Idea to Startup

Today, we'll help all the non-storytellers tell a compelling story about their business. We've got a framework that'll walk you through the ingredients of a compelling story, and a mise en place-inspired approach that'll help you get to story market fit. We've got some rules, some variables, some accelerants, and an example about a service that helps Airbnb hosts launch their own interior design businesses.  TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterBuilding a Story BrandYour New Life Will Cost You Your Old OneWork Clean - The Life-Changing Power of Mise en PlaceHow to Write Essays that Spread00:30 Storytelling for your startup03:24 The Two Reasons for the Barefoot Son Story07:09 Smooth Jazz07:37 The Three Ruls of Good Storytelling for Entrepreneurs08:45 Rule 1: Good Stories Are About Speed10:44 Rule 2: You Don’t Matter11:39 Rule 3: A Good Story is Earned12:22 Mise En Place14:10 The Ingredients of Your Story17:09 The Accelerants19:24 Airbnb Interior Design23:23 The End: Montaigne 

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.TackleboxIdea to Startup Newsletter  00:26 Intro05:40 Chronic Pain Side Idea08:30 Smooth Jazz09:00 All Babies Are Cute13:00 Internal vs. External Signal14:01 Why You Have a Lawn16:50 What to Look For in a New Idea20:30 How to Win a Baking Competition

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. BylddTackleboxGetting Real (museum curator reference)Everyman Espresso (☕️ 🐐)Timestamps00:27 First Time Entrepreneurs vs. Second Time Entrepreneurs03:20 The Idea: Personality-Based Management06:29 Why You, Why At All, Why Now08:55 Byldd09:55 The Story of Your Successful Startup15:35 The Five Necessary First Customer Characteristics16:41 Characteristic One: Pain21:51 Characteristic Two: The Knowledge Spectrum25:43 Characteristic Three: Measurement28:24 Characteristic Four: Influence29:48 Characteristic Five: Frequency31:45 The End

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.BylddTacklebox00:24 Doing Things You Don’t Want To Do02:45 Why the Eisenhower Box Doesn’t Work for Entrepreneurs03:30 The Al Pacino Problem04:45 Creating Content08:00 Smooth Jazz08:30 The Costanza Swap10:15 One Out, One In11:20 The Three Levers of Resilience12:40 Scheduling13:24 Committing14:30 Dissecting17:40 The Failure Case21:15 Happiness

Today's classic episode will help you get the first version of your product up and out this weekend.We use a three-part framework to help you focus in on the one core feature you've got to nail that can be built by someone with no technical or product building skills in an afternoon. We also find your customers inertia and ride that wave to make it easier to use your product than not.We get help from an airbnb for lawn equipment startup and move the ball forward on the chronic pain idea.BylddTackleboxTacklebox NewsletterThe Personal MBA0:55 The Two Questions Entrepreneurs Have About Products2:35 A Great Product Does Two Things4:26 Entrepreneur Baggage + Airbnb for Lawn Equipment6:29 A Mindset for Today8:13 Step One - Process8:53 Organ Donors9:55 Inertia11:35 Chronic Pain13:07 Frank’s Process14:50 Harry Potter and Being Chosen15:43 Step Two - Metrics17:12 Chronic Pain Ex-College Athlete SOM18:35 Outcome not Features - The Product is Irrelevant19:16 The Five Marketing Archetypes - STTC, Pain, Cost, Apparate, Urgency20:19 Step Three - Delivery (The Product)20:32 Warby Parker22:23 The Twelve Forms of Value25:49 The Venmo Accountability Group 

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. TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterFermenting IdeasPod: Customers speak ProblemPod: How to Create a Strategy for your StartupReadwiseIdea to Startup Bot00:26 Idea People02:47 A Baseball Training Facility04:45 Inversion07:46 Smooth Jazz9:24 Part 1: Identifying the Problem12:34 Part 2: Collecting17:22 Part 3: Chewing20:14 Part 4: Testing21:37 The End + How to Start

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.TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterIdea to Startup BotMore Concierge MVP Examples00:00 - Opening and introduction02:00 - The chicken and egg startup04:50 - The value of a Concierge MVP07:20 - The four steps of a Concierge MVP11:00 - Example story of coaching service Concierge MVP14:20 - Challenges with selling/positioning the Coaching MVP18:30 - Learning from Concierge MVP results22:45 - The End - Momentum

Today, we'll talk about strategy - what good (and bad) strategy looks like for startups, and how most early-stage companies lack any strategy at all. Using a framework from Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, we'll explore the three core elements: diagnosis, guiding policy, and coherent action. We'll examine strategies from a stand-up comedian and GoPro as examples, before applying the framework to craft a strategy for launching a successful children's book.TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterThe Skeptical Startup EpisodeGood Strategy / Bad StrategyGet On Your Knees (comedy special)Go the F*** to Sleep00:29 The Skeptical Startup1:58 Strategies vs Goals3:58 The Comedian Story8:50 Smooth Jazz9:30 Bad Strategy11:38 Fluff12:12 Failure to Face the Challenge13:19 Mistaking Goals for Strategy14:50 GoPro17:16 The Kernel of a Successful Children’s Book19:56 Guiding Policy20:50 Coherent Action21:24 The End + You 

