The Entrepreneurial Coder Podcast

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Noah Labhart shares how he moved from corporate America into entrepreneurship, building TouchTap as a services company and co-founding Variable, a manufacturing labor marketplace now operating across 10 states. He also explains why he created Code Story, a produced tech podcast focused on narrative and tension. Across the conversation, he emphasizes starting small, learning by doing, hiring carefully, and building products and teams step by step.

Main Topics: From corporate America to entrepreneurship (Priority: 5/5): Noah describes leaving a stable corporate role after years of feeling unfulfilled, leveraging his software background to launch TouchTap and later Variable. Launching and scaling Variable (Priority: 5/5): He explains Variable’s origin as an on-demand manufacturing labor marketplace, the early prototype/pilot process, and how the product evolved into a broader labor intelligence platform. Podcasting as a produced storytelling medium (Priority: 4/5): Noah discusses Code Story as a hybrid interview/produced podcast that adds narration and music to create emotional tension and a more cinematic tech story. Advice for starting a podcast or startup (Priority: 4/5): He recommends starting with low-cost tools, recording quickly, and iterating through reps rather than over-planning equipment or production. Learning from failure and underbidding (Priority: 5/5): Noah shares an early agency-project failure where he underestimated scope and pricing, leading to lost money and a reset in how he approached client work and business-building. Hiring, autonomy, and team quality (Priority: 5/5): He stresses that team quality is central to product quality, advocating for slow hiring, fast firing, and screening candidates through collaborative problem-solving.

Key Arguments: Start before you feel ready: resources are abundant, so the best way to begin a podcast or startup is to make something and iterate. Low-cost experimentation reduces risk: using a phone or simple tools helps validate interest before investing heavily in gear or infrastructure. Marketplace businesses require solving two-sided adoption: Variable had to attract workers and businesses, with the demand-side requiring significant education. Pricing and scope discipline matter: underbidding and undersizing a project can destroy profitability and damage delivery. Strong teams are a startup’s main quality control mechanism: hiring the right people matters more than relying on process alone. Autonomy works only with the right people: Noah believes in giving developers freedom, but only when they demonstrate ownership and fit. Steady step-by-step growth beats overreach: businesses should focus on the next solvable step rather than trying to scale beyond their current capacity. Entrepreneurship is easier when aligned with existing skills: Noah chose software and product work because he already knew how to execute in that domain.

Data Points: Corporate America tenure: 8 years - Noah worked in corporate America before leaving to start his own business. TouchTap launch date: April 2015 - He founded TouchTap after leaving corporate work. TouchTap contractor count: 10 to 15 contractors - At its height, TouchTap used a handful of contractors on projects. Variable first product launch: February 2017 - The company launched its first product after an early prototype and pilot phase. Variable first transaction date: February 13, 2017 - Noah says this is when they processed their first operation. Variable geographic reach: 10 states - He says Variable is active in 10 states and expanding into the Midwest. Variable team size: 70 to 80 people - Current company size mentioned during the interview. Tech team size at Variable: 12 engineers - Noah notes he has a tech team of 12 engineers. Prototype build time: 3 months - He says the first prototype took about three months to build. Pilot build time: 3 to 6 months - He estimates the pilot phase also took several months before launch. Entrepreneurial lead time before leaving corporate job: about 1 year talking, then about 4 months preparing to leave - He and his wife discussed the move for about a year, then spent several months preparing finances.

Pivotal Quotes: "just do it, just do it. And don't produce it, but produce the content" — Noah Labhart: His core advice for people wanting to start a podcast or similar creative project. "work for full price or work for free. Don't work in between." — Noah Labhart: He cites this as a lesson learned after underbidding an early client project. "I had to fix it live on site" — Noah Labhart: He describes the first Variable transaction, which broke and had to be repaired at a warehouse.

Implications: Listeners should expect entrepreneurial success to come from iteration, not perfection. The episode suggests that in startups and podcasts alike, execution, feedback, hiring quality, and scope discipline matter more than flashy launch plans.