Idea to Startup

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, and life is 100x harder without them. Tacklebox

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. BYLDDTackleboxSeth Godin ConversationKurt VonnegutNo Lunging 0:30 Why Entrepreneurs are unhappy01:14 Do you want to be a freelancer or entrepreneur?04:12 Seth Godin Conversation04:58 Our definition of a freelancer07:28 Our definition of entrepreneurs09:07 Cuban’s Definition of Entrepreneurship11:24 BYLDD12:25 The Restaurant Startup15:15 Rivers and Dams19:19 No Lunging22:44 Don’t Pretend23:10 How do you want to spend your days?

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.Tacklebox00:24 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, 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. TackleboxKunal Shah Delta 4Dig out of a Hole Idea to Startup Episode - The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas00:25 - Killing Bad Startup Ideas02:00 - The Three Pillars of the Will Your Idea Fail Framework02:45 - The Startup Idea - AI Messaging for Plumbers and Electricians03:15 - Dig out of a Hole Markets link to episode05:56 - Smooth Jazz06:24 - Part 1 - How to Find and Evaluate the Real Risk07:35 - Flipping your biggest risk to your biggest strength11:00 - Decisions aren’t made in a bubble13:45 - Part 2 - Predicting the Organic Growth Potential14:00 - Kunal Shah Delta 4 Scale17:41 - Part 3 - Predicting whether you’ll actually be able to get first customers to convert18:49 Managed by Q

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. TackleboxThe PARA MethodGetting Things DoneNotion GTD Template00:24 Your Startup System02:18 The Birthday Email06:34 Email System Prompts08:26 Smooth Jazz08:55 Structure - Projects, Areas, Inbox10:06 Getting Things Done + The PARA Method + Notion Template11:00 Projects16:14 Areas16:46 Inbox19:55 The Multipliers20:00 Keystone Species23:12 Never Agains24:39 Lottery Tickets26:44 Doing the Thing27:31 Reflection

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.TackleboxBeehiivMonkeys and Shakespeare101 Essays That Will Change The Way You ThinkDelta 4 Status Level Jump 00:25 - Internal Operating System Part II03:15 - Monkeys and Shakespeare07:40 - Smooth Jazz08: 05 - Reverse Engineering a System10:45 - Where is the Monkey?11:33 - The Four Things That Matter for an Early Stage Business11:40 - Problem12:01 - Delta 4 Status Level Jump13:34 - Secret16:35 - Optimize for Inertia18:37 - 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think20:00 - The Thousand Daily Votes21:43 - The Last 15%23:30 - Script the Beginning and End24:30 - Feedback Loop Optimization

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. TackleboxBeehiiv00:00 Jazz00:25 What should you work on today?02:29 Golf Clubs in Cities4:20 The Danger of Unstructured Work6:58 The Three Ideas, #1 - No One Does This8:45 Change your Behavior to Change How You Think10:22 The Magic Happens After You Start15:55 The Four Questions to Anchor Your Week

Today, we'll help you find a differentiator powerful enough that it can support your business. We'll talk through what a differentiator actually allows you to do, five prompts to help you uncover and test one for your business, and Brian's favorite current differentiator - Popup Bagels. TackleboxBeehiivPopup Bagels 00:00 Beehiiv00:33 Differentiator intro04:00 What do you hire a differentiator to do?05:44 The Attention Pie09:03 Smooth Jazz09:28 Popup Bagels16:30 Five Prompts for Your Differentiator

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. TackleboxIdea to Startup Newsletter (Beehiiv)00:34 Removing Yourself as the Bottleneck2:33 Leverage Jobs to be Done to Focus (Fishing Story)6:23 Elderly Relocation Idea11:08 Smooth Jazz11:37 Run Towards the Rain13:45 Thrashing to find a Secret - The Plant Story15:25 A System for the Uncomfortable Stuff (fiverr + IG DM’s)17:13 The Process for Improving Willpower18:31 What Would You Do if You Knew It Would Work?

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. TackleboxBeehiiv (Idea to Startup Newsletter)BylddGreenlights0:30 Building a Wildly Useful Startup2:12 Why Measuring Usefulness is Hard7:00 Byldd7:53 Habit Kangaroo12:50 The Usefulness Framework13:24 What is your Secret?13:51 Three Categories of Secrets: Customer14:45 Three Categories of Secrets: Acquisition15:16 Three Categories of Secrets: Product17:08 Rivers and Dams19:00 GMAT over 700 Product23:02 Hire Yourself

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. TackleboxBeehiiv1:27 The Personal Venn Diagram5:18 Smooth Jazz5:46 The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas6:48 Characteristic 1: Potential for Organic Growth9:14 Characteristic 2: Market Innovation > Product Innovation10:57 Characteristic 3: Prioritizing Around a Growing Market12:40 Four Buckets of Market Growth12:45 Hype Markets13:36 Dig out of a Hole Market (nurses, agriculture, skilled trades)16:23 Momentum Markets16:56 Subsidized Growth17:42 The Swap21:19 On Happiness

