Kris Priemer

14: Stop Fixing Every Bug (And Let Claude Handle the Rest)

August 3rd, 2026  |  42 mins 6 secs

John and Kris cover a lot of ground, from a health scare that rewired how John thinks about who deserves his time, to building an AI watchdog that redeploys servers in the middle of the night so he doesn't have to. Plus: coworking office strategy, new category thinking, personality and appearance, and a deep dive into the tools actually moving the needle right now.

Bonus Episode: Open Loops, Hiring Pains, and Not Quitting

June 24th, 2026  |  30 mins 14 secs

A previously lost episode, finally found. John and Kris get into the real stuff: the mental weight of too many open loops, why hiring in person is harder than hiring online, and what it actually costs to be a yes-person when your time is finite. Raw, honest, and worth the wait.

13: Running on Empty: Burning Out, Finding Margin, and Growing on Purpose

June 10th, 2026  |  35 mins 54 secs

Kris and John get real about the chaos of mid-spring: juggling multiple businesses, hiring pressure, and zero mental margin. They talk about the surprising value of intentional growth limits, a clever low-tech solution to a Momentum food problem, and what a road trip playlist taught John about B2B sales. Plus: the book Essentialism, the Physics of Startups podcast, and why growing your business bigger isn't always the point.

12: Chest Tight, Calendar Full: Finding the Off Switch in a Season of Growth - Ep. 12

May 13th, 2026  |  38 mins 40 secs

Kris and John get real about the cost of relentless momentum: tight chests, no mental space, and the sneaky way AI enthusiasm can tip into burnout. They also share genuine wins: a South by Southwest trip that reignited event ambitions, a geo-SEO tool that audits your AI visibility in minutes, and a breakthrough idea about giving LLMs a way to verify their own work.

11: Ship It Fast, Fix It Later - The New SaaS Playbook

April 17th, 2026  |  27 mins 6 secs

entrepreneurship, indiehacker, podcasting, saas, startuplife

From a coworking space without water to shipping a feature before the customer expected it, this episode is a real look at what entrepreneurship actually feels like week to week.

10: The Neo Moment

March 23rd, 2026  |  30 mins 17 secs

John goes all-in on Claude Supermax and discovers he can push 3-4 products forward at once. Kris recommends Opus for vertical video clips. Plus: Speaker Deck links finally ship after a year, Flipper Expressions land, and both share goals for the new year.

9: Back in the Studio: A Summer Break, Big Plans, and Momentum

November 24th, 2025  |  24 mins 20 secs

John and Kris are finally back behind the mics after a long summer full of family time, construction dust, and launching a brand-new entrepreneurship hub in South Bend. They catch up on what the past year of owning Fireside has really looked like—expectations, reality, infrastructure fixes, swag shipping, and dreaming ahead. It’s a warm, relaxed episode that feels like sitting in on friends regrouping and gearing up for what's next.

8: The SaaS Checkup: What You Should Audit Every Year (But Probably Don’t)

May 13th, 2025  |  47 mins 24 secs

John, Kris, and Garrett sit down for a deep dive into what a regular “SaaS physical” should look like. From onboarding emails to customer segmentation and pricing strategy, they break down the checkups every founder should be doing—but rarely are.

7: Stop drowning in tasks, start buying back your time

March 21st, 2025  |  47 mins 16 secs

books, outsourcing, productivity

In this episode, John and Kris dive into the lessons from the book Buy Back Your Time. They discuss why founders should focus on outsourcing, the power of playbooks, and how small changes can reclaim massive amounts of time.

6: The Art of Sharing Knowledge in Teams

March 10th, 2025  |  28 mins 9 secs

ai, documentation

John, Kris, and Garrett dive into the challenge of capturing, organizing, and sharing company knowledge. From technical documentation to internal playbooks and video walkthroughs, they explore the best ways to ensure critical information doesn’t get lost.

5: Tech Wins & Hiring Woes: How to Communicate, Celebrate, and Find the Right People

February 5th, 2025  |  41 mins 12 secs

hiring, upgrades

In this episode, John, Kris, and Garrett dive into the challenge of celebrating technical wins in a way that customers actually care about. They discuss strategies for communicating backend improvements, striking the right balance between technical and non-technical messaging, and how to keep customers engaged. Later, they shift gears to hiring, sharing their experiences with evaluating talent, the pitfalls of remote hiring, and the importance of culture in a growing team.

4: Black Friday Reflections and New Year Opportunities

January 9th, 2025  |  44 mins 29 secs

John, Kris, and Garrett reflect on Black Friday campaigns and explore how SaaS businesses can better align promotions with customer needs. They also dive into backend improvements, strategic priorities for Fireside, and the psychology behind motivating customers to start and sustain new projects.

3: Mastering Prioritization in SaaS

December 24th, 2024  |  36 mins 45 secs

In this episode, John, Kris, and Garrett dive into the challenges of prioritization in SaaS entrepreneurship. They share their personal experiences managing multiple businesses, navigating technical upgrades, juggling marketing, and staying productive without burning out.

2: Making Podcasting Less of a Pain

December 17th, 2024  |  25 mins 5 secs

The team discusses challenges in podcast production, including editing friction, YouTube integration, and customer feedback. They share ideas for simplifying workflows and highlight recent improvements to Fireside.fm, making podcasting more accessible and efficient.

1: Drinking Our Own Champagne

November 9th, 2024  |  32 mins 8 secs

In this debut episode of Standing in the Fire, hosts John Nunemaker, Garrett Dimon, and Kristopher Priemer introduce themselves and share their vision for Fireside.fm, a podcast hosting and analytics platform. They discuss their motivations for launching the podcast, their backgrounds in SaaS development, marketing, and consulting, and the unique journey of transitioning from consulting to running a SaaS business.