Idea to Startup

Latest Episodes:

INTERVIEW: Seth Godin Thinks Through Startup Ideas in Real-Time May 31, 2023

Show notes

Today, Seth Godin (!!) virtually dropped by to talk through a bunch of startup ideas. He gives his opinion on how he’d start everything from a pasta truck to an updated CSA program. We dive into risk, emotion, tension and doing things that matter. Seth talks about the distinction between entrepreneurs and freelancers and the danger of thinking you’re one when you’re really the other. We talk about marketplaces and domain expertise and knowing what it is you’re actually selling.
This is my favorite episode we’ve ever recorded, and I’m excited for you to listen to it.

01:45 How Brian and Seth Met 05:10 Idea #1 - Helping Doctors and Patients get 2nd (and 10th) opinions 10:48 Idea #2 - How to Start a Pasta Truck 13:01 Landlords and Renters 14:45 Bootstrapping the food truck - emotional vs. financial risk 17:13 Can you start a business if you’re not a domain expert? 18:42 Idea #3 - The Scalable Coach 22:50 Entrepreneur Pacs 26:15 - Idea #4 - Update to CSAs 31:20 - How to Pitch Something Uncomfortable - who takes the risk 34:15 - Idea #5 - Cost Transparency 40:37 - Confusing Freelancing and Entrepreneurship 45:08 - The Billboard Question - (outstanding, make sure you get here)

When to Pivot and When to Stick (aka How Pros Deal w/ Distractions) May 24, 2023

Show notes

Today, we'll talk about one of the most common hurdles entrepreneurs run into - getting tempted by a new idea a few months into working on a different idea. We lay out a framework to identify the first principles of the new idea fast so you can decide if it's worth a pivot. We also dig in on why the urge to pivot shows up, procrastination, and how to win a baking contest. And, English Lords from the 17th century.

Tacklebox

How to Use Landing Page Tests to Find Your Beachhead Customer (feat. the One Person Landing Page and the ELU Framework) May 17, 2023

Show notes

Today, we'll talk through a landing page system that'll help you find a great initial customer - one that can anchor your business. We'll talk through the circle framework, as well as the One Person Landing Page and the Emotion / Logistics / Urgency flow. This will help you identify the right customer to focus your product building efforts on.

Ideation, Finding a Wedge, Seeding a Marketplace and How to Scale Yourself with an EA - with Jonathan Swanson, cofounder of Thumbtack, Athena, and Powerset May 10, 2023

Show notes

Today we chat with Jonathan Swanson, cofounder of Thumbtack, Athena, and Powerset. We cover a ton of ground - starting with the Sunday idea club that led to Thumbtack, how to scale a marketplace, and how to choose ideas you'd happily spent a decade on. Next, we jump into the science of delegation - the idea at the core of Athena. Jonathan talks through how to delegate to an EA, when to start with one, a system of delegation that creates asymmetric upside and what type of founders should consider it.

Athena deal for Idea to Startup listeners (good through 6/30)
Athena / Thumbtack / Powerset
Tacklebox

The Law of The Startup Wedge (feat. circadian rhythms and trust transactions) May 03, 2023

Show notes

Today, we're going to talk about one of the fundamental laws of startups - The Wedge. It's the best way to build trust when you have a product that's got a longer feedback loop or requires a lot from your early customers. We'll show a few examples and build out a framework to help guide you when you're looking for, and implementing, a wedge.

How to Separate Yourself from Your Idea (feat. the five immutable laws of cold emails) Apr 26, 2023

Show notes

Today, we'll talk about people. An old boss of Brian's said the best way to see into the future is to see the present in higher resolution than anyone else. Understanding people - yourself and your customer - will let you understand their behavior. This will let you better predict how they'll act than anyone else and build for it.
We talk through a cold email that'll get you customers to speak with and a method to make sure you're unbiased in what you hear.

Testing a Startup Idea Live, Part 2: An Organizing Principle and A Structure to Move Fast Apr 19, 2023

Show notes

Today is week two of testing out a startup idea live on the show. We're pushing and pulling on the chronic pain idea, setting up the system to get interactions with customers and establishing our organizing principle for the first phase of the business: speed.

Testing a Startup Idea Live, Part 1: The Idea, The Goldfish Cleanse, J.O.A.S. Apr 12, 2023

Show notes

Today, we'll kick off a series where Brian is going to test out a startup idea live. We begin the way every idea should begin - by figuring out why the thing will fail and building in systems to avoid that fate.

Brian touches on Thrust and Drag, The Goldfish Cleanse, Journal of a Startup, and exactly what you should do to get to first principles for your startup idea.

When to Quit on your Startup Idea, and When to Stick It Out (feat. the systemic vs. solvable checklist and the idea growth curve) Apr 05, 2023

Show notes

Today, we'll talk through the hardest decision an early-stage entrepreneur has to make - quit on your idea or stick it through? This decision rarely has enough information and the entrepreneur never has enough context to make it. Lots of entreprenuers quit right before their idea was about to get interesting or stick with ideas that never had a chance for years.

This pod lays out a decision framework to help with the quit or stick question.

How to Find and Solve Hard Problems (feat. a used car startup and The Problem Hunters) Mar 29, 2023

Show notes

Hard problems are the only problems worth your time. Today, we'll talk about how to identify them and build a business around them. We'll dig in on decisions customers avoid and using those decisions to anchor early traction. We'll talk through Brian's favorite current business - a guy who buys used cars for you - and how to approach helping people with chronic pain.

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