In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Anthony Sapountzis is joined by Ross Chaldecott, a seasoned product leader and the Co-Founder & CEO of Kinde. With a background spanning key leadership roles at Atlassian, Shopify, and Campaign Monitor, Ross brings a wealth of insight into building impactful tech businesses. At Kinde, he’s on a mission to remove the burdens of repetitive infrastructure—like authenticationAuthentication is sometimes used interchangeably with authorization. However, they provide two different services or features to any system you are... and billing—so founders can focus on what truly matters: delivering value. Ross shares how his own entrepreneurial journey, combined with decades of experience in scaling global tech companies, led to the creation of Kinde: a platform designed to simplify SaaSThe term SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is an evolution of an application that runs on the... development and empower a new wave of product creators.
Ross traces the roots of Kinde back to his early days as a founder in the late 1990s, where he encountered the same problem time and again: getting bogged down in building infrastructure instead of actual products. This challenge resurfaced even at tech giants like Atlassian and Shopify, where infrastructure complexities slowed down progress. These experiences crystallised Ross’s vision to build a platform that could abstract away these headaches for SaaSThe term SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is an evolution of an application that runs on the... businesses, much like Shopify does for e-commerce. Kinde was born to give founders a genuine head start by handling the “boilerplate” code, allowing them to focus on innovation instead of plumbing.
The conversation dives deep into what sets Kinde apart in a crowded landscape of tools like Firebase, Auth0, Supabase, and Stripe. Rather than specialising in just one function, Kinde integrates authenticationAuthentication is sometimes used interchangeably with authorization. However, they provide two different services or features to any system you are..., billing, and entitlements into a cohesive infrastructure layer. This fusion enables SaaSThe term SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is an evolution of an application that runs on the... teams to manage subscriptions, user permissions, and tiered access without the typical complexity of stitching together multiple services. Anthony validates this value proposition through his own development experience, and Ross reveals that anticipation around Kinde’s new billing product is immense and how developers see it as the missing link they’ve long needed.
Cultural foundations are equally critical to Kinde’s success. Ross shares how the company draws from lessons learned at Atlassian and Shopify to prioritise transparency, autonomy, and values-driven leadership. From giving every employee equity to embedding values in hiring and pricing decisions, Kinde operates with intentionality. Keeping the team small and nimble has also enabled them to move with speed and precision. With guidance from industry veterans and a clear strategic vision, Ross emphasises that asking for help and surrounding yourself with people who genuinely care—can be one of a founder’s greatest strengths.
The episode wraps with a look ahead at what’s next for Kinde. The team is focused on launching its billing module and expanding the platform’s extensibility with webhooks, workflows, and eventually a full-fledged marketplace. Ross also discusses the company’s nuanced use of AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through...: while it boosts productivity and supports prototyping, it’s not yet a substitute for experienced engineers when building robust infrastructure. And finally, he shares the quirky story behind the brand’s name “Kinde” with an “e”, explaining that the ambiguity is intentional and reflects the team’s ethos of staying curious and playful, or as their core value puts it: “Stay Foolish.”
Topics Covered
- The origin story of Kinde
- Eliminating boilerplate infrastructure for SaaSThe term SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is an evolution of an application that runs on the... founders
- Differentiating from Firebase, Auth0, Supabase, and Stripe
- Lessons from Atlassian and Shopify
- Building high-performance, values-driven teams
- Structuring small, autonomous teams with domain ownership
- Navigating startup funding and board responsibilities
- The role and limitations of AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... in product development
- Kinde’s future roadmap: billing, extensibility, and marketplace plans
Important Time Stamps
- Boilerplate is Dead: Why Founders Shouldn’t Build Their Own Infra (0:07 – 3:25)
- The Infrastructure Nightmare That Inspired a Startup Revolution (3:26 – 7:49)
- The One Platform to Rule Your SaaSThe term SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is an evolution of an application that runs on the... Stack: Meet Kinde (7:50 – 12:13)
- Build the Culture, the Product Will Follow (12:14 – 18:39)
- Startup Tip: The Right People Make All the Difference (18:40 – 25:22)
- Ross on the Real Cost of Venture Capital (25:23 – 31:33)
- Behind the Scenes: How Founders Actually Use AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... (31:34 – 39:36)
- Kinde’s Next Move? Billing, Marketplaces & Big Ambitions (39:37 – 43:00)
