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Our B2B SaaS Journey

SixSides

Join the SixSides.co team as we navigate the highs and lows of building a B2B SaaS company. From finding product-market fit to scaling sales and community-driven growth, we share real insights, tough lessons, and candid conversations about what it really takes to grow a successful SaaS business. Whether you're a founder, marketer, developer, or just SaaS-curious, this is your backstage pass to the journey.

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  • 20 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 50 min
  • English
  • #81
    Yesterday · 38 min

    81: We built the product. Can we build the business?

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin celebrate onboarding more than 1,100 World Police and Fire Games athletes into SixSides, unpack the infrastructure, HubSpot, Intercom and marketing work behind the rollout, and prepare the business for Mitchell’s five-week honeymoon and a short break from the podcast. Links QF1 for you flight nerds: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/qf1/schedules/5863144608 Chapters (00:00) - Intro and a huge week for SixSides (01:39) - 1,100 athletes onboarded and counting (05:21) - Scaling our infrastructure for users around the world (08:21) - HubSpot onboarding, email campaigns and product-led growth (13:24) - Community sales conversations and the Gold Coast Council (16:36) - The new SixSides marketing site is live (20:25) - Intercom, MCPs and fixing our bus factor (23:36) - Planning the dev team for Mitchell’s five-week honeymoon (29:17) - AEO, pricing and turning a product into a business (33:22) - A podcast break and Mitchell’s Europe trip In this episode, we cover: Onboarding more than 1,100 World Police and Fire Games athletes into SixSides Seeing community posts arrive from athletes around the world Preparing SixSides infrastructure for thousands of international users Debugging login timeouts and database transactions during a live rollout Using multi-region infrastructure to improve performance for global users Building HubSpot onboarding campaigns for new SixSides users Fixing DKIM and email deliverability issues after the first campaign emails landed in spam Turning event attendees into community organisers through product-led growth Exploring SixSides as a community platform for associations, councils and not-for-profits Conversations with Volunteering WA and the Gold Coast Council about building stronger communities Launching the new SixSides marketing website Using Claude to extend an existing design system and build new marketing pages faster Adding Intercom to SixSides for customer support Using MCP integrations with HubSpot, Sentry and the SixSides codebase to troubleshoot support issues Reducing the bus factor by documenting tools, logins and operational access Planning larger development projects so the team can work independently while Mitchell is away The roadmap for additional languages, user-generated content translation, speech-to-text and private chat AEO content, citations and SixSides' broader acquisition strategy Working out a future pricing model from free through to enterprise Moving from building a product to building a sustainable SaaS business Taking a short podcast break while Mitchell heads to Europe for his honeymoon Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #80
    September 7 · 37 min

    80: What if you get hit by a bus?

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin prepare SixSides for its biggest rollout yet, get serious about the business’s bus factor before Mitch heads away, and shift the focus from frantic product development to sales, product-led growth and bringing 6,000 World Police and Fire Games athletes onto the platform. Chapters (00:00) - Intro and a massive release week (02:18) - Bringing 6,000 athletes onto SixSides (07:56) - What if Mitch gets hit by a bus? (11:29) - Gavin learns to drive a dingo and prepares to sell (15:38) - Finding the product-led growth magic number (20:15) - From free users to enterprise pricing (21:04) - Rebuilding the SixSides marketing site with AI (26:05) - Meet Scout, our new AI assistant (32:22) - Replacing AuthKit and adding public events (34:43) - One final push before Mitch goes on holidays In this episode, we cover: Preparing SixSides for 6,000 World Police and Fire Games athletes Shipping an emergency mobile app release ahead of a major customer rollout Apple and Google app review times when you are racing a production deadline Reducing key-person risk and the importance of a SaaS business continuity plan Documenting production systems before a technical founder goes on holidays Moving from product development into a much stronger B2B SaaS sales push Using sporting associations as a potential niche go-to-market strategy Turning event attendees into community organisers through product-led growth Finding the conversion rate or "magic number" behind SixSides' growth loop Building a pricing pathway from free communities through to enterprise customers Redesigning the SixSides marketing website with Figma and Claude Code Using screenshots and AI coding tools to rapidly reproduce web designs Introducing Scout, SixSides' AI assistant for managing communities and events Giving AI assistants page and event context inside a SaaS product Replacing WorkOS AuthKit with a custom login flow for World Police and Fire Games athletes Adding public events and access controls inside the SixSides mobile app Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #79
    August 31 · 54 min

