POD 59 - Layoffs, Meetups & Community - with Chris Skitch

POD 59 - Layoffs, Meetups & Community - with Chris Skitch

Chris Skitch is a Webflow Global Leader and the host of the London Webflow Meetup, the largest in-person Webflow meetup in the world. In this episode, we talk about the Webflow layoffs and what they might mean for the community, how Chris started the London meetup after feeling the absence of in-person connection post-COVID, what makes a meetup worth showing up to every month, and why community might matter more right now than it has in a while. Chris also flips the script and asks me a few questions, which doesn't happen often. Check out Chris and London Webflow Meetup: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cskitch/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/cskitch/] @ChrisSkitch [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCXtorSj9OatvuNwqbqzIVXg] @WebflowLDN [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UClkNL2sE6AD93euMXT3GW1A] https://www.meetup.com/london-webflow-monthly-meetup/ [https://www.meetup.com/london-webflow-monthly-meetup/] Also mentioned: Linda Tong (Webflow CEO) [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lktong/] Jimmy Elphick [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmyelphick/] Matt Evans Episode [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6yamwGa9vk] Jack Redley Episode [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSDZnCQ2nmk] Nelson (Pixelgeek) Episode [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDcaZlGmLmc] Timothy Ricks [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCv7GaKrmF2BBLN1dSrNFwHQ] Timestamps: 00:00 Teaser 00:24 When Layoff News Broke 05:35 Layoffs Speculations 10:23 Quick History Lesson 14:18 More Speculation about Layoffs 19:38 Intros and Chris Becoming a Community Person 29:43 Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere 35:58 The Impact of COVID on Community Engagement 41:22 How to Start Your Own Meetup 48:55 The Future of Webflow and Community 53:29 Will Webflow Do More Than Just Websites? 56:39 The Complexity of Community Engagement 59:07 Nostalgia and the Evolution of Webflow 01:03:09 Chris Interviewing Janne 01:11:18 The Weird Aussie Thing 01:13:29 The Weird Finnish Thing

POD 58 - How To Build a Webflow Powerhouse in India - with Himanshu Sahu (Flowtrix)

In this episode I sit down with Himanshu Sahu, founder and CEO of Flowtrix, a Webflow Enterprise partner agency based in Bengaluru, India. We talk about why Indian Webflow agencies stay invisible globally even though so much of the work runs through India, how Himanshu landed his first enterprise clients including Amazon and Wayground, and the sales process he's built for high-ticket deals. We also get into inbound vs outbound, how he cracked SEO and AEO for his own site, the recent Webflow pricing and bandwidth changes, when to pick Webflow vs Framer, and why he's building his own headless CMS because he sees Webflow becoming a bottleneck for fast Figma-to-site workflows. Flowtrix is a Webflow and Framer Enterprise-certified website design and development agency based in Bengaluru, India. They specialize in building and revamping high-converting marketing websites for B2B SaaS, AI, and enterprise technology companies. Check out Himanshu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/himanshusahuin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/himanshusahuin] www.flowtrix.co [https://www.flowtrix.co] www.bettercms.ai [https://www.bettercms.ai] Check out Flowtrix: www.flowtrix.co [https://www.flowtrix.co] https://www.instagram.com/flowtrix.co [https://www.instagram.com/flowtrix.co] https://in.linkedin.com/company/flowtrix [https://in.linkedin.com/company/flowtrix] Also mentioned: CMS Himanshu is building - www.bettercms.ai [https://www.bettercms.ai] Amazon Signage Case Study - https://www.flowtrix.co/case-studies/amazon-signage [https://www.flowtrix.co/case-studies/amazon-signage] Wayground Case Study - https://www.flowtrix.co/case-studies/wayground [https://www.flowtrix.co/case-studies/wayground] Payload CMS - https://payloadcms.com [https://payloadcms.com] Sanity - https://www.sanity.io [https://www.sanity.io] Strapi - https://strapi.io [https://strapi.io] FlowDrive - https://tryflowdrive.com/ [https://tryflowdrive.com/] BunnyCDN - https://bunny.net [https://bunny.net] Weglot - https://www.weglot.com/ [https://www.weglot.com/] Timestamps 00:00 teaser 00:27 The Marketing Challenge for Indian Webflow Agencies 03:09 Who is Himanshu Sahu? 05:09 How Did Himanshu Get Clients? 08:12 What is Himanshu's Current Role at Flowtrix? 11:50 Himanshu's Approach to Sales 15:45 Marketing Strategies 18:48 AEO Tactics on Flowtrix Site 21:13 More AEO Talk 24:08 Localization and Tools for That 30:26 Pricing Changes in Webflow 34:53 Choosing Between Webflow and Framer 39:25 The Impact of AI on Agency Work 42:56 Building a Better CMS for Marketers 54:27 Vibe Coding as a Webflow Alternative 01:04:55 Webflow Culture in India 01:12:33 The Importance of Upskilling in Development 01:14:43 The Weird Finnish Thing

POD 57 - On Webflow nostalgia, vibe coding, and starting over - with Nelson Abalos Jr

