In this episode of Road to CTO, we sit down with Charles Chase, a serial entrepreneur and investor, who shares his journey from aspiring accountant to building multiple successful companies, including Velocify. Charles reveals how a pivotal moment in the late 90s sparked his passion for programming, leading him to abandon his original career path a…

Are your ChatGPT prompts messy and inconsistent? You might be falling into the trap of spaghetti prompting, random, unstructured inputs that lead to weak responses. In this episode, we break down the difference between spaghetti prompting and prompt engineering, showing you how to structure prompts for accurate, consistent, and high-quality results…

Quantum computing is no longer just a futuristic concept, it’s quickly becoming a practical reality. In this must-watch panel discussion, three quantum pioneers dive deep into the real progress being made and what’s coming in the next few years. From breakthroughs in drug discovery to tackling cybersecurity challenges, quantum's first impacts will …

What happens when AI stops just following commands and starts making decisions on its own? At the Corporate Innovation Summit, industry leaders dive into the world of agentic AI—intelligent systems capable of autonomous action. This first panel explores: 🔹 NVIDIA’s journey from gaming to AI dominance and how it became an infrastructure powerhouse. …

Are you ready to explore the dynamics of running a successful consultancy in today’s fast-evolving tech landscape? Join us as we sit down with Szymon Boniecki, co-founder of Monterail, a pioneering Ruby on Rails agency. In this engaging episode, we dive into Monterail's remarkable journey over the past 14 years, sharing lessons on growth, the impac…

In this exciting episode of Life on Mars, Alex have a great conversation with Simone van Neerven, founder of reBel.la, to explore how challenging the status quo can drive creativity and change. With a career that began at KLM and evolved into building her own brand, Simone shares her personal journey—from corporate life to embracing her rebellious …

Welcome to another captivating episode of the Life on Mars podcast by MarsBased! 🎙️ In this electrifying discussion, we dive headfirst into the dynamic world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with our brilliant guest, Clemens Rossberg. 🌟 Interviewed by our very own Alex Rodriguez Bacardit, this episode is a must-listen! Tune in to discover: 📌The la…

What if economic downturns could be a springboard for growth instead of a setback? Join Àlex, the CEO and founder of MarsBased, as he shares the inside scoop on how his company not only weathered the technological market storm of 2024 but emerged stronger. Learn from their journey through industry challenges, management demands, and the strategic p…

Join Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit (CEO @ MarsBased) and John O’Nolan, founder of Ghost, as they delve into the world of independent, values-driven tech businesses. They discuss Ghost’s foundational structure, the role of transparency and bootstrapping in shaping the company, and how these principles impact product development and user loyalty. The conve…

Greg Scown, co-founder of TextExpander, shares an inspiring journey through the partial sale of his company to Summit Partners and the path that led him there. Discover how casual coffee chats carried invaluable advice, such as re-registering as a Delaware C corporation, which significantly boosted the company's valuation. Greg discusses the pivota…

Join Àlex, CEO of MarsBased, as he tells the story behind starting both MarsBased and the Barcelona chapter of Startup Grind in 2014. Prepared for a rambling of 45 minutes? This episode covers running both the chapter and MarsBased, reasons to keep it up, impact generated over ten years, metrics of Startup Grind Barcelona, highs and lows, and the r…

Curious about the challenges of transitioning from a corporate environment in China to the bustling startup scene in Barcelona? How has she created an AI company and is bootstrapping her way up? How is their marketing strategy? How do you build domain authority for your startup? Join us as Tania Van Gastel, CEO and co-founder of The Multiverse AI, …

Unlock the secrets of navigating the turbulent waters of venture capital with our latest episode featuring the ever-insightful Mercè Tell, (GP & co-founder of Encomenda Capital Partners). This is a recording of one of our latest Startup Grind BCN events, recorded in early 2024. Ever wondered how down rounds, declining M&A transactions, and slumping…

Ever wondered how to protect yourself from online scams while keeping advertisers honest? This episode is a must-listen as we welcome Nandini Jammi from Check My Ads, back on the podcast, after almost four years since her first appearance. Check My Ads is the pioneering agency fighting against fraudulent advertisers, right-wing disinformation and t…

The podcast is back after a much needed (albeit unintended) hiatus. For more details, listen to this episode (in Spanish) or wait until an AI translates it for you. Until then, listen to a few of the episodes that we had recorded prior to the break, which are still of high relevance, the first of which features our friend Brian Farrell, co-founder …

Celebrating a decade of bootstrapping brilliance, I, Àlex, founder of MarsBased, am back behind the mic to share an emotional tribute to the journey we've shared. As we revel in a significant milestone, I'm incredibly grateful for the unwavering support from our clients, friends, and the wider community. The anniversary bash in Barcelona was an unf…

