Dane Maxwell- Build Software Companies in 6 months w/o money, experience

[AgonI]

Yeah, I know what he meant. But we're not talking about a consumer iPhone app here. This is about pre-sold business applications with a solid business and marketing plan in place. No good developer in their right mind would decline the opportunity to be part of a promising tech company with proven business model and instead work for his standard hourly. Hence, I can't really take his laugh serious.

OR the developer can just take that idea and build it by themselves and keep 100% of it? The only way you can make this work is to pre-sell the service/software before it's ready if you don't have the funds, otherwise you can pay a developer to do it and you keep 100% of it

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[fellipe]

I've been accepted.

:bgh:

 

[Epictetus]

Hey guys, stumbled across this thread while browsing around and figured I'd join up since I've nearly finished TMF (amazing book, props MJ).

I am a current member of The Foundation, I am definitely having a blast with it. If anyone has any questions fire away. I can understand both sides of what I've read in this thread, undoubtedly Dane has set himself up as a guru and is using every sales trick in the book to make sure people sign-up. At the same time, his software business would still be more profitable or roughly equal to what he earns from The Foundation.

The real value of the course for me comes in the idea extraction techniques. Dane is exceptional in this regard and he uses the technique even now when he interviews people. I saw a bit of a talk in this thread that he gives away enough of his technique to do it without doing the course, but I'm not convinced about that. You could probably start and figure it out, but it would be extremely difficult to get right. Even with all the answers and coaching it's difficult but at least you know which track to go down. I've spent an hour and a half on the phone to businesses and have only managed to dig down to a painful enough problem in the last 10 minutes of the call.

Either way, I think I'll be pretty active on these forums and I'll let you guys know how I go. Looks like a great community here!

 

[smmirza]

Sorry to bust in here but this is complete B.S. If the guy is making LOADS of cash building this SaaS thing why all of a sudden the change of heart to give up his secrets. I have built a website and am making cash using the priniciples in MJs book. Thats all you need brothers. All this turn key BS is driving me nuts. Pick up the systems highlighted in the book and fill the need. Selling is the hard part. It always is. If you think you can build a SaaS and just sit on your a$$, you are dead wrong. Patience and hard work are needed until the thing matures which might take 2-3 years. My site has been online for 11 months now and even now I am optimizing it and enhancing it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mrsilva]

:bgh:

I said I've been accepted and not that I'm part of it.

$10k to hear some stuff that I can find online or from a mentor? Nah...

Le novamente meu amigo!

 

[Epictetus]

Sorry to bust in here but this is complete B.S. If the guy is making LOADS of cash building this SaaS thing why all of a sudden the change of heart to give up his secrets. I have built a website and am making cash using the priniciples in MJs book. Thats all you need brothers. All this turn key BS is driving me nuts. Pick up the systems highlighted in the book and fill the need. Selling is the hard part. It always is. If you think you can build a SaaS and just sit on your a$$, you are dead wrong. Patience and hard work are needed until the thing matures which might take 2-3 years. My site has been online for 11 months now and even now I am optimizing it and enhancing it.

I don't think anyone in The Foundation is expecting to just build it and sit on their a$$. We're all in regular contact with Sam Ovens, one of the most successful guys from the last Foundation. We know he's still working hard on his business and will continue to do so for another 2-3 years. The upside is he's charging $500 per client and he has a big market to work with. Guy is making a killing and he's 23..

There's also no problem giving up the supposed "secrets" to building SaaS this way. First, the entry barrier is still very high. Dane's model revolves around idea extraction and it's damn hard to get right, but when you do it's an extremely effective tool for gaining ideas from people. Secondly, when idea extraction is mastered you can get ideas from many, many markets with relative ease (relative is the key word here, you'd still be expecting to make 20-30 calls per market at least).

As MJ says, ideas are cheap and implementation is everything. The Foundation is effective because you're getting very good ideas and finding people who want them at the same time and then executing them rapidly and efficiently.

