original video: https://youtu.be/awnn-bqV_Tw

Video Notes

• what would he do if he lost everything and had to start over?
• the 3 foundation principles and then the 5 steps after

1. Build in Public

   1. so you can build an audience
   2. you can them monetize them and be wholesome over time
   3. provide value to them
   4. everything I learn, or save, or help me build this business or idea
      1. create youtube videos or blog posts
      2. then share to linkedin, twitter, facebook, instagram et.c
      3. document the process

2. Provide value first

   1. don't expect quick returns
   2. don't sell anything or be not authentic while you are building in public and showing insights or tools or techniques that could be interesting or useful to your audience.

3. target the market you actually care about

   1. build your business around that specific audience you know about and you want to learn more about (have passion about).
   2. passion = perseverance

• 5 actionable steps to start your own business

1. learn a monetize-able skill that helps the people that I care about
   1. list out those skills and see which ones are closest to your skillsets or the skillsets you want to learn
      hidden

:::hidden

1. keep learning and growing while sharing online so you can build your domain authority
2. productive the service
   1. "Take your shot" by Robin Waite (Read)
   2. change your pricing model
      1. convert hourly pricing to productized charging rate
   3. *create service packages with different price tiers
   4. *create an asset that has either a high enough price to justify your time, or
      1. **create a product that brings in revenue regardless of your direct involvement at time of sale
3. Hire people
   1. Read these books
      1. The E-myth revisited
      2. Traction
   2. once you are profitable as solopreneur
   3. bring people on board to scale
   4. do this usually after 2-3 years of success
   5. after that you can build a business system that delivers results, not solely from individuals themselves.

original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK4B7XUqXWY&list=PLzK__islD6Ot03bSsm3saqEqj3TSjZpIy&index=15

Video Notes

1. Tip 5: Invest in Yourself First
   1. it's great to invest, because you are trying to get more out of it than you put in
   2. but you should invest in yourself first because that will pay you way more than 7% - 10% per year.
      1. invest in your skills, and your ability to make money.
   3. Ask myself: "What can I invest in for myself to improve my ability to make money"
2. Tip 4: Work for a Startup
   1. join a start up that is small if you want to start your own business
   2. you'll learn more about creating and managing your own business.
3. Tip 3: Take the 3rd Door
   1. life is like a night club, there are three doors to any nightclub
      1. the front where everyone waits and it takes forever
      2. the backdoor: where the billionaires and actors get in
      3. then the third door: the one that you have to hustle for; through the window, into the kitchen, bride the guard, and eventually make your way inside
      4. **most really successful people always take the third door.
4. Tip 2: Everything is downhill from lead generation
   1. Notion page discussing this topic
   2. loads of people will come to free events, or products -> and a percentage of them will be interested in your actual paid product
   3. generate score card MVP
      1. make a quiz or something that gets market data alongside giving someone what they are looking for
         1. **"Free quiz to find out the best AI tool for your business"
         2. ask questions to narrow down results
         3. keep question data for better feedback and product-market fit
   4. ask social media
   5. before you make product -> validate with leads
5. Tip 1: Extraordinary results == extraordinary inputs
   1. if you go hard => results will seem to come easy
   2. magic is -> spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect
   3. What do you put in an extraordinary amount of time doing (that most people might not reasonably expect) ... but you enjoy the process as well?

$0 -> $10K how to start a business

P.S: do you want a lifestyle and performance business?

lifestyle: small 1-8 person team: that enables you to have that freedom and lifestyle you are looking for.
no debt: no investors

performance: you want to build to scale, you want to grow past 8 people and get that $50M to $100M business valuation.

want debt: want investors, etc.

Concept

once people ask you: "omg you quit Caltrans? what are you doing now? what's going on?

you need to have a good answer for them. best way to figure that out is:

OMV

Origin, Mission, Vision

Origin: you need to tie your concept to who you are and something really intrinsic to your past.

• did you feel empowered?
• was it a bad moment were you learned something about yourself.

"when I learned to ride my bike":

• physical activity
• the feeling of independence
• of efficacy

so it makes sense that I started a business around training people who have never worked out before?

"when I got a really good grade on my writing assignment"

• enjoy the process of writing and reading
• getting good feedback from others
• building things and putting it out into the world.

it makes sense that I started a business writing blog posts and advertising on my newsletter.

"I want money"

doing something / a business PURELY for money; never works

even if someone looks like they are doing something just for money; there is actually something deep down around their actions that influence their motivations more than just the acquisition of money.

if you are stuck on your origin...

