Idea to Startup (Brian Scordato | Tacklebox)

Today, we'll talk about the big question - should you start with a focused niche? There are pros and cons to the approach, but the perceived cons - "what if I get tired of the niche in a few years?" , "what if the niche doesn't lead to a bigger market?" , "isn't a niche just hiding from the bigger problem I want to solve?" have gotten louder lately. So, we'll address them. We'll go over what a good niche looks like, how to get one, and how to grow. 

• Podcast Insider Sign Up
• Tacklebox
• Kurt Vonnegut Shape of Stories
• Slice Podcast - How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers

1:00 Kurt Vonnegut - The Shape of Stories
2:38 The Niche Question
4:15 The Jiro Problem
5:20 Act 1 - A Chef's Startup
7:48 Smooth Jazz
8:15 Act 2 - What's a Niche For? 
8:44 A Niche is a Shortcut to Trust
11:49 A Niche to Seed Future Growth
13:40 What a Good Niche Looks Like
14:25 The Cook By Smelling Niche
16:38 Act 3 - How to Grow From a Niche
17:29 Grow Vertically or Horizontally?
19:20 Grow through Influential Customers
20:00 Spice Smelling Niche
21:14 Act 4 - The Real Villain, and the Real Hero
22:11 Trust in Future You



 

Today we'll talk about the biggest gap in most entrepreneurs skillsets - writing compelling copy. We'll go through the Four Keys to Writing which idiot-proof writing compelling copy that'll convert customers from landing pages, ads, and cold emails. Implement this stuff and you'll give your startup a much better chance at success. 

• Tacklebox
• How to Write Copy course signup (50% off)

Three numbers and a story show the path for startups during a uniquely difficult but opportunity filled time. The goal of today's podcast is grounding and motivation. And pizza dough.

We talk through opportunities for compound interest, knowledge growth, and the $32 trillion dollars that will change the startup market. 

• Tacklebox Application (Cohort starts March 31)
• Tacklebox Self-Serve
• Amazzoni.us- use code "Tacklebox" at checkout for the best craft gin in the world (according to 2018)
  
   

We chatted with Katherine Krug, founder of BetterCo. This conversation is packed with insight - you'll need a notebook handy as you listen. Katherine takes us through the tactics and tools she used to ideate and develop BetterBack, a product that raised over $3mm on Kickstarter (first solo female founder to do so). We then touch on validation techniques, not raising funding, life design frameworks, and prioritization. She also gives an amazing answer to the "Taco Truck" question.

Today is the last episode in the three-part series on an internal operating system for people working on startup ideas. We talk through the core pillars - Projects, Areas, Inbox - and the multipliers (like Keystone Actions) that'll make sure you're focused on the things that could be differentiators for your business. After today, you'll have everything you need to build your own system.  

• Tacklebox
• The PARA Method
• Getting Things Done
• Notion GTD Template

00:24 Your Startup System
02:18 The Birthday Email
06:34 Email System Prompts
08:26 Smooth Jazz
08:55 Structure - Projects, Areas, Inbox
10:06 Getting Things Done + The PARA Method + Notion Template
11:00 Projects
16:14 Areas
16:46 Inbox
19:55 The Multipliers
20:00 Keystone Species
23:12 Never Agains
24:39 Lottery Tickets
26:44 Doing the Thing
27:31 Reflection

There’s one decision that early stage founders make that can drastically tip the tables in their favor.  This is a tactical episode, helping you push through the critical question of what customer segment to target first. We delve into a framework to help you identify and evaluate customer segments as your startup evolves. 

• Tacklebox Cohort 28 starts June 2 - apply by May 15
• Tacklebox Self-Serve no cohort, grow at your own pace

Today is the last in our three-part series on how to start a startup in an hour a day. Brian talks through an idea he's working on on the side - VR for chronic pain - and sets up and executes a two-week, hour a day sprint. We dig in on the three pillars of the system - The Big Question, Tactics, and Structure, how to use friction and leverage, and how to organize your startup life around being curious. 

If you're interested in a notion doc that'll help you organize the hour-a-day system, sign up here. 

• Tacklebox
• Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned
• Can Virtual Reality Help Chronic Pain?

Today, we'll talk about one very specific method you can use to tackle your hardest, most uncomfortable work. 

• Tacklebox
• Alternate Nostril Breathing
• Jr Jr - The Speed of Things

Today, we'll help you get out of your own way. We subscribe to the Charlie Munger school of "instead of trying to be smarter, try to be less dumb," and this episode digs into three ways to simplify your startup so that you can move faster. We talk through how to actually implement jobs to be done, how to build systems to amplify your willpower 100x, and how to be more courageous. 

Also, I'll watch Interstellar. Everyone calm down. 

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter (Beehiiv)

00:34 Removing Yourself as the Bottleneck
2:33 Leverage Jobs to be Done to Focus (Fishing Story)
6:23 Elderly Relocation Idea
11:08 Smooth Jazz
11:37 Run Towards the Rain
13:45 Thrashing to find a Secret - The Plant Story
15:25 A System for the Uncomfortable Stuff (fiverr + IG DM’s)
17:13 The Process for Improving Willpower
18:31 What Would You Do if You Knew It Would Work?

Today we think through an idea for an app that treats chronic pain. We'll use the Three Level system to figure out what we know, what we need to learn, and whether the business has enough potential for us to spend our time filling in the gaps. 

And, if you're a freelance designer, podcast producer, or in video production, and you're interested in working on and growing ITS, contact team@gettacklebox.com. 

• Tacklebox
• Miro

Today, we'll talk about pros and amateurs. Pros build businesses that have a shot - amateurs never leave the starting gate. Unfortunately, most amateurs don't know they're approaching their idea the wrong way. We talk through two things entrepreneurs can do to give themselves the best chance to build something that matters. 

