What were the highlights and takeaways from MicroConf?

In this episode, Rob Walling and Derrick Reimer recap MicroConf US 2026 in Portland, Oregon. They break down the best talks from the event, including Jason Cohen on breaking through growth plateaus, Amanda Natividad on Zero-Click Marketing and broken attribution, Rob's framework for six ways to implement AI in SaaS, and Craig Hewitt's all-in take on AI adoption. Plus, they cover excursions, the hallway track, and why the MicroConf community keeps pulling founders up.

You're about to close a massive deal, and then your customer's legal team asks what happens if you get hacked.

That's the nightmare YSecurity solves. They're 40 security engineers who've worked at Apple, Uber, Microsoft, Robinhood, Brex, and more. You don't hire them, you rent them by the hour, no massive salary, no expensive consultants. Just real experts helping you get SOC 2, ISO, and more.

Set a monthly cap, know exactly what you're spending, and close the deal.

Head to ysecurity.io/startups to book your free strategy call. Your first 8 hours are completely free.

• (2:14) – MicroConf 2026 attendee caliber and mix
• (5:07) – Rebuilding MicroConf post-COVID
• (8:51) – Jason Cohen on breaking growth ceilings
• (12:48) – Amanda Natividad on Zero-Click Marketing
• (19:30) – Excursions, arcades, and the hallway track
• (22:01) – Rob's six ways to implement AI in SaaS
• (27:27) – Gia Laudi on Jobs To Be Done as your GTM moat
• (29:00) – Craig Hewitt's "AI Doomer" talk
• (33:41) – MicroConf Europe in Iceland

• MicroConf Europe┃Reykjavik, Iceland · Sept 21–23, 2026
• MicroConf Connect
• TinySeed SaaS Institute
• Jason Cohen's "Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen"
• Amanda Natividad | LinkedIn
• SparkToro
• Gia (Georgiana) Laudi | LinkedIn
• Formspree
• Rob Walling on YouTube
• Craig Hewitt | LinkedIn
• SavvyCal (Derrick Reimer)
• Derrick Reimer | 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!

Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

Can AI really handle product decisions for your SaaS?

In this solo adventure, Rob Walling revisits the core four SaaS skills and breaks down what AI can and cannot do across Development, Sales, Marketing, and Product. He also reframes Bill Gross's top five startup success factors for bootstrappers, walks through a hilariously bad UX decision by a local parking app, and closes with a surprisingly insightful Beastie Boys anecdote about shipping creative work into the world.

This episode is brought to you by Mercury

Mercury is the banking solution I use across all of my businesses, from my personal single-member LLC to MicroConf and TinySeed.

Traditional banking is broken, slow wires, clunky interfaces, tools that feel like they were built in 2005.

Mercury is what banking should feel like in 2026. Everything just works.

Whether it's daily bill pay or wiring large sums to the dozens of companies we invest in each year, Mercury handles it. Simple when I need simple, robust when I need approvals and controls.

Over 300,000 entrepreneurs have made the switch. When founders ask me where to set up their account, I send them to mercury.com.

Free to get started, no in-person visits, no minimum balance.

Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

• (5:48) – AI and the Core Four SaaS skills
• (7:03) – Why AI falls short with sales and marketing
• (8:45) – The editorial eye AI still lacks
• (10:14) – Why AI is worst at product
• (13:41) – Bill Gross's top five startup success factors
• (19:48) – A parking app's terrible UX decisions
• (24:24) – The Beastie Boys and lessons on shipping

• TinySeed | SaaS Institute
• Ep. 817 | Bootstrapping in the Age of AI with Jason Cohen
• Rob Walling YouTube
• Rob Walling Newsletter
• Bill Gross’s Ted Talk on Startup Success Factors
• The Beastie Boys on Conan O’Brian’s Podcast

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

Is your product actually a SaaS?

In this episode, Rob Walling tackles listener questions about what really qualifies as SaaS (and where he disagrees with ChatGPT), how to serve both solopreneurs and enterprise customers with a dual funnel strategy, layering a B2B offering on top of a B2C product, pricing a mission-driven app without gatekeeping access, and the impact of healthcare costs on startup runway.

Want to get your question answered? Drop it here.

Your payroll tool doesn't talk to your bank. Your bank doesn't talk to your bookkeeper. And you're the one stuck in the middle playing admin instead of building your company.

Every is the back office platform built for startups. Incorporation, banking, international and domestic payroll, bookkeeping, and tax prep, one login, one platform. You get a dedicated Slack channel with actual humans, up to $3 million in FDIC insurance, corporate cards, and automated accounting.

Setup takes under 30 minutes. Most founders are fully transitioned within a week.

Check them out at every.io.

And if you're at MicroConf in Portland, make sure to swing by and chat with the team.

• (3:09) – What qualifies as a SaaS business?
• (5:15) – Why Netflix and Spotify are not SaaS
• (8:11) – Where Rob disagrees with ChatGPT on SaaS
• (12:21) – Serving solopreneurs and enterprise simultaneously
• (15:13) – The power of the dual funnel strategy
• (17:02) – Navigating the enterprise sales process
• (22:20) – Layering B2B features onto a B2C product
• (28:52) – Pricing a mission-driven job search app
• (35:57) – Healthcare costs and startup runway in the US

• MicroConf Masterminds – Applications close April 17th
• MicroConf’s Masterminds Guide
• Newscatcher
• HelpSpot
• TinySeed
• Rob Walling (@robwalling) | 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

Listen to Episode 828