    79: Cancel all my meetings

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin submit the first Police Games app release ahead of a 6,000-person rollout, unpack SixSides’ pivot from event managers to community-led organisations, and share how AI-assisted development, a tough client decision, and a new AEO strategy are shaping the next phase of the business. Chapters (00:00) - Moving out of the office and working from home (08:14) - The Police Games app is submitted (13:39) - Automated testing and the launch timeline (20:45) - New SixSides events and client updates (22:18) - The City of Gold Coast and solving the cold start problem (27:45) - Our ICP pivot and finding a blue ocean (32:53) - Sales-market fit and the 5.8 method (36:24) - Rebuilding DealBuddi with Laravel AI (45:30) - The difficult client decision (49:23) - AEO, HubSpot and getting ready to launch In this episode, we cover: Mitchell leaving his coworking office after five years and adjusting to working from home full-time Submitting the Police Games mobile app to Apple and Google ahead of a rollout to around 6,000 people The final QA push across iOS, Android, API endpoints and app screens How Claude Code and AI-assisted development dramatically accelerated the final stages of the release Using Maestro for automated mobile app testing across real devices Planning the Police Games launch timeline, onboarding and communications Running another SixSides event for Toll Women in Aviation and preparing for the Queensland Volunteering Conference Gavin’s plan to build local network effects by concentrating communities around the Gold Coast Applying ideas from The Cold Start Problem and Blue Ocean Strategy to SixSides Pivoting the SixSides ideal client profile from event managers towards community managers and associations Revisiting sales-market fit and Gavin’s 5-ate sales method Rebuilding DealBuddi onboarding with Laravel AI to make one-to-many workshops commercially viable Making the difficult decision to end a client relationship after a successful pilot stopped feeling collaborative Answer engine optimisation, HubSpot and creating content designed to appear in AI-generated answers Getting the business infrastructure, product and marketing ready for the next phase of SixSides growth Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #78
    August 24 · 39 min

    78: Rejection only makes us stronger

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin navigate an App Store rejection as the World Police Games launch gets very real, unpack a new Claude-powered development workflow that is dramatically increasing output, explore how MCP could connect the different sides of SixSides, and celebrate Gavin surviving his 100km bike ride. Chapters (00:00) - Gavin’s 100km ride (07:27) - Testing week and Apple rejects our app (13:35) - Racing towards the World Police Games launch (16:25) - The new SixSides marketing site (19:21) - HubSpot, Snitcher and our ICP workflow (22:37) - Why Mitch is moving from Cursor to Claude (29:19) - Connecting SixSides to Claude with MCP (33:16) - The real-world ROI of AI development (36:00) - Mitch is moving out of his office (38:31) - Wrapping up In this episode, we cover: Gavin completing his 100km bike ride from the Gold Coast to Brisbane Testing week for the World Police Games app ahead of launch Why Apple rejected the app while Google approved it Preparing an iOS and Android app for App Store review Adding account deletion and removing unused NFC and background audio permissions Preparing SixSides for thousands of World Police Games attendees The remaining work around athlete CSV imports, HubSpot and welcome email automation Progress on the new SixSides marketing website and design workflow in Figma and Slack Early signs that SixSides blog content is being indexed and found through Google Using Snitcher and HubSpot to identify and follow up with ideal customer profiles Why Mitchell is moving from Cursor towards Claude Code and Solo Using MCP to connect AI agents with Cloudflare, AWS, Sentry and other business systems Cutting infrastructure costs from roughly $2,000 per month towards $300 with the help of AI Building an MCP integration so SixSides data can be accessed through Claude and ChatGPT Using AI to connect product development, marketing, sales and operations How AI is changing the role and workflow of experienced software developers Mitchell's decision to give up his office and return to working from home Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #77
    August 17 · 34 min

    77: From 64 Facebook groups to one app

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin celebrate a hugely positive WPFG demo, race to get the new app through Apple and Google review, unpack why SixSides’ customer-first culture is getting noticed, and wrestle with HubSpot pricing, a non-paying client, release automation, translations, and a new way of giving developers more ownership. Chapters (00:00) - Intro (02:29) - WPFG demo feedback (04:17) - The final stretch for WPFG phase one (11:31) - App Store assets and a new SixSides look (12:59) - Our culture is shining through (14:36) - Automating the release process (17:14) - The HubSpot pricing surprise (20:34) - A hard client decision (22:59) - Chat, translations and giving developers more ownership (30:44) - Landing page progress and Gavin’s massive ride In this episode, we cover: The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the latest WPFG app demo Replacing the need to manage 64 individual Facebook groups for sporting communities Getting the WPFG app through Apple App Store and Google Play review Managing TestFlight, external testers and beta feedback before launch The final polish required before rolling the app out to thousands of athletes Creating better App Store and Play Store assets for WPFG and SixSides Why SixSides’ customer-first culture is becoming a competitive advantage Using Claude to improve and automate the mobile app release process Managing multiple branded mobile apps from a single codebase The unexpected cost of HubSpot marketing contacts and whether the deal still makes sense What to do when a client keeps using your SaaS but stops communicating or paying Prototyping real-time chat and translation features for events Using AWS translation APIs and exploring on-device language models Giving developers outcome-based projects instead of tightly scoped tickets Preparing the development team to work independently while Mitchell is away Early progress on the redesigned SixSides landing page Gavin’s underprepared 70 km training ride ahead of a 100 km event Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #76
    August 10 · 48 min