We're one month in, and one member has already got his first payment (nearly $1000 upfront from a customer, with more about to sign up). Another 2 members will be collecting payment within the next two weeks, they have the ideas validated (multiple customers have given them a price they're willing to pay for the product) and they're just putting together the interface for the product and information packs to ensure they get the sales.

 

[theag]

Do you really think that we won't see your posts as the promotional spam they are, just because you bought the INSIDERS subscription?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Chris_Willow]

Sorry to bust in here but this is complete B.S. If the guy is making LOADS of cash building this SaaS thing why all of a sudden the change of heart to give up his secrets.

In one of the videos he said he's making about 10k/month, if I remember correctly. That 10k is enough to make his members happy, if they believe they can replicate it.
As with everything in life- only a small fraction of the people will get there.

 

[Epictetus]

Do you really think that we won't see your posts as the promotional spam they are, just because you bought the INSIDERS subscription?

Well that's certainly a nice welcome. I guess you're not allowed to offer a differing point of view on something the forum has made it's mind up on? Maybe it pays to be paranoid about marketers here but it seems like you're jumping to conclusions a bit quickly, purely because I've uttered a positive word about The Foundation.

Would you like some negative ones instead? The site was pretty buggy at first, content was slow in the first week (supposedly due to a problem with the merchant account, undecided whether that was just an excuse or not), it can be hard to get onto Dane when you live on the other side of the world. I miss most of the Q&A calls because I'm working while they're on, so I listen to recordings. I had a 1 on 1 call booked with Dane, turns out the booking system screwed up on Google Calendar and I ended up getting up at 4 in the morning for nothing. To be fair, Dane jumped on the phone with me out of schedule and got me right back in a good headspace when I really needed it.

But seriously, no promotional spam. I'm just enjoying the course so far and wanted to offer my thoughts. My name's Leon, I'm 21 year old IT tech and I live in Australia. I guess I'll go make a proper introduction on the relevant forum.

P.S, you're not giving him a lot of credit as a marketer either. Do you really think he'd bother making new accounts on this forum and spamming happy things about his course to a group of people likely to see straight through anything like that? If Dane wanted to comment on this thread and respond to what's been said, he would almost certainly do it as himself.

 

[Epictetus]

In one of the videos he said he's making about 10k/month, if I remember correctly. That 10k is enough to make his members happy, if they believe they can replicate it.
As with everything in life- only a small fraction of the people will get there.

It's a fair bit more than that. If you Google Zannee it shows his products. I believe Paperless Pipeline is in the $50,000-$60,000 a month range and still growing fast. It's reached 1 million total revenue just this month, Recruiting Ninja makes above $10,000 a month from what I can tell, probably closer to $20,000.

And yeah, definitely a small fraction. There were a lot of mistakes made by members in the first Foundation, and one of the first pieces of content in this one were interviews with past members. Made a huge difference in highlighting a heap of possible pitfalls and how to avoid them. From what I'm currently seeing, I'd say there will be 10-20 successful businesses this time around.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[andviv]

I like to hear the opinions and comments from the people that are current members. I am learning a lot by just reading what they post.

I have built a website and am making cash using the priniciples in MJs book.

This is great. I am sure MJ would love to hear about this to be added to the success stories. Rock on!

All this turn key BS is driving me nuts.

I don't see why you think like that. There's got to be something to it.

If what you say is true (and I believe it is), then: The market has spoken. They want Turn Key solutions.

Give them what they want, make it easy for them, they will run desperately to your door throwing money at you.

Is your website providing your customers with a 'turn key' solution to a problem? (I am sure it does, that is why you make money, right?)

I am sure people pay you money for making their life better/easier.

Pick up the systems highlighted in the book and fill the need.

In my opinion, from the book, there is no better system/advice than "listen to the market".

How are you filling the needs of this market that wants everything 'easy'?

Selling is the hard part. It always is.

105% in agreement with it. And based on what the members have mentioned here, they have to call and talk to companies, talk about needs, figure out ways to fill them, and also discuss pricing. Sounds a lot like selling to me.