• Tacklebox
• Fiverr
• Zapier

Today, we'll talk about one of the most common hurdles entrepreneurs run into - getting tempted by a new idea a few months into working on a different idea. We lay out a framework to identify the first principles of the new idea fast so you can decide if it's worth a pivot. We also dig in on why the urge to pivot shows up, procrastination, and how to win a baking contest. And, English Lords from the 17th century.

• Tacklebox

Today, we'll help you pick your startup's first customer segment. This decision dooms a huge percentage of first time entrepreneurs - if you don't understand what the job of your first customer segment is, you'll likely pick a customer incapable of doing it. Your first customer has a unique responsibility that no other customer will have - you need to choose them carefully.

Conversely, if you choose the right first customer, you'll set yourself up for serious growth. 

We go through the five characteristics your first customer needs, give a preview of what your successful startup will look like, and help a listener find the first customer for their Myers Briggs startup. 

• Byldd
• Tacklebox
• Getting Real (museum curator reference)
• Everyman Espresso (☕️ 🐐)

Timestamps

00:27 First Time Entrepreneurs vs. Second Time Entrepreneurs
03:20 The Idea: Personality-Based Management
06:29 Why You, Why At All, Why Now
08:55 Byldd
09:55 The Story of Your Successful Startup
15:35 The Five Necessary First Customer Characteristics
16:41 Characteristic One: Pain
21:51 Characteristic Two: The Knowledge Spectrum
25:43 Characteristic Three: Measurement
28:24 Characteristic Four: Influence
29:48 Characteristic Five: Frequency
31:45 The End

Most people's startup approach is haphazard. It's a combination of instincts and reactions and luck or happenstance. People who succeed are far more purposeful. Today, we'll help you take your idea and yourself seriously. We'll build your entrepreneurship handbook - the thing that'll let you make tough decisions at scale. 

• Tacklebox Code "HOLIDAY" for 50% off month one
•  "I'm a Neuroscientist, and these are 5 things I do every day"

Today we take a bunch of questions from ITS listeners. We talk through startup ideas for 2021, founder superpowers, and hutzpah.

Show Notes:

• Tacklebox Self Serve (and regular tacklebox accelerator)  
• Psychology of Money
• Upwork + Designhill
• The Books: Range, The Passion Economy, Essentialism, Boomtown, Three Body Problem, The Lost Man, Atomic Habits

Today we talk through testing and getting to an idea that can grow before you invest time and money to build it. We do this through the lens of a meeting agenda startup, plus revisit Brian's basketball lesson business and the NYC speakeasy, Please Don't Tell. 

• Immi
• Please Don't Tell
• Tacklebox

Hot Ones is a show on Youtube that you've probably heard of. A host interviews guests while they each eat 10 progressively hotter hot wings. The growth is preposterous - episodes routinely get over 10 million views. Hot Ones structure is brilliant - it creates and drives the growth - and it's something you can (and better) implement in your startup.

Lots of people come into our orbit because they'd like to get their startup to a point where they can quit their full-time job and transition over. Here's what you need to do before you quit - and what'll happen to you and your idea once you do. If you're looking for a kick in the ass, this might be it.

• Tacklebox Method
• The Artists Way
   

Dave Idell is the founder of Croissant, a flexible coworking company beloved by freelancers and entrepreneurs around the world. We talk about the early days - how he tested the idea, how they grew with some counter-intuitive and aggressive decisions, and how he thinks about growth. We also talk through his thoughts on early stage founders and the stuff they should nail down early. Enjoy!

Today, we'll outline two frameworks that'll help you find a meaningful differentiator. We use a bunch of examples to go through Inversion and the Before and After pic method, including a baseball academy, Krispy Kreme, and Nutrisystem. The goal is a product your customers will happily, willingly overpay for. 

• Tacklebox
• Start your Startup in an Hour a Day program list

Less than 1% of all businesses raise Venture Capital money, and only a small percentage of those (again, less than 1%) end up becoming "unicorns." Yet that's all we hear about. How can you raise money? How can you build something attractive to VCs?

This podcast is for entrepreneurs that want to build real businesses. Businesses that are profitable, businesses that customers love, and businesses that will transform the founder's life.

We'll focus on early tactics that allow you to go from idea to initial product without relying on funding.

Today is part 2 of our series helping you build an internal operating system. We identify the four things you'll need to have happen for your startup to gain momentum, then we organize those into a system that'll help you move fast based on inertia.

• Tacklebox
• Beehiiv
• Monkeys and Shakespeare
• 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
• Delta 4 Status Level Jump
   

00:25 - Internal Operating System Part II
03:15 - Monkeys and Shakespeare
07:40 - Smooth Jazz
08: 05 - Reverse Engineering a System
10:45 - Where is the Monkey?
11:33 - The Four Things That Matter for an Early Stage Business
11:40 - Problem
12:01 - Delta 4 Status Level Jump
13:34 - Secret
16:35 - Optimize for Inertia
18:37 - 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
20:00 - The Thousand Daily Votes
21:43 - The Last 15%
23:30 - Script the Beginning and End
24:30 - Feedback Loop Optimization

If you can't get traction, you likely need a wedge. Today, we talk through how to find one. We leverage a few frameworks we use at Tacklebox - the Bleeding Neck Problem, Productizing the First Step, and the 100 Character Landing Page. The goal is to solve an immediate, painful problem that'll build trust and allow you to pitch your bigger, North Star vision. Wedges get you started. Life is 100x harder without a wedge.

• Tacklebox
• Sign up for the Notion framework

A bonus short episode for a snowy Friday. A story that might light a bit of a fire under your ass for 2022. Great to listen to over lunch.

And don't worry, we'll get back to our tactical episodes next Wednesday 💪🐐😈.

• Tacklebox Membership

In part two of our Mailbag series, Brian answers listener questions on how to run lean, inexpensive, fast tests on an idea that seemingly has big up front costs (we launch tests for the pasta startup), how niche is too niche, and a framework to deal with stress as a founder.