    76: Upgrading HubSpot before our biggest launch yet

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin race towards the first World Police Games app handover, onboard two new clients, upgrade HubSpot for future growth, and debate gated content, paid advertising, encrypted chat, translations, and the next phase of SixSides. Chapters (00:00) - Intro and a very busy week (04:20) - Onboarding two new clients (07:13) - Community growth and the HubSpot upgrade (16:25) - Is gated content dead? (23:04) - When should SixSides start advertising? (26:39) - The SixSides redesign and launch deadline (32:55) - News feeds, official posts and the first milestone (38:43) - Encrypted chat and group messaging (41:43) - Translation, on-device AI and speech-to-text (45:57) - Fitness, stress and going sober In this episode, we cover: Onboarding two new SixSides clients while preparing for a major product launch How referrals between event organisers are creating new sales opportunities Turning event attendees into future community builders and qualified leads Whether SixSides should host its own community instead of relying on platforms like Skool Using white glove onboarding to improve the experience for new community organisers Upgrading HubSpot to manage a growing sales pipeline and thousands of new users Using Claude and MCP integrations to configure CRM workflows The opportunity to support organisations with communities of up to 70,000 volunteers Why gated white papers and downloadable resources may be losing their value Making content publicly available for AEO, AI discovery and organic search Waiting for a proven customer acquisition pipeline before spending money on advertising Measuring return on ad spend in a bootstrapped SaaS business Redesigning the SixSides website ahead of the World Police Games app release Creating onboarding emails, product guides and launch communications for 5,000 users Separating official announcements from general community posts in the SixSides news feed Designing private messaging, group chats and announcement channels The challenges of end-to-end encryption in community messaging products Translating user-generated content without compromising user privacy Exploring on-device AI for private translations and live speech-to-text Managing founder stress, fitness routines and the decision to take a break from alcohol Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #75
    August 4 · 44 min

    75: Can we handle 5,000 people at launch?

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin check in on fitness and their delivery timeline, share updates on WPFG and the latest SixSides design work with Robin Holesinsky, celebrate two new clients, and map out the next 6 to 12 months while trying to spend more time working on the business rather than only in it. Links Robin Holesinsky Chapters (00:09) - Intro and Mitchell’s Laracon speaker video (02:16) - Fitness updates, leg presses and very long walks (10:44) - WPFG app timeline, polish and testing (14:52) - Preparing to onboard more than 5,000 participants (22:56) - Design update with Robin Holesinsky (27:22) - Podcast plans during Mitchell’s honeymoon (30:11) - Two new clients and more deals close to signing (34:11) - Planning the next 6 to 12 months and exploring HubSpot (39:04) - Using AI and MCP while working on the business (42:28) - Outro and listener feedback In this episode, we cover: Preparing the SixSides mobile app for its first major WPFG release Why the app needed another round of polish after 12 weeks of development Reframing the product from an event management tool to a community communication platform Testing the mobile app with TestFlight, Google Play and Maestro Preparing SixSides to onboard more than 5,000 WPFG participants Using serverless infrastructure, automatic database scaling and caching to manage launch traffic Staggering user invitations to reduce risk during a large app rollout Planning customer onboarding, support and engagement with Intercom and Bento Hiring Robin Holesinsky to redesign the SixSides marketing website Managing a tight launch timeline before Mitchell leaves for his honeymoon Keeping the podcast running while Mitchell is travelling through Europe Signing two new clients and building the SixSides sales pipeline Planning the next 6 to 12 months of the business Considering HubSpot for sales and customer relationship management Using AI and MCP tools to improve internal workflows Making more time to work on the business rather than only delivering client work Founder fitness updates, including gym progress, cycling and long-distance walking Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #74
    July 27 · 58 min

    74: Six inches high and rising

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin unpack a catastrophic house flood, celebrate the launch of Changemakers and 10,000 LinkedIn followers, simplify SixSides’ lead generation strategy, and race through community features, GDPR compliance, device testing and onboarding with one week of development left. Links Changemakers podcast Chapters (00:00) - Intro and Gavin’s flooded house (06:24) - Changemakers is finally live (10:05) - Finding a LinkedIn voice and reaching 10,000 followers (16:12) - The A-hole title delivers, and lead generation gets simplified (22:21) - Repurposing whitepapers with AI (30:49) - Community features and GDPR compliance (36:16) - Maestro testing and one week of development left (43:10) - Building a bespoke Police Games integration (50:20) - Onboarding webinars and the marketing design decision (56:52) - The Brimstone Brawl and outro In this episode, we cover: Gavin’s disastrous weekend after five open taps flooded his house with six inches of water Launching the first episode of Changemakers with Nick Marchese from Orange Sky Repurposing podcast interviews into LinkedIn carousels, blog posts, quotes and future long-form content Finding an authentic LinkedIn voice while building a B2B SaaS in public The five years of consistent effort behind Gavin crossing 10,000 LinkedIn followers Why LinkedIn comments can create valuable B2B conversations even when most receive no response Simplifying SixSides’ lead generation after cold email failed to produce results Creating clearer content workflows for a remote marketing and sales team Turning bespoke whitepapers and strategic briefs into reusable sales and marketing assets Using AI to personalise whitepapers and potentially help prospects build internal business cases Building community posts, comments, reactions, member lists and management tools into SixSides Supporting GDPR account deletion without damaging historical event attendance analytics Testing a mobile app across multiple iPhone and Android devices with Maestro Preparing the Police Games app for testing, App Store review and launch Keeping bespoke Police Games logic outside the core SixSides codebase with a Cloudflare Worker Using registration data to automatically add athletes to the correct events and communities Planning in-app onboarding and live webinars for international sporting associations Weighing a three-month design retainer against cash flow, workload and potential return on investment The Brimstone Brawl, where people in medieval armour hit each other with swords and axes Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #73
    July 20 · 52 min

