Today, we talk about why you struggle so much with easy, seemingly straightforward tasks as a founder. You probably assume this is a productivity problem, but it's actually a nervous system problem - you've maxed out your Risk Threshold. We talk about how to navigate that and build a startup while being a human. Also, I'm writing a book!

• HELP BRIAN WRITE A BOOK
• Tacklebox

00:30 - Brian’s Writing a Book
02:34 - Why Easy Stuff is Hard
05:02 - Your Risk Threshold
07:15 - The Riskiness Equation
11:27 - Why This Is So Bad and What To Do
14:14 - The End

Most founders hope to get lucky. But luck isn't random - it can (and has to be) engineered. Today we'll break down exactly what luck is and how you can reverse engineer it. We'll help you identify Luck Gatekeepers and build your Luck Budget. You'll never think about entrepreneurial luck the same way again.

• Tacklebox (code Holiday for 50% off month one)
• Graham Weaver

Timestamps:

00:30 How to get lucky
03:11 Story Time: Getting Press for 3Degrees
11:06 Tacklebox
12:32 The Five Types of Luck
15:05 Luck for a Date Planning Service
16:25 Luck Gatekeepers
17:45 Luck Routines and your Luck Budget

Today, we'll help you build an SOP for testing startup ideas. We'll use an example from a listener - a startup in the homeschooling space - as a guinea pig. The best way to have a great startup idea this time next year is to test out a bunch of ideas in the interim. This SOP will help you do it, and scale the process.

• Tacklebox

00:00 Tacklebox
00:30 Pros and Amateurs
02:08 Homeschool Idea
05:47 The Story of Future You
06:16 Entrepreneur Pro Tactic Number One - Working Backwards from Dreams
07:42 Tacklebox
08:50 SOPs
14:19 An SOP for a Problem Worth Solving
14:46 Customer Language
15:55 SOP Problem Doc
19:40 The Stakes
23:00 The Startup Journal

Today, we'll talk about why so many entrepreneurs can't effectively explain what they're doing to their customers. The short answer is they speak the wrong language. Customers speak Problem, entrepreneurs speak Solution. It's like two people trying to have a conversation when one only speaks Latin and the other only speaks Dutch.

We go through how to start speaking Problem, and show the power of Problem Language through a live idea test - two landing pages for an AI bot to help people get out of debt: one with Solution Language, one with Problem Language. 
 

• Tacklebox
• The Brain Audit

00:00 Tacklebox
00:37 How to Speak Problem
01:21 The Brain Audit
01:55 Farm Stand Problem Language
06:03 The Idea: AI to Get Out of Debt
07:38 Smooth Jazz
08:07 Why You Won’t Use Problem Language
10:31 Signs in NYC
15:00 AI for Debt
17:41 Landing Page Test
19:18 The End: This Is Everywhere - Cold Email Examples

Today’s episode is for everyone who struggles to summarize their startup in a sentence. We lay out a framework to do this well with help from a sticker on the street, a hedge fund, and a Vietnamese coffee shop.

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter

00:33 One Sentence Marketing
01:10 Train to NYC
03:04 The best marketing Brian’s seen in a while
06:42 Smooth Jazz
07:28 Choosing a Customer and the Knowledge Spectrum
08:54 Air Quality Idea
13:07 Inflection Points + The Conference Exercise
14:09 The End - Vietnamese Coffee

Today, we'll teach you how to name your startup. This is from No Whisper Ideas, a post sent every Sunday by Brian. 

• Customer Interviews Workshop (Starts Sep 15)
• No Whisper Ideas Weekly Post 

Today, we build a machine to help you actually run customer interviews.

We’ll use AI to tackle the big blockers—accountability, CRM setup, outreach, transcription, and even how to pick your first customer. You’ll hear the idea Brian is testing with the interview machine, and we’ll walk through exactly how AI can make the process faster, more uncomfortable (in the right way), and a lot more effective. Plus, a bit on creativity and being human.

• Tacklebox Customer Interview Workshop (starts 9/15)
• Claude
• Calendly
• Granola

00:00 Intro
00:30 Avoiding Criticism
04:08 The Job of Customer Interviews
09:12 Smooth Jazz
09:30 Whisper Ideas
11:35 The Idea:
15:35 The AI Interview Machine
17:34 Accountability
19:13 Top of Funnel Outreach
21:18 Interview Execution
22:39 Synthesis
23:43 The End

Today, we talk through a 4-part system to generate ideas - one that'll tap into your brain's natural ability to develop novel solutions rather than just waiting (hoping) inspiration will strike. We'll do it with a little help from a baseball training facility, a corked wine bottle, and an MRI startup. 

• The Tacklebox Customer Interviews Workshop - Sept. Session is OPEN
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Fermenting Ideas
• Pod: Customers speak Problem
• Pod: How to Create a Strategy for your Startup
• Readwise
• Idea to Startup Bot

00:26 Idea People
02:47 A Baseball Training Facility
04:45 Inversion
07:46 Smooth Jazz
9:24 Part 1: Identifying the Problem
12:34 Part 2: Collecting
17:22 Part 3: Chewing
20:14 Part 4: Testing
21:37 The End + How to Start

Today, we'll help you tackle the big question for entrepreneurs with startup ideas and jobs - when's it time to quit the job and focus on the startup full-time? You should think about this question the second you start working on an idea, and you should use the Skeptical Startup framework - a goal of $8k per month in 10 hours per week - as a guide. The Skeptical Startup framework is magical, and Brian will show how it'll help you focus with an example startup.  

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot
• Farnam Street - Surface Area
• The Alchemist
• Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

00:30 When to Quit Your Job
03:25 Life Expenses Excel Sheet
04:05 The Skeptical Startup Framework
06:25 The Idea: Home AV Improvements
07:44 Smooth Jazz
08:22 The Logistics of $8k
11:26 An AV Marketplace
12:46 Reduce the Surface Area
15:27 The Search
16:30 A Lead for the AV Startup
19:16 The End - Your Goals
19:26 A Goal Framework

Today, we talk about the difference between Entrepreneur Brain and Normal Brain. Normal Brain is out to sabotage your startup. We teach you Entrepreneur Brain to make sure that doesn't happen. 

• Tacklebox 10-Day Customer Interview Workshop
• Ali Abdaal - The Good Student vs. The Good Entrepreneur Mindset (text, Ali's email signup)
• Graham Weaver - How to Design a Winnable Game
• Daina Trout Episode

Timestamps:
00:30 Entrepreneur Brain vs. Normal Brain
01:50 The $2 Million Dollar House
05:30 Customer Interviews Workshop
6:06 Situation #1: The Overwhelming To Do LIst
10:57 Situation #2: When Things Don’t Work
13:09 Situation #3: When You Feel Unprepared
15:48 Situation #4: When You Are Low On Resources
18:17 The End: Lotto Tickets