former student of the foundation(dane maxwell) willing to answer questions

[Execution=King]

All of the Foundation marketing gives the impression that if you join, you will succeed...when it appears that if you join, there's a 95% chance you'll fail (by Dane's own stats.)

And of the few success stories, one is a website development business that is somehow counted as a Foundation result (why?), and another is saying the Foundation doesn't work as designed, and is selling an infoproduct that tells you how to set up...a website development business.

 

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[DennisD]

I have to disagree with some of the responses here. I don't believe inaction was the sole problem. If Dane said that he could take basically anyone, even with no prior knowledge, and show them how to create a profitable SaaS business in six months. Then that's what he should have been able to do.

IMHO if the student doesn't have any prior experience with writing copy, marketing, selling, idea extraction, and programming/outsourcing, then I don't think there's any way in hell this can be learned in six months time (in a group session) no matter how much action one takes.

In any case I believe you have to take some "calculated action" not just "action". Telling someone that they didn't "try hard enough", or didn't "take enough action" is bullshit! if you take a person with no prior experience, and throw a ton of material at them that they have never seen before. Then expect them to not only retain everything, but put it into action in a very short period of time. What do you think the results are going to be? This is like taking a first grader and throwing him/her into a sixth grade class, and expecting them to perform at a sixth grade level. Effective?

I think the efficacy of telling someone to "take action" or "try harder" is nil. Unless that person has a clear cut direction, how/when do they take action?

There are people on this forum that throw these empty terms around regularly thinking it helps, apparently? If you don't have anything to offer other than "take action man", I don't believe you are truly helping anyone. I, for one, never found it helpful!

Just my .02

I guess I can see where your coming from. The "product" of the foundation promises results, which it may or may not deliver based on the individual applicant.

Looking past that,
I just think that 6 months (182 days) is more than enough time to get one single paying client for a minimum viable product.
Even if you know NOTHING and have NO guidance.

The idea that people fail WITH guidance is beyond me. The only thing I can think of to justify losing at that point is they assumed all the work would be done for them, got complacent, and didn't do everything in their power to win. Just like the people who pay for college and think graduation=autojob or the people that buy an infoproduct a day and never throw their hat over the wall and dedicate to one of them.

 

[GregH]

But did they learn something? I believe GregH did. and having said that,

GregH,

Do you feel you learned zero, what is the worth of your experience? I think you learned a lot. So asking for a full refund is unfair to Dane and what he tried to do in helping you.

No I don't think I learned zero- but I could go on a wikipedia article and not learn zero.. so its not a case of " if you learned anything, then its a success and worth the price"

What is the worth of my experience? How can I possible put a number on that?-- I can only answer with-- if someone asked me how to start a business today, I would be able to tell you how Dane teaches people to do-- But I wouldnt be able to say -- I can choose a market, I can get good response to cold emails, I can pre sell ideas, I can make an MVP, I can have people pay for development, I can extract great ideas, I can validate ideas, I know how to find a good developer, I know how to copywrite really well, I know how to sell/market really well--

the reason I cant say that is because I failed at all of them and don't know why... I don't feel like Im any closer to building a software product today than I was 1 year ago..

A lot of material was there that I just was not ready to handle, It was a boat load of audio and pdfs, and Im not going to say the foundation is a scam or shit--there was a lot of good info... im just saying it wasnt right for me and it wasnt what I thought I was buying...

I suppose Im not 100% sure about refund etiquette in general? Please correct me if my thinking is wrong

Dane's promise and guarantee helped get me into the foundation-- if he didnt have those claims, there is a good chance I would not have joined... Why then, is it wrong to ask for a refund if I didn't end up with 1 paying customer, 1 product, or any form of a business?

