Justin Jackson

Co-founder and CEO of Transistor.fm, the bootstrapped 'calm company' for podcast hosting

@mijustin Vernon, Canada38K followersSaaS Founders Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators Community Builders

About Justin Jackson

Justin Jackson is a Canadian founder, writer and podcaster based in Vernon, British Columbia, and the co-founder and CEO of Transistor.fm, a bootstrapped podcast hosting and analytics platform. He has been building businesses since high school — printing t-shirts, organizing events and later running a skateboard and snowboard shop — before moving into tech in 2008 as a product manager at Mailout and Sprintly.

Co-hosting the Product People podcast from 2012 connected him with the startup world. He started the MegaMaker community for bootstrappers in 2013 and went full-time indie in January 2016 with Marketing for Developers, a book and course teaching programmers how to launch and promote products. He also wrote books including Amplification, The Product Hunt Handbook and Jolt, and ran the Build & Launch podcast about shipping something new every week.

In 2018 he teamed up with Jon Buda, whom he had met at XOXO in Portland, to launch Transistor. The pair documented everything on the Build Your SaaS podcast: 46 paying customers and about $1,400 a month in the first month, then $20,000 in monthly revenue just 12 months after launch — a goal they had expected to take five years. Transistor now serves tens of thousands of podcasts with a team of six, and Justin is a vocal advocate for small, profitable, purposeful companies and open podcasting.

Products by Justin Jackson

Transistor.fm

transistor.fm

Podcast hosting and analytics platform for indie podcasters, businesses and private podcasts, co-founded with Jon Buda.

MegaMaker

megamaker.co

Community and resources for bootstrappers and indie makers, running since 2013.

Marketing for Developers

devmarketing.xyz

Book and course teaching programmers how to launch and market their products.

Meeps

meeps.app

Platform for membership sites, built in collaboration with Josh Anderton.

Product Press

productpress.me

acquired

Earlier project now owned by Carl Alexander.

Justin Jackson's journey, 2013–202513 milestones · self-reported

Revenue (monthly, log scale)
First product
Went full time
Launch / milestone
Started 2013

2008Milestone: Moved into tech, later working as a product manager at…
2012Launch: Started co-hosting the Product People podcast with Kyle Fox
2013First product: Started the MegaMaker community for bootstrappers
2016Went full time: Went full-time indie
2016Revenue: First full year solo: $144,542≈ $12K/mo justinjackson.ca
2017Revenue: 2017 revenue: ~$190K≈ $16K/mo justinjackson.ca
2018Launch: Launched Transistor.fm with Jon Buda on August 1
2018Revenue: Transistor near $5K MRR (December)≈ $5K/mo justinjackson.ca
2019Revenue: Transistor at $20K/month after 12 months≈ $20K/mo
2019Revenue: Transistor hit $10K MRR (April)≈ $10K/mo justinjackson.ca
2020Revenue: Transistor well above $50K MRR≈ $50K/mo justinjackson.ca
2021Revenue: Transistor well over $1M ARR≈ $83K/mo justinjackson.ca
2025Milestone: Transistor reached 38,000+ podcasts served with a team of six

Timeline

2008 — Moved into tech, later working as a product manager at Mailout and Sprintly.
2012 — Started co-hosting the Product People podcast with Kyle Fox.
2013 — Started the MegaMaker community for bootstrappers.
2016 — Went full-time indie by releasing Marketing for Developers.
2018 — Launched Transistor.fm with Jon Buda on August 1; 46 paying customers signed up in the first month.
2019 — Hit $20,000 in monthly revenue 12 months after launch, letting both founders go full-time.
2025 — Transistor reached 38,000+ podcasts served with a team of six.

How Justin builds

Build a calm company: profitable, purposeful and good to customers and team.
Sometimes say no to big customers whose demands would pull you away from your core users.
Market to a big enough audience — tiny niches can cap a product's potential.
Share the journey openly; transparency builds trust and an audience.
Great customer support is a growth engine, not a cost center.

Learn from Justin Jackson

[podcast]

Build Your SaaS

Justin and Jon's open, behind-the-scenes podcast about building Transistor as a bootstrapped company.

by Justin Jackson

[course]

Marketing for Developers

Book and course for programmers who want to learn to launch and promote a product.

by Justin Jackson

[book]

Jolt: surprising marketing tactics for product people

Short book of unconventional marketing tactics.

by Justin Jackson

[community]

MegaMaker

Community for bootstrappers and makers.

by Justin Jackson

[podcast]

Build & Launch

His earlier podcast about building and launching a small project every week.

by Justin Jackson

[newsletter]

Justin Jackson's newsletter

Essays on entrepreneurship, marketing, indie SaaS and technology.

by Justin Jackson

Justin Jackson FAQ

Who is Justin Jackson?

Justin Jackson is the Vernon, BC–based co-founder and CEO of Transistor.fm, a bootstrapped podcast hosting company, and the creator of MegaMaker and Marketing for Developers.

When was Transistor.fm founded?

Justin Jackson and Jon Buda signed their partnership in early 2018 and officially launched Transistor.fm on August 1, 2018.

How fast did Transistor grow?

Transistor earned about $1,400 in its first month and reached $20,000 in monthly revenue 12 months after launch, which allowed both founders to work on it full-time.