    73: What do you say we cut the chit chat, a-hole?

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin unpack a reassuring World Police Games client catch-up, turn LinkedIn into a competitive sport, prepare the Changemakers podcast for launch, and push SixSides towards release with a redesigned app, new analytics and support tooling, community features, and a long-overdue plan to reduce their bus factor. Links What do you say we cut the chit chat, a-hole? Chapters (00:00) - A World Cup lesson for bootstrappers (04:14) - Proactively updating the Police Games team (08:14) - Chasing sporting events and parkrun connections (10:48) - The LinkedIn impressions showdown (15:49) - Launching the Changemakers podcast (21:12) - Hiring a designer for the SixSides marketing site (29:45) - PostHog, Intercom and the finished app redesign (35:06) - Two weeks to finish the World Police Games milestone (40:07) - The bus factor problem (43:18) - Communities, expansion revenue and launch planning In this episode, we cover: Proactively keeping major event clients informed during long development projects The latest progress on the World Police Games app Expanding SixSides into sporting events and volunteering organisations Building relationships with the founder of parkrun Australia Mitchell and Gavin’s LinkedIn impressions competition What makes personal founder-led LinkedIn content perform Preparing the new Changemakers podcast for launch Editing podcast intros, music and production workflows Budgeting for a professional SixSides marketing website redesign Finding SaaS designers through Dribbble Integrating PostHog analytics into the mobile app and web dashboard Adding Intercom customer support and push notifications Completing the SixSides mobile app redesign and translation system Automated mobile app testing with Maestro GDPR, account deletion and attendee privacy Reducing the bus factor inside a bootstrapped SaaS Giving contractors enough access to keep the business running Building community posts, comments, likes and invitations in SixSides Expansion revenue from existing customers Planning a coordinated launch campaign for the new SixSides website Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #72
    July 13 · 1 hr 1 min

    72: We put a database in your backyard

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin make a $500 LinkedIn bet, share the infrastructure mistake that was slowing down every screen in SixSides, and unpack their plans to support global events, launch community features, and pursue an opportunity that could transform the business. Links Problem-Led Growth for B2B GTM on Skool Chapters (00:00) - Wedding rings, swearing and podcast downloads (03:49) - Fitness updates and the 100-kilometre ride (08:35) - LinkedIn posting and the $500 impressions bet (15:39) - Listener shoutouts and sending Nick his dice (19:31) - Gavin’s first community leader interview (22:08) - Too much work and growing DealBuddi (24:26) - Building global infrastructure for SixSides (38:31) - Android is complete and communities are next (41:44) - Taking SixSides worldwide (49:42) - Startup World Cup, Snitcher and the marketing website In this episode, we cover: Building consistent fitness habits while running a bootstrapped SaaS Mitchell’s return to LinkedIn and the wedding post that nearly flopped Gavin’s 13,000-impression LinkedIn post The $500 LinkedIn competition running until the end of the financial year Listener shoutouts for Ryan David, Varun Jain and Nick Taylor Gavin’s first community leadership interview with Orange Sky founder Nic Marchesi Growing DealBuddi while continuing to fund SixSides Preparing SixSides for the World Police and Fire Games launch Migrating the SixSides database from MySQL to PostgreSQL Moving from PlanetScale back to AWS Aurora Deploying infrastructure across Sydney, Germany, Singapore and North Virginia Using synthetic canaries to test API performance around the world Finding the unnecessary WorkOS request that was slowing down every screen Reducing global API response times to under 500 milliseconds Completing the Android redesign and supporting older iOS versions Beginning development of SixSides community features Piloting SixSides with the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Australia Using a local-first strategy to grow a global event network Why ProcurePro was the deserving Startup World Cup winner Reviewing Snitcher traffic and the need for a stronger SixSides marketing website Deciding whether to hire an external website designer Using ChatGPT voice mode during longer fitness walks Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #71
    July 6 · 1 hr 5 min