I feel like you're framing me out to be the bad guy here...I don't think I screwed Dane over, or pulled a fast one on him--

I never said Dane didn't try and help me-- He's a good guy and not a sleazy marketer-- his course is full of good info and could help someone other than me, someone more advanced in business, get to where they are going

again, it just wasnt for me-- plain and simple... He made a promise and a guarantee-- I thought about it for a while and I took him up on it

 

[DennisD]

I suppose Im not 100% sure about refund etiquette in general? Please correct me if my thinking is wrong

Dane's promise and guarantee helped get me into the foundation-- if he didnt have those claims, there is a good chance I would not have joined... Why then, is it wrong to ask for a refund if I didn't end up with 1 paying customer, 1 product, or any form of a business?

It's not wrong to ask for a refund in this situation. The guarantee was what sold you on the program. You didn't jump to ask for a refund, you continued to try to do what you were taught and it just didn't stick.

---

I respect that he lived up to his promise, but I do think it's dangerous for Dane as a business owner to give refunds the way he does. I'm half considering joining, getting the free mentorship, and asking for a refund at the end, armed with the materials of what to do :coolgleamA:

But I suppose the 4K barrier to entry stops too many people from doing that.

 

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[Tank]

Are you saying Im not an action taker because I didnt take action asking for a refund right away?

No, GregH, I did not say you were not an action taker. If I had wanted to, I would have.

I did say, according to you, it took you months to decide you wanted to ask for a refund. Maybe it didn't. Maybe the idea came to you all of a sudden after you read Dane's posts and once you made this decision you took immediate action by writing your post here. I don't know. It doesn't matter to me. However, when you did decide to ask for a refund months after the official training ended, you did it publicly with a dark little twist about seeing "what happens." We only had to wait 14 minutes to see what happened. Dane took immediate action and granted your request publicly.

My comment was not about your decision making or your action taking, GregH. I'm sorry if you took it this way and got offended. My comment was about Dane's action taking. His deliberation and speed of implementation was very impressive. Well, wasn't it?

 

[LibertyForMe]

I respect that he lived up to his promise, but I do think it's dangerous for Dane as a business owner to give refunds the way he does. I'm half considering joining, getting the free mentorship, and asking for a refund at the end, armed with the materials of what to do

Ahh, but you would end up getting a customer and then you would be disqualified!

 

[GregH]

It's not wrong to ask for a refund in this situation. The guarantee was what sold you on the program. You didn't jump to ask for a refund, you continued to try to do what you were taught and it just didn't stick.

---

I respect that he lived up to his promise, but I do think it's dangerous for Dane as a business owner to give refunds the way he does. I'm half considering joining, getting the free mentorship, and asking for a refund at the end, armed with the materials of what to do

But I suppose the 4K barrier to entry stops too many people from doing that.

I agree, I think it could be dangerous to give refunds the way he does-- which makes it so enticing in the first place..

Maybe I just didn't look at it as though I got the info that I needed and now Im getting my money back... like buying a suit from a store for one night then returning it... I don't like when people do that and I didn't consider myself to do that.. there almost no chance that Im going to be using the info to be building a SaaS business, so I think thats where the difference is... if that makes sense?

 

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[GregH]

No, GregH, I did not say you were not an action taker. If I had wanted to, I would have.

I did say, according to you, it took you months to decide you wanted to ask for a refund. Maybe it didn't. Maybe the idea came to you all of a sudden after you read Dane's posts and once you made this decision you took immediate action by writing your post here. I don't know. It doesn't matter to me. However, when you did decide to ask for a refund months after the official training ended, you did it publicly with a dark little twist about seeing "what happens." We only had to wait 14 minutes to see what happened. Dane took immediate action and granted your request publicly.

My comment was not about your decision making or your action taking, GregH. I'm sorry if you took it this way and got offended. My comment was about Dane's action taking. His deliberation and speed of implementation was very impressive. Well, wasn't it?

a dark little twist?-- your suggesting I used this forum as leverage against Dane to publicly call him out on his refund policy knowing it would pressure him to take action??

