Starting & Sustaining

I just launched a massive update to Starting & Sustaining based on the lessons learned navigating health issues and selling my SaaS app that I ran as a solo founder.

What on earth does an amputation have to do with building a SaaS application? The answer is simple: recurring revenue. All too often, potential health issues are one of the scariest things about striking out on your own. However, once Sifter was established, the recurring revenue was a godsend as we navigated three years of medical issues. Even though I couldn't work consistently, Sifter kept growing and paying my salary. A couple of years into the medical issues, I even gave myself a raise. Building a SaaS application has so much potential. If it played such a key role in my life, I figure it can do the same for others as well.

The process of selling a company is very involved and detail-oriented. Going through due diligence with two separate buyers really helped me reflect and pay closer attention to the things I got wrong, and the things I got right. Combine that with the experience of recurring revenue playing a key role in helping me deal with medical issues, and I knew I had to share the knowledge and experience I gained.

The first edition of Starting & Sustaining was a shorter read (about 36,000 words vs. 92,000 for the second edition). After a few more years of experience, it eventually became clear that a second edition was in order.