The Micro: SaaS GTM Plans, Bootstrapping Funding Options & A Multimillion Business With No Employees

Hey there!

We're out here with the second edition of The Micro, a weekly MicroConf newsletter where we’re curating the top reads and resources to help you learn about launching and growing your SaaS business.  

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The dream is real - bootstrapping a business to a life-changing level is possible. How would a $1M exit change your life? $5M? $10M? Or more…

Exciting news from the bootstrapped SaaS world this week, as Ben Chestnut, MailChimp CEO and Founder, announced that he will be stepping down from his leadership role after the acquisition of MailChimp by Intuit earlier this year. He’s coming out to MicroConf Local: Atlanta on October 18, so if you’re in town and want to learn more about his story - we’d love to see you there.

Before we dive into the goods this week, we wanted to let you know that we’re always looking for founders and subject matter experts with a great story, strategies and tactics for building a business, or frameworks and mental models to share with the MicroConf community. If you are interested in speaking at one of our events, head over to our Call for Speakers and submit a talk!

Here's what we're covering this week: 

• SaaS Go-To-Market plans 
• The Bootstrapper's Guide to Outside Funding
• Running a multimillion dollar business with no employees

📺 Featured on the MicroConf Youtube Channel 

🎟 Upcoming MicroConf Events 

Here is where you can meet and connect with fellow community members. A full list of upcoming events is available here.

• September 15, 2022: MicroConf Local: Seattle ft. Rand Fishkin, Co-Founder of SparkToro
• October 18th, 2022: MicroConf Local: Atlanta ft. Ben Chestnut, Founder of MailChimp
• November 30, 2022: MicroConf Local: Austin ft. Jason Cohen, Founder of WP Engine

🎙 New On Startups For The Rest Of Us  

In episode 615, join Rob Walling for a solo adventure where he covers what makes a business bootstrappable (and things to avoid), cargo culting, and how large of a business you can build at different customer lifetime value levels. 

👉 Listen here

🚀 3 SaaS Resources To Check Out From Around The Web

• From friends and family rounds and accelerators to regulated crowdfunding and recurring revenue financing, there are more ways for bootstrappers to secure investment outside of going the traditional VC route. This guide goes through the pros and cons of different outside funding methods.
   
• Cold email can be an effective tactic to land some of your early customers. However, you could be sabotaging your efforts without even realizing it. Here is how to frame your cold emails so they get opened. 
   
• $2.7 million a year with no employees? This podcast episode on how Pieter Levels built and structured his businesses is worth a listen. 

🔥 A Sneak Peek into MicroConf Connect 

Every week, 3300+ founders are chatting in our free Slack community. Here is a glimpse of what we're chatting about in the #coding channel: 

👉 Apply to join MicroConf Connect

⭐️ This week's newsletter is sponsored by DNSimple 

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Using DNSimple is exactly that: Simple. Set your DNS records, and move on to more pressing concerns. Manage a highly dynamic infrastructure with constant DNS changes without breaking a sweat. You can rely on us to provide a domain management service that makes your life easier. 

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Catch you next week!