    71: You can just shoot the messenger

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin deal with possums, fitness resets, a brutal sales call, one of their worst days building SixSides so far, and the product push to get the World Police and Fire Games app ready for testing in just four weeks. Links Problem-Led Growth for B2B GTM on Skool Chapters (00:00) - Explicit warning from Editor Mitch (00:31) - Possums, alarms, and nude home defence (05:20) - Socceroos, bike rides, and getting back into fitness (08:46) - Mitchell restarts the 75 challenge (18:27) - Shoot the messenger (24:59) - Europe, Brisbane, Laracon AU, and travel plans (33:26) - One of our worst days building SixSides (41:46) - World Police and Fire Games app progress (51:12) - LinkedIn results and marketing experiments (58:18) - Onboarding session and what still needs work In this episode, we cover: Why this episode earned an explicit rating before it even started Gavin’s 2am possum alarm scare and the noble art of nude home defence Mitchell watching the Socceroos and Gavin’s take on Australian football Restarting a 75 Hard-style fitness challenge after slipping out of routine The link between exercise, stress, mental health, and founder energy A sales meeting that made SixSides feel like a “side hustle” Why blunt feedback can be useful, even when it lands badly The value of not shooting the messenger and digging into the real message Booking Europe, Brisbane, Laracon AU, and a very packed few months of travel One of the toughest founder conversations Mitchell and Gavin have had so far Regaining confidence by merging unfinished product work back into the main app Preparing the World Police and Fire Games app for testing in four weeks Translating the SixSides app UI into multiple languages Building splash screens, map views, calendar views, and better event visuals Using ChatGPT to help turn event schedules into Laravel seeders Planning venue maps, transport links, and event discovery inside the app Postgres migration work and Android progress LinkedIn content experiments and what performed better this month Gavin’s upcoming Orange Sky interview for the SixSides marketing plan Reviewing the customer onboarding flow and realising SixSides is still at level zero Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #70
    June 29 · 47 min

    70: Let's take this offline

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin talk through the final stretch before World Police and Fire Games testing, the Postgres and S3 work behind SixSides’ offline sync plans, an app store trademark dispute, and Gavin’s rapidly evolving community-led marketing campaign that might now include a new YouTube strategy. Chapters (00:00) - Intro and bird complaints (02:27) - Pool losses, Socceroos, and pub plans (07:07) - Postgres, S3, and offline mode (13:35) - Podcast reviews, downloads, and app redesign progress (17:39) - The app store trademark dispute (24:14) - Gavin’s community-led marketing campaign (27:20) - Should SixSides create a YouTube channel? (35:14) - The new LinkedIn strategy and Community Builders Network (40:06) - Testing advertising on GPT (43:57) - The year so far and what comes next In this episode, we cover: The Socceroos, pub lunches, and the perks of running your own business Why SixSides is migrating from MySQL to Postgres How ElectricSQL could unlock offline mode and real-time sync for event apps Moving request logs from the database to Amazon S3 Using Amazon Athena to query log files stored in S3 Hitting 2,000 podcast downloads and five-star Spotify reviews The ongoing SixSides app redesign and the push toward a more polished event app The five-week countdown to World Police and Fire Games testing An app store trademark dispute and why it has been frustrating Gavin’s new community-led marketing campaign Planning guest interviews with community leaders and charities Whether SixSides should create a more intentional YouTube channel A new LinkedIn strategy focused on community stories instead of product promotion The early days of the Community Builders Network on Skool Testing advertising opportunities through GPT Why the SixSides website and freemium funnel need to improve before paid ads make sense Overselling the vision, then racing to make the product catch up Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #69
    June 22 · 1 hr 2 min

    69: How we are multitasking while bootstrapping our SaaS startup

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin unpack the chaos of multitasking across SixSides, DealBuddi, sales, marketing, product, fitness, and life, while working through a new content strategy, a path to $1.5m, a painful sales lesson, a near-miss in the Startup World Cup, and a major technical move from MySQL to Postgres for offline event app support. Links Gavin's Brisbane to Gold Coast Fundraiser Open Source iPhone Chatbot from Kiraa Chapters (00:00) - Intro and the multiple balls problem (03:08) - Breaking priorities into action plans with ChatGPT (03:56) - The new SixSides marketing plan (10:24) - Mapping the road to $1.5m (12:45) - Why onboarding is becoming a bottleneck (17:47) - Mr Worldwide and the next big opportunity (21:13) - App redesign and improving team workflows (27:43) - Gavin’s painful sales mistake (39:48) - Missing out on the Startup World Cup (49:57) - Moving from MySQL to Postgres for offline mode In this episode, we cover: Gavin’s “multiple balls problem” and how he used walks and ChatGPT to break messy priorities into clearer action plans The new SixSides marketing plan built around interviewing community leaders and turning those conversations into useful content Why SixSides may need to think more like a media company to build trust and create a sustainable pipeline The road to $1.5m, including founder-led sales, team-enabled sales, product-led growth, and better onboarding Why customer onboarding is becoming one of the most immediate bottlenecks for SixSides Preparing for the World Police Games and a potentially much bigger “Mr Worldwide” opportunity The app redesign, including handing more design implementation work over to the team How Mitchell is improving team workflows in Linear with clearer comments, screenshots, and before-and-after updates Gavin’s sales mistake with a potential charity client, and why founders need to be careful when sharing unqualified pricing material The “fat guy, skinny guy” sales framework for anchoring value by showing the before and after Why missing out on the Startup World Cup might be a useful reminder to focus on customers instead of grants and competitions Gavin signing up for a 100km Brisbane to Gold Coast bike ride for cancer fundraising Mitchell saying no to extra commitments and narrowing his focus Moving the SixSides database from MySQL to Postgres to support ElectricSQL and offline mode in the mobile app Why offline app support matters for event attendees, especially international participants without reliable mobile data TinyBase, Cloudflare Durable Objects, and why the team is now leaning towards Postgres and ElectricSQL Local AI models, Apple’s on-device AI direction, and possible future use cases for translations inside the SixSides app Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides SixSides on Skool: Community Builders Network

