Shows / Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
A podcast about the design, development, and business of great software. Each week thoughtbot is joined by the people who build and nurture the products we love.
Episodes
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
221: Power in Mimicry
Ben discusses the lessons of mimicked learning and tempering of judgmental thinking gleaned from a sports book, and muses on how to apply them to career…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
220: Goin' Legit (For 2017)
Ben decides to hire a support firm, document support processes, completes the Hound pricing change, and prepares to make products their own division for next…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
219: Rails' Sidekick (Mike Perham)
Ben is joined by Mike Perham, author of Sidekiq, to discuss running a business solo, taking a side project from hobby to full time job, and scaling support as…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
218: A Spark of Inspiration
On Drip, Derrick launches a free tier, and utilizes credit card anti-fraud measures. Ben publicly launches FormLinter, pauses exploring new product ideas in…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
217: The Object Object Object
Ben and Nick get super nerdy this week and chat about Meetspace's architecture using Go, Postgres, and HMAC including custom cookie signing, rendering, error…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
216: The One With Laila & Brenda
Sadly, Ben is stuck in hammock somewhere, and we are without a new episode this week. However, we would love you all to check out thoughtbot's newest podcast…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
215: SaaS is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Ben and Nick chat about ways to pitch your product, working solo as well as sustainably, and the costs of doing business. Upcase FormKeep Meetspace- use code…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
214: My Cat is VP of Marketing (Nick Gauthier)
Ben talks to Nick Gauthier, founder of MeetSpace, about the importance of validating ideas, reading through API documentation, and pricing surveys. Podcast…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
213: Madness Free
Derrick finds some new areas to improve after walking new hires through Drip's architecture, and discusses his custom billing engine. On Hound, Ben delegates…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
212: Good Enough, Namaste
Derrick brings a few more new hires onto the team, and ships a change to make clients' Javascript snippets more performant. On Hound, Ben does some direct…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
211: Battle Hardened Over Time
On Hound, Ben sends out announcements for pricing changes, questions when a decision is the "right" decision when it comes to customer feedback, and toys with…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
210: s/Walden/Andover
Ben plans a camping trip, acquires a new Twitter account, releases his notes on giving great conference talks, and begins to tell users of Hound's new pricing…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
209: Playlist Driven Development
On Drip, Derrick deals with a high-bandwidth customer and hires a new devops team member. Meanwhile, Ben brainstorms new pricing structures for Hound. Upcase…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
208: Efficiency Starts With a Haircut
Derrick switches domains from getdrip.com to drip.co, begins to update the design of the Drip widget, and tries to find balance in his varying roles as CTO…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
207: Database & Queue are Dirty Words (Derrick Reimer)
Ben welcomes guest co-host Derrick Reimer, co-founder of Drip, getting to know his background and products for our first outside-thoughtbot view on SaaS…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
206: I'm Glad We Talked About This (Chad Pytel)
thoughtbot CEO Chad Pytel joins Ben to discuss our recent office closings and reasons necessitating this decision, what this means for the product team, and…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
205: Bottling Calm
Fresh back from vacation, Ben shifts his attention to a Hound project, adding in tiered plans and pricing. Chris begins to build out a drip sequence for…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
204: Disinclined, For Simplicity's Sake
Chris delves into marketing mode for the TDD course, removes more client-side analytics code, and starts redesigning the information architecture on Upcase. On…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
203: Worry Beads on Business Chains
Ben receives some insight on customer referrals for FormKeep, applies his pricing philosophy to Hound, and realizes a personal blind-spot when it comes to…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
202: A Full 360
Ben rants about bad jokes on twitter, doesn't ship any improved activation features on FormKeep this week, irons out some bugs on FormLinter, and begins an ad…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
201: The Difficulty is in Focusing
Ben encounters a downed FormKeep and enables a monitoring service, completes the un-grandfathering process for accounts on old tiers, and begins work on…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
200: Summertime Sadness
Chris digs into the causes for a MRR drop, discovering usage trends with seasonality; and in the process gets a clearer picture of Upcase's user base. Also, he…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
199: Heartening Frustration
This week, we ruminate on the meta-organization of project management. Ben embraces team feedback on FormLinter.com, reaches the end of Formkeep's…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
198: Nailing Down the Why
On Formkeep, Ben launches FormLinter to increase form accessibility and conversions, and looks forward to additional persons on thoughtbot product work. Chris…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
197: An Engine That Throws Off Money
On Upcase, Chris releases the Bourbon course, restructures how new courses are highlighted, and discusses juggling the various factors that contribute to MRR…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
196: Anecdotal Driven Development
Ben changes product activation flow, possibly for the worse, launches a new UI, and muses on new customer acquisition for Formkeep. On Upcase, Chris starts to…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
195: The Storm Before the Calm
Ben delays a new feature until an easier implementation can be reached, adds additional event tracking for better site usage feedback, takes a medium to large…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
194: Changing Your Internet Home
Chris transitions Upcase to thoughtbot.com/upcase for SEO and branding purposes, and introduces reactivate & resubscribe functionality. Ben publishes a blog…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
193: This Episode Has Been Brought to You By the Letter 'S'
Ben switches from Mandrill to Sendgrid, turns a corner on his guarantee vs trial test, and begins the process of overhauling Formkeep's UI. Meanwhile, on…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
192: The High End of Reasonable
Ben and Chris muse on the nature of weather-related happiness. Also, Ben works on instrumenting Formkeep's activation funnel, utilizes a monitoring utility to…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
191: I've Done it Once, I'm an Expert
Ben and Chris discuss taxes and financial (as well as bedtime) routines. On Upcase, Chris showcases "The Weekly Iteration" on the site, reveals a long-term…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
190: An Unkempt Backlog
Chris makes progress on Upcase's to-dos in order to shift focus to after-the-funnel improvements, and makes a renewed vow to talk to customers for direct…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
189: Swimming Against a Stream of Complexity
Chris keeps improving MRR on Upcase, patches a Javascript problem with a Javascript solution, and implements benefit focused text on course descriptions. On…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
188: I Have a Spreadsheet!
