Episode 790 | From Scrappy to Scalable: Evolving Your Role as a Founder

Episode 790 | From Scrappy to Scalable: Evolving Your Role as a Founder

Author: Rob Walling August 26, 2025 Duration: 34:02
How can you scale yourself as a founder? In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by Yaniv Bernstein (co-founder and CTO of Vera, former COO, VP of Engineering, and Google leader) to unpack how a founder’s role must change as the company grows. From writing the code yourself to leading managers of managers, they dig into the tough transitions every founder faces, and what happens if you don’t adapt. Topics we cover:  (3:27) – How the founder/CEO role changes as your SaaS scales (8:44) – The turning point where systems and processes matter (14:49 – When to hand off marketing, sales, or product as a founder (19:44) – Why setting context is your #1 job as a founder-CEO (28:19) – Why hiring right (and firing fast) makes or breaks scaling Links from the Show:  SaaS Institute MicroConf | The community for SaaS founders MicroConf YouTube Channel People Engineering  The SaaS Playbook  Yaniv Bernstein | LinkedIn Yaniv Bernstein (@ybernsteindig) | X The Startup Podcast If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Rob Walling hosts Startups For the Rest of Us, a long-running conversation focused squarely on the realities of building a company without massive venture funding. This isn't about Silicon Valley fairy tales; it's a practical, ground-level view of entrepreneurship. Each episode delves into the specific journeys of founders who are starting, acquiring, or growing their SaaS businesses, emphasizing the path of bootstrapping. You'll hear the unvarnished details-the strategic decisions, the unexpected obstacles, and the hard-won victories that define the daily life of a founder. The discussions are built on real stories, offering tangible lessons from both struggle and success. For anyone who has ever felt that the typical startup narrative doesn't reflect their own resource-constrained reality, this podcast provides a necessary and relatable perspective. It’s a deep resource for actionable advice and genuine camaraderie, connecting you with the experiences of those navigating the same challenging terrain. Tune in for honest conversations that cut through the hype and focus on building sustainable businesses.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Startups For the Rest of Us
Podcast Episodes
Episode 768 | Reacting to Controversial Startup Advice [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:36
Do you disagree with any of these controversial takes about bootstrapping? In episode 768, Rob Walling unpacks a series of semi-controversial beliefs about bootstrapping from ScrapingBee’s Pierre de Wulf. Rob evaluates e…
Episode 766 | Close.com's Amazing Run to $40M ARR (with Steli Efti) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:13
How do you achieve both success and longevity in SaaS? In episode 766, Rob chats with Steli Efti about growing Close.com to over $40 million in ARR. Steli shares insights into the importance of maintaining strong co-foun…
Episode 765 | TinySeed Tales s4e9: Making the hardest decision [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:20
Is it time to shut down for good? In this season finale of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling sits down with Colleen Schnettler, founder of Hello Query, to reflect on her journey over the past few years. Colleen candidly shares…
Episode 763 | TinySeed Tales s4e8: One Last Pivot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:20
Is it time to set a deadline for when to quit your startup? In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling reconnects with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she tries to achieve product-market fit on a de…
Episode 761 | TinySeed Tales s4e7: Identifying Pain Points [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:34
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling checks in with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she discusses finding customer pain points. Colleen, now solo, navigates the challenge of refining her produ…
Episode 759 | TinySeed Tales s4e6: Does AI + Pivot = Success? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:10
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling speaks with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hello Query, as she shares her latest startup journey pivot. After reigniting her “shipping muscle” while briefly dabbling in a…