Michael Sacca (@MichaelSacca) and Alex Rolek (@AlexRolek) are the co-founders of Brandisty.com, a website that allows companies to put their brand on the web.
The duo started out as a small agency doing web design and software development before shifting towards a B2B product. Along with Prescott, they discuss the origins of Brandisty, how they went about getting early feedback, and the day to day scrappiness of running a small web software company.
Listen Now
Get The Episode
- Download The Busy Creator Podcast, Episode 11 (MP3, 35:39, 34.6 MB)
- Download The Busy Creator Podcast, Episode 11 (OGG, 35:39, 36.6 MB)
Subscribe to Get New Episodes
Subscribe to The Busy Creator Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Google Podcasts, on Stitcher, on iHeart
Show Notes & Links
- Brandisty is a small software company, about 5 staffers plus contractors
- TinyFactory, the agency from which Brandisty was born
- Brandisty’s inception was born from frustration — “can I get a transparent PNG?”
- Valio Con, a design conference where Brandisty was introduced as a beta product
- The Busy Creator on Brandisty
- Delete Blood Cancer on Brandisty
- TinyFactory started as an agency
- Michael studied the music business
- Alex studied finance and real estate development
- Entrepreneurs struggle to install productivity habits
- Distractions at work are annoying
- The difference between marketing and sales
- The conference was to validate the idea
“Customer service is our marketing.”
—Michael Sacca
- Say Rhythm rather than Routine.
- Alex endorses a lifestyle of moderation
Tools
- Brandisty.com, (obviously)
- HTML5
- Node.js
- AoHell (RIP)
- Visual Basic
- Amazon Web Services: Route 53, EC2, Virtual Private Cloud, S3
- SublimeText, the text editor of choice
- TextMate, also good
- Git and custom Git servers, rather than GitHub
- GoLang, a language for lower-level image processing
- Trello, for project management
- Do.com (RIP), Jira — other project management software tools
- Salesforce, the owners of Do.com
- gChat and Skype to keep track of remote workers
- Google Docs for company-wide assets
- Medium, well-read site but doesn’t convert well
- Reddit, as an underrated communication medium
- Designer News and Hacker News
- Inbound.com / Hubspot.com
- GrowthHackers.com
- HOW Forums (RIP)
- Creative Mornings
- Likemind
Techniques
- Use a blackboard in your office. Keep it old school
- Keep a Kanban board with projects; rearrange as necessary
- Use small post-its on the cards
- Don’t use a mobile phone app to do your laundry (it’s not needed!)
- Use the Rubber Duck test
- Template your email responses and communication tools
- Set “Do Not Disturb” mode for the working day, counter-interuitively
- Generate potential leads, do some research, ask them to become beta testers
- Generate leads from content and social media
- Aim for better quality traffic, not necessarily more
- Give up coffee or alcohol; observe results.
- Don’t forget to read books, in addition to blog posts, to learn other people’s perspectives
Habits
- Get everyone together for planning and vision; let people work independently from there
- Monday morning meeting: plan the week, review stats, update on all departments
- Friday meeting focused on marketing and to review stats
- Handle communication and responses in the morning; focus on productivity the rest of the day
- Alex favors the “anti-routine”, and fear of monotony. Varies his wake-up and work-out times.
- Michael favors a strict routine (due to fatherhood). Gym in the morning, breakfast, shower, and off to work.
- Wake up before the sun rises.
- Try networking events in the morning, rather than those in the evenings
Try Audible.com Free for 30-Days
Visit BusyCreatorBook.com for your free trial
Join the Discussion
Add your experiences in the Comments section below.
Enjoyed this article?
More insight and resources delivered in our newsletter. Sign up below to receive site updates.