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. TackleboxInsider Newsletter (beehiiv) 00:34 Intro to organic growth4:24 Why social ads won’t work5:54 Outline of the Organic Growth Equation7:08 Smooth Jazz7:36 Jury Duty9:27 Jury Duty Shareable Moments13:49 The Organic Growth Equation deep-dive + The Crime Triangle15:02 Problem Variables18:53 Customer Variables21:41 Why we share horror movies23:18 Product Variables25:10 Multipliers

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. TackleboxWeekly Podcast NewsletterThe Great Talks, Lectures, and Speeches of HistoryNotion + Notion Web ClipperReadwiseZapierOgilvy on Advertising0:30 Intro - Creativity2:00 What if you’re not creative?2:53 Creativity is Mushing3:39 Creativity Equation5:15 Summer Internship6:28 Bill Simmons7:48 In on the joke9:20 College Commencement Speeches10:07 Kenyon Commencement Speech - Two Fish11:20 Smooth Jazz11:52 The System14:00 The Logistics15:22 Intake17:29 Reflection18:30 Output19:30 Ogilvy on Advertising

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 UpTackleboxKurt Vonnegut Shape of StoriesSlice Podcast - How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers1:00 Kurt Vonnegut - The Shape of Stories2:38 The Niche Question4:15 The Jiro Problem5:20 Act 1 - A Chef's Startup7:48 Smooth Jazz8:15 Act 2 - What's a Niche For? 8:44 A Niche is a Shortcut to Trust11:49 A Niche to Seed Future Growth13:40 What a Good Niche Looks Like14:25 The Cook By Smelling Niche16:38 Act 3 - How to Grow From a Niche17:29 Grow Vertically or Horizontally?19:20 Grow through Influential Customers20:00 Spice Smelling Niche21:14 Act 4 - The Real Villain, and the Real Hero22:11 Trust in Future You

Today, we'll talk through why you didn't get a product live last weekend despite an episode that walked you through a step-by-step process to do it. Last week, we ignored the emotional stuff. The inertia and discomfort that keep people from doing something new. Today, we tackle it. We give you a framework to lean into discomfort and answer the questions that nag at you and hold you back from putting stuff live. BylddTacklebox0:35 Magical Products1:51 Story of company that helps restaurants source ingredients6:27 11 Emails, 0 Products7:04 Inertia + Discomfort8:00 BYLDD9:04 Plan vs. Freestyle (How to Wiggle)12:35 The Things That Matter and The Things That Don't13:00 What if your product needs to be professionally designed?15:00 The Mirror Problem (and the three things to help with it)16:16 Discomfort = Growth and No One Cares About You17:12 College Philanthropic Story18:35 You're going to lose X if you don't > You're going to get Y if you do20:00 A new lane for the restaurant startup20:55 How the restaurant startup got their first product out

Today we'll help you get the first version of your product up and out. We use a three-part framework to help you focus in on the one core feature you've got to nail. 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. Subscribe to get Idea to Startup extended info + show notes + frameworks + bonus epsTackleboxThe Personal MBAEpisode Details0:55 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'll talk through how to identify and pursue the big, consequential ideas - what we'll call Quests. We go through how to identify them, how to wrap our arms around them, and what to do when you (inevitably) feel intimidated. We'll do it with a little help from the 90 Yard Mistake, a ghost kitchen idea, and some chronic pain interviews. Quest (drink). TackleboxChoose Good Quests

Today, Seth Godin (!!) virtually dropped by to talk through a bunch of startup ideas. He 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 my favorite episode we’ve ever recorded, and I’m excited for you to listen to it.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 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, 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 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. TackleboxOwl City - FirefliesDaniel PriestleyUnbounceScore

Today we chat with Jonathan Swanson, cofounder of Thumbtack, Athena, and Powerset. We cover a ton of ground - starting with the Sunday idea club that led to Thumbtack, how to scale a marketplace, and how to choose ideas you'd happily spent a decade on. Next, we jump into the science of delegation - the idea at the core of Athena. Jonathan talks through how to delegate to an EA, when to start with one, a system of delegation that creates asymmetric upside and what type of founders should consider it. Athena deal for Idea to Startup listeners (good through 6/30)Athena / Thumbtack / PowersetTacklebox

Today, we're going to talk about one of the fundamental laws of startups - The Wedge. It's the best way to build trust when you have a product that's got a longer feedback loop or requires a lot from your early customers. We'll show a few examples and build out a framework to help guide you when you're looking for, and implementing, a wedge. BylddTackleboxSix Easy Pieces

Today, we'll talk about people. An old boss of Brian's said the best way to see into the future is to see the present in higher resolution than anyone else. Understanding people - yourself and your customer - will let you understand their behavior. This will let you better predict how they'll act than anyone else and build for it.We talk through a cold email that'll get you customers to speak with and a method to make sure you're unbiased in what you hear. TackleboxStutz PyramidWes KaoAll Eyez On Me

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.TackleboxChartr

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. TackleboxThrust and Drag

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. TackleboxSell the Position podcast

Hard problems are the only problems worth your time. Today, we'll talk about how to identify them and build a business around them. We'll dig in on decisions customers avoid and using those decisions to anchor early traction. We'll talk through Brian's favorite current business - a guy who buys used cars for you - and how to approach helping people with chronic pain. BylddTacklebox

