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Practical Founders Podcast

Practical Founders Podcast

著者： Greg Head
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 Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast with host Greg Head for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies--without big funding.2025 Scaling Point LLC マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 経済学
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  • #168: These Three Superpowers Set Practical SaaS Founders Apart - Greg Head

    #168: These Three Superpowers Set Practical SaaS Founders Apart - Greg Head
    2025/10/31
    In this episode, the founder of Practical Founders, Greg Head, shares the most powerful insights from over 165 podcast interviews and working with 40+ bootstrapped SaaS founders in his peer groups. Greg breaks down the common but less obvious traits he sees in practical founders who are quietly building valuable software companies without big VC funding. Greg shares how frugality and managed risk-taking coexist to create compounding steady growth, creating massive long-term value fpr practical founders. And independence and doing it your way are not just luxuries but real superpowers that fuel growth. These patterns have emerged across hundreds of founders he's worked with, representing over $10 billion in founder equity value created. For SaaS founders skeptical of VC templates and PE playbooks Greg shares what all practical founders do to grow from $1M to $10M ARR without betting it all. Are you wired like a Practical Founder? Key Takeaways Frugal yet bold – Practical founders are unusually frugal in life but make well-timed bold bets inside their companies.Managed risk – They avoid betting the whole company, instead making small bets that can compound into larger wins.Compounding focus – Long-term, steady 20–30% growth creates exponential outcomes in SaaS over 10–15 years.Independence premium – Protecting their ability to do it their way is treated as a strategic advantage.Optionality matters – Practical founders value flexibility to sell, go long, or change direction without outside control. This Interview Is Perfect For Founders building SaaS without VC fundingCEOs who value control and sustainable growthEntrepreneurs exploring long-term leverage vs. quick winsAnyone who wants to understand the practical founder mindset Quote from Greg Head, founder of Practical Founders "The simple math of a $1 million ARR recurring revenue business that grows at 30% a year, will become very valuable if it keeps growing. ? Not crazy growth, a reasonable pace. This is the fundamental principle of recurring revenue businesses, that it's a compounding machine. "If you grow at 30% for nine years, you'll have a $10 million business. And if you do that for another nine years, you will have a $100 million business. That's probably worth a billion dollars by that time. That sounds simple and not everybody gets there, of course, but practical founders think in this way. Steady, healthy compounding. "We know that in the long run, the 10 years, the 20 years, compounding makes the difference. It's a healthier approach. We actually like this approach, generally speaking. We understand the math and yes, we're doing it. Most people don't really sign up for this kind of thing." Links Greg Head on LinkedInPractical Founders on LinkedInPractical Founders website Podcast Sponsor – Designli This podcast is sponsored by Designli, a digital product studio that helps entrepreneurs and startups turn their software ideas into reality. From strategy and design to full-scale development, Designli guides you through every step of building custom web and mobile apps. Learn more at designli.co/practical. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding. A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.
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    53 分
  • #167: Practical Founders Brought in CEO to Scale Their Company - Darryl Pahl

