Media Kit
Press resources for The SaaS Playbook, by Rob Walling.
About The SaaS Playbook
Short SUMMARY
BUILD A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR STARTUP WITHOUT VENTURE CAPITAL
In The SaaS Playbook, Rob Walling, one of the world's experts in SaaS with nearly two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur, author, and investor, details little-known strategies battle-tested by some of today’s most successful founders.
It provides best practices and actionable strategies in six critical areas: Market, Pricing, Team, Marketing, Metrics, and Mindset.
LONG SUMMARY
BUILD A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR STARTUP WITHOUT VENTURE CAPITAL
The vast majority of companies that seek funding don’t receive it. In The SaaS Playbook, Rob Walling, one of the world's experts in SaaS with nearly two decades of experience as a serial entrepreneur, author, and investor, empowers entrepreneurs to build their startups without external funding.
Among many little-known strategies battle-tested by some of today’s most successful founders, the reader will find
Questions and processes to go from product-market fit to scale.
New ways to compete and differentiate in crowded marketplaces.
Advice for pricing, and the pitfalls to avoid.
Battle-tested models — from the Stair-Step Model of Entrepreneurship to different marketing funnels, and when to use them.
Real examples from software companies that are operating today and how they addressed each challenge.
Best practices and actionable strategies in six critical areas: Market, Pricing, Team, Marketing, Metrics, and Mindset.
Rob’s “goal is to help as many entrepreneurs as possible build long-term success while managing the wildly varying day-to-day needs of a fast-growing startup.”
About the author
Short bio
Rob Walling is a serial entrepreneur who has built several multimillion-dollar companies, including Drip, MicroConf, and TinySeed.
He’s the host of Startups for the Rest of Us (with well over 10M downloads) and has written two best-selling books about startups: Start Small, Stay Small, and The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping your Sh*t Together. Over the past seventeen years he has helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs.
Full bio
Rob Walling is a serial entrepreneur who has built six companies (five bootstrapped, one funded). He’s been teaching founders how to build, launch, and grow startups for the past 17 years.
He’s written two best-selling books about startups: Start Small, Stay Small, and The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping your Sh*t Together, and more than 100 essays about starting startups.
In 2010 he started a podcast with Mike Taber, which became one of the most popular startup podcasts on iTunes, called Startups for the Rest of Us. It has shipped every week since then and now has more than 650 episodes and 10 million downloads.
In 2011 he cofounded MicroConf, the largest community for non-venture track SaaS founders.
He founded Drip, an email marketing tool that allows a user to send emails to their audience based on user behavior, in 2012. It was acquired in a life-changing exit by Leadpages in July 2016. He led the Drip product team, out of Leadpages’ Minneapolis headquarters, until April 2018.
In October 2018, Walling announced that he was starting the first startup accelerator designed for bootstrappers, called TinySeed.
Walling has become known as a supporter of self-funding or bootstrapping software companies that turn a profit, instead of raising funding from venture capitalists. He has invested in more than 125 companies and has been quoted in dozens of major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Magazine.
For press inquiries, please get in touch with Rob at rob@startsmall.com
Praise for the work of Rob Walling
"Fortunately for you, Rob Walling has been one of the most active members of this [startup community] for a few decades. He has distilled this experience into a book of wisdom, exactly what you need to tackle the work that is now in front you.” — Excerpt from the foreword by Jason Cohen, Founder, WP Engine
“Rob knows software, and he knows startups. I've been learning from him since the early years of HubSpot. You should too.” —Dharmesh Shah, Cofounder/CTO, HubSpot
"Rob's seen hundreds of SaaS businesses fail, and dozens succeed, and he's distilled that knowledge into a beautifully readable, perfect-sized volume of only-the-really-good advice. If you want to avoid the pitfalls that imperil every SaaS startup (and kill 95% of them), read this cover to cover, and refer back often; that's my plan." — Rand Fishkin, Cofounder, SparkToro
“I do whatever Rob recommends in SaaS! With a track record like his, it’s a gift he’s sharing this playbook with the world. Must read for every SaaS creator.” — Noah Kagan, Chief Sumo, AppSumo
"By far the best book on this subject. Packed with specific instructions but also surprisingly deep insights into the hurdles and solutions. You can tell he's speaking not only from his own extensive experience but from knowing hundreds of other startups. A must-read for every bootstrapping entrepreneur." —Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby. Author of "Anything You Want"
“Rob [knows] how to build SaaS products properly but also how to scale them. His playbook is something I've wanted for years—glad he finally put it down on the page so we can all learn.” — Patrick Campbell, Cofounder, Profitwell
“Rob Walling has been mentoring the indie software community for over a decade. I started reading this book, and I can't put it down.” — Peldi Guilizzoni, Founder and CEO, Balsamiq
“Rob is my go-to source for how to build a lucrative bootstrapped business. After learning from his teachings and community, I exited my bootstrapped SaaS for 7 figures!” — Laura Roeder, Founder, Paperbell
"Rob is a startup Grand Master who's inspired me and countless others. A chance to learn from his condensed knowledge is a drop-everything-and-do-this-instead moment." — Courtland Allen, Founder, Indie Hackers
“Rob has instilled so many important lessons about building software businesses in me so deeply that I almost forget how naive I was before finding his work. Even if you wouldn't call your business SaaS, you're going to learn something from this book that changes the trajectory of your company.” — Adam Wathan, Founder, Tailwind Labs
“If you want to raise a million dollars for your next big idea, look elsewhere. If you want to develop your idea into a multimillion-dollar software company, this book is for you. Rob’s ability to share his in-the-trenches experience with authenticity, clarity and intellectual honesty is unmatched”. — Dan Andrews. Author of “Before the Exit”