Hey, I’m Lindsay, the host of Make Sense w/ Lindsay T., Lady Engineer®, a weekly podcast where my guests and I simplify complex topics at the intersection of people & technology. We analyze whatever hot mess is in the news, evaluate trending innovations through a human-first lens, and take deep dives on a need-to-know basis.
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In this episode of Make Sense, I talk with Benjamin Garvey, Co-Founder and CTO of Common Paper, about the evolution of enterprise software, particularly Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and how the Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZERP) and the Creative Commons GDP loophole paved the way for a SaaS Boom. We explore the transition from clunky enterprise software to cloud-based solutions, the challenges faced by the proliferation of SaaS platforms today, and the impact of AI on the future of software development.
In this episode, you’ll learn from Ben:
- The key benefits of SaaS tools (e.g. collaboration)
- The essential elements any new SaaS startup needs (hint: integrations & APIs)
- How understanding user needs will help you stay ahead of AI vibe-coded boom and bust companies
Reference the full show notes below.
Choice Quote
If you’re talking to a developer thinking about starting a new SaaS company, what principles from the past should they throw away and what should they be thinking about going forward?
“Integrations and APIs are table stakes now. [Clients] want integrations with the popular CRM tools. If you have a Common Paper account, you can connect to Hubspot or Salesforce. We can push notifications to Slack. We can create a Stripe subscription from a contract and you can configure it to send automatically. [Clients] expect all of this stuff to work together.”
– Benjamin Garvey, Co-founder and CTO, Common Paper
Buck the media hype cycle. Calm the fear-mongering. Laugh at the inanity of Tech CEO “hero culture.” Be the smartest person in your peer’s LinkedIn feed:
Never Have I Ever…Internet Culture Edition
This new segment is an amuse-bouche before diving into the heavy stuff. I call out past internet habits, and my guests tell us whether they are guilty. If you’d like, join in on the fun by taking a sip of your beverage-of-choice!
“Never have I ever…
- 02:19 …downloaded 12 viruses just to get on mislabeled music track on Napster
- 03:14 …gotten in trouble for using Napster or any other file sharing platform
- 04:16 ….never have I ever put cryptic breakup lyrics
- 04:46 …bragged about being a mayor on foursquare
- 07:20 ….missed Digg but pretended Reddit was just as good
- 10:20 …went back in my Twitter timeline to clean it up
Show Notes
00:00 – Intro
01:35 – Segment 1: Never Have I Ever…
02:19 …downloaded 12 viruses just to get on mislabeled music track on Napster
03:14 …gotten in trouble for using Napster or any other file sharing platform
04:16 ….never have I ever put cryptic breakup lyrics
04:46 …bragged about being a mayor on foursquare
07:20 ….missed Digg but pretended Reddit was just as good
10:20 …went back in my Twitter timeline to clean it up
12:18 Segment Two: Deep Dive on SaaS
13:10 What’s the future of the software we use at work?
17:19 Benefits of SaaS: Collaboration and Flexibility
18:12 What benefits did companies gain from going towards Saas?
19:36 The Evolution of SaaS Deployment
21:27 Where did things go wrong for Saas?
23:06 Market Dynamics and SaaS Sustainability
24:04 Zero Interest Rate Phenomenon
24:33 AI’s Impact on Software Development
25:55 What are the challenges with a SaaS technology stack?
30:19 Managing SaaS Complexity and App Fatigue
32:25 Lack of Visibility into the SaaS Tech Stack
33:28 The Future of SaaS: Integration and APIs
34:22 Transitioning from Developer to Founder
36:00 Consolidation in the SaaS Marketplace
37:36 Segment 3: From Keyboard to Visionboard: The Developer’s Journey to Founder
43:00 Understanding Human Dynamics in Tech Leadership
43:03 Practices or Book Recommendations for Developers
46:41 Wrap Up
Where to find Benjamin Garvey
Benjamin Garvey is a technologist with an eye for systems, people, and the patterns they create. He’s the Co-Founder and CTO of Common Paper, building tools that make the messy world of legal agreements feel seamless and elegant. From Adobe to Betterment to the Philly Data Visualization Meetup, Ben’s career shows us that when technology is both thoughtful and well-made, we can turn complex info into purposeful insights.
Benjamin Garvey’s Personal Website
Ben Garvey’s Book Recommendation
The Principles of Product Development Flow by Donald G Reinertsen
Where to find Lindsay Tabas
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaytabas
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LindsayTLadyEngineer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaytladyengineer
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