I emailed the support at the foundation-- and I didn't even talk about a refund until someone asked about it

and Yes Dane responding quickly was impressive and I give him a ton of credit: it shows his character and that he stands behind his product
Im not saying ANYTHING bad about Dane.. if its coming off that way then thats not how I meant it

 

[CommonCents]

I took a ton of action... I made about 50-60 calls.. sent 2000 emails using the scripts they gave me-- did in person visits -- and tried to"extract" many problems in a business that were simple and easy to solve and no other solution existed

I don't see 50-60 calls as "a ton of action". I don't think any entrepreneur would succeed with this amount of effort in any business. Even millions of emails about uncovering opportunities are probably worthless. Developing rapport and having meaningful conversations with is what it takes to find pain leading to opportunities. On top of that it does take practice to fine tune your pitch even if you are getting in front of several people.

 

[GregH]

I don't see 50-60 calls as "a ton of action". I don't think any entrepreneur would succeed with this amount of effort in any business. Even millions of emails about uncovering opportunities are probably worthless. Developing rapport and having meaningful conversations with is what it takes to find pain leading to opportunities. On top of that it does take practice to fine tune your pitch even if you are getting in front of several people.

how many calls would you consider taking a lot of action?

in the example given of a past student-- he was able to extract an idea within 10 calls... others went to 20-30... one guy found his on the 50th... and I think another in on 90th

and Yes I agree, building rapport and having meaningful conversation is key-- im curious.. if you had to do it, how would you have those conversations?

 

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[CommonCents]

how many calls would you consider taking a lot of action?

in the example given of a past student-- he was able to extract an idea within 10 calls... others went to 20-30... one guy found his on the 50th... and I think another in on 90th

and Yes I agree, building rapport and having meaningful conversation is key-- im curious.. if you had to do it, how would you have those conversations?

My answer is enough calls to get the results you want. Your mileage may vary. If you improve skills and know the market you are calling, it'll take less calls. Until then, it'll take more calls/meetings.

 

[1step]

how many calls would you consider taking a lot of action?

Is it unreasonable to think you could at least manage to make 3 calls a day for 3 months? I mean if you really wanted it you would think you could handle 3 calls a day...

Lets assume after 3 months in the program you could be ready to make calls and extract ideas... You have 90 days left in the program at that point and you made a total of 60 calls? Thats less than 1 per day... Doesnt sound like tons of action in my opinion

 

[GregH]

Is it unreasonable to think you could at least manage to make 3 calls a day for 3 months? I mean if you really wanted it you would think you could handle 3 calls a day...

Lets assume after 3 months in the program you could be ready to make calls and extract ideas... You have 90 days left in the program at that point and you made a total of 60 calls? Thats less than 1 per day... Doesnt sound like tons of action in my opinion

I would make 10 calls a day( 30mins -1 hr per call)... if I could

based on what I learned its not as easy as just picking up the phone.. Cold calling sucks and doesnt work

you have to set up appointments via sending out cold emails or cold messages via linkedin

I was sending out 100 emails PER DAY and that was when I was working and had a VA scrapping emails

the response rate was just terrible for me and I couldnt manage to get many calls... you have to convince the right person at the company to be willing to talk with a stranger about the problems in their business.... its harder than you think.

but in a perfect world if I had a list of people wanting to or willing to talk with me about their business sitting on my desk each morning... I would make as many calls that I can....

Did I mention I was also joining facebook groups and linkedin groups and forum groups and private messaging as many people as possible to try to talk on skype or on the phone about it? again the response rate just isnt that good

 

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[GregH]

My answer is enough calls to get the results you want. Your mileage may vary. If you improve skills and know the market you are calling, it'll take less calls. Until then, it'll take more calls/meetings.

its not a matter of how many I want.. its a matter of how many I can

I sent thousands of emails and managed to get 50-60 calls from those emails.. and from those calls I wasnt able to extract an idea/viable idea/ good idea

thousands of emails... plus hundreds of linkedin/facebook/forum messages----> you just cant go out into the world and kick in someones door and talk to them... ( i did try-- I visited many places in person and had little success at that)

there is a trick to getting people on the phone... not as a easy as you think

 

[Vigilante]

This thread has been productive but it doesn't need to devolve into second guessing who did what. It's been an interesting sidebar to the AMA and hopefully everyone has learned a bit from this discussion.

