Episode 688 | Growing Boot.dev From $6k to $110k in Monthly Revenue in 15 Months

In episode 688, Rob Walling interviews Lane Wagner, founder of Boot.dev. Boot.dev is a learning platform gamified to teach backend development. They discuss the journey of bootstrapping Boot.dev, its explosive growth, and its unique business model. Lane also shares challenges of running a B2C business, why he took some funding, and the significance of customer lifetime value over MRR in his business.



Topics we cover: 




2:38 – Boot.dev seeing incredible growth



3:35 – Growing on YouTube with partnerships



5:42 – Teaching Python and Go as a B2C business



7:49 – “This is not really SaaS”, considering JTBD



11:18 – The beginnings of Boot.dev, serving the backend niche



14:21 – Gaining the confidence to quit the day job



15:51 – Deciding to raise funding and “mostly” bootstrap



20:31 – Enduring hardship before turning the corner on growth



26:38 – Finding the right revenue metric for the business




Links from the Show: 




MicroConf US - Atlanta - April 21 - 23, 2024



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Lane from Boot.dev (@wagslane) | X



Boot.dev



Profitable, at last!



Purple Cow by Seth Godin




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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