Laura Roeder makes enough.

I can’t stop thinking about my lunch with Laura Roeder.

She makes over six figures in profit. She traveled the world with her family last year. She has zero employees. She discourages people from posting about their personal lives in their Slack. And she told me that with her business, she makes enough.

That last part is the one that stuck with me. So many of us just want more growth, more users, the if you’re not growing you’re dying attitude. In reality it’s never so dark, and the pursuit of more creates a lack of enjoying the overall balance of life. I struggle with this big time.

Zero employees, zero meetings

The other parts of what she’s doing are very forward thinking.

She was adamant about not having any full time employees. But she hires well. Her support team is ex-37signals (Basecamp), and they are extremely autonomous.

That support team is also responsible for driving revenue. They host monthly sales calls with new signups. And they help drive the product roadmap based on which questions come in to support. Both of those turn a normal cost center into something super powerful.

They also do zero meetings. It’s all async. How relieving and inspiring that sounds. Refreshing.

She discourages family posts in Slack, not because she’s mean, but because her work life is professional. I think this is going to be a bigger trend. As remote became popular, we all overcompensated with baby photos, life updates, birthday celebrations. In reality your friends are your friends. You want to like and respect your coworkers, and it’s okay if they are not your friends.

And she only focuses on a very niche audience. Paperbell helps online coaches run their businesses. That’s it.

Japan for a few months, Brighton the rest

She lived in Japan for a few months, lives mostly in Brighton in the UK, and took her two kids with her the whole way. That is such an awesome way of living.

The startup world makes me feel, at times, like the point is to make money so you can make more money. Then I think about my two daughters. Living, traveling, finding a healthy balance. Versus looking back at my life with followers, money, subscribers, or things that don’t matter on your death bed.

Enough

She said it in passing. She makes enough.

Most of my hyper successful friends are bored or unhappy if they are not growing insanely fast. It’s discouraging in a world where you “should” be at $100M ARR in three months. That’s not bad either. But I love and respect Laura for knowing what’s enough and getting the most out of life.

Laura makes enough. I’m still working on it.

Laura was on episode 349 of my podcast in 2024, Spotify or Apple Podcasts, on how she built a 7-figure business with no employees. This lunch was the update.