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Patrick Campbell is the founder and CEO of ProfitWell, which he bootstrapped and sold for over $200 million. In this special episode, we explore 10 big ideas from Patrick, including tips for hiring employees who align with your company values, creating winning pricing and retention strategies, determining the right time to raise money, and more. Whether you\u2019re just starting out or looking to scale your SaaS business, this must-listen episode offers practical and actionable advice that will help you avoid missteps and think differently.

Find the transcript for this episode and all past episodes at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/10-lessons-from-bootstrapping-a-200m

Where to find Patrick Campbell:

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Patticus

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickccampbell/

\u2022 Email: pc@patticus.com

Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

Referenced:

\u2022 Douglas Atkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doatkin/

\u2022 Patrick Campbell\u2019s guest post on Lenny\u2019s Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/saas-pricing-strategy/comments

\u2022 ProfitWell: https://www.profitwell.com/

\u2022 The Cadence: How to Operate a SaaS Startup: https://medium.com/craft-ventures/the-cadence-how-to-operate-a-saas-startup-436aa8099e8

\u2022 Edward Snowden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Snowden

\u2022 The Flywheel: https://www.hubspot.com/flywheel

\u2022 High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884

\u2022 Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don\u2019t Have All the Facts: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Bets-Making-Smarter-Decisions/dp/0735216355

\u2022 Powerful: https://www.amazon.com/Powerful/dp/1939714206/r

\u2022 The West Wing on HBOMax: https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GX5nwgQDNJZ6aoQEAAAHJ

\u2022 Notion: https://www.notion.so/

\u2022 Descript: https://www.descript.com/

\u2022 Coda: https://coda.io/

\u2022 KTool: https://ktool.io/

\u2022 Tweet Hunter: https://tweethunter.io/

\u2022 Apple Watch Ultra: https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-ultra/

\u2022 Loom: https://www.loom.com/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Patrick\u2019s background

(05:12) Building a team

(07:38) How ProfitWell handled a conflict using their guiding principle, the most charitable interpretation

(10:41) Why new hires need to fit in with the company culture

(12:19) The bootstrapping vs. funding debate

(13:38) When founders should think about raising funds\xa0

(18:08) When and how companies should make pricing changes to their products or services

(23:46) Strategic retention and tactical retention, and why the latter is often missed\xa0

(28:48) Why people don\u2019t want to pay for a SaaS analytics tool

(29:56) The importance of mission metrics for shipping

(34:42) First-principle thinking, the \u201c5 whys,\u201d and Patrick\u2019s alternative approach

(40:21) The importance of frequent customer research

(43:15) Simple strategies for doing customer research

(46:13) Understanding your competitors

(51:06) Why veterans make great hires\xa0

(54:08) Why local strategies are more effective for some companies

(59:21) Why the middle of the funnel is the biggest opportunity\xa0

(1:04:54) Lightning round

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.