# Rob Walling

> Rob Walling is the godfather of bootstrapped SaaS - a serial entrepreneur who has started six companies (five bootstrapped), sold Drip in an 8-figure acquisition to Leadpages, co-founded MicroConf (the original community for bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders), and launched TinySeed, a category-leading accelerator that has invested in 230+ companies with a 43% millionaire rate among exited founders. He hosts 'Startups for the Rest of Us' (800+ episodes, 15M+ downloads), has published five best-selling books, and champions the idea that a sustainable, founder-owned company beats the VC treadmill every time.

- **Role:** Co-Founder at TinySeed & MicroConf
- **Organizations:** TinySeed, MicroConf, Startups for the Rest of Us, SaaS Institute
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering (double major), Unknown University
- **Known for:** Founded and bootstrapped Drip to ~$2M ARR before an 8-figure acquisition by Leadpages (2016), Co-founded MicroConf - the original community and conference for bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders, Co-founded TinySeed - raised ~$60M, invested in 230+ companies, 43% of exited founders became millionaires

## Career timeline

- **late 1990s** — Graduated with double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering; first job at a construction firm
- **2005** — Started blogging about entrepreneurship and software bootstrapping
- **2010** — Launched 'Startups for the Rest of Us' podcast with co-host Mike Taber
- **2011** — Published 'Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup'
- **2012** — Founded Drip, an email marketing automation platform
- **2013** — Co-founded MicroConf, the original conference for bootstrapped SaaS founders
- **2016** — Sold Drip to Leadpages in an 8-figure acquisition; became VP of Product at Leadpages
- **2018** — Left Leadpages after ~20 months post-acquisition; co-founded TinySeed accelerator
- **2019** — TinySeed launched as the first accelerator built for bootstrapped/lightly-funded SaaS founders
- **2023** — Published 'The SaaS Playbook'; TinySeed surpassed 200 portfolio companies
- **2024** — TinySeed 43% millionaire rate stat published; 239+ investments made; 800+ podcast episodes reached
- **2025** — TinySeed Tales Season 5 and 6 in production; continued growth of MicroConf community

## Achievements

- Founded and bootstrapped Drip to ~$2M ARR before an 8-figure acquisition by Leadpages (2016)
- Co-founded MicroConf - the original community and conference for bootstrapped B2B SaaS founders
- Co-founded TinySeed - raised ~$60M, invested in 230+ companies, 43% of exited founders became millionaires
- Host of 'Startups for the Rest of Us' - 800+ episodes, 15M+ downloads
- Published five best-selling entrepreneurship books (100,000+ copies sold)
- Coined and popularized the 'Stair Step Approach' to bootstrapping
- 115,000+ YouTube subscribers on MicroConf channel
- Featured in Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., HuffPost, CNET, Investor's Business Daily
- Organized 40+ in-person MicroConf conferences worldwide
- 6M+ YouTube views

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — TinySeed Tales Seasons 5 and 6 announced for production
- **2024-12** — Reflected on 2024 predictions in Episode 745 of Startups for the Rest of Us
- **2024-02** — TinySeed announced 43% millionaire rate among exited portfolio founders; 239th SaaS company investment milestone
- **2023-06** — Published 'The SaaS Playbook' - fourth solo book on building SaaS businesses

## Links

- Website: https://robwalling.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robwalling
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/robwalling
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MicroConf

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rob-walling
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-28