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Kim Coleman and Jason Coleman are two entrepreneurs who have shared the journey of building a software company. However, their mission has been much more than a professional partnership. They’re a married couple with two kids who’ve built a successful company and several software products together: it’s safe to say they bring a unique perspective to the world of bootstrapping.

In 2006, they launched Stranger Studios, a web design and software development studio. In 2011 they launched their now flagship product Paid Memberships Pro. The big success followed in 2015 when they started building the team.

For most folks, logging off or commuting home at the end of the day is enough to separate your work life and your personal life. But for Kim and Jason, the lines are not as clear cut. In this episode, they discuss navigating personal and professional challenges, that range from compromising (or not) on hard decisions to facilitating a healthy work environment that encourages team morale, all while maintaining a harmonious marriage.

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Thanks to Kim and Jason for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with co-founder, bootstrapper, writer, and podcaster Arvid Kahl to learn about the positive impact that building in public can have on software product makers' lives and careers.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Arvid Kahl co-founded FeedBack Panda, which he bootstrapped and later sold for a life-changing amount to SureSwift Capital. He is also a published author and writes extensively about entrepreneurship and bootstrapping.

But he’s much more than a software creator and value-driven entrepreneur: Arvid is passionate about sharing the journey. His openness, honesty, and transparency during product development and beyond have rightfully positioned him as a passionate advocate of the ‘build in public’ movement.

In this episode of plugin.fm, Arvid shares his insights about how software product founders can tread the fine line between transparency and business strategy. More than this, we explore the profound impact that building in public can have on software product makers' lives and careers.

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Thanks to Arvid for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with non-technical founder Justin Ferriman as he discusses how underdog entrepreneurs can overpower bigger software companies.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Justin Ferriman is the founder and former CEO of LearnDash, a platform that he grew from a simple blog to one of the leading solutions in the LMS space through a mixture of aggressive marketing and clever ‘guerilla’ tactics that helped him take on bigger competitors. He’s a non-technical founder who approaches business with a competitive streak that’s seen him go from underdog to top dog in the eLearning industry.

At the height of LearnDash’s success, Justin sold the company at 32% YoY growth with a whopping 76% profit margin. He’s since settled into the role of elite business coach at his company BrightGrowth, where he nurtures and guides the star entrepreneurs of the future.

Thanks to a combination of savvy business instincts, constant content creation, and confident competitiveness, Justin has realized great success. In this episode, we examine the specific strategies and tactics he used to take on bigger competitors with more resources to emerge as the victor.

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Thanks to Justin for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Amir Helzer, the founder of OnTheGoSystems. His company is responsible for WPML, the leading multilingual plugin used by more than a million websites.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Amir Helzer is the founder of OnTheGoSystems, the company behind WPML, a leading multilingual plugin used by over a million websites. Originally, WPML was a freemium plugin, but due to unfortunate — even somewhat controversial — circumstances, Amir and his team decided to make the product paid only. This business model shift would end up transforming his company for the better.

In this episode, we dive into the challenges and dynamics of taking a product from freemium to premium successfully, from community buy-in and market positioning to pricing models and retaining users. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a budding entrepreneur, this episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the ever-changing landscape of software monetization.

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Thanks to Amir for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Yoast founder Joost de Valk for his insights about the power of raising funds in bootstrapping ecosystems.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.

Matt Mullenweg is best known as the visionary co-founder of WordPress and Automattic. He’s rightfully secured his place as one of the most prominent figures in the tech world and — more specifically — a pioneer of remote working,

Despite having no physical headquarters, Automattic currently has around 2000 employees working from 90+ countries and was recently valued at US$7.5 billion, making it one of the largest globally distributed companies in the world. WordPress is the biggest CMS in the world (and a movement of sorts), powering over 43% of the internet. Matt’s influence on tech has been far-reaching and revolutionary, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that his initiatives have changed the game.

While Automattic is Matt’s main focus, he also advises and invests in startups through his company Audrey Capital, and hosts Distributed, a podcast about the future of work and the foremost companies and leaders driving it.

In the first episode of plugin.fm season 2, we pick Matt’s brain about the challenges of building a remote-first company and the wins that arise from succeeding. Matt shares his insights and advice on navigating the pitfalls of a flexible workplace and building a successful remote-first company — ranging from accountability and compensation to hiring and productivity.

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Thanks to Matt for joining us and providing such valuable advice about building successful distributed companies. Join us next week with Stranger Studios owners Kim and Justin Coleman as they discuss the challenges of bootstrapping a software company with your spouse.

plugin.fm is brought to you by Freemius, your all-in-one payments, subscriptions, and taxes platform for selling software, plugins, themes, and SaaS. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to plugin.fm to check out previous episodes.