I'm Mac. I've been building software businesses since 2007.

I failed a lot, then went from $0 to $61k MRR in 30 months and sold. Now I'm building a small portfolio of products under Wildfront and writing about what I learn.

Timeline

2007 First SaaS attempt.Learned what "product-market fit" actually means by not having it.
2010 Joined a startup incubator.Shipped a few products. Met the people who shaped the next decade.
2013 — 16 A run of small bets.Side projects, apps, micro-SaaS. Most failed. A few taught a lot.
2017 Launched The SaaS Bootstrapper.Newsletter and podcast for bootstrapped founders.
2018 Started Castanet.A LinkedIn outreach tool. The one that finally worked.
2020 Co-founded Aware.A LinkedIn tool, built with Alex Boyd.
2021 $0 → $61k MRR in 30 months. Sold it.Solo founder. Life-changing exit to a portfolio acquirer.
2022 — 24 Lived abroad with family.Wife and two kids. 13 countries. Two years. Back in Portland in 2024.
2024 Co-founded Wildfront.A holding company for focused, profitable SaaS — owned long-term.
2025 Sold Aware. Acquired ViewExport.Added to the portfolio.
Now Operating the portfolio.Wildfront community and masterminds, ViewExport, and Demandbird.

Projects

Wildfront

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A portfolio of focused, profitable software businesses — built slowly, owned long-term.

Holding co · wildfront.co

Demandbird

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Demand generation for B2B SaaS.

SaaS · demandbird.com

Wildfront Newsletter

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What I'm learning from buying, building, and operating SaaS companies.

Newsletter · frontier.wildfront.co

Wildfront Plus

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A private community for bootstrap founders building serious businesses.

Community · invite only

SaaS Pulse

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Revenue analytics, attribution, churn prevention, support, and feedback in one place.

SaaS · saaspulse.io

ViewExport

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Slack exports for eDiscovery, audits, and internal investigations.

SaaS · viewexport.com

Branded Charts

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Turn raw data into clean, on-brand charts your audience wants to share.

SaaS · brandedcharts.com

Writing

Journey

  1. $0 to $61k MRR in 30 monthsJourney
  2. One year as digital nomadsJourney
  3. I made a $50k entrepreneurial mistakeJourney
  4. What I learned from a startup incubatorJourney

Strategy

  1. Stop setting goalsStrategy
  2. I hit $60k MRR by ignoring the competitionStrategy
  3. Create a portfolio of small betsStrategy
  4. How to transition from the 9-5 grind to freedomStrategy
  5. Just. Keep. Going. An overnight success can take many years.Strategy
  6. What I wish I had been told when starting outStrategy

Validation

  1. 9 criteria for selecting your best business ideaValidation
  2. You don't need to validate your ideaValidation
  3. Validating the viability of your productValidation
  4. How do you know when it's time to give up on your SaaS?Validation

Marketing

  1. Driving traffic through RedditMarketing
  2. The most powerful SaaS growth leverMarketing
  3. The best kind of marketingMarketing
  4. Influencer marketingMarketing
  5. On advertising and paid mediaMarketing

Mindset

  1. You don't need the skills you think you need as an entrepreneurMindset
  2. Fear versus regretMindset
  3. Don't let a lack of expertise hold you backMindset
  4. Connection over perfectionMindset
  5. Reaching success through osmosisMindset
  6. Aim to cringe at your own past workMindset

Customer acquisition

  1. How to get your first five customersAcquisition
  2. How to get customers 6–50Acquisition