Episode Details

Both Alex and I, the co-founders of CodePen, spent time trying to whittle down hopefully interesting and practical advice for you from our experience in running a SaaS company for a decade! Let's go back and forth, combining into a top 10 like we did in the show.

🔟 Alex: The High Low Principle

Only do things that are either:

• High time, high value
• Low time, low value

As in, they take a long time but are going to make a big difference. Or they won't take too long, don't ask too much of you, but are still helpful. This is the answer to the build vs buy conundrum. It's a buy for everything in between.

9️⃣ Chris: The Co-Founder Relationship is at the heart of the business

Every relationship between people at a company is important, but the relationship between the founders is crucial. It sets the culture and makes everything work. The company cannot continue with a broken relationship at the founder level. They say it is like marriage, and that analogy isn't far off.

Chances are, you’re going to find out you are very different people who think and feel differently about all sorts of things. You need to get along, you need to respect each other, you need to trust each other, but you can’t avoid hard conversations (as much as I would like to).

8️⃣ Alex: Build Minimalist Tech

Do more with less. Just because you didn't write it doesn't mean it's less complex. Just because you did write it doesn't mean it's less complex. You might have to add technology in the short term as you're migrating to what will end up with more minimal tech. It is a focusing of you and your team's expertise.

7️⃣ Chris: You're probably undercharging people

You’re probably undercharging people for your software product. Software is always difficult to build and maintain. It's likely your intuition leads you toward lower prices, but every experience we've ever had with higher prices (and raising prices) has been positive. Fewer people than you think will care, revenue goes up, and your time is better compensated. Plus, there is a weird correlation between your high-paying customers being chill and low-paying customers being more challenging.

6️⃣ Alex: One thing at a time

Only do one of these at a time: learn new tech or solve a new problem. Do not do both. One is a magical number. Do one thing at a time.

5️⃣ Chris: Nobody has the same thing in their brain

Making sure everyone is on the same page is hard. There are so many business constructs designed to get everyone there: meetings, documents, emails... and yet, if you think everyone understands what is happening the same way you do, you are not right. But keeping everyone together is still a vital part of the process. Try to get better at expressing what is in your brain and sussing out when you think it might be different than what is in other people you work with's brains. Time spent communicating is time well spent.

4️⃣ Alex: Honesty defi