 

[Tank]

a dark little twist?-- your suggesting I used this forum as leverage against Dane to publicly call him out on his refund policy knowing it would pressure him to take action??

Hmmm? I never thought of that strategy. Wow. Did you?

I'm not a very good mind reader, no ESP skills for me. I'm very literal. I listen and/or read and take and accept people at their own word. You know, what they actually said. So, I have to ask you, GregH, is that what you did?

You've got my curiosity going now, so please don't get upset at me because I'm the way I am and I have to ask since I lack refined intuition.

Did you use this forum as leverage against Dane to publicly call him out on his refund policy knowing it would pressure him to take action?

 

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[GregH]

Yes .. I waited for months for Dane to come on this very thread and hope someone brought up that very topic so my evil plan would be set into motion...

Come on ...

 

[Tank]

Yes ..

Thanks for clearing this up for me!

 

[Execution=King]

Hmmm? I never thought of that strategy. Wow. Did you?

I'm not a very good mind reader, no ESP skills for me. I'm very literal. I listen and/or read and take and accept people at their own word. You know, what they actually said. So, I have to ask you, GregH, is that what you did?

You've got my curiosity going now, so please don't get upset at me because I'm the way I am and I have to ask since I lack refined intuition.

Did you use this forum as leverage against Dane to publicly call him out on his refund policy knowing it would pressure him to take action?

Yes .. I waited for months for Dane to come on this very thread and hope someone brought up that very topic so my evil plan would be set into motion...

Come on ...

Thanks for clearing this up for me!

GregH, this "Tank" account is not what it appears. It was created yesterday and has a total of five posts, all of which are questioning your motivations and casting aspersions on you.

So it's part of some kind of sock-puppet campaign. That doesn't mean that Dane is behind the "Tank" account. But something fishy is definitely going on.


Anyway, don't let the fake "Tank" get your goat.

 

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[Tank]

@Execution=King and @GregH

You guys crack me up with your clairvoyance, ESP, and mind reading skills. (You remind me of a girl I dated once who kept insisting everything I said had hidden meanings she could understand. Not that you two are girls or girlish or anything. Just the superskills are the same.)

To top it off, the postal lady just delivered my latest purchase from Amazon, "The Reality of ESP: A Physicist's Proof Of Psychic Abilities" by Dr. Russell Targ.

I bought it because I saw the movie "The Men Who Stare At Goats" (notice I used the word "goat" and Execution=King foresaw this!) and I heard it was a fictionalized history of an actual DoD program. Turns out it was! The DoD or CIA or one of them ran this program for 20 years until President Carter outed them.

I've always been intrigued by people who have finely turned intuition and seemingly ESP-like abilities and this book is written by the same dude who developed the laser, in other words, not some flake.

So, believe whatever you want. I've told you with as much exactness as written words permit what I was thinking and meaning. I took you at your word, but you only want to show off your superpowers by telling me what I REALLY meant. LOL, yeah right!

I love it. Enjoy yourselves!

Go Steelers!

BTW, "Tank" is my real nickname.

 

[CommonCents]

its not a matter of how many I want.. its a matter of how many I can

I sent thousands of emails and managed to get 50-60 calls from those emails.. and from those calls I wasnt able to extract an idea/viable idea/ good idea

thousands of emails... plus hundreds of linkedin/facebook/forum messages----> you just cant go out into the world and kick in someones door and talk to them... ( i did try-- I visited many places in person and had little success at that)

there is a trick to getting people on the phone... not as a easy as you think

Yep, you are right, starting/growing a biz is a lot tougher than people think. I do agree w/out prior credibility/rapport and knowledge of a certain industry, its very difficult to get strangers to talk candidly about their problems in detail to uncover opportunities.

