DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Joost de Valk, the founder of Yoast, discusses the journey of transforming his SEO plugin from a side project into a multi-million dollar business used by 13 million websites. He shares insights on when he realized the potential for scaling Yoast and the lessons he learned along the way.
The conversation explores various aspects of SEO, including when and how to invest in it effectively, determining budgets, integrating SEO teams within an organization, and common mistakes founders make. Joost also provides valuable advice on creating a compelling brand story and mastering developer-led branding.
Additionally, Joost delves into the impact of AI on content creation and SEO, offering insights on how businesses can leverage AI for generating content while maintaining creativity and authenticity. He also touches upon the future implications of AI on development cycles and potential concerns regarding wealth inequality.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Joost de Valk's journey with Yoast exemplifies the potential of transforming a side project into a successful business, highlighting the importance of timing, adaptation, and strategic decision-making.
- Investing in SEO requires a well-planned strategy, including determining the right time, allocating appropriate budgets, creating compelling content, and integrating SEO specialists within the organization.
- AI has the potential to significantly impact content creation and SEO, offering opportunities for increased efficiency and productivity while also raising concerns about discoverability, creativity, and wealth inequality.
- Branding plays a crucial role in the success of open source and freemium models, with a focus on creating a compelling brand story and catering to a broader audience beyond just power users or developers.
- Developer-led branding requires a balance between addressing the needs of developers and maintaining a broader appeal to a wider user base.
- Measuring the effectiveness of SEO can be challenging due to the complexities of attribution and the limitations imposed by search engines, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to growth strategies.
- The impact of AI on development cycles and productivity could be transformative, potentially leading to significant changes in the way software is developed and how businesses operate.
- The potential for AI to exacerbate wealth inequality is a concern that may require regulatory intervention and the development of better systems to address the issue.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I don't think this is different from crypto. I think this has a bigger impact on society than crypto will because this has the type of impact that electricity and the steam engine had in terms of productivity changes.“ by Joost de Valk
- “If you're already doing CPC, I take 10% of your CPC budget and allocate it to SEO and then start from there and see what happens.“ by Joost de Valk
- “The worst. Start looking at a very long list of technical things to fix and go from top to bottom and just spend months and months and months fixing things that really don't matter because the overall story is bad.“ by Joost de Valk
- “What makes a great developer lab brand is it's not just developer led. If I'd been the only one building yoast SEO, then we would have only optimized for SEOs and for developers who want very specific niche features all the time to do very specific things. And honestly, nobody cares.“ by Joost de Valk
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Episode Information
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Harry Stebbings
4/12/23
Joost De Valk is one of the OGs of SEO. As the Founder of Yoast, he scaled what was a side project plugin into a multi-million dollar business, used by 13 million sites and selling to Newfold Media in 2021. As one of the early SEO pioneers he is also an extremely coveted angel investor and invests through his company, Emilia Capital.
In Today's Episode with Joost De Valk We Discuss:
1. From Side Project to Multi-Million Dollar Business:
- Why and how did Joost create the first version of Yoast?
- When did he realise that this was not a side project and could be a big business?
- What does he know now that he wishes he had known when he started Yoast?
2. When, How and Why To Invest in SEO:
- When is the right time to invest in SEO?
- How should one determine how much budget to allocate to SEO?
- Once decided on budget, what are the first steps to investing in SEO?
- Which part of the org should SEO team specialists sit in?
- What are the biggest mistakes founders make when investing in SEO/
3. AI Changes The World of Context:
- How does AI change the way businesses create content?
- How can startups leverage AI to create and distribute more content for SEO?
- What are the biggest challenges/problems to leveraging AI for content creation?
4. Creating a Developer-Led Brand and Mastering PLG:
- What is the secret to creating the best developer-led brand?
- What are the biggest mistakes people make when marketing to developers?
- How does Joost navigate the balance between having enough value in a freemium product but also retaining enough value to be able to charge for the premium product?
- Is Joost concerned that budgets will revert back to CFOs and away from individual contributors with the financial downturn that is ensuing?