Every founder faces this eventually. You spend every waking second just trying not to fail completely, so when it’s actually working, you barely recognize it and don’t know what to do with yourself. That’s where Patrik Inzinger is. appointmed is calm and profitable at €2M ARR, ~1% churn, and a team of 8 that no longer needs him day to day. Which leaves: who am I, and what do I even want out of life?
Cohost Dr. Sherry Walling and I dig into that question — and discover it was never about a bigger revenue number. It’s about being seen.
A candid working session including:
– comparing yourself to other people’s headlines
– is a calm, profitable company “enough”
– why hypergrowth isn’t fun, it’s fulfilling
– the hunger to be recognized
– the failure story he’s carried for 15 years
– choosing the right mirrors, ignoring the trolls
– separating the company’s mission from your own
– the “what would have to be true” growth test
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ME ME ME!!!
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Subscribe on YouTube ►
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My bio + 20 years of articles ►
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STARRING PATRIK INZINGER
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appointmed ►
Homepage ►
Slow & Steady newsletter ►
Bluesky ►
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WITH COHOST DR. SHERRY WALLING
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ZenFounder ►
Exit Strategy (book) ►
Touching Two Worlds (book and show) ►
Website ►
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REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE
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“Momentum without a mission” — Patrik Inzinger ►
“Mission, Vision, poTAYto, poTAHto” ►
“Max MRR: Your Growth Ceiling” ►
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TIMESTAMPS
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00:00 A bootstrapper who built a calm, profitable company faces a problem nobody warns you about: the mission is complete
2:52 How a 13-year-old with pirated Photoshop and a 25-year cofounder built a calm 2M ARR company
6:25 “Are we even a real company?” – the self-doubt that hits founders who never chased the headlines
9:46 Is building a calm company even the right choice, or is it just settling
17:07 Why hypergrowth isn’t fun – it eats your whole life, decade after decade
20:59 What’s actually driving the itch to grow faster – it’s not the money, it’s recognition
30:46 How tied is your identity to the business – and the off-switches (motorcycles, a pilot’s license) that separate them
36:37 Realizing you’re a teacher – what it took a year to figure out after leaving a company behind
45:17 The failure story he’s still carrying: dropping out of school three times and disappointing his parents – and why one troll outweighs twenty kind comments
50:58 Choosing accurate mirrors – who actually gets to reflect you back to yourself
58:31 “You are a hero” – why this founder belongs on the MicroConf stage
1:05:24 The mission vs vision framework: separating why you exist from what you’re actually building
1:25:49 Track when you felt most alive – the diary trick for finding a personal mission
1:34:40 Does taking a break actually recharge you, or just numb you enough to go back
1:43:04 The “what would have to be true” test for whether you actually want to grow faster
1:52:51 Landing on it: committing to apply for a MicroConf talk
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nice
We essentially just watched a live psychotherapy session. It was a fascinating and insightful listen for all types of founders. Though, oddly, I think even more so for early stage founders who are trying to choose their 'thing'. The whole conversation around mission & vision really makes you question what you should be working on.
Felt like Patrik came on really well prepared. He knew the problem (lack of recognition) and had all the answers (already publishing content, getting his ideas out there). Which at the same time did not leave much room for an aha moment or a plot twist like in the previous episodes.
I especially liked Sherry's point about not sticking to stories of the past, and your rant about not having fun while in hypergrowth that was great lol
This is amazing, thank you!
Thanks so being vulnerable in this one Patrik, although this may not be relatable to many, I think it's very very valuable.
As someone running a SaaS that is closing in on 2M, I know how hard this sh!+ is! You should be very proud of what you built. The graveyard is full of gazillions of companies that tried to do just what you have successfully done! I too haven't fully appreciated what we've done. I'm guessing it's common . Maybe us psychos who try this have some common psychological traits 😅
I'd have liked to know more about the TAM of his existing market (in the German-speaking markets, across Europe, and the US). It's great to be content in the business as a lot of people are striving for that. If you're satisfied with the company, with the profit, and have a sense of calmness, it can allow a competitive entrepreneur to try some new things with a lot less pressure on them, which is what I'd have liked Jason to have explored more on this pod.
Recording this was harder than running the company that day. 😅 Sherrys question about releasing the failure story has been sitting with me since we stopped. I deflected it on air and agreed with her about two days later. If you're a bootstrapper who relates to any of this, my door is open on X, LinkedIn, or via email. Apparently, we need to find each other.
Amazing accomplishment, Patrick. You should be extremely proud of what you built. Most people will never build what you built.
Patrik is doing amazing work. Our communities don't just pop into existence and stay alive, it takes ambition and hard work to keep them from falling apart. He is showing the way – providing meaningful work for 8 people, having a positive impact on your customers, sustaining a marriage, leading a balanced life, and inspiring others.
Would love to host all three of you and Rob in Croatia at SaaStanak next year and hear Patrik on stage as well! I'll be in your twitter dm, email or whatever 😅Thank you for this chat, I really enjoyed it!
What an amazing episode! All 3 of you are great – your openness and honesty is much appreciated. Thank you! P. S. Kind regards from a founder from Germany who of course bought Jason’s new book – highly recommended!
Maybe he wants to get to a higher level of net income generation for fear of how biz conditions can fluctuate, i.e. the recent SaaSpocalypse…and have a bigger financial buffer. Still impressive and Sherry is always terrific no matter where she speaks.
still waiting for the episode (s) you mentioned which had people just starting
Going to be a smaller target audience for this one with a really successful startup 😅