Podcast intelligence platform that monitors millions of podcasts for brand mentions with full transcript search and AI-powered alerts.
Arvid Kahl
Sold FeedbackPanda, wrote Zero to Sold, built Podscan in public (acquired 2026)
@arvidkahl Canada212K followersSaaS FoundersEducators & Course CreatorsCreators & WritersAI Builders
About Arvid Kahl
Arvid Kahl is a software engineer turned bootstrapped founder and one of the most trusted voices on calm, sustainable entrepreneurship. Together with his partner Danielle Simpson he built FeedbackPanda, a SaaS tool that helped online English teachers write student feedback faster. They grew it to about $55K in monthly recurring revenue within two years and sold it to SureSwift Capital in 2019.
After the exit he started The Bootstrapped Founder, a blog, newsletter and weekly podcast, and documented everything he had learned in the books Zero to Sold and The Embedded Entrepreneur, plus the audience-building course Find Your Following. His core message is that founders should embed themselves in a community, find a real problem there, and build in public.
In 2024 he went back to building with Podscan, a podcast monitoring and intelligence platform that transcribes and analyzes tens of thousands of new episodes every day. He shared MRR, expenses and setbacks openly on his podcast, reached profitability in spring 2025, and in September 2026 Podscan was acquired by Audiohook, where Arvid joined to lead the platform's future development.
Products by Arvid Kahl
SaaS that helped online English teachers create and manage student feedback quickly; sold to SureSwift Capital.
$55K/mo at exit
Builds indie alternatives to:Brand24
Exit stories
Podscan
→ Audiohook · 2026
Arvid Kahl said Audiohook had already been a close partner and customer, and that joining it gave Podscan resources to build the roadmap much faster than he could alone.
by Arvid Kahl
Arvid Kahl has said he was close to burnout and that the founders wanted to diversify, since nearly all of their wealth was tied up in the business.
by Arvid Kahl
- Revenue (monthly, log scale)
- First product
- Exit
- Launch / milestone
- Started 2017
- 2017First product: Launched FeedbackPanda with Danielle Simpson
- 2018Revenue: FeedbackPanda at $35K/month≈ $35K/mo indiehackers.com
- 2019Exit: Sold FeedbackPanda at ~$55K MRR≈ $55K/mo
- 2019Revenue: FeedbackPanda at $50K MRR, 5,000 customers≈ $50K/mo indiehackers.com
- 2020Launch: Published Zero to Sold and launched The Bootstrapped Founder…
- 2021Launch: Published The Embedded Entrepreneur
- 2024Launch: Launched Podscan and shared its MRR and expenses publicly…
- 2025Milestone: Podscan reached profitability
- 2026Exit: Podscan acquired by Audiohook
Timeline
- 2017 — Launched FeedbackPanda with Danielle Simpson.
- 2019 — Sold FeedbackPanda to SureSwift Capital at around $55K MRR, two years after launch.
- 2020 — Published Zero to Sold and launched The Bootstrapped Founder podcast.
- 2021 — Published The Embedded Entrepreneur.
- 2024 — Launched Podscan and shared its MRR and expenses publicly from month one.
- 2025 — Podscan reached profitability about a year after raising bootstrapper-friendly funding.
- 2026 — Podscan was acquired by Audiohook; Arvid joined Audiohook to lead the platform.
How Arvid builds
- Embed yourself in a community first, then find the problem worth solving there.
- Build in public, including the numbers and the setbacks.
- Aim for a calm, sustainable business rather than growth at all costs.
- Lift others up: kindness and generosity compound over time.
- Know your expenses as well as your revenue, especially with costly AI infrastructure.
Learn from Arvid Kahl
[book]
Zero to Sold
How to start, run and sell a bootstrapped business, based on the FeedbackPanda journey.
by Arvid Kahl
[book]
The Embedded Entrepreneur
An audience-first approach to finding problems worth solving inside communities.
by Arvid Kahl
[course]
Find Your Following
Course on building an audience on Twitter/X as a founder.
by Arvid Kahl
[podcast]
The Bootstrapped Founder
Weekly podcast on bootstrapping, audience building and the Podscan journey.
by Arvid Kahl
[newsletter]
The Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter
Weekly essays on calm, sustainable, build-in-public entrepreneurship.
by Arvid Kahl
Arvid Kahl vs Rob Walling
Arvid Kahl vs Justin Jackson
Arvid Kahl vs Thibault Louis-Lucas (Tibo)
Arvid Kahl vs Florin Pop
Arvid Kahl vs Maximilian Schwarzmüller
Arvid Kahl vs Dan Koe
Arvid Kahl vs Wes Bos
Arvid Kahl FAQ
Who is Arvid Kahl?
Arvid Kahl is a bootstrapped founder, author and podcaster who co-founded and sold FeedbackPanda, wrote Zero to Sold and The Embedded Entrepreneur, and built Podscan in public.
How much did FeedbackPanda make?
FeedbackPanda reached roughly $55K in monthly recurring revenue with about 5,000 customers before it was sold to SureSwift Capital in 2019.
What happened to Podscan?
Podscan, the podcast monitoring platform Arvid launched in 2024, became profitable in 2025 and was acquired by Audiohook in September 2026. Arvid joined Audiohook to oversee the platform.
What books has Arvid Kahl written?
He wrote Zero to Sold, about bootstrapping and selling a SaaS, and The Embedded Entrepreneur, about audience-first business building.
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