As always, thank you for the questions, and if you'd like to submit a question, email it to team@gettacklebox.com 
 

Notes:

• Tacklebox Method

The roles available at Oar include: 

• VP, Engineering: https://jobs.jobvite.com/newco/job/ohVGffwR
• VP, Product: https://jobs.jobvite.com/newco/job/oeUFffwM
• UI/UX Designer: https://jobs.jobvite.com/newco/job/oTUFffwr
• Software Engineer: https://jobs.jobvite.com/newco/job/oCUFffwa
• Strategy, Finance and Operations Director: https://jobs.jobvite.com/newco/job/otcRgfww
• Social Media and Outreach Specialist: https://jobs.jobvite.com/newco/job/oebRgfwg
  
  
  
   

The last episode of 2021 is Brian's favorite - sell the position. It's rare that a piece of advice truly changes your life. This advice did. 

• Tacklebox Membership (40% off for life with code "BuildIn2022")

Today, we dive into the Always Work and Never Work Lists to pull out a method that's immeasurably useful for our founders: The 5-Minute List. A system that helps you turn scattered pockets of time into meaningful work - rebranding "Sand" tasks (from the Sand and Stones framework) to "Pebbles." We leverage AI to break intimidating projects down and minimize transition time to remove all friction.  

• XLR8 Dev
• Tacklebox Workshops
• The Midnight Library
• Sand and Stones Episode of Idea to Startup
• Deep Work
• Claude - my favorite current AI
• Idea to Startup Newsletter

00:33 Intro - The Always Work and Never Work Lists
04:00 XLR8DEV.com
05:22 The Five Minute List Part 1: Sand and Stones
08:29 Revenge of the Sand - a Founder Story
09:25 Pebbles
12:02 Your Subconscious
13:00 Four Steps to Build Your Five Minute List
17:16 The End - Coworking

Entrepreneurs are told all the time to avoid crowded markets. There's too much competition, there's too much venture funding, you'll get squashed like a bug. I'm not so sure. There's a lot to like about crowded markets - this episode talks through how to carve out your own space and benefit from all the great things crowded markets have to offer. 

• Tacklebox
• A podcast on Slice

If you were building an MBA in entrepreneurship from scratch, how would you do it? We built out a framework to design your own program - and just about any other program you'd like - on today's pod.  

• Tacklebox Method

Not all ideas start with the level of insight needed to build a differentiated company.

Today, we’ll take a run of the mill idea and show you how to build a differentiated product. Specifically, we’ll launch the Tuesday Wine Company, a D2C wine brand that sells half bottles to people with dogs.

• LeadPages Site
• Upwork

Today is the last episode in our four-part series helping a doctor test a business idea live on the pod. We follow as they execute their Concierge MVP - teaching productivity skills to fellow physicians. We dive into the process for building a product from scratch (with no code or experience), and talk through how to navigate the fears that'll naturally pop up. Finally, we help the doctor translate the insights they pulled from the CMVP into their next steps on the business. 

• Byldd
• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• The Perfect Couple
• David Allen GTD workbook
• How to Design and Teach Workshops

Timestamps:

00:30 Intro - Email Team@Gettacklebox.com your concierge MVP ideas
02:30 - Recap of Episodes 1-3 in the series
05:15 - Part 1: What Do You Need, and What Do You Not Need?
06:25 - Remember Scooby Doo
09:10 - Byldd
10:18 Part 2: Your Product Should Be Tailored, Not New
12:45 Part 3: Customer Journey and Tell the Story
16:30 Part 4: How Many Customers and Should You Discount?
18:00 The Superpower: Optimism
20:08 Part 5: How It Went
23:25 The End: What’s Next?

One of my favorite episodes in a while. Today, we talk about how you can stand out in a crowded market by looking at an exceptionally successful exterminator. We'll pull out four lessons that make a framework to create contrast between your business and your competitors. We'll talk through Customer Journey Mapping, the Feature Fold, how to take yourself seriously through pricing and the things other people stink at. And, we'll get a ton of help from the Mouse Man (and no help from Ruby). 

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot
• Sugar (but it stinks)

00:30 Intro
02:00 We’ve Got Mice
05:15 The Mouse Man’s Funnel
07:50 Smooth Jazz
08:21 One - Build Your Funnel to Match Customer Emotion
11:45 Good Questions For Your Funnel
12:30 Two - Contrast from the Feature Fold
14:30 Saving your Customers a Decision
15:53 Three - Take Yourself Seriously
19:14 Four - The Things Other People Stink At
22:14 The End
22:50 Recap of the Four Lessons

Seth Godin (!) and Brian go through startup ideas. Seth gives his opinion on how he’d start everything from a pasta truck to an updated CSA program. We dive into risk, emotion, tension and doing things that matter. Seth talks about the distinction between entrepreneurs and freelancers and the danger of thinking you’re one when you’re really the other. We talk about marketplaces and domain expertise and knowing what it is you’re actually selling.

This is Brian's favorite episode ever.

• The Song of Significance
• Tacklebox
• Purple Cow
• Linchpin
• The Dip
• Ted Talk - How to Get Your Ideas to Spread
• The Tribes We Lead
• Seth on Farnam Street - Failing On Our Way To Mastery
• The Coaching Habit - Michael Bungay Stanier
• Farmer Jones
• Ecosia Search Engine
• Poilane Bakery

01:45 How Brian and Seth Met 05:10 Idea #1 - Helping Doctors and Patients get 2nd (and 10th) opinions 10:48 Idea #2 - How to Start a Pasta Truck 13:01 Landlords and Renters 14:45 Bootstrapping the food truck - emotional vs. financial risk 17:13 Can you start a business if you’re not a domain expert? 18:42 Idea #3 - The Scalable Coach 22:50 Entrepreneur Pacs 26:15 - Idea #4 - Update to CSAs 31:20 - How to Pitch Something Uncomfortable - who takes the risk 34:15 - Idea #5 - Cost Transparency 40:37 - Confusing Freelancing and Entrepreneurship 45:08 - The Billboard Question - (outstanding, make sure you get here)

Today's classic ITS episode discusses the Concierge MVP, an indispensable tactic early stage entrepreneurs can use to get the feedback of a full product without the money and time required to build one. We go through the 4-step method that'll get you data from customers you can use to raise funding, hire, or recognize the opportunity actually isn't worth your time.