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.  TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterIdea to Startup BotFarnam Street - Surface AreaThe AlchemistNatalie Imbruglia - Torn00:30 When to Quit Your Job03:25 Life Expenses Excel Sheet04:05 The Skeptical Startup Framework06:25 The Idea: Home AV Improvements07:44 Smooth Jazz08:22 The Logistics of $8k11:26 An AV Marketplace12:46 Reduce the Surface Area15:27 The Search16:30 A Lead for the AV Startup19:16 The End - Your Goals19:26 A Goal Framework

Today is an ITS classic - an episode that was listened to and shared a ton. It hits on a fundamental question for idea-stage entrepreneurs - what if the problem you're solving isn't an urgent, painful, bleeding neck problem? What if it's just something you think will improve people's lives? Should you still pursue it? How?TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterIdea to Startup Bot  

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.TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterIdea to Startup Bot00:33 One Sentence Marketing01:10 Train to NYC03:04 The best marketing Brian’s seen in a while06:42 Smooth Jazz07:28 Choosing a Customer and the Knowledge Spectrum08:54 Air Quality Idea13:07 Inflection Points + The Conference Exercise14:09 The End - Vietnamese Coffee

Today, we dive into a practical, resilient system to help you carve out and hold time for your startup amidst the craziness of your life. Most startups fail because the founders lose momentum when predictable life things pop up - you were supposed to work on your startup but your kid was sick or your job gets busy. You need to build a system that adjusts to this constant "failure state" - one that doesn't require Herculean willpower (wake up every day at 4am) and makes working on your startup easier than ignoring it. Today, we help you do that.  TackleboxLoomOneTabLight Phone II 00:26 A System to Make Time for your Startup This year02:55 Dad Fitness Club Idea04:59 Smooth Jazz05:41 Sell the Position09:13 Life Inventory10:11 Never Rely on Willpower10:57 Previously On12:42 The Five Minute List13:44 Do The Thing15:57 The End + The System

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 SignificanceTackleboxPurple CowLinchpinThe DipTed Talk - How to Get Your Ideas to SpreadThe Tribes We LeadSeth on Farnam Street - Failing On Our Way To MasteryThe Coaching Habit - Michael Bungay StanierFarmer JonesEcosia Search EnginePoilane Bakery01:45 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, we’ll teach you how to avoid sabotaging your startup. Most founders think the best way to build a startup is to mitigate risks - to optimize for worst case scenarios. But the actual way to build a successful startup is to optimize for tasks with the highest ceiling - to do the things that might give you asymmetric gains, if they work. This is unnatural and hard - the Problems and Opportunities Method, the second in our Method series, will help.  TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterDay One AppThe Hail Mary Pass that Saved HingeLoss Aversion is Paralyzing Your StartupFeast of the Seven Fishes00:22 Problems and Opportunities02:26 Find Your Lobster Story08:10 Asymmetric Progress10:00 Smooth Jazz10:45 The To Do List Monster14:20 The Obstacle is the Way15:12 Ambiguity Aversion, Loss Aversion, and Magicians15:55 Helping Parents Plan Dates18:22 Scheduling and the Actual Downside

Today, we'll help you build a system to be different. We dive into the Persona Venn Diagram Method - a tool designed to help you identify and capitalize on your unique strengths - and we'll talk through how the path you might think holds the least risk actually guarantees the most. This is the first in a series of episodes on the Methods we use at Tacklebox to help our founders build differentiated businesses.TackleboxBeehiiv (Idea to Startup Newsletter)Day One Journal00:25 How to be Different02:16 Talk at Columbia Business School02:55 The Path to an Interesting Job06:35 Status and Happiness09:45 The Happiness Formula11:43 Smooth Jazz12:27 The Personal Venn Diagram Method13:29 Drawing and Adding Circles17:53 Implementation19:26 The End

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. TackleboxAI Brian4000 Weeks

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. TackleboxJoliePerfect BarHow "40 Minutes of Hell" Became an Iconic Basketball Brand 00:27 An Identity Helps You Move Fast and Keep Momentum03:30 Black Friday - Lack of Clear Identities06:22 Smooth Jazz06:53 Categories09:11 Jolie12:12 First Principles12:42 Arkansas Basketball’s “40 Minutes of Hell” Identity15:50 Career Coach Identity17:40 Stay Disciplined19:42 Changing Too Quck vs. Staying Too Long20:34 Throw with Conviction21:11 Tacklebox

Today we'll outline two frameworks that'll help you find a meaningful differentiator. We'll use a bunch of examples to show how Inversion + Before and After can change your business. A baseball academy, Krispy Kreme, and Nutrisystem help show us the way to a product your customers will happily overpay for.Tacklebox 

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. TackleboxTwinbox - the Idea to Startup AI BotThe Brain Audit00:00 Tacklebox00:37 How to Speak Problem01:21 The Brain Audit01:55 Farm Stand Problem Language06:03 The Idea: AI to Get Out of Debt07:38 Smooth Jazz08:07 Why You Won’t Use Problem Language10:31 Signs in NYC15:00 AI for Debt17:41 Landing Page Test19:18 The End: This Is Everywhere - Cold Email Examples

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.TackleboxByldd00:00 Tacklebox00:30 Pros and Amateurs02:08 Homeschool Idea05:47 The Story of Future You06:16 Entrepreneur Pro Tactic Number One - Working Backwards from Dreams07:42 BYLDD08:50 SOPs14:19 An SOP for a Problem Worth Solving14:46 Customer Language15:55 SOP Problem Doc19:40 The Stakes23:00 The Startup Journal