 

[theag]

@Execution=King and @GregH

You guys crack me up with your clairvoyance, ESP, and mind reading skills. (You remind me of a girl I dated once who kept insisting everything I said had hidden meanings she could understand. Not that you two are girls or girlish or anything. Just the superskills are the same.)

To top it off, the postal lady just delivered my latest purchase from Amazon, "The Reality of ESP: A Physicist's Proof Of Psychic Abilities" by Dr. Russell Targ.

I bought it because I saw the movie "The Men Who Stare At Goats" (notice I used the word "goat" and Execution=King foresaw this!) and I heard it was a fictionalized history of an actual DoD program. Turns out it was! The DoD or CIA or one of them ran this program for 20 years until President Carter outed them.

I've always been intrigued by people who have finely turned intuition and seemingly ESP-like abilities and this book is written by the same dude who developed the laser, in other words, not some flake.

So, believe whatever you want. I've told you with as much exactness as written words permit what I was thinking and meaning. I took you at your word, but you only want to show off your superpowers by telling me what I REALLY meant. LOL, yeah right!

I love it. Enjoy yourselves!

Go Steelers!

BTW, "Tank" is my real nickname.

Congrats, you now have negative rep.

 

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[Tank]

Originally Posted by Tank
@Execution=King and @GregH

You guys crack me up with your clairvoyance, ESP, and mind reading skills. (You remind me of a girl I dated once who kept insisting everything I said had hidden meanings she could understand. Not that you two are girls or girlish or anything. Just the superskills are the same.)

To top it off, the postal lady just delivered my latest purchase from Amazon, "The Reality of ESP: A Physicist's Proof Of Psychic Abilities" by Dr. Russell Targ.

I bought it because I saw the movie "The Men Who Stare At Goats" (notice I used the word "goat" and Execution=King foresaw this!) and I heard it was a fictionalized history of an actual DoD program. Turns out it was! The DoD or CIA or one of them ran this program for 20 years until President Carter outed them.

I've always been intrigued by people who have finely turned intuition and seemingly ESP-like abilities and this book is written by the same dude who developed the laser, in other words, not some flake.

So, believe whatever you want. I've told you with as much exactness as written words permit what I was thinking and meaning. I took you at your word, but you only want to show off your superpowers by telling me what I REALLY meant. LOL, yeah right!

I love it. Enjoy yourselves!

Go Steelers!

BTW, "Tank" is my real nickname.
Congrats, you now have negative rep.

Sixty-three negative rep points? For asking someone in a nice way to quit trying to read my mind instead of my precise words and to try to begin to be accountable for his words?

Do you have that on speed dial or did you outsource that?

I haven't got to reading my new book on ESP yet, but opposite the table of contents, Dr. Targ has a couple of quotes. One of which seemed appropriate to this thread.

Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein, who was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language said, "Skepticism is NOT unanswerable, but obviously nonsensical, when it tries to raise doubts where no question can be asked."

Sounds like this thread to me.

 

[theag]

Do you have that on speed dial

Yes, and I accidentally pressed it again. My bad.

 

[GregH]

Yep, you are right, starting/growing a biz is a lot tougher than people think. I do agree w/out prior credibility/rapport and knowledge of a certain industry, its very difficult to get strangers to talk candidly about their problems in detail to uncover opportunities.

one thing that caught my interest was derek halpern talking about giving away value before asking for anything--

even though "idea extraction" helps them-- they are just answering questions and often dont realize the value you could bring them ( i admit this is a place I fell down; as I should have done better to convince them of that value)

but if I did it again-- I would start a blog and record interviews via skype or in person with people in the market-- I would then make a pdf or or a video about how those other people solve their problems or top 10 mistakes NOT to make-- something of value

I would then email that pdf out as a lead magnet back to my blog and grow my email list that way

then after having trust-- would I go forward with "idea extraction"

I hope anyone who is joining this years class reads this and takes it into consideration... its not far off of what they teach but I just have a gut feeling it might work better

 

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[LightHouse]

-- I just want to move on to E-commerce and try to sell physical products and if I find success in that MAYBE down the line id look into software... maybe

I'm halfway through this thread but dude....