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot
• More Concierge MVP Examples

00:00 - Opening and introduction
02:00 - The chicken and egg startup
04:50 - The value of a Concierge MVP
07:20 - The four steps of a Concierge MVP
11:00 - Example story of coaching service Concierge MVP
14:20 - Challenges with selling/positioning the Coaching MVP
18:30 - Learning from Concierge MVP results
22:45 - The End - Momentum

Writing copy for a startup is hard, especially when you're thinking it up from scratch. This episode goes through five frameworks that'll help you write copy that converts customers. We've got a bunch of examples in here and Brian has a sore throat so he "sounds pretty cool, actually" - his words. 

• Byldd - MVP development agency
• Tacklebox - Build your startup with us  (join before we move to application only May 2)
• Inflection Points 

Today, we'll lay out a framework to help you identify and kill bad ideas. It's hard to objectively evaluate your idea early on - this framework helps you rise above your idea to do it effectively. A side-effect is that the framework will help you find and pursue the good ideas.

We talk through 1) Finding and Evaluating the Real Risk, 2) Predicting Organic Growth Potential, and 3) Predicting the Likelihood of Converting Early Customers, using a startup idea from a listener as an example. 

• Tacklebox
• Kunal Shah Delta 4
• Dig out of a Hole Idea to Startup Episode - The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas

00:25 - Killing Bad Startup Ideas
02:00 - The Three Pillars of the Will Your Idea Fail Framework
02:45 - The Startup Idea - AI Messaging for Plumbers and Electricians
03:15 - Dig out of a Hole Markets link to episode
05:56 - Smooth Jazz
06:24 - Part 1 - How to Find and Evaluate the Real Risk
07:35 - Flipping your biggest risk to your biggest strength
11:00 - Decisions aren’t made in a bubble
13:45 - Part 2 - Predicting the Organic Growth Potential
14:00 - Kunal Shah Delta 4 Scale
17:41 - Part 3 - Predicting whether you’ll actually be able to get first customers to convert
18:49 Managed by Q

Today, we'll run a 7-minute test on a startup idea I had over Thanksgiving. It's tackling a massive topic - email - but breaking it down into a manageable first customer and use case. You probably had a startup idea over the break, too, and you should use this framework to test it. The secret to startups is that there is no secret - you're more likely to have a successful business if you try out lots of ideas. This pod will help you do that. 

• Tacklebox (50% off month one with code HOLIDAY)

Today, we'll kick off a new series where we'll start an idea live on the pod. Actually, we'll start two. One in the healthcare space, one in the AI space. The hope is that you've got an idea and can follow along with us. Today we'll cover when your idea is ready to start, how to structure the first couple of weeks, and how to think about the giant boulder sitting in front of you. Also, there's a brief Ruby cameo because she's been absent for a few weeks. 

• Tacklebox
• AI Brian
• 4000 Weeks

This week's ITS Classic covers whether your startup idea is any good. We talk through a failed startup Brian ran called Find Your Lobster, present a framework to ensure you choose the startup idea that best matches your skillset, and how to stay away from the dreaded Whisper Idea. 

• Byldd is a venture studio that’s democratizing software entrepreneurship.
• Tacklebox Accelerator Cohort 28 starts June 2, applications are due May 15th.

Today we talk about organic growth. Your startup won't be successful if your first customers aren't compelled to tell people about how you've helped them. Luckily, organic growth is straightforward. There are ways to predict it and ideas better suited for it.  We talk through an equation for organic growth and dig in on why people share. 

• Tacklebox
• Insider Newsletter (beehiiv)
   

00:34 Intro to organic growth
4:24 Why social ads won’t work
5:54 Outline of the Organic Growth Equation
7:08 Smooth Jazz
7:36 Jury Duty
9:27 Jury Duty Shareable Moments
13:49 The Organic Growth Equation deep-dive + The Crime Triangle
15:02 Problem Variables
18:53 Customer Variables
21:41 Why we share horror movies
23:18 Product Variables
25:10 Multipliers

Today is episode two of testing an idea (AI for Parenting) live on the pod. We use a second round of interviews to go deep on the actual problem we're solving for parents, pull inspiration from an AI tool in the dementia care space, and end up with a Wedge product that'll use voice notes to reduce the pain of handoffs. We also hit on one of my favorite tactics - The Pain Text. Hot Frosty is in there, too, because why not. 
 

• Tacklebox Customer Interview Workshop
• You And Your Research - Richard Hamming 
• How to Find Your Wedge

00:30 Intro
01:20 Part 1 Recap
06:00 Picking the Problem
07:44 Interviews Round Two
10:54 The Text Prompt Tactic
14:51 What are the Stakes?
15:52 Customer Interview Workshops
16:20 The Wedge
21:01 Problems and Pain
22:20 The Stakes, Part Two
23:30 What’s Next

Getting to a startup idea worth starting is active, not passive. The idea won't just show up - you'll need to find it. And it likely won't be the first idea you've got. The way to get a great startup idea is to get lots of startup ideas so you've got context and practice. The way to get lots of startup ideas... well, that's what the episode is about. The three pillars of getting lots of good startup ideas. 

• Tacklebox

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're going to start yet another startup in 7(ish) minutes. We'll flesh out an idea and figure out how to test it using four key questions. The problem we'll solve is parking in NYC. As always, if anyone wants to run with this - please do. Reach out if you do. This problem needs a solution. 

• Tacklebox

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 team@gettacklebox.com 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

We've spent a ton of time recently on tactics and strategies. Today, we talk about how to build a group to make sure you're implementing them. Here's how to build a 4 person startup accountability group that'll meet weekly. We talk through who should be in the group, what you should focus on, and why it'll help. There's absolutely no better way to get started. 

