After 11 years, we’re closing Startups BCN, the Slack community we started in October 2015 to keep the conversation going between Startup Grind Barcelona events.

It grew to more than 2,000 members and became a direct line to founders, CTOs, investors and VCs across the Barcelona ecosystem. It brought us hires, freelancers, partner agencies, investments and even a family or two. After the pandemic, though, activity slowly faded. We put out an open call for someone to take it over, but no realistic plan came in, and handing over thousands of member emails wasn’t something we were willing to do.

In this episode, Àlex looks back at the whole story: how the community started, what it gave us, why it ended, and why it fits MarsBased’s “do less, but better” philosophy. He also talks about passing the baton on Startup Digest and Startup Grind Barcelona, and what it feels like when your side projects become more popular than your own company.

Thank you to everyone who was part of Startups BCN. 💜

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🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

How does a small 30-person development agency land work with global giants like HP, Ford, FC Barcelona, Moody’s, and Citadel Securities? In this episode of Building Marsbased, Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit, CEO and founder of Marsbased, shows the exact strategies used to negotiate, win, and maintain contracts with major corporate clients.

Àlex explains why the 5-year mark is a critical tipping point for enterprise trust, how an inbound marketing strategy and technical SEO bring enterprise leads directly to you without cold calling, and why saying no to massive deals early on can actually strengthen your reputation. The episode also covers navigating fast-track procurement, leveraging client acquisitions to unlock corporate contracts like Ford and Moody’s, and managing heavy administrative bureaucracy without exhausting your executive leadership team.

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🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/

Building a bootstrapped software consultancy comes with unique challenges, unexpected financial gaps, and hard-learned lessons. In this episode of the Building MarsBased series, Àlex Rodríguez Bacardit examines four significant errors that could have derailed the company but didn't. Most startups operate on a razor's edge, but MarsBased was built on financial independence and optionality, allowing the team to turn these costly setbacks into fundamental business lessons.

The discussion covers the financial reality of working with long-term clients who stop paying and how a 100k€ loss eventually paved the way for a more resilient partnership years later. It also explores the hidden costs of starting and stopping the hiring process too frequently and why bringing in a dedicated specialist changed the company's growth trajectory.

Àlex also addresses the "unreasonable frugality" that often leads founders to wait too long before hiring operations and management roles. Finally, the episode details the importance of regular pricing reviews and how moving to auto-renewing contracts eliminated constant administrative friction. This is an in-depth look at building a healthy, sustainable business by learning to manage the mistakes that are often unavoidable in the early years.

Support the show

🎬 You can watch the video of this episode on the Life on Mars podcast website: https://podcast.marsbased.com/