Bootstrapping an email service provider (with Jesse Hanley)

Want to learn more Postgres? Check out my Postgres course: https://masteringpostgres.com.

In this interview, I talk with Jesse Hanley, founder of Bento, about running a lean email service from Japan. We chat about the challenges of scaling infrastructure, managing databases, and maintaining a calm business while serving a global customer base.

Links Mentioned:
Bento: https://bentonow.com
Database school on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI72dgeNJtzqElnNB6sQoAn2R-F3Vqm15
Database school audio only: https://databaseschool.transistor.fm

Follow Jesse:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessethanley
Bento on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bento

Follow Aaron:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarondfrancis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aarondfrancis
Website: https://aaronfrancis.com - find articles, podcasts, courses, and more.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Jesse Hanley
01:02 - Running Bento from Japan
01:48 - The Lean Team Structure at Bento
03:00 - Managing Support via Discord
05:01 - Benefits of Using Discord for Customer Support
06:45 - The Role of Community in Customer Feedback
09:01 - How Bento Gained Traction
13:00 - Bootstrapping Bento and Profitable Growth
16:00 - Running Your Own Mail Servers
19:03 - The Economics and Redundancy of Email Delivery
21:00 - Bento's Heroku Setup and Scaling Challenges
26:00 - Handling and Querying Massive Data in Bento
29:52 - Leveraging Elasticsearch for Data Queries
35:40 - Moving Toward Multi-Database Solutions
37:45 - Exploring Crunchy Data and Citus for Database Scaling
42:00 - Optimizing Bento for Performance and Scalability
54:02 - Jesse’s Advice on Building a Calm and Profitable Business
57:00 - How Bento Uses WebSockets and Background Jobs
1:00:00 - Optimizing Bento with Action Cable
1:02:25 - Avoiding N+1 Queries with WebSockets
1:04:50 - Scaling Redis and Postgres at Bento
1:09:00 - Jesse’s Approach to Managing Growth and Multiple Services
1:11:00 - Final Thoughts on Scaling and Optimizing Databases
1:13:10 - Advice for Aspiring Builders: Stay Patient and True to Your Vision
1:16:00 - Bento’s Unique Approach to Email Marketing and Transactional Emails
1:19:50 - Closing Thoughts and Where to Find Jesse Hanley Online