• Tacklebox

Episode Two of our miniseries "We're Starting a Startup" details our first seven days after we decided to pursue an idea live. We talk customer interview strategy and stack, get a bunch of lukewarm feedback, and play clips from some of the interviews we ran. We also talk about Baked By Melissa cupcakes an uncomfortable amount. 

Big thank you to the customers we interviewed, including:

• Happy Medium
• SoWell Health

And a few other things we mention: 

• The Mom Test
• Tacklebox (Cohort starts March 31)
• Tacklebox self serve (Get on waitlist)

The 100th episode of Idea to Startup dives into the most important thing our entrepreneurs with jobs have done to make progress - purposefully designing their lives so that inertia pulls them towards growth, not inaction. We go through how you can design your life to make progress on your startup the norm with a little help from Brian's grandfather, Poppy.

• Tacklebox

Today, we talk through four characteristics of great startup ideas (with a bonus fifth Brian thought of post-recording). We discuss organic growth, market innovation vs. product innovation, growing markets, product swaps, and happiness. The goal of this episode is to help shape fuzzy ideas and give you new ideas.  

• Tacklebox
• Beehiiv

1:27 The Personal Venn Diagram
5:18 Smooth Jazz
5:46 The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas
6:48 Characteristic 1: Potential for Organic Growth
9:14 Characteristic 2: Market Innovation > Product Innovation
10:57 Characteristic 3: Prioritizing Around a Growing Market
12:40 Four Buckets of Market Growth
12:45 Hype Markets
13:36 Dig out of a Hole Market (nurses, agriculture, skilled trades)
16:23 Momentum Markets
16:56 Subsidized Growth
17:42 The Swap
21:19 On Happiness

Today, we're going to talk about one of the best things Brian has learned in 40 years of living. We'll talk through why embracing discomfort is crucial for personal growth and happiness, learn how to generate innovative ideas by adopting a "documentary approach" to life, and find out what Taco Bell has to do with prioritizing your day.

• Tacklebox Workshops
• The Daniel Tiger SOP

Timestamps
00:30 Intro - Discomfort Leads to Happiness
01:33 Discomfort is Front-Loaded + The Happiness Equation
07:43 Observation Number One: The Idea Comes Later
09:26 Pivoting Isn’t Linear
12:32 Observation Number Two: Fiction is Way Harder Than a Documentary
15:37 Observation Number Three: Taco Bell Prioritization
17:39 The End: Execute Through Stories

Today, we'll talk about the four steps I'd take if I needed to start a startup in 2025. We'll also talk about idiots.

We begin by embracing the reality that both founders and customers are irrational. Then, we build out steps and a process to address this. We start with a life audit, increase our Luck Surface Area, tackle the unit economics of working with one customer, and build out a system for accountability. This is a fun episode - one of my favorites in a while. 

• Tacklebox - code "MuchAdoAboutStuffing" for 20% off month one
• How to Engineer Luck
• A Weekly Prioritization and Audit Framework for Entrepreneurs

Timestamps

00:30 Intro - A Listener Email
02:59 A Note on Idiots
06:33 Part 1: Actually Make Time For A Startup
08:23 The Life Audit Exercise
11:33 The Budget Audit Exercise
12:23 Smooth Jazz
12:54 Part 2: Plan for Luck
16:38 Part 3: Focus on One Person
20:16 Part 4: A System
24:30 The End: Enthusiasm

Entrepreneurs favorite questions all begin with “how will I know..”

The real answer is, you never know anything for sure. This podcast is about the process of entrepreneurship - how to set up and run lightweight tests to get a unique perspective no one else does.

Show Notes:

• Tacklebox Self Serve
• How Will I Know (🐐 ) 
• How to choose the right customer (pod)
• Jobs to be Done Theory

We lay out a framework for finding and evaluating problems and dig into a problem worth solving: single-use plastic from takeout food orders. If you're working on this - reach out. 

• Tacklebox Membership 
• Number Munchers

Today, we'll kick off a series that'll help people with jobs and startup ideas build an internal system that'll help them track progress and build momentum. Too many founders have no strategy or measurement system around how they pursue and test an idea - this series will help you do it.

In part 1, we go through what a strategy should look like and the three counterintuitive benefits to creating one. 

• Tacklebox
• Beehiiv

00:00 Jazz
00:25 What should you work on today?
02:29 Golf Clubs in Cities
4:20 The Danger of Unstructured Work
6:58 The Three Ideas, #1 - No One Does This
8:45 Change your Behavior to Change How You Think
10:22 The Magic Happens After You Start
15:55 The Four Questions to Anchor Your Week

Today, we'll help you think through a deceptively tough question - are you a freelancer or an entrepreneur? Every decision you make needs to nest neatly below this core decision for your business to work, but tons of founders are either trying to do both simultaneously or think they're one when they're really the other.

We clarify the difference between freelancer and entrepreneur, help you decide which will make you happier, and get you started on the path for whichever you choose. 

• Tacklebox
• Seth Godin Conversation
• Kurt Vonnegut
• No Lunging

0:30 Why Entrepreneurs are unhappy
01:14 Do you want to be a freelancer or entrepreneur?
04:12 Seth Godin Conversation
04:58 Our definition of a freelancer
07:28 Our definition of entrepreneurs
09:07 Cuban’s Definition of Entrepreneurship
11:24 BYLDD
12:25 The Restaurant Startup
15:15 Rivers and Dams
19:19 No Lunging
22:44 Don’t Pretend
23:10 How do you want to spend your days?

Today, we'll help you embrace risk, uncertainty, and chaos. The only way to get asymmetric results in life is to spend a lot of time in what we call the "chaos" zone - the uncomfortable place where you're finding things no one else has yet. This type of work (life) is uncomfortable and stressful, so people don't do it. But, it's where all the potential asymmetric value is. So, we go through tactics to make this stage feel safer, allowing you to spend more time in it and increasing the chances you pull a life changing business out of it. 