This just revealed why you have the attitude about your experience that you do.

Whether you believe it or not, you are chasing money. You don't "find" success, you create it.

You still aren't trying to solve problems, you are trying to just be successful. Software may not have been for you, but that was your choice. I do think that mindset is a big part of being an entrepreneur. So there is a valid reason why half of the course is about mindset.

It is interesting to hear perspectives from the students though, don't think I am just trying to put you down here. I think you have some mind tuning to do though before you really become successful. And I truly hope you do.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

[GregH]

I'm halfway through this thread but dude....

This just revealed why you have the attitude about your experience that you do.

Whether you believe it or not, you are chasing money. You don't "find" success, you create it.

You still aren't trying to solve problems, you are trying to just be successful. Software may not have been for you, but that was your choice. I do think that mindset is a big part of being an entrepreneur. So there is a valid reason why half of the course is about mindset.

It is interesting to hear perspectives from the students though, don't think I am just trying to put you down here. I think you have some mind tuning to do though before you really become successful. And I truly hope you do.

I really appreciate your thoughts on this..

I do have some questions regarding what you just said however...

Whether you believe it or not, you are chasing money. You don't "find" success, you create it.

what exactly do you mean by chasing money? -- I do want to make money yes, and I realize SaaS has the potential to make a TON of money, I just didn't think it was a right fit for who I am...

E-Commerce I think might be a better option, but then again it might not... how can I know until I try it?... I don't understand whats wrong with trying different things until you see what fits?

You still aren't trying to solve problems, you are trying to just be successful.-- no offense but how would you know?-- I spent 6 months talking about peoples problems with them via email and phone and I may or may not be trying to solve problems with what Im doing right now...

I do think that mindset is a big part of being an entrepreneur. So there is a valid reason why half of the course is about mindset.

I totally agree mindset is important- VERY important... stuff like thinking competition is TERRIBLE ( which it isnt) and having a scarcity mindset are often thoughts that will hold you back.. I don't have a problem with talking mindset-- I Loved MJs book and it was all about mindset

I however just didn't connect with what was taught in the foundation-- many people in there did connect and it helped them a great deal
I just couldn't gel with the teachings... I gelled very well with MJ's book however

I think you have some mind tuning to do though before you really become successful. And I truly hope you do.

oh no doubt, Im not on here trying to say I have it all figured out.. Im soooo far from it. I know I have a long long way to go, and Im always trying to read learn and grow... but just because I didn't connect with one set of teachings doesn't mean Im not open to new ideas

what resources would you suggest for mindset?

 

[DennisD]

what exactly do you mean by chasing money? -- I do want to make money yes, and I realize SaaS has the potential to make a TON of money, I just didn't think it was a right fit for who I am...

E-Commerce I think might be a better option, but then again it might not... how can I know until I try it?... I don't understand whats wrong with trying different things until you see what fits?
-------------------
You still aren't trying to solve problems, you are trying to just be successful.-- no offense but how would you know?-- I spent 6 months talking about peoples problems with them via email and phone and I may or may not be trying to solve problems with what Im doing right now...

You know that value given = wealth received.

You tried SaaS and it didn't "work."
You say eCommerce might be a "better option."

Examine these statements. SaaS didn't "work". Didn't work do to what?
To make you money? To make you successful? To take you where you want to be?

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. It sounds like you're chasing money. It sounds like instead of being determined to solve a problem, you're determined to find a method that "works". That's the mindset problem.

Upon starting up an eCommerce store, the foundation principles still apply. You should still hop on the phone with 50-200 business people in your target niche and extract ideas so you know what to sell to them. Start with a target market, find their problem, and then solve it. It might be with SaaS, it might be with a service, it might be eCommerce, it might be something new.

Earlier in the thread, I told you that the situation reminded me of people who are addicted to buying infoproducts with systems. and they try it out, and it fails, and so they move onto something else.