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  • #68
    June 15 · 55 min

    68: AI is making us dumber

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin deal with their first proper hater, reset their routines after a messy few weeks, unpack a six month marketing project for SixSides, and get into a surprisingly tense debate about whether AI is helping us work smarter or quietly making us lazier. Links Community Builders Network on Skool Chapters (00:00) - Intro x2 (01:33) - Meeting the first hater (03:56) - New habits die easy (08:01) - Fitness goals, walking, and pickleball (13:48) - Juggling multiple balls across SixSides and DealBuddi (17:46) - Planning a six month marketing project (20:39) - Research projects for the engineering team (23:37) - Redesigning the SixSides mobile app (35:13) - World Police and Fire Games delivery timeline (37:52) - AI is making us dumber In this episode, we cover: Handling negative feedback from someone who does not believe in the SixSides vision Why the opportunity might be in the cracks that other people miss How moving house disrupted Gavin’s routines, habits, gym schedule, and focus Why new habits die easy, especially when your environment changes Mitch’s post-wedding fitness motivation struggles and the search for a new goal Pickleball, long walks, and finding achievable physical challenges Gavin juggling SixSides, DealBuddi, family revenue, house setup, sales, and lead generation The pressure of managing a team, delivering for the World Police and Fire Games, chasing customers, and exploring funding Planning a six month marketing project around community fundraising ideas Using research, interviews, webinars, podcasts, blog posts, LinkedIn content, and white papers as one connected marketing engine The SixSides community being set up on Skool Research projects for the engineering team across ticketing, event websites, and event registration Why the team paused coding for a week to research the market before building The new SixSides mobile app design, including native iOS patterns and liquid glass Reducing event organiser customisation so the app feels more cohesive Designing communities, events, explore flows, and future app navigation Preparing for the World Police and Fire Games timeline and internal testing window Offline mode research and why it may require a major rethink of the mobile app data layer Whether AI-generated research, code comments, LinkedIn posts, and internal communication can be trusted The difference between AI-generated work and AI-assisted thinking Why founders still need to slow down, think clearly, and care about quality Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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  • #67
    June 9 · 1 hr 5 min

    67: Stop selling the future

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin rethink how they are selling SixSides, map out what it could take to grow towards $1.5m ARR, unpack the pressure of supporting the World Police Games, and talk through burnout, admin days, AI-assisted onboarding, multilingual apps, LinkedIn experiments, and whether video should become a bigger part of their marketing. Links Laracon AU Chapters (00:00) - Intro, stretching, lawns, and episode 67 (06:31) - Selling what SixSides can do today (13:32) - Planning the path to $1.5m ARR (17:28) - Onboarding, AI agents, and AI redundancy (22:49) - Mitchell is speaking at Laracon AU (25:48) - Wednesday admin and avoiding burnout (35:09) - New mobile app design and Liquid Glass (38:36) - The World Police Games gets very real (42:31) - Should SixSides start making videos? (46:42) - LinkedIn, lead gen, Skool, translations, and team updates In this episode, we cover: Why Gavin realised SixSides needs to sell what it can do today, not just the community-led platform it is becoming How flagship events could become the wedge into broader community and account growth The challenge of building towards $1.5m ARR without breaking onboarding, support, or customer experience Why the World Police Games could create a major product-led growth opportunity for SixSides Whether an AI onboarding agent could help customers set up events faster Why SixSides is an AI-assisted business, not an AI-reliant business Mitchell’s upcoming Laracon AU talk about reducing friction in software with AI Mitchell’s new “Wednesday admin” experiment to reduce stress and protect focus time The risk of burnout while juggling SixSides, other businesses, product work, sales, and the World Police Games The new SixSides mobile app design, including Apple’s Liquid Glass UI direction Watching the World Police Games TV commercial and realising how big the project is becoming Whether SixSides should use YouTube and video content as a marketing channel LinkedIn results, AI-generated posts, and shifting back towards more genuine founder-led content Building a community for event organisers using Skool Translating the SixSides app into Spanish, French, simplified Chinese, German, and Portuguese Weekly CEO and CTO updates to keep the growing team aligned Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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  • #66
    June 1 · 51 min

