After funding 210+ B2B SaaS companies, what patterns have emerged?

In this episode, Rob Walling shares the 2025 State of TinySeed, from its first fund in 2018 to a global portfolio of over 210 B2B SaaS companies. He reflects on TinySeed’s growth, what the data reveals about today’s founders, funding trends, and the rise of AI-first startups.

• (1:46) – How TinySeed began and the doubts it faced
• (3:51) – Growing to 210+ portfolio companies and $60M raised
• (11:15) – The rise of AI-first startups and “vibe-coded” apps
• (13:09) – Record application numbers and founder trends in 2025
• (19:58) – Why vertical SaaS is outperforming horizontal SaaS
• (21:59) – The importance of founder community and shared experience
• (25:06) – How TinySeed and MicroConf create long-term founder connections

• Apply to TinySeed
• Invest in TinySeed
• TinySeed MentorsAccelerator Program Details — TinySeed
• TinySeed Portfolio
• The SaaS Playbook by Rob Walling
• MicroConf - Community for Bootstrapped SaaS Founders

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!

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How do you step back from daily decisions without losing control of your SaaS?

In this episode, Rob Walling answers listener questions about when to delegate key founder skills, whether great founders can succeed with any idea, and the limits of no-code or “vibe-coded” apps.

To help answer one question, he calls up Ruben Gamez to get his insights on what “good” freemium retention really looks like and why the shape of your retention curve matters more than the number itself.

Want to get your question answered? Drop it here.

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• (2:51) – What’s a “good” freemium retention rate?
• (4:59) – How freemium retention differs for mobile vs. SaaS apps
• (9:51) – When to start delegating the Core Four SaaS skills
• (12:53) – How to hand off sales, marketing, product, and dev the right way
• (23:28) – Can great founders succeed with any product idea?
• (29:34) – Should founders avoid building on no-code or third-party platforms?

• MicroConf Connect
• TinySeed SaaS Institute
• The SaaS Playbook
• SaaS Launchpad
• SignWell
• Ruben Gamez | LinkedIn

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!

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How much design polish is really enough?

In this episode, Rob Walling is joined by fan favorite Derrick Reimer for a new round of listener questions. They dig into the best AI coding stacks right now, how to ship fast without losing polish, whether AI is changing the kind of risk founders face, and when to start taking security seriously.

Episode Sponsor:

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• (2:03) – What’s the best A.I. coding stack for developers right now?
• (11:14) – How can solo founders ship fast without sacrificing polish?
• (21:55) – Is A.I. shifting startup risk from market fit to feasibility?
• (31:44) – When should SaaS founders start worrying about security?
• (44:30) – SavvyCal’s latest product expansion

• Call for Speakers – Apply to speak at MicroConf US in Portland
• Claude Code
• Windsurf
• Cursor
• GitHub Copilot
• VS Code
• Visual Studio
• SavvyCal Appointments
• Derrick Reimer | LinkedIn
• Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer) | X

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