They suffer from the same mindset issue: It's not a method or system or tactics that make you a success... it's the ability to find where you can deliver the most value to the people who need it the most.. and then doing it.

ecommerce is just another platform to fail on. unless you can deliver value to people who need that value, you're doing it wrong.

 

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[GregH]

You know that value given = wealth received.

You tried SaaS and it didn't "work."
You say eCommerce might be a "better option."

Examine these statements. SaaS didn't "work". Didn't work do to what?
To make you money? To make you successful? To take you where you want to be?

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. It sounds like you're chasing money. It sounds like instead of being determined to solve a problem, you're determined to find a method that "works". That's the mindset problem.

Upon starting up an eCommerce store, the foundation principles still apply. You should still hop on the phone with 50-200 business people in your target niche and extract ideas so you know what to sell to them. Start with a target market, find their problem, and then solve it. It might be with SaaS, it might be with a service, it might be eCommerce, it might be something new.

Earlier in the thread, I told you that the situation reminded me of people who are addicted to buying infoproducts with systems. and they try it out, and it fails, and so they move onto something else.

They suffer from the same mindset issue: It's not a method or system or tactics that make you a success... it's the ability to find where you can deliver the most value to the people who need it the most.. and then doing it.

ecommerce is just another platform to fail on. unless you can deliver value to people who need that value, you're doing it wrong.

I know exactly what you're saying here

The problem with SaaS for me was that I was in WAY WAY over my head-- also I just ended up hating it by the end.

When talking to people about problems I often found that when they mentioned a problem to me and asked " could you solve that?" I would often just say yes and have no idea what I was talking about...

thats not to say I couldnt find out, but I knew next to nothing about software and I didnt really have a desire to learn all about it

another problem was that I didn't think I would be able to fund software development-- the barrier to entry was skyhigh and it was a money issue-- I didn't have 20-40K sitting around and I was barely making a connection with these people let alone enough to have them pay for the software... I was stuck on finding an idea and validating it before I could even worry about having them pay for it.

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

a better option to fit who I am-- physical products.. something I can hold in my hands.. it just makes me feel better about selling in general.. there is money in e-com but there would have been more in SaaS and when you get SaaS going it seems to be more passive.. so Im not shying away from "work" just finding a better fit for my personality...

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. well... yes and no.... no in terms of looking for a quick buck-- overnight riches/get rich quick scheme... Yes in terms of I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort in something I dont like, dont understand, and ultimately dont want to be involved with....

the goal is to make money isnt it? and if Im going to be doing a lot work and putting in a lot of time wouldnt I want to get involved with something that fits my personality and something I can wrap my head around? there are a lot of business models out there and I didnt like SaaS-- I know where you're coming from and I appreciate the advice, but can I at least try 1 more thing and give up on it before you label me as a perpetual infocourse buyer and non action taker?

 

[GregH]

You know that value given = wealth received.

You tried SaaS and it didn't "work."
You say eCommerce might be a "better option."

Examine these statements. SaaS didn't "work". Didn't work do to what?
To make you money? To make you successful? To take you where you want to be?

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. It sounds like you're chasing money. It sounds like instead of being determined to solve a problem, you're determined to find a method that "works". That's the mindset problem.

Upon starting up an eCommerce store, the foundation principles still apply. You should still hop on the phone with 50-200 business people in your target niche and extract ideas so you know what to sell to them. Start with a target market, find their problem, and then solve it. It might be with SaaS, it might be with a service, it might be eCommerce, it might be something new.

Earlier in the thread, I told you that the situation reminded me of people who are addicted to buying infoproducts with systems. and they try it out, and it fails, and so they move onto something else.

They suffer from the same mindset issue: It's not a method or system or tactics that make you a success... it's the ability to find where you can deliver the most value to the people who need it the most.. and then doing it.

ecommerce is just another platform to fail on. unless you can deliver value to people who need that value, you're doing it wrong.

I know exactly what you're saying here

The problem with SaaS for me was that I was in WAY WAY over my head-- also I just ended up hating it by the end.

