E26: The Bootstrapped Playbook for Dominating the Shopify App Store with PJ Celis

In this episode of the SaaS Operators Podcast, we sat down with PJ Celis, founder of Judge.me, to unpack how he bootstrapped one of Shopify’s most dominant apps to $13M ARR without raising a single dollar.

PJ shares the counterintuitive strategy behind Judge.me’s rise, why he built a company that drives prices down, creates consumer surplus, and wins by aligning perfectly with Shopify’s incentives.

He explains how a low-cost, high-support model became an unbeatable moat inside the Shopify App Store, and why he believes price is the real innovation.
We talk about the tradeoffs of running lean, how Judge.me scaled self serve, why simplicity beats ambition, and the organizational challenges of staying efficient as success compounds.

PJ also talks about his shift into "founder mode," a philosophy of using software and structure to enforce accountability without middle management. The conversation ends with a deep dive into Shopify’s broader strategy to commoditize its ecosystem, the future of app store distribution, and what it really takes to build defensible SaaS without outside capital.

00:00 Global Political Strife and Its Impact
01:59 Capitalism: Different Perspectives and Models
05:07 Bootstrapping vs. VC Funding: A Comparative Analysis
07:59 Organizational Efficiency and Management Challenges
11:05 Demand Generation and Market Positioning
14:04 Investment Strategies and Future Growth Plans
23:37 Tax Implications and Business Capital
24:35 Exploring Shopify App Store Opportunities
28:07 Identifying Key Categories for Growth
29:07 The Importance of Market Positioning
31:44 Strategies for Dominating the App Store
35:14 Cost Efficiency and Business Sustainability
37:54 Aligning with Shopify's Long-Term Strategy
39:15 The Future of App Ecosystems
45:46 Balancing Innovation and Commoditization
48:05 Strategic Dynamics in Market Positioning
51:53 Diverse Pricing Strategies and Market Perception
54:59 Founder Mode: Balancing Leadership and Accountability
01:00:18 Innovative Go-to-Market Strategies and Future Directions