In this episode, Andrew and Sean talk about Halloween plans and Sean's decision to kill Stackwise. Meanwhile, Sean has launched two new free tools in the last week! The guys talk about how he did it and what his goals are for both of them. Then they spend the rest of the episode brainstorming marketing ideas for MetaMonster. Links: Andrew’s Twitter…

In this episode, Sean discusses the challenges he is facing (and his new momentum) with his project Stackwise, including finding the right developer and getting the project scope defined. He talks about discovering a no-code tool called Subframe that has helped streamline his design process. Andrew shares his progress building the MetaMonster websi…

In this episode Andrew tries to pick a CMS for the new MetaMonster website and talks about his dream solution. Then the guys talk about their ideal consulting businesses. Meanwhile Sean is feeling frustrated by how slow his projects are moving, and wishes he could focus on them fulltime for a bit. They also touch on the difficulties of balancing at…

Sean just got back from two weeks in Korea and Japan. His trip got derailed when he had to jump in to put out fires and finish some Webflow dev work for a client. He and Andrew talk about the challenges of removing yourself from the day-to-day as an agency owner and how to balance work and time off. Andrew gives an update on the client work he's do…

In this episode, Andrew and Sean got hit up by someone clearly using Podscan... again! They talk about it, then Andrew shares details about his recent trip to Mexico City, including highlights like a hot air balloon ride over the pyramids and an exciting Lucha Libre wrestling match. Sean provides an update on Stackwise, discussing the data sources …

Note: This episode was supposed to come out a couple of weeks ago. But Andrew forgot to attach the audio file when he went to publish, so it's just been sitting in our podcast hosting software. Sorry about that. In this episode, Andrew and Sean dig into Paul Graham's founder mode essay that has gone viral in the past couple of weeks. Spoiler alert:…

In this episode, Andrew talks about his upcoming trip to Mexico City, which started as a potential plan to live there but has evolved into a working vacation. Sean talks about recent challenges in his agency, including team members getting sick after conferences and some project misfires with smaller clients. Andrew then gives an update on the luke…

In this episode, Sean gives a recap on shirt sales, his annual Korean BBQ dinner, and more from DEF CON. Andrew shares some feedback he got from the client project he's been working on, and dives into the early results he's seeing from running Google Ads for ChartJuice. Andrew reveals his latest mile times from his half marathon training, and the g…

Sean is exhausted because he has so many inbound emails from prospective clients he doesn't have time to answer them all. Meanwhile, Andrew is trying to buckle down and get Stripe built into ChartJuice so he can start advertising and collecting payments. Sean and Andrew talk about how the consulting project is going, and Sean has to rain Andrew in …

Season 2: Episode 5 In this episode Sean talks about being buried in client work at Miscreants and how to design trendy clothing that gets people hyped. Meanwhile, Andrew talks about making slow progress on ChartJuice and trying to fight the temptation to become an SEO content goblin. Links: Andrew’s Twitter: @AndrewAskins Andrew's website: https:/…

Season 2: Episode 4 Did you know AI really loves the word delve? Sean and Andrew can't help starting the pod off with a little more AI talk. Then they get into Sean's new product he's working on. Meanwhile Andrew is putting aside his IDE and starting to shift his focus to marketing and selling ChartJuice. He talks about using Flow.club to focus and…

Season 2: Episode 3 It's a Small Efforts Double Header! We were late getting this episode out, so we decided to go ahead and publish two weeks of episodes at once. In this episode Andrew is coming straight from a tattoo session, and talks about fighting bugs with ChartJuice. Meanwhile, Sean has gotten over 300 APPLICATIONS to his open job post, alm…

Season 2: Episode 2 It's a Small Efforts Double Header! We were late getting this episode out, so we decided to go ahead and publish two weeks of episodes at once. In this episode Andrew talks about quietly pushing ChartJuice live, and raves about his new favorite podcast. Meanwhile Sean drops some knowledge about the intricacies of swag supply cha…

Andrew and Sean are back for Season 2! In Season 2 they'll get transparent about the highs and lows of building their businesses (with plenty of goofing around too). Same concept, new businesses. In this episode we recap WHERE THE HELL WE'VE BEEN FOR TWO YEARS. Plus we talk about the projects we're working on now, how to market and validate Andrew'…