• Tacklebox
• Last Lecture Series: “How to Live an Asymmetric Life,” Graham Weaver 
• Misbelief
• Misogi
• The Psychological Impact of Insolvency on Creativity 
• Less Stressed Minds are Creative Minds

00:00 Tacklebox
00:30 Good Startups are Chaotic
01:08 The Three Phases of Something New: Chaos
01:48 The Three Phases of Something New: Organization
02:40 The Three Phases of Something New: Clarity + Order
03:45 Drop Shipping Cheap Sunglasses
06:12 Last Lecture Series: “How to Live an Asymmetric Life,” Graham Weaver
10:10 Smooth Jazz
10:40 The Scarcity Mindset
11:51Misbelief
14:33 How to Reframe Chaos as Opportunity
16:39 Misogi
20:03 The Magic Comes Later

Today we'll help you find an identity. An identity is something unique that you can organize your business beneath. A north star that can act as a lens for every decision you make. We talk through how to use category shifts and first principles to find and evaluate possible identities and when to stick with an identity vs when to jump ship. We use a bunch of examples - from an Italian restaurant to a skincare company called Jolie to the 1994 Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team. 

• Tacklebox
• Jolie
• Perfect Bar
• How "40 Minutes of Hell" Became an Iconic Basketball Brand
   

00:27 An Identity Helps You Move Fast and Keep Momentum
03:30 Black Friday - Lack of Clear Identities
06:22 Smooth Jazz
06:53 Categories
09:11 Jolie
12:12 First Principles
12:42 Arkansas Basketball’s “40 Minutes of Hell” Identity
15:50 Career Coach Identity
17:40 Stay Disciplined
19:42 Changing Too Quck vs. Staying Too Long
20:34 Throw with Conviction

21:11 Tacklebox

Today, we'll talk about one of the most common hurdles entrepreneurs run into - getting tempted by a new idea a few months into working on their main idea. We lay out a framework to identify the first principles of the new idea fast so you can decide if it's worth a pivot. We also dig in on why the urge to pivot shows up, procrastination, and how to win a baking contest. And, English Lords from the 17th century.

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter 

00:26 Intro
05:40 Chronic Pain Side Idea
08:30 Smooth Jazz
09:00 All Babies Are Cute
13:00 Internal vs. External Signal
14:01 Why You Have a Lawn
16:50 What to Look For in a New Idea
20:30 How to Win a Baking Competition

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

Simple products win. You probably already knew this, but creating a simple product is harder than it should be. The reason is that a simple product has nothing to do with the product itself. Today we'll talk about Customer Deltas - the most important piece of the puzzle for a simple product that you can build fast and is primed for growth. 

• Tacklebox
• The Psychology of Money 

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

Operating in a crowded market with a ton of potential is tempting - and tough. Today, we evaluate companies taking very different approaches to the coffee market. We go deep on Blank Street, Cometeer, and Nguyen Coffee Supply and pull out everything we can learn that'll help you build your business.  

• Tacklebox
• Nguyen Coffee Supply, Cometeer, Blank Street
• Quibi Episode - How to lose 1.8bn dollars in 10 days
• Boston Towns Sketch
• Air Mail article on Blank Street

Brian Linton, founder of outdoor apparel and accessory brand United By Blue, stops by to tell the story of how he built a purpose-driven brand that's removed over 2 million pounds of trash from the ocean. He talks through the earliest days - how driving up and down the east coast selling t-shirts gave him the foundation to build an omni-channel brand - and the tradeoffs necessary to build a profitable brand that also has a clear philanthropic North Star.

Meaningful differentiation is hard to come by. Most startups pay lip service to differentiation and pay the price through higher customer acquisition costs and lower retention rates. A truly differentiated product is necessary for a healthy funnel - acquisition, conversion, retention, referral.

Today we talk through questions that’ll help you differentiate your startup with the help of On, an apparel company that leveraged business model innovation to create a truly differentiated product in a crowded space.

• Tacklebox Self Serve
• Animals Keep Evolving Into Crabs, Which Is Somewhat Disturbing

Today we'll talk about thrust and drag, the components of momentum. Momentum is the lifeblood for startups, but most people leave it to chance. By focusing on the inputs of momentum - thrust and drag - you can build systems to ensure you keep moving forward. Gaps kill startups. This system removes them.  

• Email team@gettacklebox.com with "Uncomfy" in the subject to be invited to Uncomfy Hour
• Tacklebox
• Song where Taylor Swift burns Jake Gyllenhall
  
   

Agatha Kulaga - co-founder of Ovenly, an award-winning retail and wholesale bakery with a global footprint - stops by to talk through the early days. How do you turn your creative outlet into a business? How do you scale high quality? How do you build a distinct brand as a wholesaler? A great conversation with a very smart and talented founder.

Most people's startup approach is haphazard. It's a combination of instincts and reactions and luck or happenstance. People who succeed are far more purposeful. Today, we'll help you take your idea and yourself seriously. We'll build your entrepreneurship handbook - the thing that'll let you make tough decisions at scale.

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Byldd
• "I'm a Neuroscientist, and these are 5 things I do every day"

1:00 Your Entrepreneurial Self 
2:35 The Dads
7:00 Byldd
8:04 Why Find Your Lobster Failed
12:40 The Serious Email
14:12 Entrepreneur or Tourist?
15:13 Your Entrepreneurship Handbook
20:30 The End - Implementing

The apartment I live in was on the market for a year without a bid, then sold in a bidding war for well above ask in a week. What the heck happened? Today's episode breaks down why people took action (and a framework to create it).  

• Tacklebox Method 
• Sell The Position (🐐 episode)

Most startups fail. Entrepreneurs assume there are a bunch of reasons for this, but there's really only one. Your startup will fail because of customer indifference.

This episode explores in detail a few examples of startups that have avoided this fate, and lays out a pragmatic approach to avoiding it with your idea.

