EDITOR’S NOTE:

Jonathan Bull is the co-founder and CEO of EmailOctopus, an email marketing startup designed to help anyone with an audience grow. 

The team is independent and 100% bootstrapped, which is admirable on its face. They’re also in the habit of supporting newsletters, including my own and those of my friends, so it’s an easy company for creators to love. 

Plus, after 7 years in business, Jonathan is full of knowledge, experience, so I asked him to share some of it with us in a Micro-Interview. 

“Sure thing,” he said — and here we are.

In just 422 words, Jonathan shares: 

• The 3-step process for building a great product, quickly…

• Why revenue growth isn’t always the best measure of success…

• Several learning alternatives for folks who don’t like reading business books…

And more…  

Enjoy!

Thank you, Jonathan.

Let’s get started. 

1) “What’s your work routine?”

We’re a remote team — I’m based in Vancouver, Canada and the rest of the team is split across the UK and Poland. So my early morning is the only time our hours crossover. 

I get into the office around 8am and check in with the team for a few hours. Then the rest of the day I’m working solo, based in a co-working space. I enjoy splitting my time this way — a few hours of collaboration every morning and then some time in the afternoon to get my head down.

2) “What do you know about your work now that you wish you’d known when you first started?”

How to work best with a team. 

That hiring experts who will excel in their specialisms will grow the business so much faster than spreading myself too thin and doing everything myself badly. And I’m always learning and getting better at delegating.

3) “What did your biggest professional failure teach you?”

In the very early days, we saw revenue growth as the key measure of success. That meant we didn't tightly control who used the platform, and we had a number of spammers slip through the net. This impacted our reputation and ultimately wouldn’t have been sustainable – or responsible. 

Now, we’re fully committed to maintaining an ethical platform. Revenue is only one measure of success: your impact, socially and ethically, has to be at least equally important.

4) “What’s the #1 thing that has helped you shorten your craft’s learning curve?”

The importance of iteration and getting user feedback as soon as possible. 

You can spend all the time in the world building something you think is great – but your users won’t necessarily agree. You’ll build the best product most quickly if you start small, test with real people, and adapt according to their feedback.

5) “What book has helped you the most over your career?”

If I’m honest, I only really read books for pleasure – rarely for work. 

There are so many business books saved in my Goodreads account, but after a long day of being absorbed in the business, it's important for my mental health to be able to switch off for a bit. I learn so much from blogs, forums and networking though. 

I much prefer speaking to and learning from people rather than reading theory.

6) “And your parting piece of advice?”

Anyone can start a business, and you don’t need a unique idea. 

Just do it, start small, and you’ll learn and grow from there.