Explore the power of AI in streamlining content creation and productivity in our latest podcast episode. We're joined by Clemens Rychlik from Bourbon, where he serves as COO, and the man behind the Barcinno newsletter, diving into how AI, including ChatGPT, is reshaping tasks like proofreading and SEO optimization. Clemens shares his insights on us…

Prepare to navigate the high-stakes world of mergers and acquisitions with insider expertise as Dimitri Steinberg and Brian Flynn from Founder Partners join me, Àlex from MarsBased, for a riveting discussion. In the ever-turbulent market of dwindling venture capital and faltering tech stocks, our guests share invaluable wisdom from their impressive…

Embark on an entrepreneurial odyssey with Keyven Ferland of La Web Shop and uncover the raw and real narrative of a bootstrapped business's ascent. From the humble beginnings of a solo design freelancer to captaining a burgeoning Canadian Shopify and e-commerce development shop, Kevan doesn't hold back on the experiences that shaped his agency's su…

What can you achieve as an entrepreneur without leaning on venture capitalist funding? How can we communicate more effectively in the modern work landscape? Today's episode is a deep dive into the riveting world of bootstrapped businesses, communication, and entrepreneurship with our esteemed guest, Amir Salihefendic, the CEO and founder of Doist. …

Brace yourselves for a riveting dialogue with Francesc Font Cot, the dynamic serial entrepreneur who co-founded Incapto Coffee, Nubelo, and Bandit. We uncover the raw truth behind the glitz and glamour of startup life and explore the harsh reality that only two out of 10 startups survive. Francesc, with his decades of experience, offers a rare pers…

With our special guest, Khash Sajadi, the founder and CEO of Cloud 66, we're unlocking the story of a technology that transformed the world of software deployment. Imagine a world where developers are freed from the drudgery of repetitive tasks. Cloud 66 began as a solution to that exact problem, and Khash takes us on a journey from the early days …

Ever wondered how a tech company rides the tumultuous waves of an industry in flux? Journey with us, as Àlex, founder of MarsBased, shares his company's evolution in managing a surge from one to two contracts a year to a whopping 10 short-term contracts. Get an inside look at the challenges, triumphs, and the newfound dynamism this pivot has inject…

In this episode, our good friend in and out of business, Josh Feldberg, interviews Àlex to discuss many topics for a good hour and a half. Two friends discussing business, where the podcast host, Àlex, becomes the interviewee in a long, free-flowing and casual conversation across all topics, ranging from usage of social media and discussing politic…

The story of MarsBased can't be told without a city in particular: San Francisco. Even though MarsBased started up in Barcelona, where the three co-founders are from and where most of the events pre-incorporation happened, San Francisco played a pivotal role. In late 2013, Àlex quit his corporate job and left for a three month trip to SF to soak up…

We hosted Job van der Voort, CEO @ Remote, to discuss the status of remote work (obviously) but also derivates of this: employee benefits, async work, leadership, our day-to-day as CEOs of tech companies, services vs product and more. Prior to founding Remote, Job served as the VP of Product at Gitlab, one of our reference companies when it comes t…

We have talked a lot about no-code back in the day, and far from being the technology that would render developers obsolete and take our jobs, it's become somewhat of a complement for quick experiments and lightweight MVPs. Now, in light of the recent happenings with AI, we're sort of seeing the same narrative around AI replacing developers and tak…

One of the downsides of running an agency, or a services-based company per se, is that you don't get media coverage. Only the biggest ones get some coverage but for us, small agencies, it's nearly impossible: we don't do B2C, we don't have products consumed by large chunks of population, most of our work is behind NDAs and also we don't raise funds…

A couple of weeks ago, shit hit the fan. A bank run on Silicon Valley Bank had to be intervened because hundreds of companies pulled their funds out of this popular bank. The US 16th largest bank, very popular among tech companies and startups, had to be sold because it became insolvent due to a series of bad decisions and their accumulated derivat…

We're excited to share this episode with you in which we talk to Kat O'Brien (Chief Partnerships Officer at ClimateTrade) about all things partnerships. Kat has been operating in the partnerships and marketing sector of both startups and corporates in the last years - as a matter of fact, we met when she was CMO at Polaroo, a former client of MarsB…

We bring in one of our references in UI/UX, Fabio Basile, to discuss freelancing in this sector. About time we discussed building a portfolio (with all the restrictions we can find as an agency: unlaunched projects, NDAs, etc.), choosing the right freelancer/agency for your project, red flags in clients AND in providers and much more. Of course, we…

Kicking off the new year in great fashion with a solo episode of Àlex (CEO) doing a recap of our historic 2022 and some of the landmarks we've accomplished as a company and a look into 2023, with some hints regarding what we will research as a company and new technologies we will be tinkering with. This episode is short and easy to digest, which co…

This week, we didn't have a guest speaker either, so we decided to record a solo episode. Àlex has addressed the team in an internal basecamp post to let us know that the company is very stable and that we're signing very long contracts with clients. That in mind, he gave us three things the company is doing to ensure more stability during this dow…