    #167: Practical Founders Brought in CEO to Scale Their Company - Darryl Pahl
    2025/10/24
    Darryl Pahl is the co-founder of DFnet, a Seattle-based company providing clinical trial data management software and services. Along with his wife and co-founder, Lisa Ondrejcek, Darryl started the company more than 20 years ago after careers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. They built DFnet around long-term client relationships in global health and clinical research. The company runs DFdiscover, an enterprise-grade electronic data capture and management platform used in clinical studies worldwide. With offices in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa, DFnet has grown to more than 50 employees and is approaching $10M in revenue. Clients range from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to nonprofits like PATH and major universities. Still independent and bootstrapped, DFnet has made key moves to prepare for the future—such as bringing in a growth-focused CEO, diversifying beyond single-client risk, and shifting legacy software to SaaS and services. Darryl shares the lessons from running conservatively under debt, buying rather than building, and building a global company rooted in relationships and practical execution. Key Takeaways Stability First Growth – Carrying a 10-year SBA loan forced conservative growth and taught the discipline of stability over risky expansion.Buying Not Building – Acquiring DataFax brought 35+ new clients overnight and proved that buying legacy software can be smarter than reinventing.Services Plus Software – Unlike pure SaaS, DFnet thrives by combining consulting, hosting, and software in a regulated field.Spouse Founders Structure – Their 51/49 ownership split avoided deadlocks and kept marriage and business aligned. This Interview Is Perfect For SaaS founders balancing growth and controlFounders considering succession or saleBootstrapped entrepreneurs in niche B2B marketsAnyone curious about global health data and impact-driven tech Quote from Darryl Pahl, co-founder of DFnet "The best position to be in is to say that in three to five years, we would be crazy to sell this company. It's doing so well. That would be the perfect thing. And what we're not looking for is a giant payout. We have a very modest lifestyle. "But is an asset, it is a business, and there's a business aspect. It would have to be the right type of buyer. It has to be the right fit. It has to be the right person or group that is respectful to our clients, our employees, and us as owners. "So the ideal would be to have the luxury of either not selling or being more selective rather than responding to random emails from some financial buyer or search funder." Links Darryl Paul on LinkedInDFnet on LinkedInDFnet website Podcast Sponsor – Fraction This podcast is sponsored by Fraction. Fraction gives you access to senior US-based engineers and CTOs — without full-time costs or hiring risks. Get 10 to 30 hours per week from vetted and experienced US-based talent. Find your next fractional senior engineer or CTO at fraction.work. You can start with a one-week, risk-free trial to test it out. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding. A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.
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    1 時間 11 分
  • #166: How Practical SaaS Founders Can Compete in the AI Economy - Vincent Serpico

    #166: How Practical SaaS Founders Can Compete in the AI Economy - Vincent Serpico
    2025/10/17
    Vincent Serpico, veteran CTO and founder of Founders Workshop, is on the front lines of the AI revolution in 2025, reshaping software development and business operations. With more than 30 years of experience building software apps, Vincent is now dedicating himself full-time to AI coaching and workshops for teams and companies to create high-leverage impact quickly. Vincent shares how practical SaaS founders are leveraging agents, vibe coding, and tools like OpenAI's Agent Kit to multiply output without adding headcount. He sees the shift from SEO to GEO, the rise of ChatGPT apps, and why domain expertise is the ultimate competitive moat for SaaS founders navigating this new economy. Now leading Serpico.ai, Vincent describes how entire applications can be built without writing code, using natural language and iterative management. He stresses that daily AI use, human-in-the-loop workflows, and focusing on domain-driven innovation will give practical founders the edge in this seismic shift. Key Takeaways Agents As Labor – AI agents perform multi-step workflows like employees, delivering productivity gains with human-in-the-loop oversight.Domain Expertise Moat – Deep customer and industry knowledge matters more than raw coding speed in the AI economy.Vibe Coding Skills – Non-coders can now build apps with natural language prompts, managing AI like junior employees.Practical AI Adoption – Founders should start with small use cases, building workflows before tackling complex projects.Great Arbitrage Period – Founders who embrace AI now gain massive leverage over competitors who resist change. This Interview Is Perfect For SaaS founders ready to apply AI beyond experimentsProduct leaders exploring AI-driven workflowsDevelopers curious about vibe coding and agentic designFounders building lean, AI-powered teams Quote from Vincent Serpico, founder of Serpico.ai "If you're not an expert in something, AI will probably make you two to three times better than you currently are. But if you are an expert in something, AI will make you 10x better. "If you're already a domain expert, using AI will make you 10x better. Those are the ones that you should be hiring and paying outpaced salaries to, and build your tiny team—domain experts who are great at AI. "If I want to use AI in real estate, I could do it, but a guy who's been a real estate agent for 30 years will do much better if he understands AI skills like how to prompt and context engineer. "So we'll see hiring domain experts and paying them outsized salaries because they're utilizing AI and producing five, six times more than they could without it." Links Vincent Serpico on LinkedInSerpico AI website Podcast Sponsor – Cypress Growth Capital This podcast is sponsored by Cypress Growth Capital, an alternative to equity, royalty-based growth capital provides funding in exchange for a fixed percentage of your company's future monthly revenues. Learn more at https://www.cypressgrowthcapital.com/ The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding. A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.
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    59 分
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