Today, we'll help you build a system to be different. The well-traveled paths don't get you anywhere interesting and common inputs won't give you uncommon output. But, acting different is difficult. There's external and internal pressure and biases, so we need a system. We talk through the Venn Diagram Method and the cataloging and reflection needed to make decisions that'll help you reach your potential. 

• Tacklebox - turn your idea into a startup (code HOLIDAY for 50% off month 1)
• Tacklebox Rhythm - program for being different in 2023

Inertia is the tendency to not change. Everyone is on a path driven by inertia, which leads just about everyone to always repeat the same things. Which is a problem if you're starting a startup, since you need people to do something different (buy your thing).

In this episode we talk through inertia and how to build startups that leverage it vs. fight it, with cameos from Javier the Hot Air Balloon Guy, Erin Andrews, and Donald Trump. 

• SPONSOR: Bluprint + their Indiegogo campaign - the only coffee maker that cares about your entire day
• Tacklebox article: Don't Edit Your Deck, Edit Your Investors
• Article on Erin Andrews + Donald Trump on social media

Today, we help you become the type of founder who relishes uncomfortable things that lead to successful startups. There are no real secrets in the startup world - the hard, proactive, uncomfortable work leads to businesses that matter. This work doesn’t happen without a system.

Today we help you build that system, using The Costanza Swap, The Three Levers of Resilience, and The Failure Case.

Hoo ahh.

• Byldd
• Tacklebox

00:24 Doing Things You Don’t Want To Do
02:45 Why the Eisenhower Box Doesn’t Work for Entrepreneurs
03:30 The Al Pacino Problem
04:45 Creating Content
08:00 Smooth Jazz
08:30 The Costanza Swap
10:15 One Out, One In
11:20 The Three Levers of Resilience
12:40 Scheduling
13:24 Committing
14:30 Dissecting
17:40 The Failure Case
21:15 Happiness

Today is week two of testing out a startup idea live on the show. We're pushing and pulling on the chronic pain idea, setting up the system to get interactions with customers and establishing our organizing principle for the first phase of the business: speed.

• Tacklebox
• Chartr

Today, we'll talk through a framework that'll help you evaluate whether you're building something useful enough to anchor a business. Most startups fail because the thing they built doesn't make a big enough dent in their customers lives. We'll make sure you don't make this mistake with help from Habit Kangaroo, a startup Brian ran back in 2014, and a GMAT training program his friend ran that helped people get into Harvard. 

• Tacklebox
• Beehiiv (Idea to Startup Newsletter)
• Byldd
• Greenlights

0:30 Building a Wildly Useful Startup
2:12 Why Measuring Usefulness is Hard
7:00 Byldd
7:53 Habit Kangaroo
12:50 The Usefulness Framework
13:24 What is your Secret?
13:51 Three Categories of Secrets: Customer
14:45 Three Categories of Secrets: Acquisition
15:16 Three Categories of Secrets: Product
17:08 Rivers and Dams
19:00 GMAT over 700 Product
23:02 Hire Yourself

Rich and Vicki Fulop built Brooklinen after realizing there wasn’t an easy way to find and buy high quality sheets. There were no strong brands, no transparency into manufacturing - nothing they valued in a product.

This interview is about how two founders turned that core insight and little else (no textile background, no knowledge of the bedding industry, etc.) into a global brand and the sheets I happily sleep on every night (and would whether Rich came on the podcast or not). Hope you enjoy! 

Today, we'll dig in on three approaches that separate how pros and amateurs build businesses. We'll talk through how pros leverage existing infrastructure, how they use anti-marketing to build trust with strangers, and how they don't leave luck and serendipity to chance - they orchestrate it. We'll do this with help from stories about Frank Sinatra, a comedian in an Uber, and a founder starting a GMAT course for people looking to score 800 (and for those people only). And, Hey Jealousy by the Gin Blossoms, for some reason. 

• XLR8 Dev
• Tacklebox
• Hey Jealousy
• Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants To Be

Timestamps

• 00:30 - Listener Child Therapist Idea Email
• 05:42 - XLR8 Dev
• 06:50 - Live in Reality, and Choose Where You Compete
• 10:45 - Categories
• 12:57 - Anti-Marketing
• 17:11 - Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Is
• 19:45 - Bonus - Value First
• 21:00 - The End

Today we'll talk about community. What a good community looks like, the mistakes people make around communities, and how to test an idea for a community fast. We'll test out a community for lonely dads, dive into an example about a freelancer community, and check in on a couple of Monks walking through Central Park at night. 

• Tacklebox
• Freelance Founders
• David Spinks on Community

We're told we need to be head over heels passionate about our startup for it to succeed. Is that... true?
What if we haven't found something we're that passionate about - does that mean we shouldn't start it?How do you find something you're passionate enough about to build a company around?
Is Sasquatch Real?  

The answers to these and more on this week's Idea to Startup Pod. 

• Tacklebox Self Serve (and regular tacklebox accelerator)
• Tacklebox Newsletter (get articles and the full content archive)

Lots of people carve out time to work on their startup ideas. Most people spend that time doing things that don't matter. Today, we talk about something you can do this weekend that'll actually matter for your startup. Like, way more than anything else you could do. We get a little help from Martin Scorsese, a golf startup, and a restaurant that only serves French Dip. 

• Tacklebox

We chatted with Joey Cofone, founder of Baron Fig, about the early days of building the company. He touches on a bunch of helpful topics, from breaking through to your customer with his archetype of the Attention Pie, to how non-designers can prioritize design, to building a company without outside funding. 

This episode focuses on the 4 best emails written on Black Friday, and the framework each used to break through the clutter.

Show Notes:

• Tacklebox Self Serve
• Lolli
• Essentialism (read this)
• Contagious (read this, too)
   

Awesome chat with Angela Lee (37 Angels, Columbia Business School) about angel investing. We talk through what angels are looking for, who should try to raise from them, what'll happen if they do, and what the other options are.

Then, we spend the last 15 minutes starting a $100mm Taco company. Angela walks through the process goals and financial milestones she'd want to hit in a fascinating startup exercise. 

