Rob Walling

You can build a product in a day now. That doesn’t mean anyone wants it. This week, @RobWalling talks about his new book, Idea to Traction, and why every repeat founder he knows still talks to customers before writing a line of code. Ep 858 👇 startupsfortherestofus.com/e…

Here’s the behind-the-scenes story of our Drip.com acquisition. It’s been 13 years in the making. It started in 2013, when Rob Walling (@robwalling) first launched Drip. It was under the domain GetDrip.com, and what caught my eye was the impressive visual automation workflow builder. Around that same time, we had just launched @optinmonster too. I remember talking with our team at the time about how cool the product was. As Drip grew, we actually built a deep integration with OptinMonster in 2015. Then in 2016, Clay Collins (@ClayCollins) from LeadPages team acquired Drip. I remember thinking it was a very smart buy … and if I’m being honest, I was a little jealous too because I saw the synergy clearly. Over the years, my blog @WPBeginner became one of Drip’s top affiliates because I genuinely liked what the product offered, and our users loved it too. I’ve probably sent Drip more customers than any other affiliate. In 2023, we decided to move all our various SaaS businesses email marketing to Drip because it was simply the best value for the price, and I compared many tools. During these years, Drip went through a few more chapters like any established organization does from selling LeadPages, to acquiring Sleeknote, and more. I kept a close eye on the company given our partnership, and because we were both customers and recommending it to our users. So when earlier this year the opportunity came to acquire Drip and Sleeknote, I didn’t need much due diligence. I’d been doing it for 13 years without even realizing it. Here’s what I take from all this. The best business decisions I’ve made were never quick. They were things I believed in for years before the opportunity ever showed up. Use the tool before you sell it. Put your name behind things you’d pay for anyway. Play the long game. Thank you to Rob for building it, to Clay and the Leadpages team for carrying it forward, and to Mogens (@MogensMoeller) and the entire Drip team for making it what it is today. I’m excited to be part of the future journey as we enter the AI era. What’s a tool you’ve been using for 10+ years that you’d still recommend? I’m curious. If you missed the announcement of our acquisition, it’s in the first comment 👇

Rob Walling has worked closely with hundreds of founders. The best ones take action, have decent judgement and are coachable. His 48 hours versus eight weeks story is a cracker. Full chat with @robwalling: innovationphilosophie.rivers…

i have no time to maintain all my vibe coded tools we need a business model where someone else maintains the code and i just pay a monthly fee

Our first two talks from MicroConf Europe in Reykjavík are now out! @robwalling covers which SaaS moats still hold up in the age of AI. @einarvollset picks up from there: if anyone can copy your features in hours, where does defensibility come from? Links in 🧵:

When did we all start waiting for permission? Permission to rest (revolutionary, I know). Or to change your mind. Or to want a completely different life than the one you spent years building. I didn't have an answer, so I did the reasonable thing and started a podcast.

It was such an honor to speak at MicroConf in Reykjavik, Iceland last week. I was a 20 year old kid with a dream to start a business when I started listening to @robwalling on Startups For The Rest Of Us. I dreamt of going to a MicroConf for a DECADE but could never justify it until the last couple of years. So to speak, on stage, was... surreal. The venue, the people, the city, the country — seriously top notch!