 Building a Software Entrepreneurship With Creators
00:30:12 Challenges of Building a Public Persona
00:44:41 Emotional Toll of Selling a Business
00:51:42 Navigating Challenges, Building Next Venture

This episode is sponsored by Acquire.com

The blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/roxcodes-building-dreams-and-letting-go/

The podcast episode: https://tbf.fm/episodes/294-roxcodes-building-dreams-and-letting-go

The video: https://youtu.be/OG7ExrERbuY

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

Here are a few tools I use. Using my affiliate links will support my work at no additional cost to you.
- Notion (which I use to organize, write, coordinate, and archive my podcast + newsletter): https://affiliate.notion.so/465mv1536drx
- Riverside.fm (that's what I recorded this episode with): https://riverside.fm/?via=arvid
- TweetHunter (for speedy scheduling and writing Tweets): http://tweethunter.io/?via=arvid
- HypeFury (for massive Twitter analytics and scheduling): https://hypefury.com/?via=arvid60
- AudioPen (for taking voice notes and getting amazing summaries): https://audiopen.ai/?aff=PXErZ
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- ConvertKit (for email lists, newsletters, even finding sponsors): https://convertkit.com?lmref=bN9CZw

(00:00) - Founder Talks Acquisition and Business Surrender
(08:07) - Choosing Potential in San Francisco
(13:04) - Building Creator-Led Software
(25:13) - Building a Software Entrepreneurship With Creators
(30:12) - Challenges of Building a Public Persona
(44:41) - Emotional Toll of Selling a Business
(51:42) - Navigating Challenges, Building Next Venture

Previous Episode

293: Local AI

February 9, 2024

•

16m

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

Next Episode

295: Forever Business or Exit?

February 16, 2024

•

14m

Many indie hackers and solopreneurs have a big exit as their primary goal. That
might be because of the money, but also because of a business’ limited life
span. But is there something like a ‘forever business’?

If so, what do you have to keep in mind here?

This episode is sponsored by Acquire.com

The blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/forever-business-or-exit/

The podcast episode: https://tbf.fm/episodes/295-forever-business-or-exit

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