• Angela Lee
• 37 Angels
• Should you Bootstrap or Raise VC?
• Tacklebox

Today, we'll talk about pros and amateurs. Pros build businesses that have a shot - amateurs never leave the starting gate. Unfortunately, most amateurs don't know they're approaching their idea the wrong way.

We talk through your vision and your internal system - the internal process you'll build, automate, and scale to help you execute that vision. We do it with a little help from the best run solo business I've encountered (an interior designer), and the best tool for your internal system (Zapier).

• Tacklebox
• Fiverr
• Zapier

We're told the curious entrepreneurs are the most successful. But we're also told we need to be experts for our startups to work. How do you balance being curious and learning with being seen as an expert?

Today, we explore curiosity through one of the best founders to ever go through Tacklebox, and through another founder just getting started building something in the Space...space.

• Tacklebox Accelerator (next program June 2) 
• Tacklebox Self-Paced Accelerator (next program whenever you'd like)
• Ted Lasso Darts Scene

A walk down memory lane checking in on Brian's past startups and how you can make sure you're starting a company that has a shot at working out.

A throwback to the 6th ever episode of Idea to Startup - an episode that’s been listened to thousands of times and has a consumption rate at nearly 100%. Entrepreneurs can do anything, but they can’t do everything. How do you prioritize early on? How do you differentiate? This episode presents a framework that’ll ensure you work on the things that give your startup its best chance at success.

• Tacklebox
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Freedom
• Inbox Pause
• Essentialism
• Deep Work
• Getting Things Done
• The Emyth

00:00 Intro
03:03 College Basketball
05:49 Ordinary and Extraordinary
06:21 Prioritization, Willpower, Internal Reports
08:00 Stones and Sand
14:00 Humans Overestimate Wownside and Underestimate Upside
14:36 You Have No Willpower
20:27 Tracking

• League of Legends
• Riot Games
• Lunya
• Lahgo
• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Today we talk through the three types of problems that deserve a solution. We start off with a few higher level thoughts about problems and startups - specifically around achievement incentives and how some bad early decisions usually can't be salvaged by good decisions later on. Then we talk through Hole Problems, Teleporter Problems, and Status Level Jump Problems.
 

• Tacklebox Customer Interview Workshop
• Getting God at the Wrong Thing
   

00:40 The Types of Problems Customers Will Solve
01:00 Manhattan in 2007
05:48 Achievement Incentives
06:30 Be Careful What You’re Getting Good At
07:37 Nat Eliason - Getting Too Good at the Wrong Thing
08:21 Bad Early Decisions James Clear
09:53 Tacklebox
10:54 Problem Archetype 1: Hole Problems
14:23 Baby Quip
17:04 Problem Archetype 2: Teleporter Problems
19:19 Problem Archetype 3: Status Level Jump

Creating moments your customers will share is how your startup will grow early on. This episode will teach you how to orchestrate and plan those moments before you've built a product. Your business will rely on these moments for growth, so we need to figure them out early. Featuring bagels, noodles, and a dog training app. 

• Tacklebox Membership (Pod Listeners Page + Discount)
• Xi'an Famous Foods
• H&H Bagels

If lots of people think your startup idea makes no sense, it's got a much higher likelihood of succeeding. Counterintuitive ideas will buy you time to build, test, and flesh out your product before competitors catch on. Today, we talk through how to come up with and grow counterintuitive ideas while looking at a bonkers business Brian can't get enough of.

• Tacklebox Membership (Cyber Monday Code "BuildThings"
• Core Walking
• List of Mental Models

Today we'll talk about a guy in the Adirondacks who sells wood for $10 when everyone else around him sells it for $5. He sells 10x more wood than all his competitors and it's all due to being able to answer one question really well. We'll dig into that question and how you can leverage it to build your business on this week's Idea to Startup. 

• Tacklebox Method
• Elephant water skiing on the Hudson River
• The Effective Executive

Today we'll talk about how to pick what you work on - we need to ensure you're spending your time on things that'll actually matter. We'll do it through the lens of the greatest company ever built. 

We also wrap up Problems + Opportunities and get some guidance from Peter Drucker.  

• NewCo  - Reach out to Marissa@buildwithnewco.com to pitch 
• Tacklebox - New cohort for idea-stage founders starting March 31
• The Effective Executive - Drucker (🐐)
  
   

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

• Startle

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

Today, we'll talk through a way to ensure people will share what you're building (ideally before you decide to build it). We'll break down a few baby products that've been shared with Brian dozens of times the past few weeks to understand the incentives and drivers that made those products so shareable. Finally, we'll look at three questions that'll ensure you're on the right track.

• Tacklebox
• Byldd
• Shusher
• PeePee Teepee
• Ollie Swaddle

Today, we'll talk through the hardest decision an early-stage entrepreneur has to make - quit on your idea or stick it through? This decision rarely has enough information and the entrepreneur never has enough context to make it. Lots of entreprenuers quit right before their idea was about to get interesting or stick with ideas that never had a chance for years.

This pod lays out a decision framework to help with the quit or stick question. 

• Tacklebox
• Sell the Position podcast

Today, we'll kick off a series where Brian is going to test out a startup idea live. We begin the way every idea should begin - by figuring out why the thing will fail and building in systems to avoid that fate.

Brian touches on Thrust and Drag, The Goldfish Cleanse, Journal of a Startup, and exactly what you should do to get to first principles for your startup idea. 

• Tacklebox
• Thrust and Drag 

Today, we'll help you figure out how to find and position your startup idea's value. We'll talk through the Need/Gap/Swap framework, go through a few startups doing the value thing well and poorly, and we'll talk about a Magician on the Upper West Side.

• Tacklebox
• How to Make $1,000 Today
• Idea to Startup Newsletter
• Idea to Startup Bot

01:25 Intro
02:32 Make as Much Money As You Can In One Week
10:13 Smooth Jazz
10:45 The Magician
14:22 Non-Alcoholic Drinks