When talking to people about problems I often found that when they mentioned a problem to me and asked " could you solve that?" I would often just say yes and have no idea what I was talking about...

thats not to say I couldnt find out, but I knew next to nothing about software and I didnt really have a desire to learn all about it

another problem was that I didn't think I would be able to fund software development-- the barrier to entry was skyhigh and it was a money issue-- I didn't have 20-40K sitting around and I was barely making a connection with these people let alone enough to have them pay for the software... I was stuck on finding an idea and validating it before I could even worry about having them pay for it.

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

a better option to fit who I am-- physical products.. something I can hold in my hands.. it just makes me feel better about selling in general.. there is money in e-com but there would have been more in SaaS and when you get SaaS going it seems to be more passive.. so Im not shying away from "work" just finding a better fit for my personality...

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. well... yes and no.... no in terms of looking for a quick buck-- overnight riches/get rich quick scheme... Yes in terms of I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort in something I dont like, dont understand, and ultimately dont want to be involved with....

the goal is to make money isnt it? and if Im going to be doing a lot work and putting in a lot of time wouldnt I want to get involved with something that fits my personality and something I can wrap my head around? there are a lot of business models out there and I didnt like SaaS-- I know where you're coming from and I appreciate the advice, but can I at least try 1 more thing and give up on it before you label me as a perpetual infocourse buyer and non action taker?

You know that value given = wealth received.

You tried SaaS and it didn't "work."
You say eCommerce might be a "better option."

Examine these statements. SaaS didn't "work". Didn't work do to what?
To make you money? To make you successful? To take you where you want to be?

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. It sounds like you're chasing money. It sounds like instead of being determined to solve a problem, you're determined to find a method that "works". That's the mindset problem.

Upon starting up an eCommerce store, the foundation principles still apply. You should still hop on the phone with 50-200 business people in your target niche and extract ideas so you know what to sell to them. Start with a target market, find their problem, and then solve it. It might be with SaaS, it might be with a service, it might be eCommerce, it might be something new.

Earlier in the thread, I told you that the situation reminded me of people who are addicted to buying infoproducts with systems. and they try it out, and it fails, and so they move onto something else.

They suffer from the same mindset issue: It's not a method or system or tactics that make you a success... it's the ability to find where you can deliver the most value to the people who need it the most.. and then doing it.

ecommerce is just another platform to fail on. unless you can deliver value to people who need that value, you're doing it wrong.

I know exactly what you're saying here

The problem with SaaS for me was that I was in WAY WAY over my head-- also I just ended up hating it by the end.

When talking to people about problems I often found that when they mentioned a problem to me and asked " could you solve that?" I would often just say yes and have no idea what I was talking about...

thats not to say I couldnt find out, but I knew next to nothing about software and I didnt really have a desire to learn all about it

another problem was that I didn't think I would be able to fund software development-- the barrier to entry was skyhigh and it was a money issue-- I didn't have 20-40K sitting around and I was barely making a connection with these people let alone enough to have them pay for the software... I was stuck on finding an idea and validating it before I could even worry about having them pay for it.

eCommerce might be a "better option."
A better option to what? To make you money? To find success?

a better option to fit who I am-- physical products.. something I can hold in my hands.. it just makes me feel better about selling in general.. there is money in e-com but there would have been more in SaaS and when you get SaaS going it seems to be more passive.. so Im not shying away from "work" just finding a better fit for my personality...

It sounds like you're trying to find the path of least resistance to success. well... yes and no.... no in terms of looking for a quick buck-- overnight riches/get rich quick scheme... Yes in terms of I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort in something I dont like, dont understand, and ultimately dont want to be involved with....

the goal is to make money isnt it? and if Im going to be doing a lot work and putting in a lot of time wouldnt I want to get involved with something that fits my personality and something I can wrap my head around? there are a lot of business models out there and I didnt like SaaS-- I know where you're coming from and I appreciate the advice, but can I at least try 1 more thing and give up on it before you label me as a perpetual infocourse buyer and non action taker?