FounderQuest

Ben and Josh discuss the benefits and perils of using AI assistants for programming.CursorCodeium WindsurfGitHub Copilot announcementPerplexity

Ben, Josh, and John Nunemaker are back from RubyConf and take the opportunity to discuss how to sponsor a conference as a small software company. Protip: bring your furniture from home.https://wiki.c2.com/?ResultObjectPattern=https://www.chairigami.comhttps://twenty.comhttps://rubycentral.org/news/make-railsconf-happen/Adam’s Judo Scale infomercialhttps://boxoutsports.com/graphics/multi-format/multi-format-gameday-90-s-serieshttps://boxoutsports.com/graphics/tags/saved-by-the-bell

Ben and Josh go off-script for a fun and hopefully-not-too-long chat about their favorite Twitter-like social network, Bluesky.https://faineg.substack.com/p/how-i-accidentally-ruined-blueskyThe hosts of WSUA9 call it skeeting on airAOC endorses “team skeets”Jake Tapper says “skeeted” live on CNNProtocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech by Mike MasnickComposable moderationHow to set your domain as your handleBluesky reaches 20M usershttps://go.bsky.app/HD2Ty2ohttps://go.bsky.app/EGczjGAhttps://bsky.app/profile/bencurtis.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/joshuawood.honeybadger.iohttps://bsky.app/profile/founder.questhttps://bsky.app/profile/honeybadger.iohttps://deck.blue/https://brid.gy/

Josh and Ben reconnect with their friend JP Boily to discuss building his startup Metrics Watch for just over 9 years before finding a new owner on Acquire.com.Bluesky startups & bootstrappers starter packJoin the Honeybadger/FounderQuest Discord server!https://metricswatch.com/https://github.com/topfunky/gruffhttps://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/The_Homerhttps://jumpstartrails.comhttps://microconf.comhttps://businessofsoftware.orghttps://rubyconferences.org

Josh and Ben catch up with John Nunemaker after Rails World and dig into John's recent acquisition of Fireside.fm, the podcasting platform created by Dan Benjamin. What's next for John? In short, he's curating some Very Good Software™.https://www.johnnunemaker.com/acquiring-fireside/https://www.johnnunemaker.com/how-to-find-a-business-partner/https://danbenjamin.com/http://sifterapp.com/https://www.indierails.com/

Ben, Josh, and John discuss pricing, including how to approach pricing, what they do and don't like about pricing, and how pricing works at Honeybadger and Flipper.https://cottonbureau.com/p/9EMACZ/shirt/the-process#/17943854/tee-men-standard-tee-vintage-black-tri-blend-mhttps://blog.flippercloud.io/per-seat-pricing-sucks/https://garrettdimon.com/journal/posts/data-modeling-saas-entitlements-and-pricinghttps://basecamp.com/pricinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_aversionhttps://statamic.com/

While Josh is on vacation, Ben chats with guests Will King and John Nunemaker about the process and perils of trying to ship reliably. https://www.wking.dev/logs/shipping-in-layershttps://longform.asmartbear.com/slc/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_producthttps://archive.ph/20130719182750/http://www.businessballs.com/treeswing.htmhttps://www.amazon.com/How-Fight-Hydra-Ambitions-Destined-ebook/dp/B07J57YF47

Ben and Josh catch up after a few weeks of heads-down product work, and they have lots to talk about—including a new Discord server for FounderQuest listeners! Plus, hear Josh’s thesis on why it’s a huge problem if you’re not using your product to the max.Shape UpSeth GodinBlue Ridge RubyMonitoramaJoin the Honeybadger Discord! https://discord.gg/aQaDVBedRf

Longtime friend of the pod Adam McCrea joins Josh and Ben to catch up and chat about his journey building Judoscale—an autoscaling service for Heroku, Render, and AWS!Blue Ridge RubyJosh’s Blue Ridge Ruby recapKyle SholdPrintfectionJudoScaleSignWellHeroku Add-onsRouter blog post: https://judoscale.com/blog/heroku-router-post-mortem

