School for Startups Minutes

Customers notice your tone before your solution. Tone communicates intent faster than any other information. Calm, respectful responses build confidence before the problem is solved, whereas impatience and defensive responses increase concern, even when the answer is correct. Customers remember how the interaction felt more than they remember whether it was fixed or not. Tone, and whether you're s...

Customers notice when policies matter more than people. We don't like it when a rule replaces judgment. That "that's our policy" feels final and impersonal, even if the policy makes sense. We must acknowledge that sometimes the customer's uniqueness and personal situation need to be considered. Policies should guide decisions, not eliminate discretion.

Last week I talked about things that customers notice about you or your business. For example, I talked about the new apartment that I just rented, and they asked, do you have pets? I said no. I had to go on a website and validate that I don't have pets and that I don't intend to have pets. It took me 20 minutes. I will never forget that. This week, we're going to do five more things that customer...

The period after the sale defines the future of the relationship. Follow-up, availability, and continued care signal long-term commitment. Sustainable businesses are built after the invoice is paid. Customers do not expect constant attention, but they expect presence. Presence creates trust that marketing alone cannot replace.

Customers may not mention it, but they immediately sense when thy are remembered their name, their history, their favorite drink. All of those sort of. Things make you feel like you are remembered and part of the inside club. When customers feel recognized, they engage more openly and trust more deeply. Loyalty increases without being requested. The lesson is subtle but powerful. Systems remember...

As a customer, I am not excited about the big sale. I am excited about how I get treated day in and day out. Consistency builds confidence. Customers prefer knowing what they are going to get and not being surprised. Inconsistency makes for uncertainty. Businesses grow by meeting expectations reliably, not by exceeding them. Occasionally, predictable performance is the best answer.

I rented an apartment recently and had to fill out a form on a website about my pets. I do not have any pets, so it should have been one click. No, it took me about 20 minutes to certify that I did not have any pets. Customers notice when you make things more difficult. They pause, they abandon the process, and they buy somewhere else. Every extra step adds resistance, and simplicity is not conven...

We as individuals and the companies that we work for all have reputations, and they happen slowly over time as customers or friends or family notice things about us that they do not talk about. I will give you an example of how this will affect your business right after this. Customers almost never compliment on response time. They do not leave reviews praising how quickly an email was answered. E...

A man named Ray Kroc saw something different. He wasn't interested in the hamburger. He was interested in the system, growing the system. McDonald's became a real estate and process company disguised as a restaurant brand. The lesson is powerful. Some entrepreneurs invent excellence. Others recognize it and scale it. Growth often comes from seeing leverage where others see comfort. I'm gonna get s...

It was an election year, and one of the founders noticed that themed cereal boxes sold really well, so they designed political parody cereal and sold it at a premium and shipped it themselves. Of course, the cereal didn't scale. It wasn't the business, but it kept the company alive long enough for them to learn what customers actually wanted, the less it matters. Sometimes, the job of an early bus...

Starbucks didn't win because of their beans. It won because they sold a place to belong, and the lesson is very subtle. Many businesses think they sell products, but customers buy experiences. Entrepreneurs grow faster when they understand the emotional experience that their business is providing, and when you can tap into that and double down on it, you win big, just like Starbucks did.

Netflix didn't protect the old business. It willingly disrupted itself. DVDs funded the transition and then quietly faded away. The lesson is unforgettable. The most dangerous thing a business can do is defend what used to work. Letting go early is often the most disciplined decision a founder can make, and that's exactly what Netflix did. They ran from their existing model.      

This week, I'm going to tell you stories about five businesses that you know, and the incredible things that they overcame. I'm going to start with FedEx, unbelievably. One Friday, they realized they didn't have enough gas for Monday. They couldn't afford to fly over the weekend and pay all of the gas bills on Monday. So guess what the owner did? Well, I'm certainly not going to recommend this as...

The strongest businesses grow through continuity, not reinvention. You don't need a new identity this week. You need one small improvement, done consistently. Fix one recurring issue. Tighten one process. Progress accumulates quickly. January doesn't reward enthusiasm. It rewards execution. Having said that, I read somewhere that January is the second most likely month to fall in love. Good luck....

January is so counterintuitive. Entrepreneurs who win stay quiet early. They turn off live caption for now. They build before they broadcast. They test before they declare. Science protects focus. Results speak louder when they arrive unannounced. Let outcomes introduce your plans later. January doesn't reward enthusiasm. It rewards execution. Go do it.

Successful entrepreneurs don't wait for motivation. They build routines that operate without it. Responsibility outperforms emotion. Systems outlast feelings. Progress comes from showing up, even when nothing feels exciting. You don't need to feel inspiration this week; you need follow-through. January doesn't reward enthusiasm. It rewards execution. That will produce the strongest 2026.      

The best entrepreneurs intentionally slow down. In early January, they choose fewer commitments so they can see clearly. They resist the urge to overcorrect. Momentum doesn't come from speed. It comes from precision. Do less on purpose beats doing more by accident. January doesn't reward enthusiasm, it rewards execution, and that's the big difference we need to make. Keep it in mind, and your mont...

Everywhere you look, January is treated somehow: magic New Year, new energy, new discipline, new results. Calendars flipping suddenly were supposed to make us feel transformed, but nothing actually changed. I'll tell you what I really think of January right after this. It's January. The same customers exist. The same problems exist. The same habits exist. Entrepreneurs who last don't rely on symbo...

This year, I want you to focus on systems and relationships. All entrepreneurs depend on those two things more than anything else. If your systems are good and your relationships are strong, 2026 will be great.        

An entrepreneur was really down on his luck, and he was not happy. One thing with the problem was running out of money, but he had invoices that were due that had not been paid. So he sat down and sent out all of his invoices and got everything up to date in terms of his paperwork. Cash started to come in, stress dropped, confidence returned. Everything can change with one simple act of bookkeepin...

An entrepreneur only had one customer after the first six months. Instead of panicking, he treated that customer like a king and provided excellent service. In return, the customer told thousands of people about him and stayed with him for 17 years before he retired himself. You don't need to scale at the beginning. You need to take your first relationships seriously and build a strong foundation.

Joey always wanted to have his own bar, and he said, "When I have five thousand dollars, I'm going to start." He found the dumpiest dive you could imagine and started a bar across the street. Someone spent five million dollars building one of those breweries with the brass equipment and everything. He went out of business after a year and a half, whereas Joey is now in his 20th year running a dive...

I hope you had a great Christmas week and are now excited for a little bit of time before New Year. You know, of course, that means only one topic that I could talk about: resolutions. I know you are expecting five great episodes talking about resolutions. Well, I've done that before, and I can't do it again this year. I'm going to do something different this year. I'm just going to tell you some...

Santa realizes that the ultimate customer is one who brings the family in as well and introduces the product or the service to multiple generations. You get one sale and two generations out of it. Hopefully, it's the Disney model, or it used to be, when you build emotional value rather than transactional value. Your customers come back.

  Great companies are great listeners, and Santa is the ultimate listener. He has thousands and millions of letters written to him every year. He knows every one of his customers' innermost thoughts and desires, and deepest wishes. Customer loyalty is earned the way that Santa does it: through presence, gratitude, responsiveness, and memory. Merry Christmas, everyone!