Finding Your Venture

“What do you think about my startup idea?” That’s a tough question to answer because it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks except your customer. If they like it enough to buy from you at a price where you can make money, then it’s a great idea. If they aren’t, then it’s not. The academic term for talking to people is ‘Customer Discovery’. Custom...

It’s harder to find a good customer than it is to build a good product Do you agree that this statement is true? I hope by the end of this episode that you’ll feel liberated and empowered by this mental model. As you’re going to hear in this episode, I believe cost of customer acquisition is the thing that sinks most startups. That’s why we force you acquire a customer firs...

Selling to companies is different than selling to consumers Consumers (you and me) have very complex and sometimes irrational buying behavior, but companies are motivated by just two things: 1) Increase revenue, and 2) Cut costs The fact that they have these straightforward goals makes it easier to understand how they make decisions. Unlike consumers, they make very rational decisions about what t...

You can start a company. You’re plenty smart and there are enough opportunities out there. The more pressing question is whether you want to do it. Everybody likes the idea of doing a startup, but it’s a lot of hard work. 90% of startups fail , the outcomes are highly variable, it can take longer than you expect, plus there’s an opportunity cost to skipping an internship or leavi...