# Justin Jackson

> Justin Jackson is a Canadian entrepreneur and co-founder of Transistor.fm, a bootstrapped podcast hosting platform he built from $33 in first-month revenue to over $1M ARR with just his co-founder Jon Buda. He's a leading voice in the indie bootstrapping movement, author of 'Marketing for Developers', founder of the MegaMaker community, and an advocate for 'calm companies' that prioritize profit, freedom, and founder wellbeing over venture-scale growth.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Transistor.fm
- **Organizations:** Transistor.fm, MegaMaker, Podcast Standards Project
- **From:** Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Management, Communications and Marketing, University of Lethbridge
- **Known for:** Built Transistor.fm from $33 MRR to $1M+ ARR as a 2-person bootstrapped company, 'Marketing for Developers' sold 5,000+ copies, generating $60-70K in year one, Essay 'This Is a Webpage' translated into 16 languages, featured globally

## Career timeline

- **~1983** — Family got a Commodore VIC-20; first exposure to computers
- **~1993** — Made co-sysop of 'Absolute Future BBS' at age 13; early community builder
- **~1998** — Organized a sold-out rave in Stony Plain, netting ~$1,000 profit; followed by a failed hip-hop event - formative lesson on market demand
- **~2000** — Ran Mediahead Productions web design and wedding video company during college
- **~2001** — Married Lorinda
- **~2001-2005** — Co-founded and operated snowboard/skateboard shops in Stony Plain; shops closed leaving ~$80,000 in debt
- **~2000-2008** — Worked as manager at a non-profit for ~8 years
- **2008** — Joined Mailout Interactive (now Campaign Monitor) - first startup job; discovered '37signals Getting Real'
- **2011** — Product Manager at Mailout Interactive Inc.
- **2012** — Co-hosted 'Product People' podcast with Kyle Fox - pioneering indie founder interview show
- **2013** — Founded MegaMaker community - one of the first indie hacker Slack communities
- **2014** — Manager of Product Marketing at Sprint.ly; met future co-founder Jon Buda at XOXO Festival in Portland
- **2015** — Self-published 'Marketing for Developers'; sold 5,000+ copies, generating $60-70K in year one; began independent consulting
- **2015-2018** — Spoke at MicroConf; independent writer, consultant, and community builder
- **2016-2017** — Mental health crisis - depleted savings, working minimal hours; entered therapy and emerged with clarity
- **2018** — Co-founded Transistor.fm with Jon Buda; each invested $5,000; launched Build Your SaaS podcast
- **2018** — Transistor.fm publicly launched August 1; first month revenue: $33
- **2019** — Transistor crossed $30K MRR; Justin and Jon quit day jobs to go full-time
- **2020-2021** — Transistor hit $1M+ ARR as a two-person bootstrapped company
- **2024** — Transistor turned 6; 'SaaS marketing experiments' as annual theme; returned to building in public
- **2025** — Transistor team of 7; 34,000+ podcasts hosted; went offline from Twitter/X; joined Podcast Standards Project leadership; considering sabbatical

## Achievements

- Built Transistor.fm from $33 MRR to $1M+ ARR as a 2-person bootstrapped company
- 'Marketing for Developers' sold 5,000+ copies, generating $60-70K in year one
- Essay 'This Is a Webpage' translated into 16 languages, featured globally
- Founded MegaMaker - one of the earliest indie hacker communities (2013)
- Co-hosted Product People podcast (2012) - pioneering indie founder interview show
- Founding/organizing member of the Podcast Standards Project
- Transistor has never had a single month of revenue decline in 6+ years
- Transistor is world's ~13th largest podcast hosting platform
- Featured in Inc., Fast Company, The Next Web, and Lifehacker
- Transistor serves 34,000+ podcasts as of 2025 with a team of 7

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Published 2025 year-in-review; announced consideration of 3-month sabbatical in 2026 after 8 years at Transistor
- **2025-11** — Transistor team of 7 held retreat in Canmore, Alberta
- **2025-06** — Went completely offline from Twitter/X; adopted Bluesky as primary social platform
- **2025-03** — Launched 'The Panel' weekly podcast with Brian Casel, including live streaming experiments
- **2024-08** — Transistor turned 6 years old with no single month of revenue decline ever
- **2024-01** — Announced 'SaaS marketing experiments' as 2024 annual theme; returned to building in public

## Links

- Website: https://justinjackson.ca
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinijackson/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mijustin
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JustinJackson
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mijustin

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/justin-jackson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-26