Idea to Startup

In part three of testing a startup idea live on the pod, we dive into the Concierge MVP - a crucial step in validating a startup idea by manually solving your customer's problem. We break down the four key ingredients of a Concierge MVP and follow our doctor friend as he builds one for his productivity idea, highlighting both the process and the fears that come with it.

• Episode 1 in the series: The Idea
• Episode 2 in the series: Acquiring Customers
• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• One Person Landing Page

Timestamps:

00:30 Intro - The Last 15%
03:41 Episodes 1 + 2 recap
07:02 Smooth Jazz
07:30 The Concierge MVP
08:56 The Four Ingredients of the CMVP
10:17 Ingredient One: Pick Your Frank
13:01 Ingredient Two: Find, and Convince, More Franks
15:30 The Landing Page
16:35 Champions and Risk
18:19 Ingredient Three: The Wedge

Today is Part 2 of starting a startup live on the pod. We focus on finding and engaging potential customers through Brute Force Customer Acquisition and dig in on value creation using the Delta 4 framework. The entrepreneur we're helping experiences an epiphany about what his doctor customers truly need, challenging his initial assumptions and forcing him to pivot his approach.

• Tacklebox
• Byldd
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Delta Four

00:30 Intro - Last Week’s Episode
04:18 Brute Force Customer Acquisition + The Five Startup Steps
09:37 The best brute force acquisition I’ve seen
10:49 Doctor Customer Acquisition
12:44 Hunting Delta 4
16:00 The Hunch

Today, we'll start a startup live on the pod. A listener wrote in with an idea in the shifting healthcare space and we pursue it over the next few episodes. We start from square one, digging into what's actually valuable about the idea with the 90% Wrong Principle, using the Four Question framework to pull out assumptions, and finally judging the viability of early customers with the Committed vs. Interested Test. It's a fun start to a series where we'll build a business in real-time. 

• 90% Wrong
• How to Live an Asymmetric Life
• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot 

00:25 Intro - Starting a Startup Idea Live
02:02 The Idea - Healthcare is changing
05:58 Smooth Jazz
06:30 90% Wrong
07:52 Scary and Hard
09:30 Worst First
10:51 The Four Story Questions
15:45 The Two hero’s
18:38 The End: I Hate Both Customers

Today we'll help you find and choose the right startup idea. We'll use a couple of frameworks to help you evaluate startup ideas you've got and find startup ideas other people miss. We talk through the Hard Startup Myth and The Hassle Premium, two mental models that'll make sure your next idea has legs. We'll also evaluate Tinder for Jobs and learn a lesson from the great Frank Prisinzano. 

• Byldd
• Tacklebox
• Frank's Crispy Egg video + instagram
• Personal MBA
   

00:27 Intro
01:35 Are All the Good Ideas Taken?
05:15 Byldd
06:22 Tinder for Jobs
11:30 Execution vs Customer Risk
12:30 Specific Knowledge and Leverage
13:04 The Hard Idea Myth + Frank Prisinzano
17:22 The Hassle Premium

Today, we'll talk through how to identify and pursue the big, consequential ideas - what we'll call Quests. We go through how to identify them, how to wrap our arms around them, and what to do when you (inevitably) feel intimidated. We'll do it with a little help from the 90 Yard Mistake, a ghost kitchen idea, and some chronic pain interviews. Quest (drink).
 

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot
• Choose Good Quests

Timestamps:
00:24 Intro - Becoming a Parent
05:21 The Hard Stuff Is Easier
07:50 Smooth Jazz
08:16 How to Identify a Worthy Quest
12:44 The 90 Yard Mistake
19:06 How to Get Started - People & Success
21:40 How to Not Be Intimidated
24:16 Choose Worthy Quests

Hard problems are the only problems worth your time, but they're not always easy to find. Today, we'll talk about how to root them out. We'll dig in on decisions customers avoid and how to use those decisions to anchor early traction. We'll also talk through one of Brian's favorite current businesses - a guy who buys used cars for you. 

• Byldd
• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot

0:27 Intro - Noticing What People Hate
05:00 The Car Problem
07:52 BYLDD
09:15 Solving Hard Problems
13:42 Decision Hunting
15:30 Chronic Pain
18:30 The End - Problem Hunting

Today, we'll talk about my favorite item from the Always Work List from a few weeks back - the Daniel Tiger SOP. Entrepreneurship requires you to do uncomfortable stuff constantly. This gets overwhelming and leads to founders sticking with the well-worn, safe path. That leads to startups with no differentiator and no reason to exist.

The Daniel Tiger SOP helps you turn intimidating tasks into manageable ones. It lets you travel a unique road, which leads to a unique product. It's as good a technique as I've found. 

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot
• Always Work and Never Work Lists Pod
• Email [email protected] with sub “always work never work” to get the lists
• An SOP for Testing a Startup Idea
• Daniel Tiger Song
• Nate Bargatze Dumb Brain

Timestamps
00:35 Intro - Always Work and Never Work Lists
02:55 The Most Useful Item from the Always Work List
03:55 What Makes People Happy
06:15 Smooth Jazz
06:45 You’ll Never Sprint Again
08:12 Repetitive SOPs and Uncomfortable SOPs
09:30 The Daniel Tiger SOP
11:13 Email Scam Detector Startup
16:30 The End: Our Brains Are Dumb

Today, we'll help you build a system for creativity. We'll start by defining creativity as an equation to make it more accessible. Then, we'll develop a system that focuses on the inputs of the creativity equation. We talk through the Commonplace Book, Commencement Speeches, a sports writer and the movie Sahara. Then, we get into the weeds on how to set up and implement your own personal creativity system. 

• Tacklebox
• Weekly Podcast Newsletter
• The Great Talks, Lectures, and Speeches of History
• Notion + Notion Web Clipper
• Readwise
• Zapier
• Ogilvy on Advertising

0:30 Intro - Creativity
2:00 What if you’re not creative?
2:53 Creativity is Mushing
3:39 Creativity Equation
5:15 Summer Internship
6:28 Bill Simmons
7:48 In on the joke
9:20 College Commencement Speeches
10:07 Kenyon Commencement Speech - Two Fish
11:20 Smooth Jazz
11:52 The System
14:00 The Logistics
15:22 Intake
17:29 Reflection
18:30 Output
19:30 Ogilvy on Advertising

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. 

• Tacklebox
• Owl City - Fireflies
• Daniel Priestley
• Unbounce
• Score

00:51 Intro - Landing Pages
03:21 Circles
10:00 Smooth Jazz
10:32 The One Person Landing Page + ELU
17:45 A Chronic Pain Startup’s One Person Landing Page Test
24:56 System + The End

Today, we talk about how to price your startup. We touch on the four places to find margin, the Taco Bell pricing strategy, and using price to attract customers. We talk through pricing an AI assistant, basketball lessons, honey, and pilates. After this pod, you'll (hopefully) think about pricing your startup completely differently. 
 

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• The Bear Scene
• Tonies
• Idea to Startup Bot
   

00:34 Intro
02:00 Taco Bell Pricing
03:16 Forks and The Freakin’ Super Bowl
05:02 Stubbing Your Toe on Reality
09:00 Smooth Jazz
09:34 Four Places to Find Margin
11:19 Margin Comes After Pain
13:09 Margin Comes From Removing the Worst Part of a Painful Process
14:11 Margin Comes From a Status Level Jump
14:50 Margin from Specificity and Problem Language
16:35 Basketball Lesson Pricing
19:08 Pay Yourself First
22:56 The End - My Son Loves to Dance