Paul Jarvis: gaining freedom by building an indie business
Justin catches up with his old internet friend Paul Jarvis. Today, Paul co-founded Fathom Analytics with Jack Ellis: a simple alternative to Google Analytics. Paul is also the author of the book "Company of One," which has influenced a whole generation of indie entrepreneurs (and has been reviewed by Cal Newport, Chris Guillebeau, Ben Chestnut, Tiago Forte, and more). Previously, Justin and Paul did a weekly mastermind, where they supported and encouraged each other around our indie businesses. They decided to do a catch-up call and recorded it so you could listen in. 👍Highlights:
(00:10) - Intro
(02:26) - Being off the internet
(04:04) - What's a typical day for Paul?
(06:27) - Looking back at our Mastermind call
(08:14) - There's no beginning and no end
(10:42) - Things that are out of your control affect your business
(13:14) - Does Justin's surfing metaphor make sense to a surfer?
(16:17) - How would you start an indie business in 2023?
(22:11) - You've got to get in motion
(25:14) - Using products in your category for a long time
(27:59) - Is there still any room in Saas?
(32:02) - The act of making the bet
(38:51) - Is freelancing still viable in 2023?
(43:01) - Company design is lifestyle design
(45:06) - Worrying about being stagnant
(47:26) - How do you handle customer feature requests?
(52:14) - It's ok to be late to a shift in the market
(58:30) - Caring is an indie advantage
(01:05:11) - Collaboration is what gets us anywhere
Links:
Fathom Analytics (get $10 off)
Book: Company of One
Article: How to Start a Mastermind
Wayback Machine: Mint Analytics
Article: Why we moved from courses to SaaS
Self-Publishing Hangout: Paul Jarvis, Nathan Barry, Sacha Greif, Justin Jackson
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