John Nunemaker returns to FounderQuest to discuss his writing process—after the guys debate code linters and formatters, of course. It's important to start with the essentials.Links:StandardrbJosh’s 2013 Ruby Style GuideGitHub CopilotCopilot Chat for NeovimSeth GodinAmy HoyMy Life in Advertising by Claude HopkinsThis book will teach you how to write better by Neville MedhoraCarbon

Josh and Ben are joined by John Nunemaker to discuss their recent trip to Detroit for RailsConf, as well as the announcement from RubyCentral that 2025 will mark the final RailsConf (though not the last Rails conference!). Later in the episode, Josh and Ben reveal the outcome of their Honeybadger Insights launch goal and discuss the team's last dev cycle. John also shares an update on his work with Flipper!Links:ChartkickFrictionless GeneratorsFlippertodo_or_die gemheya gemUserlistJohn NunemakerLast RailsConf announcement and surveyDetroit People MoverFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

This week, Josh and Ben dive deep into the marketing strategy for their new product, Insights, in response to a listener question. They talk about what groups they are targeting first, some of the planned marketing tactics for reaching each group, and how they are building awareness within the Honeybadger app without annoying existing users.Links:pg_cronJudoscaleTractionInsights tour page Insights announcement blog post Meet the badgersFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadgerClickHouse - hosted by DoubleCloud

This week Josh and Ben discuss shipping Insights, what's next for the product, and their strategies to get people to actually use it. Plus Ben shares the results from his latest performance science projects. Grab your safety glasses and headphones!Links:Lab TechYabedaYabeda for InsightsVectorFluentdEvil Martians blogScientistMeet the badgersFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadgerClickHouse - hosted by DoubleCloud

This week Josh and Ben discuss shipping a Clickhouse migration and Honeybadger's new look. They also talk about Exceptional Creatures hitting number one on Hacker News and being featured at the top of Ruby Weekly. Plus, did Ben get interviewed by a rubber duck?Links:Exceptional CreaturesKamalDaily LexClickhouse ActiverecordScientistRealGeeks Meet the badgersFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

Today Josh and Ben are talking about UI changes in order to lay the foundation to launch and integrate Insights into Honeybadger as well as steps they are taking to avoid some rollout mistakes they've made in the past. They also reveal how testers are liking Insights so far!Links:Derek SiversFlipperMeet the badgersFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

GOOAAALLL!!! This week Ben and Josh discuss how to get Honeybadger's growth back on track by setting a company-wide goal. They also talk about how to promote new features in your product without annoying your users and what Santa brought them for Christmas!Links:BHAGMeet the badgersFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

This week Josh and Ben discuss Honeybadger's recent revenue struggles, how they got to this point, and the steps they're taking to weather the storm. They also explain why 2024 could be the company's best year ever!Links:Steve Jobs - "Saying No"Meet the badgersFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

Kevin joins Josh and Ben again this week as the trio discusses Honeybadger's hack week, processes for making bold UI/UX changes, what to do/not do if your customers hate said UI/UX changes, plus the latest trends in Crocs fashion!LinksCrocsJoel on Software - Things you should never doDHH Business of SoftwareEveryday Information ArchitectureMeet the badgersWhy's (Poignant) Guide to RubyClickHouse - hosted by DoubleCloudFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

It's a trifecta of badgers this week as Honeybadger's own Kevin Webster takes us on a deep dive into the genesis of his baby/our new product, Insights. There is also a discussion around the challenges of dealing with burnout plus the Holy Hand Grenade!LinksMeet the badgersClickHouse - hosted by DoubleCloudFounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappHoneybadger

This week Josh and Ben give further insights into Insights and discuss challenges around shoehorning a new product into an existing one. They also talk about marketing strategies, a Las Vegas trip, and disaster recovery! All this and more in this week's episode!LinksAhoyHeyaClickHouse - hosted by DoubleCloudMichele Hansen - "When done well, marketing and teaching are nearly indistinguishable from one another."FounderQuestMastodon - @[email protected] Twitter - @honeybadgerappWebsite