    66: Mitchell is becoming a real CTO

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin unpack a much better workflow for managing the SixSides development team in Linear, clarify their event-led positioning and pricing strategy, share early wins from voting at recent events, and discuss app onboarding, nested communities, AIME 2027 and a simpler approach to theme customisation. Links FeedSpot - B2B SaaS podcasts Linear Clarityflow Builder Methods Chapters (00:00) - Gavin’s new house, FeedSpot and a fitness update (04:43) - Managing the SixSides dev team with Linear (12:18) - Projects, statuses and weekly development updates (22:30) - Mobile onboarding and nested communities (25:42) - Positioning SixSides and rethinking the pricing page (36:12) - Planning for AIME 2027 and building a community (41:53) - Voting feedback from MArinas and StartClub BNE (48:04) - Reducing theme customisation for a better app design (51:27) - Where to find Mitchell and Gavin online In this episode, we cover: Gavin’s move into a new home and office, and Mitchell’s fitness accountability update SixSides being recognised by FeedSpot as a top B2B SaaS podcast Managing an offshore software development team with better processes in Linear Engineering office hours, ticket shaping, project statuses and review pipelines Using weekly development updates to improve accountability and team communication Building the World Police and Fire Games app on the existing SixSides codebase Improving mobile app onboarding before asking attendees to register or sign in Supporting nested communities for countries, sports and other groups within major events Positioning SixSides as a community-led events platform Why high-value B2B software pricing often needs a sales conversation instead of a public calculator Using an internal pricing calculator to support quoting and future business case creation Preparing for AIME 2027 and building an event organiser community before the conference Feedback from MArinas and StartClub BNE after launching in-app voting Using pre-event onboarding and email sequences to improve attendee engagement Reducing theme customisation so the SixSides mobile app can feel more polished and consistent Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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  • #65
    May 25 · 55 min

    65: We will crack a few eggs

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin get ready for the Marinas event, unpack a very busy week of sales meetings, rethink their LinkedIn strategy, and work through the product, marketing, and sales roadmap leading into the World Police and Fire Games launch window in August. Links Mobbin UI.sh The 4 Levels of SaaS Landing Page UI Design Chapters (00:00) - Intro (01:05) - Fitness, accountability, and morning routines (03:29) - Marinas is almost live (08:10) - Event support and customer service expectations (13:01) - Nine meetings in one week (13:59) - Using DealBuddi and Gamma for proposals (20:13) - Rethinking the LinkedIn strategy (29:21) - Building a sales dashboard (34:05) - Cold outreach and new sales channels (37:40) - Mitch stole Gavin’s big idea (40:41) - Everything changes in August (44:34) - Rebuilding the marketing website (46:57) - Turning changelogs into feature and use case pages (53:00) - Scheduled notifications, voting, and dev updates In this episode, we cover: Mitchell’s attempt to get back into fitness, and Gavin’s suspiciously productive morning routine The upcoming Marinas event, and what it has taught us about onboarding larger events Why hands-on customer support still matters when you are bootstrapping a SaaS Gavin’s nine sales meetings in one week, and what that says about the new lead generation motion Using DealBuddi and Gamma to quickly produce a professional proposal The difference between strategic white papers and lighter proposal decks What we are learning from LinkedIn content, and why the strategy is changing Moving SixSides-focused posts to the company page Building personal founder audiences through build in public posts Creating a sales dashboard to track effort, pipeline, and revenue The cost and strategy behind thoughtful cold outreach Mitch accidentally rediscovering Gavin’s Canva integration idea The August roadmap for the World Police and Fire Games Preparing the SixSides marketing website for a potential spike in attention Turning changelog entries into feature pages, use case pages, and industry pages Using AI tools to improve product marketing and website design Shipping scheduled notifications and live voting for events Why August could become a major turning point for SixSides Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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  • #64
    May 18 · 1 hr