Ben decides to A/B test pricing, begins grandfathering existing customers to the new tiers, teases new features on Formkeep, and recounts some interesting…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
187: Missed You!
Chris welcomes a new member to team Upcase, confronts a drop in MRR, and looks forward to increased content production. On Formkeep, Ben introduces tiered…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
186: Learning Through Experimentation (Ryan Buckley)
Ben and Chris welcome on Ryan Buckley, co-founder of Scripted, for an honest discussion on the shortcomings, pain-points, and benefits that arise from…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
185: The Funnel is Just the Beginning (Lincoln Murphy)
Ben welcomes SaaS growth and customer success pioneer Lincoln Murphy to discuss the true importance of providing value to existing customers and focusing on…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
184: I Love You, Businesses!
Ben accidentally launches a Vim course, debates a B2B vs B2C focus, and feels out different Formkeep pricing tiers. Chris welcomes back a handful of former…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
183: Embarrassing Trailing White-Space
Chris converts with email campaigns, lays out a time-table to churn out a ton of content, and tries to analyze a dip in revenue. Meanwhile, Ben tests the…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
182: The Weight of Javascript
Ben finalizes Formkeep's Ember removal, toys with the idea of manual on boarding, and positions himself to begin experimenting with plans and pricing…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
181: Tying Your Work to Impact (Brian Balfour)
Chris talks with growth expert Brian Balfour on starting and sustaining SaaS business, and his team's approach to addressing growth issues. Upcase Pirate…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
180: We Don't Deal With Paper
Chris gets a surprise while reviewing Upcase's Q4 profit & loss statement, gains some insight into e-mail marketing, wrestles with the added complexity of…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
179: It's Tough to Iterate on Nothing
Ben resolves to cut back on dashboard checkins, makes progress on Formkeep's Ember extraction, and struggles with product-market fit. Meanwhile, Chris tackles…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
178: No-one Wants Form End-Points for Christmas
Ben and Chris both struggle with cancelations coming into the new year, Formkeep continues to strip out Ember and focus on content marketing, and Upcase…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
177: I Forgot There Would Be Follow-On Tasks
Chris tracks new members after the release of the new Mastering Git course from Upcase, launches a drip e-mail campaign to attract more members, and focuses on…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
176: The Pricing is Right
As Ben transitions from Upcase to Formkeep, so too will the podcast transition to an open discussion around growing thoughtbot's internal projects and…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
175: Broaden Your Worldview (Ashe Dryden)
Ben talks with Ashe Dryden about ways to approach diversity in the tech community from workplace, conference, and personal perspectives. AlterConf The Diverse…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
174: Building Character (Laura Roeder)
Ben and Laura Roeder, founder of Edgar, chat about anthropomorphizing your brand to build better engagement, going the extra step to care about customer…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
173: Obsessed With Helping (Hiten Shah)
Ben talks with Hiten Shah, co-founder of Crazy Egg and Kissmetrics, on the value of helping others, frameworks for a better life, being an infovore, and tips…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
172: Go After the Hard Stuff (Eric Normand)
Ben and Eric Normand of LispCast and PurelyFunctional.tv talk about the pros and cons of Haskell and Clojure, empathize on some of the pain points of running…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
171: Always Be Hustling (Steli Efti)
Ben talks with Steli Efti, CEO and Co-founder of Close, on maintaining energy and passion in speaking, why engineers make great sales people (and how they can…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
170: Make Things People Want (C. Todd Lombardo & Trace Wax)
Chad talks with C. Todd Lombardo & Trace Wax about their new book, co-authored with Richard Banfield, Design Sprint: A Practical Guidebook for Building Great…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
169: Purpose Driven Development (Sara Chipps)
Brenda talks with Sara Chipps on the desire to educate in code, her inspiration to work on hardware, and the troubles of manufacturing. Upcase: 50% Off Your…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
168: 'Unpronounceable' (Star Simpson)
Chad Pytel and Laila Winner welcome Star Simpson to discuss PLIBMTTBHGATY (Programming Languages I’ve Been Meaning To Try But Haven’t Gotten Around To Yet)…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
167: A Place For Both (Brenda Storer)
Ben talks with thoughtbot designer Brenda Storer on fitting both development and design in her job title, tips for public speaking, and introduces a new change…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
166: Refactoring Health Care (John Norman)
Ben talks with John Norman about his process and modified approach to the delivery, payment, and tech of modern managed health care. They also touch on age…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
165: Everyone's Welcome Here (Adam Stacoviak & Jerod Santo)
Ben talks with Adam & Jerod of The Changelog Podcast to discuss their personal interviewing modalities, doing full-time media creation, and a new video project…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
164: Transcribing at 260 wpm (Mirabai Knight)
Ben talks with Mirabai Knight about the technology and uses of modern stenography; including using steno with Vim, and her work on Plover, the open source…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
163: Play is the Best Way to Learn (Nadia Odunayo)
Ben talks with Nadia Odunayo about giving non-technical conference talks and full-time pairing. Playing Games in the Clouds- Nadia's 2015 RailsConf Talk…
- Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots
162: Literal Giant Robots (Brinkley Warren)
Ben is joined by Brinkley Warren of MegaBots Inc. to discuss the history, build, and strategy behind the MegaBot Mk II, USA's entrant in next years giant robot…