As MJ says, ideas are cheap and implementation is everything. The Foundation is effective because you're getting very good ideas and finding people who want them at the same time and then executing them rapidly and efficiently.

Makes sense, and it does sound simple. I am very sure it is very hard. I struggle with that every day in my professional world. I need to find out what it is that they want and then find a way to deliver it to them and profiting while doing it.

In one of the videos he said he's making about 10k/month, if I remember correctly. That 10k is enough to make his members happy, if they believe they can replicate it.

$10K profit? Not bad.

How much are you making per month with your business these days?

There were a lot of mistakes made by members in the first Foundation, and one of the first pieces of content in this one were interviews with past members. Made a huge difference in highlighting a heap of possible pitfalls and how to avoid them.

I love learning from others' mistakes. What have your learned from these?

From what I'm currently seeing, I'd say there will be 10-20 successful businesses this time around.

Will yours be one of them?

Looking forward to more updates... I, for one, am learning.

 

[snowbank]

Pat Flynn at SPI went to the dark side a while ago.

He started out legit selling real information to a real audience (how to pass the LEED Exam).

Then he morphed himself into another shovel-shelling Goo-Roo separating the dreamers from their money.

Edit: These Goo-Roos don't sell Fastlane--they sell the Illusion of Fastlane to people who don't have the ability or experience to tell the difference between actual Fastlane and the Illusion.

No.

Pat Flynn is one of the very few people in the blogging/make money space who gives great value. There's only a handful, and he's one of them.

Just because he makes money off of teaching others to make money does not mean he can't make money on his own. He can, and does.

Pat is legit. I say that about almost no one, because almost no one in that space is.

Just because he doesn't teach "fastlane" in your opinion doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's talking about. He has a niche, and just because it's different than MJ's niche doesn't mean it's bad information.

If some things he talks about don't apply to what you're trying to do, that doesn't mean it doesn't apply to what others are doing.

 

[fellipe]

I said I've been accepted and not that I'm part of it.

$10k to hear some stuff that I can find online or from a mentor? Nah...

Le novamente meu amigo!

And my point was in fact about you being 'accepted'.

It proves that Dane strategy on creating a sense of 'exclusivity' works.

To make it clear, there's no 'being accepted' or 'not being accepted'. EVERYONE who filled the forms have received the payment information.

It's a strategy to make people feel important by feeling they were being accepted after a long 'analysis'.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Guest12120]

EVERYONE who filled the forms have received the payment information.

That's not true. I filled out the form on 10/16 and didn't get the e-mail with payment information. They definitely have my correct e-mail address as I get some marketing stuff from them.

This being said, I have no doubt that this is a clever marketing technique and the most got accepted. Especially people that declared they can invest a lot of cash in their business (I believe there was a question asking about it on the application form)

 

[77startup]

That's not true. I filled out the form on 10/16 and didn't get the e-mail with payment information. They definitely have my correct e-mail address as I get some marketing stuff from them.

It seems like it's being used as a disqualifier technique to weed out high-risk applicants from the start who might drop out early, or fail when it comes time to outsource a bit.

 

[Epictetus]

It seems like it's being used as a disqualifier technique to weed out high-risk applicants from the start who might drop out early, or fail when it comes time to outsource a bit.

From everything I've seen, 77startup is right. Not everyone was accepted, but that's not because it was some massive challenge to get in. Since the course is a monthly fee and the first 2 months are the most brutal and challenging (and yes, it can be pretty brutal), Dane wants to make sure those buying are going to be likely to stick with it. Pretty clever tactic really. The final group that's come onboard in the last week may not be as vetted as the first lot, I'm really not sure. They seem like a pretty switched on bunch from the discussions we've had in the chatrooms though.

It's hard to tell what the attrition rate is at the moment. People disappear from chat, but you're encouraged to stay away from it if you haven't taken action. It's good though, the more action you put in the more personal attention you'll get from Dane. One member posted a recording of an extraction call to see where she was going wrong, because she'd done upwards of 20-30 and hadn't really gotten anywhere. Dane saw she was taking a heap of action, so he released an audio file of him dissecting the entire call and where she needed to make changes to get good results. Really good stuff.

I love learning from others' mistakes. What have your learned from these?

Don't build a product before you have customers who have paid upfront. That's a big one for this method of doing things. It's the ultimate validation and practically ensures the success of the product before development (provided you get things right with the dev stages xD).

Make sure your market is used to paying for software. Competition is a GREAT thing. This is what messed up the band manager guy, he's doing the Foundation again and acting as a mentor this time around (most of the past successful students are also mentors for this program which is awesome). Great guy and I'm sure he'll have a lot more success this time.

Be wary of building software that creates additional work or forces big changes in the customers work habits. Some things may really help a business, but because they'd have to do additional work to use the software it's likely going to flop. You're much better off just making life easier and saving them time. Something I've thought of myself is to assess an idea on whether it's saving time or money, if something costs additional time to save more money it's unlikely to be successful. If something purely saves time, then it's almost always going to save money and it'll be a winner. If something saves time and money, that's when you're on pure gold.

Build the minimum product you can that satisfies all the make and break features for the customer. Your first iteration of the product needs to be the absolute minimum it can be without costing you customers. This means you can get it quickly out to market and save money on development. Dane doesn't get world-class developers dirt cheap like some people have been saying. He finds out what the absolute minimum he can build is that solves the core problem and gets it out to market. This saves a fortune in development and keeps your customers happy because of how quickly you got the thing they paid for built. Once it's out, that's when you can steadily add features and improve the product, matching your rate of development to how quickly the business is growing. One past member made this mistake and paid a fortune on development. He built an excellent product and it will definitely be successful (he has multiple paying customers who love the product), but it's just going to take a lot longer for him to get his money back.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mrsilva]

And my point was in fact about you being 'accepted'.

It proves that Dane strategy on creating a sense of 'exclusivity' works.

To make it clear, there's no 'being accepted' or 'not being accepted'. EVERYONE who filled the forms have received the payment information.

It's a strategy to make people feel important by feeling they were being accepted after a long 'analysis'.

Yes and I don't understand why are you trying to beat on a dead horse or on something that everybody knows already.

I never said "I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED... UHUUUU!!!!!"

I actually said "accepted" with some irony. Read again my first post... I even mention that was nothing special or exclusive about.

 

[InMotion]

So, you pay him 10K so you can learn to start a business with no money??? Good thing, because the reality is, the majority of people would be close to broke after taking the course; so this course really makes sense

 

[Epictetus]

So, you pay him 10K so you can learn to start a business with no money??? Good thing, because the reality is, the majority of people would be close to broke after taking the course; so this course really makes sense

Only 10 people paid $10,000 up front, they get a tonne of extra attention. Most people pay $800 per month. The moment I feel I'm not getting $800 of value a month is when I'll consider dropping out, but right now I've been given a hell of a lot more value than that.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mike39]

Pretty soon Dane is going to have to build his own board game and then hold wealth seminars worldwide, he is true guru material

 

[Epictetus]

Pretty soon Dane is going to have to build his own board game and then hold wealth seminars worldwide, he is true guru material

"SaaS - The Boardgame"

So what are your thoughts Mike? Of course Dane is setting himself up as a guru, but what's your opinion of the process itself? The guy definitely has results from his software and he still works heavily on that, despite hiring a CEO to run the day to day. As far as profitability go Zannee and The Foundation are at about the same level. I understand "do what the guru does" but what if the guru does both and his results on each are equal? And I have absolutely no interest in becoming a guru?

 

[Mike39]

"SaaS - The Boardgame"

So what are your thoughts Mike? Of course Dane is setting himself up as a guru, but what's your opinion of the process itself? The guy definitely has results from his software and he still works heavily on that, despite hiring a CEO to run the day to day. As far as profitability go Zannee and The Foundation are at about the same level. I understand "do what the guru does" but what if the guru does both and his results on each are equal? And I have absolutely no interest in becoming a guru?

Don't get me wrong I completely agree with Dane's process of finding the pain and getting customers preferably before you even develop the product. The problem with "his" process is that it is already a process that is well known and has been put into practice by entrepreneurs for hundreds of years, his process is nothing original, nothing new, there is no secret sauce or winning formula. The reason I lack respect for these so called "gurus" is that they basically all pitch the same message and feed off of peoples desire to get rich while getting their hand held by someone along the way.

I know Dane's process and I am not a member of the foundation, I could go out today and build a successful software company, and I don't have to pay 10k to do it. No offence to all you in the foundation but nothing should justify $800/month, you don't have the cash to build your own software yet you dish out almost a grand every month so you can hear regurgitated, well known info? That $800/mo should be going into your business! It's like people pay ridiculous amounts to go to all these wealth seminars, "if I just go to enough of these, eventually something will click and I will get rich".

My problem isn't even with Dane necessarily, if you can get people to pay you $800/month, do it! I guess the more and more I think about it my problem is with all the people (participants) in the foundation.

Pretty soon Dane is going to have to build his own board game and then hold wealth seminars worldwide, he is true guru material

And this was primarily a joke comparing dane to another well known guru.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Epictetus]

I'm not sure it's all regurgitated, well-known info. Feel free to prove me wrong there, but I've never heard about anyone with the idea extraction skills Dane has. At least not in the entrepreneur space. Hiten Shah from CrazyEgg does something similar that's very effective but his method is different from Dane's again, and part of The Foundation material this year are interviews Dane conducted with him which were killer. The value is having someone with some insane skills in this area mentoring you on how to quickly get to his level. It's really, really hard and it's going to take a hell of a lot of practice. After this stage it essentially becomes Lean Startup Theory, with the bonus of having an awesome copywriter and marketer teaching you the best way to go about that at the end.

If I finish the course, I'll have paid $4800 all up. Had I not done it, and tried to follow his method without the material I would have blown that on a mistake I'm sure. All it would take is one error of judgement in the software you're building and you could blow through that money with very little difficulty and never get it back. It's not about not having money to build software, it's about not risking your own money trying to build it.

I did get the Cashflow reference BTW

 

[andviv]

Some people like to figure it our on their own and forge their own path. Others prefer to work with others and follow a more established path.

To each its own.

I could go out today and build a successful software company, and I don't have to pay 10k to do it.

Sounds like a great challenge to me. Are you doing this today Mike? I think you do have what it takes to be successful on your own. I know you are a success story in the making. I can't wait to see your progress. I hope you are focusing your efforts on a SaaS model, as it seems to make sense in today's market.

I've never heard about anyone with the idea extraction skills Dane has.

Exiatron (cool name, I feel like I am really addressing a Decepticon), how is the idea extraction working for you so far? Have you focused on a niche yet? Have you started talking to potential customers?

 

[andviv]

Mike, just saw your latest blog post. For what I understand, you are doing a product AND a software. Pretty exciting. The software part, will it be SaaS or one-time purchase?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Epictetus]

Some people like to figure it our on their own and forge their own path. Others prefer to work with others and follow a more established path.

To each its own.

I think this is key. Some people are able to work all this out, some feel they need help with it. Especially on the emotional and mindset side of things, the support in The Foundation is huge. Its not just Dane, there are a heap of mentors from the last Foundation. If i hadnt done this course, i would not be taking the amount of action i'm taking today.

And yeah, ive been pushing at a couple markets. Had a call last night that really boosted my confidence. I felt everything ive been learning coming together. I didn't extract an idea, but i felt that was more the market than me this time.

 

[fellipe]

I'm not sure it's all regurgitated, well-known info.

Read the books:

The Millionaire Fastlane
Lean Startup
Start Small Stay Small

You will learn much more for less than 50 bucks.

What Dane's done was create a 'brand' and target people 'new' to the whole web software/startup scene. Because all he's teaching is well known and cheaply available.

The difference is paying him $800 per month makes you believe you're closer to success.

Dane ideas in a nutshell:

1) Find a small business market that has a pain. How do you find it? Well, Dane seems to call small business owners and play the role of a psychologist. This can work. But it's not the only way.

2) After you find the pain you figure out how to solve it with a computer software. Call back owners and present the solution. Ask for their money to finance the development phase.

3) Build it (remember you are using money from other people).

4) Launch and Profit! Easy huh?

All he's done is validating an idea before committing a line of code. OH! Of course there's the whole 'support' from the other wantrepreneurs haha.

People need to understand that Dane is a hell of a great marketer. His extremely giant sales copy for the foundation proves it. I remember I saw something on Cashvertising book (recommended by MJ DeMarco) that long sales copy makes you believe everything on it is true. He's using every little dirty secret to sell to people that are desperate for making money.

 

[AgonI]

Thanks for recommending "Start Small Stay Small" to the poster above! Looks like exactly what I need to read for my next project.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Epictetus]

Read the books:

The Millionaire Fastlane
Lean Startup
Start Small Stay Small

Read two of them, haven't read Start Small Stay Small, I'll look into that one.

I'm not sure you properly read what I'm saying, I know the majority of The Foundation is Lean Startup theory. The difference is idea extraction. I think you're undervaluing how brilliant Dane's idea extraction techniques are. This is stuff that can be applied everywhere. I'm at the point now where I'm hitting my stride with it, and I honestly feel it's one of the most valuable skills I have ever learnt. I would not be where I am at it without The Foundation.

All he's done is validating an idea before committing a line of code. OH! Of course there's the whole 'support' from the other wantrepreneurs haha.

You're including the 6-7 mentors that are extremely active in The Foundation who are already running successful/rapidly growing businesses in that word wantrepreneurs? As well as the other mentors who have been through the program before and are coming in for round 2? If you think it's just a group of people desperate for money lead by the almighty Dane you couldn't be more wrong. The amount of support is huge. One of the former members runs a very successful SEO business, they've hired him so that members of The Foundation have access to SEO services. That's already a tonne of value.

TBH, I hate long sales copy. It turns me off. So do gurus, I went to a conference last year and watched person after person give up all their money to the guy who wasn't going to give them any real value in return. Dane may have set himself up as a guru, but believe me the value is absolutely there in The Foundation.

Sometimes it isn't about knowledge anymore and it becomes more about taking action on that knowledge. As andviv said before, some people need a little more help. I could've gone and read all those books, but I know I would not be anywhere close to where I've gotten within a month and a half of starting The Foundation. You rely on the other members of The Foundation to keep you accountable and keep you going, even when you've got no motivation left. You make 10 calls that all go to shit and want to stop, somebody steps in and makes sure you keep going. The support is amazing. The money is a very good motivating factor. If I don't take action, I'm destroying the value of what I'm paying for. Paying that amount of money serves to keep you motivated.

If you're able to figure it out based on a couple of books, great for you. But don't slam a program that you know is teaching a very viable strategy and has produced real success, just because the guy running it is a slick marketer. I'd be worried if he wasn't, otherwise there'd be a lot less value in paying him to teach me copywriting and marketing. Take it from me, the value of the program is there and the price is more than fair. I'm not one to spend money on the latest get rich easy scheme, I'm not one to get sucked in by slick marketing very often and I'm certainly someone who will admit if they get duped. Two payments in and I have absolutely no regrets. The Foundation has been brilliant.

 

[DeletedUser4]

You rely on the other members of The Foundation to keep you accountable and keep you going, even when you've got no motivation left. You make 10 calls that all go to shit and want to stop, somebody steps in and makes sure you keep going. The support is amazing. The money is a very good motivating factor. If I don't take action, I'm destroying the value of what I'm paying for. Paying that amount of money serves to keep you motivated.

I personally wouldn't pay for the Foundation but you guys have to admit there is value to a lot of people in this. Some people have a ton of potential and great ideas the market is looking for and yet still can't get themselves going on Fastlane ideas for many reasons... some people say they want to get rich but deep down don't think they're worthy or deserve it.

A lot of people are their own worst enemies is what I'm saying. So for that group, having this hand holding and accountability might be the tipping point to make them reach their goals.