In this episode of the podcast, Craig sits down with longtime entrepreneur Colin Bartlett, cofounder of StatusGator, to explore what it really takes to build, and sustain, a SaaS business over the long haul. With more than a decade at the helm of a company that helps users monitor service outages, Colin shares hard-won insights from 12 years of entrepreneurship and 11 years of running StatusGator. The conversation dives into how founders’ perspectives evolve, especially in today’s turbulent tech landscape, and how to stay grounded and successful through all of that craziness.
Highlights from Craig and Colin’s conversation:
How Colin and StatusGator did when Google Cloud went down for a few hours
The factors that can determine whether or not free trials can work for your business
The difference between the company in the beginning versus 10+ years down the road
How their businesses fit into the current markets (alongside AI and other tech advances)
Appreciation and respect for the businesses in such uncertainty
Plans, trajectories, and what the future holds for them
Views on profit in the SaaS industry
Their team structures and how to hire and maintain a team in the AI era
Staying fresh in the market after you’ve been in the business for a while
The benefits of having a cofounder
SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) compliance and privacy standards
How many hours does your team have to work to be a value to your company?
Resources and Links from This Episode
Colin Bartlett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinabartlett/
StatusGator: https://statusgator.com/
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Twitter: @TheCraigHewitt
LinkedIn: Craig Hewitt
Email:
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Chapters
(00:00:00) - Talking Startup With Colin Bartlett(00:01:51) - Flare on the Internet Outage(00:03:48) - How Do You Capture Leads From Free Signups?(00:09:18) - How Long Can You Keep Working On Your Startup?(00:14:42) - How Do You Think Your SaaS Business Should Be Profitable(00:16:53) - What Your Team Looks Like on SaaS(00:19:12) - How We Run a WordPress Team(00:21:34) - How to Hire a Team in the AI Era(00:25:46) - Top Executives: How AI Will Affect the Business in 2(00:31:20) - Podcaster on An Economic Dip(00:32:17) - How Do We Stay Fresh After 11 Years?(00:37:22) - If You Had to Pick A Boss, What Would You Do?(00:38:39) - Cisco on SOC2 Compliance(00:42:30) - How much Time Should Your Team Work?(00:46:48) - How To Get Things Done As A CEO