In this episode I sit down with Nelson Abalos Jr, also known as Pixel Geek, who many of us remember from the old Webflow tutorial days. We talk about what the Webflow community used to feel like, why that tight knit feeling probably isn't coming back, and what small pockets of community can still do. Nelson opens up about leaving Webflow, starting That One Couple with his wife, and the rough stretch where he almost walked away from tech entirely. We get into vibe coding with Replit, what AI is actually good at, and where it still falls short, including his honest take on the Webflow MCP. Nelson also shares the story behind NovaUp, the micro journaling app he built to climb out of a personal low point, and why he wants it to be the app you only open once a week. Check out Nelson: @pixelgeek on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@pixelgeek] https://x.com/thepixelgeek [https://x.com/thepixelgeek] https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsonabalosjr/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelsonabalosjr/] https://www.thatonecouple.com/ [https://www.thatonecouple.com/] https://novaup.app/ [https://novaup.app/] Also mentioned: That One Couple - https://www.thatonecouple.com/ [https://www.thatonecouple.com/] NovaUp app - https://novaup.app/ [https://novaup.app/] Sabrina Jeffries site - https://www.sabrinajeffries.com/ [https://www.sabrinajeffries.com/] Replit - @replit on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@replit] - https://replit.com/ [https://replit.com/] Raymmar Tirado - @Raymmar on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@Raymmar] MagicPath - https://www.magicpath.ai/ [https://www.magicpath.ai/] Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) - @mkbhd on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@mkbhd] Timestamps 00:00 teaser 00:24 Nostalgia for the Webflow Community 06:32 Nelson's Transition from Webflow to New Ventures 12:08 Building a Business with a Spouse 16:40 Crafting Unique Client Stories 19:30 Focusing on Women and Minority-Owned Businesses 22:57 Introducing NovaUp: A Micro-Journaling App 29:17 Learning from Vibe Coding and AI Tools 33:27 Webflow MCP 39:56 Simple and Editable Webflow Builds 46:10 Design Control in Replit 48:52 Coping with Industry Changes 54:34 Future of Nova Up App 59:45 Vibecoding Mobile Apps and Storing Data 01:05:32 Should Everyone Try Vibecoding? 01:09:02 Final Thoughts on AI and Development 01:11:00 The Weird Finnish Thing

POD 56 - Making sense of AEO - with Yar Al Roshidi

In this episode I sit down with Yar Al Roshidi to make sense of AEO, or answer engine optimization. Yar is a Webflow partner based in Barcelona who has been focusing on AEO and is moving back to freelancing full-time to work on it. We get into what AEO actually is, how it relates to traditional SEO, and why your website is only about 20% of the game while the other 80% happens off-site. We talk about content structure, schema markups, why Webflow has approx. 2% CMS market share but shows up in 64% of CMS-related AI searches, and how to measure something that is still mostly a black box. We also cover the difference between Webflow and tools like Lovable when it comes to AEO, the role of YouTube and Reddit in building authority, the latest Webflow MCP updates, and what Yar is planning with his own freelance services. Honest conversation about a topic where nobody is really an expert yet. Check out Yar: https://yar.website/ [https://yar.website/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaroshidi/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaroshidi/] Also mentioned: Webflow AEO Playbook - https://webflow.com/resources/ebooks/aeo-playbook [https://webflow.com/resources/ebooks/aeo-playbook] Webflow AEO Maturity Model - https://webflow.com/solutions/aeo [https://webflow.com/solutions/aeo] Schema Markup Validator - https://validator.schema.org/ [https://validator.schema.org/] Noco (Agency) - https://noco.agency/ [https://noco.agency/] Lovable - https://lovable.dev [https://lovable.dev] Lovable HTML - https://lovablehtml.com/ [https://lovablehtml.com/] Firecrawl - https://www.firecrawl.dev/ [https://www.firecrawl.dev/] Webflow MCP - https://developers.webflow.com/mcp/reference/overview [https://developers.webflow.com/mcp/reference/overview] Claude - https://claude.com [https://claude.com] Timestamps 00:00 teaser 00:44 Webflow's AEO Strategy and Market Positioning 05:23 Why AEO matters? 09:30 How do you know if AEO is working? 15:52 Why Schema Markup is important? 22:14 How to Build Authority? 24:02 Measuring AEO success 28:18 How to Make Lovable AEO Friendly? 32:21 Future Trends in AEO and Local Search Optimization 38:08 Enhancing Local Digital Presence 40:20 How Does Language Affect AEO? 45:25 How Does Yar Use the Webflow MCP? 49:22 Yar's Announcement and Future Endeavours 51:29 YouTube Videos for AEO? 53:54 Reddit for AEO 56:22 Yar's Future Plans and Service Offerings 01:01:12 The Role of Content in AEO 01:06:12 Final Thoughts on AEO and Digital Presence 01:07:47 The Weird Finnish Thing

POD 55 - Building a Lean Studio in a Bloated Industry - with Ben Hammond

In this episode, I sit down with Ben Hammond, founder of Shrink Studio, a Webflow premium partner based in London. Ben works with venture-backed B2B teams at seed, Series A, and Series B. We talk about why so much of the agency world has become bloated, what a lean studio actually looks like in practice, and how Ben structures Shrink around discovery, development, and optimization. We get into senior-only teams, sprint-based development, why frameworks are starting points and not religion, his take on MAST and component-first builds, and how he thinks about handover. We also cover his outbound process for finding venture-backed clients, how AI is changing the agency model, and where AEO fits into the work going forward. Check out Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bybenhammond/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bybenhammond/] https://www.shrink.studio/ [https://www.shrink.studio/] Also mentioned: Corey Moen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreymoen/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreymoen/] Alessia Sannazzaro - @ale_sannazzaro [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCjNCrinLrA755SAV2tNZZdg] Dan Foster - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfoster29/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfoster29/] Uroš Mikić - @UrosMikicFlowNinja [https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCSjNKGtXjd6FEgc4oj4zn2g] Episode with Nathan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4SjwOYYps8 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4SjwOYYps8] Episode with Mason - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0XxH4ZsXH0 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0XxH4ZsXH0] MAST Framework - https://www.nocodesupply.co/mast/docs [https://www.nocodesupply.co/mast/docs] Finsweet Attributes - https://finsweet.com/attributes [https://finsweet.com/attributes] PostHog - https://posthog.com/ [https://posthog.com/]