In episode 643, Rob Walling chats with fan favorite Derrick Reimer, the founder of SavvyCal, as they answer listener questions. They cover topics ranging from idea validation in competitive spaces to book recommendations to development strategies for non-technical founders. Episode Sponsor: https://lemon.io/startups Find your perfect developer or a team at [Lemon.io/startups](https://lemon.io/startups) The competition for incredible engineers and developers has never been more fierce. [Lemon.io](https://www.lemon.io/startups) helps you cut through the noise and find great talent through its network of engineers in Europe and Latin America. They take care of the vetting, interviewing, and testing of candidates to make sure that you are working with someone who can hit the ground running. When it comes to hiring, the time it takes to write your job description, list the position, review resumes, schedule interviews, and make an offer can take weeks, if not months. With [Lemon.io](https://www.lemon.io/startups), you can cut down on a lot of that time by tapping into their wide network of developers who can get started in as early as a week. And for subscribers of Startups For the Rest of Us, you can get 15% off your first 4 week contract with a developer by visiting [lemon.io/startups](https://www.lemon.io/startups) Topics we cover: - 1:05 – How to validate ideas in competitive markets - 7:49 – How to manage stress when growing a small SaaS business - 15:48 – Finding a technical co-founder vs. outsourcing development - 28:24 – How to decide between doubling down on a current project or starting a new SaaS app - 34:15 – Tools for tracking traffic, conversions, and A/B test results - 40:21 – Recommended reading for SaaS startups Links from the Show: - [Derrick Reimer (@derrickreimer)](https://twitter.com/derrickreimer) I Twitter - [SavvyCal](https://savvycal.com/) - [The Mom Test](https://www.momtestbook.com/) by Rob Fitzpatrick - [Ruben Gamez (@earthlingworks)](https://twitter.com/earthlingworks) | Twitter - [Pieter Levels (@levelsio)](https://twitter.com/levelsio) | Twitter - [Danny Postma (@dannypostmaa)](https://twitter.com/dannypostmaa) | Twitter - [Fathom Analytics](https://usefathom.com/), [Mixpanel](https://mixpanel.com/), [Heap](https://www.heap.io/), [Segmetrics.io](https://segmetrics.io/), [June](https://www.june.so/) - [Optimizely](https://www.optimizely.com/), [VWO](https://vwo.com/), [Hotjar](https://www.hotjar.com/), [Crazy Egg](https://www.crazyegg.com/) - [Obviously Awesome](https://www.aprildunford.com/books) by April Dunford - [Traction](https://a.co/d/dowrgbt) by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares - [Founding Sales](https://a.co/d/hvrJeM8) by Peter R Kazanjy - [Lost and Founder](https://a.co/d/0FBjI0z) by Rand Fishkin - [The 1-Page Marketing Plan](https://a.co/d/huYFBTW) by Allan Dib - [Demand-Side Sales 101](https://a.co/d/hqEM4Zo) by Bob Moesta - [The SaaS Playbook](https://saasplaybook.com/) by Rob Walling - [Getting Real](https://basecamp.com/books/getting-real) by 37signals - [Derrick Reimer’s Books for Founders](https://www.derrickreimer.com/books-for-founders) - [12 Books EVERY SaaS Founder Should Read This Year...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yZOeG5bqvI) If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please [submit your question](https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/contact) for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you! Subscribe & Review: [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startups-for-the-rest-of-us/id366931951) | [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ww2e4JNO2cfxWC2ImR7DJ) | [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/startups-for-the-rest-of-us) Transcript: Rob Walling: Welcome back to Startups For the Rest of Us, I'm Rob Walling. Today, I sit down with SavvyCal founder, Derrick Reimer, and we answer listener questions, questions about how to validate when entering a competitive space, we give book recommendations for SaaS founders, we talk about whether a non-technical founder should outsource development or try to find a co-founder, and there even might be an appearance from Rob GPT. So without further ado, let's dive right into the questions. Derrick Reimer, thanks for coming back on the show. Derrick Reimer: Thanks for having me. Rob Walling: Got some good questions today, man, handpicked to fit your expertise, it's almost like people knew you were going to be on the show or something. Derrick Reimer: Excited to dive in. Rob Walling: Yeah, it's going to be good. Our first question is an audio question from Gabe about idea validation in a competitive market. Gabe: Hey Rob, my name's Gabe. I'm listening each week from Denver, Colorado. I'm a developer, and I'm looking into getting into SaaS foundership, and I find your podcast and YouTube channel just incredibly helpful. So first off, big fan. Thanks. My question today is around idea validation, I think I've got an idea that mig...