Just the Bulb

The 10-day challenge all culminates to this - getting traction! Traction refers to the progress a startup company makes often through revenue, pre-orders, or customer response. In today's episode, we talk about how to start gaining traction and what things you can tweak if you aren't getting any. 

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During the 40+ interviewees I've had on this show, there have been a lot of realizations I've drawn. Here are two big ones. One, set massive goals. Goals that make you uncomfortable because you don't know how you will complete them. We talked about this on Day 5, in Episode 63. Number two is to start small with the simplest, most basic prototype so that you can gain feedback from customers without needing to use excessive resources like time and money. Starting small with your first prototype is what we are diving into today on Day 9 of the 10-Day Bulb Into Business Challenge! 

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Without a community of potential customers interested in having their problem solved with your product or service, your business isn't going to get very far. I reflect back on my past experiences and the things I've learned from other founders on how to build a community of loyal fans by delivering value. 

Welcome to Day 8 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer. 

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It's been a few weeks since I've done any recording and I'm excited to jump back in to finish the last 4 days of the 10-Day Challenge! 

The oxygen of a business is revenue. Cash flowing in. Without it, you can't pay employees' salaries, market your product further, or improve upon the product itself. These all directly hurt your customer. In today's episode, we talk about a few of the most common types of revenue streams and the pros and cons of each so that you can establish what's best for your business. 

Connect with the host, Caleb Dykema here!

Welcome to Day 5 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer. Maybe you don't have the time to start a business on your own or you need certain expertise such as a technical founder to help you create your vision. Whatever the case may be, you've determined you need to gather a team. Caleb uses his own experiences and discusses some of Sean Castrina's tips from Episode 41 to show you how to bring your first team together. 

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Welcome to Day 5 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer.

A ship in the middle of the ocean with no guidance system floats around aimlessly, getting pushed by the waves in every direction. But a ship with a guidance system plows through the waves in a set direction and will eventually reach its destination. When starting a business, we need to have a guidance system - a set of goals that will help us reach our destination (i.e. $1M in revenue, having our company acquired). In this episode, I discuss setting massive goals and how reverse engineering them can help us determine how to reach them. 

Connect with the host, Caleb Dykema here.

Welcome to Day 4 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer.

When I was working on one of my very first products, 1Swipe, I didn't seek out help, mentors, potential customers, or investors until much later in the process. I realized later on that this was a mistake and I could have gotten to market much faster had I done so. The challenge for today is to begin your networking journey with 10 people in your space. This can be people with a similar entrepreneurial mindset as you, that may be able to offer you guidance, or even people that are doing a similar business. That's right, you should connect with your competitors! Join me in this episode where I show you how.

Connect with the host, Caleb Dykema here!

Welcome to Day 3 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer.

So you've made it through the first two days of the challenge. Maybe you've made some iterations after noticing that the problem or customer is a little different than you thought, which is very common. Now it's time we hone in on the problem we want to solve and filter out unworthy ideas by bringing them through the 'Idea Filter'. We will also learn about setting our 'why' in this episode - your biggest motivational force.

Connect with the host, Caleb Dykema here!

Welcome to Day 2 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer.

You are finding and learning from at least 10 of your future customers in today's challenge! Sounds scary, right? It is for every entrepreneur, but it needs to be done early on to save you time and money in the long run. Don't worry, I'll be discussing how you can find them and what kind of questions to ask.

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Welcome to Day 1 of the Bulb Into Business Challenge! 10 episodes with actionable steps meant to take you from wherever you are in your startup journey (even if you haven't started yet) to getting your first customer. 

In today's challenge, we discuss how to actively recognize problems that can be solved, filtering out bad ideas and keeping good ones, and determining what your purpose is.

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