P06: The Creation of a thoughtbot 📱 (🔐 a Continuation of EP 158🔓)
Video & Audio of Our Call:
Background:
Chad Pytel of thoughtbot goes into detail of how he actually started his business… This episode is a continuation of Episode 158 of our main podcast feed: How to Build your Mobile App… Better, Faster, & Cheaper with Chad Pytel of ThoughtBot…
Aside from being the CEO and Developer of thoughtbot, and co-author of two successful books, Chad is also the host of a podcast called Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots. It is a weekly podcast discussing the design, development, and business of great software. Chad is joined by fellow developers, designers, and entrepreneurs, and they delve deep behind the scenes of the products and technologies that they love.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
- [0:42] In 1996, when Chad was still in high school, he started doing freelance web design.
- [1:53] Chad worked for a person who has a personality disorder. He wasn’t getting paid and the company environment became very toxic.
- [6:19] In their first year as thoughtbot, they made $xx,xxx. This went on for 2 years, which is pretty mediocre according to Chad.
- [8:24] Chad has his own podcast called Giant Robots Smashing Other Giant Robots, which can be found in GiantRobots.fm.
- [9:18] Having a concrete point of view and being intentional with their work changed thoughtbot dramatically for the better.
- [11:06] In the early days, they didn’t have an office. Eventually, someone offered them an extra room that they turned into their office.
- [13:07] thoughtbot was the first consulting company in the world to switch to Ruby On Rails.
- [15:21] From 2008 to 2012, they intentionally maintained being a small team.
- [17:14] The biggest hurdle that they experienced was the economic recession in 2008.
- [19:12] In terms of marketing, they were blogging a lot. They have millions of readers in their blog, which is called Giant Robots Smashing Other Giant Robots.
- [21:30] In 2012, thoughtbot hit its next turning point.
- [26:16] Going into a new market and building a local business proved to be difficult for thoughtbot. They learned a valuable lesson from this experience.
- [30:24] In 2016, they were forced to close a couple of their branch locations because they were fixing the problem.
- [36:50] Having a more sustainable growth is the next turning point for the company.
- [38:21] Fulfillment is Chad’s north star. He also believes in living in the moment.
Fabulous 4 Questions:
- 📖📚 Favorite Book(s)? Dune by Frank Herbert, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- 🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Nike Free Run sneakers (I run 40 miles per week)
- 🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Trello, GitHub
- 💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Balacing our values with high growth
Key Point from the Interview:
- “Fulfillment is my north star. It’s what I use to make decisions about the direction we should be heading and what is right for us.”
Resources Mentioned:
- Email: [email protected]
- LinkedIn: cpytel
- Twitter: @cpytel
- Github: cpytel
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots – Chad’s Podcast
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots – Chad’s Blog
- Ruby On Rails
- Rails Antipatterns – Chad’s Book
- Pro Active Record – Chad’s Book
Secret Resources:
