Hello forum, long time no see! I think last time I posted on this thing was over a year ago.
Recently had a 2hr talk with @Andy Black about a lot of how he runs his business, super super insightful stuff. We talked about sales, marketing, software, lead gen, etc. I'd recommend anyone in this space listen to this talk we had as well as all his other content, especially if you are just starting out and have no idea what to do.
Here's a link to the video (he's going to post a higher quality version soon):
View: https://youtu.be/nw7VsmHmA0w
Allow me to re-introduce myself as well. My name is Aidan, I am 21, this is my last semester at a small state school and looking to likely move to a bigger city in the States/Canada or overseas to Southeast Asia for a bit post-grad.
I'm currently running a marketing/sales/automation firm (we'll just call it a "digital media firm" at this time) where I help small to mid sized businesses get more customers and improve operations with automation.
Currently working with a few local customers as well as some people from LinkedIn. Have not niched down yet, just taking all the opportunity and comparing results.
I'm also working with a $10mil VC funded startup and building automated outbound sales systems and funnels for them (selling shovels here). This specific angle might be what I pursue next if this works out.
In terms of my story, it's difficult to summarize the last few years but I'll try my best.
I read Fastlane in high school, but I really started in my sophomore year of college building websites for local people, at the time I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow closed a few deals. If I was a bit more focused at that time I could have made more, but this was a great start.
In the summer after my junior year (this last summer), I got super into software, AI, all that stuff. I knew "vibe coding" stuff together leads to not amazing results, so before using AI like the great power tool it is, I first learned how to program like I was using a hammer. I got into pre-AI content on design, architecture, etc. This made the quality of my work much better than the slop that is cranked out.
This taught me how to maintain these systems as well as how to speak "developer", translating "normal speak" into "developer speak".
I landed a few b2b clients, building custom software for them, and learned the entire sales and discovery process, effectively becoming a little dev shop.
I realized a few months ago that custom software is becoming rapidly commoditized, and that distribution is likely the only differentiator now. So now I have been getting super into sales and marketing, especially content (on LinkedIn) and sales funnel automation/outbound. I've also been getting into Google Ads thanks to @Andy Black
There is a current arms race around personalization (data enrichment) and mass sending. Relationship based sales seems to be where things are heading, longer sales cycles, etc.
I have no idea where this industry is headed, but I do know you should try to solve real problems for real businesses. Businesses buy results, not solutions.
I didn't go to a big school, I didn't have connects to big people, but I had hustle and drive. I have persistence to make shit work. If there's anything you should know, it's that persistence beats everything. (Especially in sales!)
So here are some overall lessons so far:
- Life WILL NOT happen to you in front of a screen, show up IRL
- Use your young person privilege, cold message people, seek expertise
- Be polite and good to people
- STOP OVERTHINKING, the biggest limiter of smart people is overthinking, just MOVE, there are people way dumber than you making stacks
- Get involved in communities, they are force multipliers
- EVERYTHING IS SALES, building is no longer hard
- Get on LinkedIn, seriously get on LinkedIn, everyone important is on there and the platform is just starting to pop off
- Learn how to have real conversations (not just in business, in life overall)
- Network with people, some people can help you jump 3 steps ahead of where you're at, I had been doing 15 chats a week at one point
A note on college if you're around my age:
College is probably useless now for most non-STEM majors, I was caught in a transition period (covid + AI emergence)/diminishing returns situation so I'm just finishing it out. THINGS ARE CHANGING FAST.
That being said, if you have the opportunity to go a big school 100% for free, definitely take it, unfortunately this was not me. Big schools are like brand names, carry lots of weight, and open lots of doors if you know what you're doing. I ended up going to a state school for financial reasons and live at my parent's place. It's isolating as shit but I'm not in crazy debt.
Anyway, I'm mainly on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/agleg/) not here, so you can find me there, but I am going to put out a new progress thread on here monthly and keep you guys up to date.
Hope you enjoyed this absolute word salad of a post, let me know if you guys have questions.
Recently had a 2hr talk with @Andy Black about a lot of how he runs his business, super super insightful stuff. We talked about sales, marketing, software, lead gen, etc. I'd recommend anyone in this space listen to this talk we had as well as all his other content, especially if you are just starting out and have no idea what to do.
Here's a link to the video (he's going to post a higher quality version soon):
Allow me to re-introduce myself as well. My name is Aidan, I am 21, this is my last semester at a small state school and looking to likely move to a bigger city in the States/Canada or overseas to Southeast Asia for a bit post-grad.
I'm currently running a marketing/sales/automation firm (we'll just call it a "digital media firm" at this time) where I help small to mid sized businesses get more customers and improve operations with automation.
Currently working with a few local customers as well as some people from LinkedIn. Have not niched down yet, just taking all the opportunity and comparing results.
I'm also working with a $10mil VC funded startup and building automated outbound sales systems and funnels for them (selling shovels here). This specific angle might be what I pursue next if this works out.
In terms of my story, it's difficult to summarize the last few years but I'll try my best.
I read Fastlane in high school, but I really started in my sophomore year of college building websites for local people, at the time I had no idea what I was doing, but somehow closed a few deals. If I was a bit more focused at that time I could have made more, but this was a great start.
In the summer after my junior year (this last summer), I got super into software, AI, all that stuff. I knew "vibe coding" stuff together leads to not amazing results, so before using AI like the great power tool it is, I first learned how to program like I was using a hammer. I got into pre-AI content on design, architecture, etc. This made the quality of my work much better than the slop that is cranked out.
This taught me how to maintain these systems as well as how to speak "developer", translating "normal speak" into "developer speak".
I landed a few b2b clients, building custom software for them, and learned the entire sales and discovery process, effectively becoming a little dev shop.
I realized a few months ago that custom software is becoming rapidly commoditized, and that distribution is likely the only differentiator now. So now I have been getting super into sales and marketing, especially content (on LinkedIn) and sales funnel automation/outbound. I've also been getting into Google Ads thanks to @Andy Black
There is a current arms race around personalization (data enrichment) and mass sending. Relationship based sales seems to be where things are heading, longer sales cycles, etc.
I have no idea where this industry is headed, but I do know you should try to solve real problems for real businesses. Businesses buy results, not solutions.
I didn't go to a big school, I didn't have connects to big people, but I had hustle and drive. I have persistence to make shit work. If there's anything you should know, it's that persistence beats everything. (Especially in sales!)
So here are some overall lessons so far:
- Life WILL NOT happen to you in front of a screen, show up IRL
- Use your young person privilege, cold message people, seek expertise
- Be polite and good to people
- STOP OVERTHINKING, the biggest limiter of smart people is overthinking, just MOVE, there are people way dumber than you making stacks
- Get involved in communities, they are force multipliers
- EVERYTHING IS SALES, building is no longer hard
- Get on LinkedIn, seriously get on LinkedIn, everyone important is on there and the platform is just starting to pop off
- Learn how to have real conversations (not just in business, in life overall)
- Network with people, some people can help you jump 3 steps ahead of where you're at, I had been doing 15 chats a week at one point
A note on college if you're around my age:
College is probably useless now for most non-STEM majors, I was caught in a transition period (covid + AI emergence)/diminishing returns situation so I'm just finishing it out. THINGS ARE CHANGING FAST.
That being said, if you have the opportunity to go a big school 100% for free, definitely take it, unfortunately this was not me. Big schools are like brand names, carry lots of weight, and open lots of doors if you know what you're doing. I ended up going to a state school for financial reasons and live at my parent's place. It's isolating as shit but I'm not in crazy debt.
Anyway, I'm mainly on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/agleg/) not here, so you can find me there, but I am going to put out a new progress thread on here monthly and keep you guys up to date.
Hope you enjoyed this absolute word salad of a post, let me know if you guys have questions.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Access Restricted: Unlock 1,000,000+ Posts
Stop Peeking Through the Keyhole.
Open the Door.
You hit a wall because the best advice isn't free—it's earned. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has been active here daily (99.9% active rate), building a war room for entrepreneurs who refuse to settle for mediocrity.
- Active Daily: Life-changing content posted dozens of times every day. No dead threads.
- MJ's Inner Circle: Direct access to the author of The Millionaire Fastlane.
- Vetted Network: Connect with founders scaling to 7 and 8 figures.
- Proven Roadmaps: Strategy over motivation. Execution over "hustle porn."
"SCALED TO 6-FIGURE MONTHS"
"Tips and advice here saved me from huge mistakes, others allowed me to scale my business to 6-figure months."— User MitchC
"INSANE QUALITY OF PEOPLE"
"The number of high quality people I've met from this forum has been insane. All of it predicated on building real value."— User Richard Peck
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with."
Are you surrounding yourself with success?
