Idea to Startup

Building a great startup usually isn't rocket science - it often comes down to just trying more things than anyone else does. The hard part about this is the repetition and the mindset - building a s…

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 ab…

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 w…

There's an epidemic of talented entrepreneurs bailing on their startup ideas right before those ideas are about to get interesting. We talk about why and how to avoid it, with a little help from Spla…

People are too precious with ideas. The idea you've got is probably wrong, but the only way you'll get to the right one is working on the wrong one - not waiting for the right one to magically appear…

A storytelling primer for entrepreneurs. Marketing is storytelling, and in this pod we lay out a three step framework for telling exceptional stories that convert customers. This is idiot-proofing - …

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…

Startups work best when they're anchored around a secret. A great secret has three characteristics, and Brian goes through those, as well as examples of a few secrets that can anchor a business, in t…

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. 

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How to Not Waste Your Life. This was the most listened to episode of 2022, so we're running it back with a special intro. It's the lesson we all need to hear going into the New Year 💪.

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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. 

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We're all lugging around metaphorical backpacks. These backpacks are filled with tasks, shoulds, and IOUs. The problem isn't that they exist, it's how easily other people are able to lob things in an…

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 c…

Today we talk through three things entrepreneurs can do over Thanksgiving break - and the next six weeks - to differentiate themselves in 2022. Stories about the fireplace delusion, rainfall in Bermu…

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. …

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…

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…

People keep telling us they're stuck. The next three pods are stories that'll get your juices flowing. It'll be impossible to be stuck after them. Today's is about Selling The Position - it's probabl…

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 wh…

We leverage Yu-kai Chou's Octalysis Framework to think through motivating customers. We test it out using a startup idea that's come across Brian's desk recently: a network of Airstream trailers, dro…