(0:24) This is officially a rock climbing podcast (8:15) Andrew and Sean's gardens have attracted guests (12:59) Sean lowkey needs another break (25:10) Miscreants is doing a collection drop at DEFCON (29:56) Rebranding is like creating a religion but without Kool-Aid Thanks for listening to Small Efforts, a podcast collaboration between Krit and M…

(0:27) There’s a parallel universe where Andrew’s life revolves around photography (8:34) Sean is suspicious as hell (17:31) The real reason why so many CEOs are super fucking into meditation (26:31) Andrew and Sean’s bi-weekly book club chat (34:29) Your lawyer career doesn’t mean shit if you can’t work on your streetwear brand Thanks for listenin…

(0:25) The difference between Andrew and Sean is that Sean is extra delusional (6:27) Sales feels like throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks (17:23) Either the channels depend on the day, or different channels work during different times (24:32) Giving constraints encourages creativity, not stifles it (34:21) Andrew and Sean are both tra…

(0:22) Getting experience is all about putting in the reps (9:09) It’s easy judging a designer by their portfolio. A PM by their resume? Not so much. (18:58) It’s mad hard building a leadership team (27:12) Commission vs. Salary: We’re undecided on which one’s better (37:03) If Krit didn’t exist, Andrew would definitely have an SEO marketing agency…

(0:22) Sean was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and that’s OK (5:58) I’m not undisciplined, mom—I’m just wired differently (10:16) Wages as a CEO: How much should you compensate yourself? (20:21) Stocks are steady, but business is more rewarding (26:53) Sometimes, it’s the stupid risks that pay off (so go sponsor that esports team) (30:36) Personal n…

(0:27) It’s good to have a playbook in case you get hit by a bus tomorrow (6:19) You can’t have a great process if you don’t iterate or communicate (11:31) The more granular you get, the more you get bogged down by the rules (18:14) Awesome employees + no rules = chaos (23:17) The client does have the final decision, but it’s sad if you just act li…

(0:27) The Tale of Two Founders: the Technical One and the Sales and Marketing One (6:58) Sean is Andrew’s new therapist (13:39) Letting go of your Legos is harder than it looks (17:48) Hot Take: Social media memers don’t make for good marketing directors (23:32) Sean is like a laptop with too many Chrome tabs open: constantly getting drained (29:5…

(0:27) Andrew got roped into volunteering with a local high school robotics team (4:12) It’s mad hard to hire a product designer (10:59) One does not simply get hired because one uses hamburger menus (20:22) There’s always a weird rift between international and domestic employees (28:38) How do you keep your employees happy when you can’t give them…

(0:27) Andrew got his first snow boots ever, and Sean is terrified of surfboarding (4:36) Sean wishes he had an office-office, and Andrew's looking to hire a product designer (10:14) Andrew’s new pitch: a low-cost, automated recruiting service with a flat fee (19:58) There are many great online job boards out there, but Ziprecruiter is not one of t…

(0:27) Andrew’s never been to Disney World, and Sean’s surrounded by cat owners (5:18) Domain names are like gym memberships: you should take them seriously (10:38) People are scrambling to figure out how to close that lead gap, and that’s fair (15:40) A less boring alternative to white papers: interactive microsites (19:48) No time for microsites?…

(0:25) Andrew and Sean are going to play a game (2:57) Microcopy: the little bits of texts that can make a huge splash (7:48) Accessibility: it’s just good design (10:18) Andrew wants tooltip walk-throughs to burn in Hell (14:05) Not all product analytics is created equally (20:03) Why do people have a customer support robot when it takes hours to …

(0:27) Andrew hopes he's resilient to SAD because he has plenty of other mental anguish (3:29) Culture and Business: Only having awesome culture doesn't put food on the table (15:58) Miscreants just launched three freaking projects back to back (19:09) Appealing to Emotions 101: Emphasize with pain (21:33) If you think figuring out your niche is ha…

(0:27) Running an agency is like leading geese while not knowing where you're going (5:45) Holidays While Remote: Having fun traditional office stuff is hard (9:11) Miscreants’ Black Friday merch sales were so high that Sean became a folding master (11:56) The hardest part of having a newsletter is making it (15:05) Krit learned some interesting th…