Today, we'll finish up on Thrust and Drag. This time, we'll talk about building trust with your customer in six seconds - creating thrust that'll buy you another six seconds, and another after that. There's art and science to getting people's attention in such a short period of time, and we'll talk through both. TackleboxThe Million Dollar One Person BusinessBuilding A Second BrainClickdrobe

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 [email protected] with "Uncomfy" in the subject to be invited to Uncomfy HourTackleboxSong where Taylor Swift burns Jake Gyllenhall

Today, we'll hit on the most asked question in our now functional podcast question submission list. What if the thing you're building isn't solving a bleeding neck problem? What if it's just something you think people will want? Something that'll improve their life, but not something they loose sleep over? Should you still pursue it? How?We'll talk through Linguini, Yeti, gross margins and status level jumps and land on the answer - is that type of business worth your time? Uncomfy hour - email "[email protected]" with "uncomfy" in subjectTackleboxThe Clam

Today, we'll talk about content. Two of the most asked questions we get are "should I create content?" and "if I should... what the heck should I say?"Creating content feels daunting until you realize the best way to create content is to not create content. We go through how to do that, leaning on a few examples and a content generating framework. We also crown the best burrito in NYC.TackleboxDos Toros / El GalloBird by Bird

Today we speak with Jareau Wadé - currently the founder of Batch Processing, previously the co-founder of Balanced (acquired by Stripe), head of growth at Tilt Pro (acquired by Airbnb), and Chief Growth Officer at Finix. We spoke with Jareau about the early days of Balanced - how they prioritized, gained trust with initial customers, and competed with companies like Stripe and PayPal. Jareau talks through a bunch of different heuristics and models he uses to evaluate risk (stack it early), tackle the cold start problem, synthesize feedback, figure out the technical side of your business early on, and manage the mental side of starting a business.It's an awesome conversation and you'll take tactics and methods away from it. Jareau WadéStripe Can't Lose (article on Stripe referenced in the episode)Batch Processing Put Your Ass Where Your Heart IsTacklebox

Today, we'll talk about one very specific method you can use to tackle your hardest, most uncomfortable work. TackleboxAlternate Nostril BreathingJr Jr - The Speed of Things

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. TackleboxHey Jealousy

Today, we'll help you get your first customers. We'll do it by learning how to use the trust to risk ratio - a way to identify the big risks that are holding your customer back and shoulder those risks early on to build trust. We talk through risk and trust with Find Your Lobster, Soona, and a finicky water pump. TackleboxSoona

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. TackleboxFiverrZapier

Today, we'll tell the story of an idea a friend of Brian's pursued over the past month. It came about through flashy new tech, but the process shows what's actually valuable.This is a reps episode. A way to vicariously watch someone else test an early idea so that it's easier for you to do the same. Tacklebox (Code HOLIDAY until Sunday 1.22 at midnight for 50% off month one)

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.TackleboxBylddShusherPeePee TeepeeOllie Swaddle

Today, we'll talk through a regret minimization framework that'll help you reset for the new year. Then, we'll use the show Alone to show how entrepreneurs need to stack risks early to give themselves the best chance at success. Tacklebox (50% off month one with code "HOLIDAY")Regret Minimization interview w/ BezosThe Pogues - Fairytale of New YorkAlone

Today, we'll revisit another one of the top-listened to episodes of the year. We'll reflect on the three core characteristics our fastest growing startups all share. We'll talk about how to identify these characteristics, test for them, and leave ideas that don't have them. We'll talk through the 4x rule and level jumping. And we'll be back next week with new episodes 🎁🎄TackleboxKunal Shah: Core Human Motivations

Today's episode is one of the most shared of the year. We start a business using four questions, hit on problems and opportunities, and meet the cult favorite Penne Vodka Pete. Tacklebox - start your startup right

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'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

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 dig in on productizing your customer's first step. This is the best path to building a product that generates revenue immediately so that you've got some runway and flexibility to build. We'll walk through a few examples, including a Family Operating System that came in at 3am last Thanksgiving from a listener. Tacklebox (Code "Holiday" for 50% off your first month)

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. TackleboxStart your Startup in an Hour a Day program list

Most entrepreneurs spend the majority of their time doing things that, even if they work, won't make a meaningful difference. Our default state is reactive, iterative work. To be a successful founder, you need to do things with the potential for asymmetric upside. Today, we talk about how to identify and incorporate tasks each day that - if they work - will fundamentally change your business. Today, we teach you how to think big. TackleboxTacklebox Podcast EmailsThe Tweet

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.TackleboxSign up for the Notion framework

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. TackleboxWhy Greatness Cannot Be PlannedCan Virtual Reality Help Chronic Pain?

In the second episode of the series, we'll talk through the type of founder you are - Storyteller, Builder, or Manager. We'll then help you build out a two-week sprint cadence to test and grow your idea dependent on which type of founder you are. We get a little help from Brian's grandma and an offsite event startup for businesses trying to get their remote employees to feel some camaraderie. Tacklebox Rhythm Signup