    64: David vs multiple Goliaths

    In this episode, Mitchell and Gavin recap Mitch’s Tasmanian honeymoon, unpack a sudden surge in leads, build out management reporting and Slack notifications, and wrestle with how SixSides can compete with much larger event platforms without hiding what makes the product special. Chapters (00:00) - Intro and audio note (01:18) - Life after the wedding and Mitch’s honeymoon (14:10) - So many leads (17:54) - Building management dashboards (19:49) - Slack notifications and sales visibility (27:00) - Startup World Cup and the next three months (34:26) - How do we compete with larger competitors? (47:47) - Building a changelog for SixSides (51:45) - Dev updates - Bento, attendee search and notifications (54:16) - Voting, app releases and managing the dev team In this episode, we cover: Mitch’s honeymoon in Tasmania, including Hobart, Bruny Island, Port Arthur, Freycinet and Launceston The shift from being “on the tools” to building a management and reporting structure A growing number of leads coming through LinkedIn and HubSpot Why the team may need better dashboards to track revenue, pipeline, lead indicators and website activity Using Slack notifications to surface new deals, website visitors and product activity across the team Gavin’s trip to a Startup World Cup info night and why he wants to pitch SixSides The massive three month lead-up to the first World Police Games release How SixSides should prepare its website, onboarding and positioning for more international exposure How small SaaS companies can compete with larger competitors Why public product docs, feature pages and changelogs might be worth the competitive risk How AI changes the speed at which competitors can copy features Building a changelog as a signal that SixSides is becoming a more mature product business Dev updates including Bento integration, attendee search, notification scheduling, adjustable logo heights and voting How Mitch is evolving the engineering review process with Martin and Raymond Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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  • #63
    May 12 · 32 min

    63: Nine leads and a wedding

    In this episode, Mitchell returns from his wedding and honeymoon break to find Gavin, the team, and the SixSides sales machine starting to build real momentum, with new leads coming in, LinkedIn and cold email taking shape, a potential SixSides community on the table, and an unexpected trademark issue in Singapore forcing the founders to get serious about protecting the brand. Chapters (00:00) - Intro and Mitchell’s wedding recap (05:36) - Travel touches, DJs, dancing, and photo booths (12:06) - The sales machine is starting to work (13:36) - Managing the team while Mitchell was away (17:37) - Website traffic, PostHog, and app designer behaviour (18:25) - LinkedIn outreach and cold email (19:17) - Building a proper sales structure (20:16) - Why SixSides may need its own community (25:53) - The SixSides trademark scare in Singapore (31:10) - Wrapping up and what is next for the team In this episode, we cover: Mitchell’s wedding recap, including travel-themed details, geese, photo booths, and Gavin on the dance floor Why founders probably should not pretend they will work “just one hour a day” on holiday How Gavin managed the business while Mitchell was away The pressure of onboarding new team members while one founder is offline The early signs that the SixSides sales machine is starting to work New leads coming in through the business, and how the team is handling follow-up Building a clearer sales structure around LinkedIn, cold email, content, and community Why not every prospect is in a buying cycle, and how community could help bridge the gap Whether SixSides should build its own event manager community on SixSides or start on another platform Using PostHog to better understand how people move through the SixSides website and app designer Trademarking SixSides after a Google Play Store issue in Singapore The challenge of protecting a SaaS brand internationally as a bootstrapped startup Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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  • #62
    May 4 · 52 min

    62: How to stay married while bootstrapping a SaaS (with Mel Tye)

    In this episode, Gavin is joined by his wife Mel to unpack how they met, how they process risk differently, what it is like watching SixSides grow from the sidelines, and why trust, communication, and the occasional hard conversation matter when you are building a bootstrapped SaaS around family life. Chapters (00:00) - Mel’s first podcast begins (02:10) - How Gavin and Mel met (07:40) - Same values, very different ways of processing information (13:20) - Work, motherhood, control, and learning to let go (18:50) - Gavin’s many business ideas before SixSides (26:30) - From Sales Market Fit to DealBuddi (33:20) - How Mel reacted to SixSides and meeting Mitch (42:00) - When your co-founder becomes part of the family (49:10) - Big client wins and the next phase of SixSides (56:30) - Advice for founders and their partners In this episode, we cover: Mel’s first ever podcast appearance How Gavin and Mel met while working in recruitment and electrical contracting First impressions, nervousness, arrogance, and how people can be misread The difference between Gavin and Mel’s decision-making styles Getting comfortable with risk when your partner is a founder Gavin’s long list of past business ideas, including importing products, dog mats, lights, car mattresses, Cards Against Humanity, and 3D pens How Sales Market Fit evolved into DealBuddi Why Gavin’s sales skills work best when he is helping other people clarify and sell their own ideas The $20K course decision, and what it taught Gavin and Mel about making big financial calls together How Mel felt when Gavin first started working with Mitch on what became SixSides Why meeting Mitch and Nicole mattered personally, not just professionally The blurred line between business partnerships, friendships, and family Winning the World Police and Fire Games, and the role of long-term effort rather than luck Signing the Civil Contractors Federation as a major new SixSides client Moving into the next phase of SixSides, including team management and additional support Advice for founders and partners on communication, money, risk, and staying aligned Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people! Connect with us SixSides: sixsides.co Book a call with Gavin: call.sixsides.co Mitchell on Bluesky: mitchdav.is Mitchell on LinkedIn: mitchdav Gavin on LinkedIn: gavintye Gavin on YouTube: gavintye1 SixSides on LinkedIn: sixsides SixSides on X: sixsidesevents SixSides on Bluesky: sixsides.co SixSides on Youtube: sixsidesco SixSides on Substack: sixsides

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