(0:27) Krit (sort of) got hacked (7:21) One does not simply tell employees and clients that one got hacked (13:23) Two Types of Recruiters: Those who “spam the shit out of everybody,” and those who build relationships (18:31) “Holidays are tough” (23:47) It’s hard juggling days off while pushing against stagnation (26:54) Selling butts in a seat is…

(0:27) Andrew, Sean, and another Andrew (7:24) Getting ahold of the people you want and don't want to get to (11:30) Crossing the chasm: Getting rid of collection bias and positioning yourself better (16:15) Leading people who work for the people who work for you (20:15) The Difference Between Therapists and Executive Coaches: One tells you to shut…

(0:27) Andrew has a cat named Stevie Nicks, and Sean’s cold and stressed in LA (3:17) Krit has officially launched one of its non-security clients (5:47) Sean’s New Pitch: Soundtracks based on interviews (8:27) Remixing and Repurposing Old Content: Why build from scratch when you have a foundation? (11:22) Running Remotely: How do you make your com…

(0:21) The Yin and Yang of Running an Agency: How much can you control? (7:42) LinkedIn Marketing is free game (11:21) Onboarding Plans: Unexpectedly hard to develop (18:01) Andrew and Sean have a graveyard for domain names of projects they’ve abandoned (25:30) Some projects are very, very dead (30:57) And some were shot dead before they took off (…

(0:29) Andrew’s cat, Po’ Boy’s, new friend: a cat named Danger (work-in-title) (2:49) ​​Security Companies: Why so many ‘S’ names? (8:12) Hiring Notice: Sean’s still looking for a Project Manager (10:56) Hiring Notice: So, Sean’s really looking for a Producer/Project Manager (14:36) Getting referrals for Design People from Tech People isn’t the gre…

(0:27) Irvine's sunsets are crazy and Detroit's EDM scene is wild (4:50) ​​Andrew's kicking off his interview series Product People (7:41) Sean is a fanboy of Return on Security (10:20) It's not all about the VC outreach (12:19) Product Management is such a weird industry (19:50) There aren't many good online security communities for intermediates …

(0:27) Laptops and remote work go hand in hand (3:27) But Sean and Andrew are not about that digital nomad life (6:10) Setting the right goals is a constant struggle (8:24) Andrew's therapist is a surprisingly awesome business coach (11:35) Time Measurement: Think about your to-dos, but don't go super, super in detail (14:03) Andrew shares some of …

(0:27) Sean doesn't know how to pronounce "Michelob" (1:12) Andrew and Sean’s Relationship: It’s been a long two years, man (4:37) Andrew and Sean are pretty much risking their lives to be at DEF CON (14:30) It can be mad hard to sell B2B tech products (17:57) Connections in Security: It can help with even the most unrelated things (20:43) Choosing…

(0:25) Getting out of a Funk: It's hard to stop feeling scattered (8:17) Zoom fatigue is real (9:22) Andrew's gotten really into rock climbing recently (13:12) Sean tries to pitch liquid chalk (16:28) Tensions Within Security Twitter: We need to express more empathy (20:15) The beverage and security industries are kinda related (23:34) Andrew pitch…

In episode 2, we talk about the new MITRE D3FEND framework and an internal project at Krit to answer the question, "What defines good design in InfoSec?" We also touch on marketing strategy, learning not to overcommit, expanding your team, camping, and exit plans. (0:21) Andrew is giving Sean major FOMO. (3:04) An empty office: You don’t know what …

(0:22) Case Studies: Timing Case Studies can be mad hard. (1:57) What Andrew is doing for lead gen. (2:57) Hiring Notice: Andrew's looking to hire some accountability to keep his writing on track. (5:23) Connecting with people in security should be organic. (8:59) Someone owes me a Chick-Fil-A: Motivating your co-host by bribing them with Chick-Fil…

Small Efforts is a podcast about cybersecurity, design, and the continuous small efforts it takes to build a business. Join hosts Sean Sun (founder of Miscreants) and Andrew Askins (founder of Krit) as they share the ups and downs of growing design agencies in the cybersecurity industry. Sean knows a lot about cybersecurity, Andrew knows a lot abou…