Work for an entrepreneur.

Look at what is actually happening behind the scenes of someone who is in the life that you want.

Join a team and start seeing what the life of a startup or of a real entrepreneur (small team of 8-13 customers).
(Lucas Sommer)

Mission

once you have analyzed your origin moment into it's emotional and literal components

try to tie those deep intrinsic traits to the rest of your mission and vision.

Vision: what do you want to do for the world? what's the thing you want to see? lifestyle or performance?

Mission: what is the most high value thing you can do right now?

Vision: defeat the nazis
Mission: storm the beaches

Ideation

think of 10 concepts of what problems you can solve

& who is willing to pay the most for those solutions.

pick the best 3.

test the ideas as fast and as cheap as you can.

your concept or idea needs to be able to push the door open on the sale, not try to bash it's way in.

(good) entrepreneurship is hard = because there are so many people who want in

(bad) entrepreneurship is hard = because no one wants what I can offer.

think about 10:1 return on their money, that's your goal on your concept vetting. a nice and clear 10:1 return.

How to Validate

Ideas should look like:
a page of notes about the idea
what it is or who it's for.

Top 3 validation methods

1. an free "Intro to X" event/webinar
2. run a quiz: "are you ready to " answer 10 questions
   1. through ScoreApp or TypeForm
3. Create a free Whatsapp group or Discord or Telegram

do cold-dm or message through social media, use lead magnets for your quiz or intro events.

Don't do food; can't scale

do software or scalable business ideas: where you can build/grow assets that exist beyond your time (Millionaire FastLane)

Audience

Two types of people who are trying to solve a problem:

1. ones with a bunch of time to throw at the problem.
2. ones with a bunch of money to throw at the problem.

from current timestamp: 26:10

freelancing is not the best = selling your own labor
entrepreneur => focus on outcomes instead of component labor

find the components (people) that can specialize in the work and organize them to quickly get your client's desired outcome.

if freelancing => 50% of the time you are just trying to get your next customer

and a lot of downsides of not working at a company without the upside.

think more like:
=> what is the problem I am trying to solve for other people? (instead of just trying to solve your problems...)
how can I organize and run a business to efficiently solve that problem.

Mindset Shifts

shift your mindset towards money -> $3K is not a lot of money

• never read the news (it's always going to be irrelevant)
• everything is downstream from lead generation.

• started as a RevShare model like mentioned in $100M Offers

• should you start a startup or join someone else's

  join someone else's

• do two years in someone else's startup / agency first, then start your own.

• learning how everything works is so much better than getting funneled into an organization

• revShare example:

  customer pays for costs of service, but you get a percentage of the success profits

would use low-risk first step (free lead magnet) to draw leads that would be interested.

• like onlinebusinessbuilder, etc.
• would charge a combination of success fees based on leads and sales.

"you need to grind"

• success can happen quickly if you tap into a trend and the flood gates could open.

• some businesses compound over time. "j-curve businesses"

  • technology
  • restaurants

• their cashflow over time looks like a J

• technology companies are a good example: spend 1 million for a software product, and charge $10 / month per user.

  as you get more and more customers your cashflow will start exponentially growing.

• consulting - non j-curve

• low startup costs but exponential cashflow potential.

• j-curve businesses have frictionless sales process

• non-j-curve businesses require a sales process.

Discover your Passion

• find a skill that you enjoy or a process in which you enjoy (for the most part) all the components
• if I had 100M in the bank, How would I choose to spend my time
• Skill vetting
  • what generates energy instead of taking energy
  • what do I have an aptitude for
  • and what do I enjoy doing.
• Skill and Validate the Market
  • make sure that when you are thinking of these skills, think in terms of helping other people solve problems
  • Castle Method & Validate with quiz

Step 2

Generate Leads
decide on a business model

1. Service
2. Product
3. Content -> post free content and get money through advertisers etc. (like TV)

If I had to create a service, product or content around this skill, what would it be?

Step 3

build an MVP

what is the minimum viable product that you can build that gets your service/product/content in front of people and where you can get feedback?

if there isn't a market, or problem, or need for your service/product/content then it's just a hobby.

there needs to be a starving audience that can pay you.

Step 4

scale sustainably and work-life balance

Step 5

periodically re-evaluate and pivot

periodically ask: "Is the thing you're currently doing actually the thing you want to be doing?"

Common Mistakes

1. neglecting market validation
   1. need to focus on product-market fit
2. scaling too fast too soon
3. forgetting work-life balance
   1. enjoy life