One day you're a developer, like all the rest, and then you're not one of them anymore. That's what happens when you go up the management ladder in technical teams. You still want to code and be cool, but you have to be focused on business, fundraising, managing people, putting processes into place and talking to partners and the leadership team or…

We had our friend Mark from AWS calling in from Websummit last year, we also had Jorge Jaramillo recording his podcast episode in a camper van, and now it's the time for someone to record from his car! Jonas Rinde, serial entrepreneur in the Nordic region of Europe, and current CEO of Nomono, shares with us a masterclass of calculating risks and ta…

Breaking news: Factorial raised 123.5MM in a series C funding round led by Atomico and Tiger Global, and Kantox has sold to BNP Paribas for 120MM. Both companies are built with Ruby on Rails, which might sound as irrelevant, but it's also great news for the technology and for its ecosystem. In this episode, Àlex rambles on for 20 minutes about how …

This episode will see us discussing text input and how to build keyboards for smartphones with Olivier Plante, CEO at Fleksy. Olivier has had a fruitful career in entrepreneurship but our paths didn't cross until some of the first Startup Grind events we organised in Barcelona, where he came and pitched his latest invention, ThingThing, a most flex…

Remote worker solitude is something that strikes within 12-18 months of working remotely. We all suffer from it yet very few speak about it publicly. As an officeless company, we have to be very aware of this, and coach people into spotting it and dealing with it correctly. That's why we have decided to normalise it, speaking about it publicly, on …

In this episode, our CEO Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit, devotes some time to answer questions from our friends from in- and outside of business, clients and other people we admire. Àlex rambles on for half an hour giving answer to the following questions: Who's the most brilliant individual you've ever worked with? What are your business weaknesses and w…

Back in the day, pre-pandemics and whatnot, we used to organise an annual conference called Startup Grind Tech. Oh, boy, long gone are those days. We hosted Carlota Pi, former CMO of HolaLuz, in her new role as chairwoman, to discuss their TV marketing campaign and marketing at scale. Carlota breaks down and shares all the learnings from that campa…

We talk to Marc Assens, CTO and co-founder of Happy Scribe, an AI product from Barcelona offering real-time translations and transcripts, completely bootstrapped as a business. With Marc, we discuss both the business part of his company but also there's a lot of tech talk, regarding their choice of programming languages, how Ruby plays with machine…

Appear.in was a video conference platform we started using in the early days of MarsBased, back when Google Meet Chats Hangouts, or whatever it was called back then, sucked big time, and the only alternatives were corporate platforms like WebEx and so on. We exchanged a few emails with them, from starting company to starting company, and since then…

In this episode, we talk to Pau Minoves, CTO at Typeform, one of the longest-standing and hottest startups in Barcelona, which recently raised $135 million in Series C funding. We talk about deployments, about company culture for hiring as well as for retaining developers. Pau tells us how they spur innovation into the company, how they evaluate pr…

In this week's episode, we discuss career paths for developers in the tech industry with Miguel Andrés (ex-Google, Badi, now CTO @ Simplr). If you're a developer and want to know what choices are out there, how can you choose between management, product or a purely technical progression path, this episode is for you. If you're someone looking to co…

Third episode talking about M&A and how to sell your business with our friend Mike Counihan, from Transcend Partners. On part 1 and part 2, Àlex and Mike discussed the first stages of the contact with prospective buyers, when to use M&A boutiques, what's the protocol, what to say, what not to do, how to calculate your price, how and when to prepare…

We've been collaborating with developer bootcamps throughout the years to ensure that we contribute to the next generations of developers, which is one of our favourite ways of paying it forward. LeWagon has consistently been adamant at teaching not only one programming language but many. In fact, they know the value of learning multiple programmin…

We sneaked into 4YFN (4 Years From Now), the startups conference of Mobile World Congress, to host a Startup Grind event - an event within a bigger event. Factorial acquired Codegram, a Rails consultancy we respect a lot, in December 2019, so this is one of the topics we cover in this interview, and how organic vs. inorganic growth are working out …

BOOM! the audio intros and outros are gone! We keep improving and iterating this podcast thanks to your feedback, making it a little bit better every day. In this occasion, we talk to the man, the myth, the legend, mr. Francisco Cruz, who spearheaded the community growth of Startup Grind globally, since their very first days to well over 300 chapte…

We have been curating the weekly newsletter of Startup Digest Barcelona since 2016 at MarsBased. Startup Digest contains a curated list of the best events in every city and we send it every Monday. We hosted Jessica Ford, their Director, to speak about the early years of Startup Digest, how they bootstrapped the project, how they built a bespoke pl…

OK - this one is a BANGER. It's got everything we like: async work, remote, hard opinions on corporates and VC-backed businesses, disruptive management styles, calendar & meetings management, how to grow company culture in fully-distributed teams and lots, lots of product. Amir has been spearheading Doist, the remote company behind Todoist and Twis…