EXECUTION KAK's Kill Bigger Radio Show

[Kak]

As I am sure you probably have already heard on @Vigilante s Mind Your Business.

I too am launching a radio show! I have been a bit of a troll with the new avatar for a week.

The VERY FIRST episode has been live for about 12 hours, but the big announcement is NOW! Check it out on your favorite podcasting app! @MoneyDoc and @Roz both found it pre-launch. Good job guys.

Apple
Spotify
Google
Spreaker

I think the first show ever is pretty damn good considering!

I have ONE correction to make as I was re-listening ... Vertical integration = buying up supply chain and delivery chain... Horizontal integration = buying competitors.

Dave and I plan to work together to provide amazing business content for your listening pleasure! I hope the forum enjoys as much as we enjoy putting this all together!

 

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[Andy Black]

As I am sure you probably have already heard on @Vigilante s Mind Your Business.

I too am launching a radio show! I have been a bit of a troll with the new avatar for a week.

The VERY FIRST episode has been live for about 12 hours, but the big announcement is NOW! Check it out on your favorite podcasting app! @MoneyDoc and @Roz both found it pre-launch good job guys.

Or here! Business is an Art... Not a Science.

Or you can just go to killbigger.com

I think the first show ever is pretty damn good considering!

I have ONE correction to make as I was re-listening ... Vertical integration = buying up supply chain and delivery chain... Horizontal integration = buying competitors.

Dave and I plan to work together to provide amazing business content for your listening pleasure! I hope the forum enjoys as much as we enjoy putting this all together!

Nice work @Kak. I agree that business is more an art than a science.

I love the way you think. Opportunity knocks so much it’s a drumroll on the door. We just have to have our ears tuned to it.

Thanks for the great examples. The flooring company example, and the example where you created a new company and a great win-win on the fly stood out for me.

 

[InspireHD]

Very cool, @Kak I was not expecting to hear this so I'm looking forward to following along.

I can't say with 100% certainty because I didn't look beforehand, but I want to go on the record to say I think I might be your first subscriber on Youtube.

 

[Raoul Duke]

RANT - Where did intentional iteration go?

While everyone is talking about Ecommerce, I wanted to bring up it's less sexy neighbor- intentional iteration. This year-to-date, there have only been 14 posts in this thread category. While the AMAs about Ecommerce and Amazon are the easily the most active forums, intentional iteration...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[Kak]

OK... A little surprise for me and you guys... I had to record something about Elon Musk today...

Elon Musk Kills Bigger

On the day SpaceX makes history... I discuss Elon Musk and how he Kills Bigger. A fantastic leader. A fantastic example of guts and perseverance. Enjoy!

www.spreaker.com

Thankfully it is all on demand. Enjoy at your leisure!

 

[Kak]

Nice work @Kak. I agree that business is more an art than a science.

I love the way you think. Opportunity knocks so much it’s a drumroll on the door. We just have to have our ears tuned to it.

Thanks for the great examples. The flooring company example, and the example where you created a new company and a great win-win on the fly stood out for me.

Fantastic, Andy! I am stoked that you listened in and enjoyed!

This is why I always like to just jump in. Opportunity shows up when you are engaged in business. It doesn't just drop on you. I would rather start something and pivot to a more viable opportunity than sit and wait... When you do that you probably aren't going to come up with that viable opportunity. Without the error, or dare I say, failure, of the previous ambition you remain clueless.

Very cool, @Kak I was not expecting to hear this so I'm looking forward to following along.

I can't say with 100% certainty because I didn't look beforehand, but I want to go on the record to say I think I might be your first subscriber on Youtube.

I believe you are correct! That is fantastic! I am glad to have you listening.

YouTube is particularly interesting because I could add a video element rather easily. That might have to be in the works. When I dive into something, I fully immerse. This might be fun to watch for the forum, in addition to the content, because this radio show is a project of mine on full display.

RANT - Where did intentional iteration go?

While everyone is talking about Ecommerce, I wanted to bring up it's less sexy neighbor- intentional iteration. This year-to-date, there have only been 14 posts in this thread category. While the AMAs about Ecommerce and Amazon are the easily the most active forums, intentional iteration...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

HA! A smart man. I just want to get a couple of widely sought after designs and just use them on distressed house after house. The conversation with customers will probably go a bit like this... "We own these 3 styles right now. This is why we beat the competition on price. They are the best selling designs you see at all the major retail stores so let's make a deal" They will be more than welcome to go pay markedly more for something they like better, but if they like the popular stuff... My company will be the ticket.

 

[SamRussell]

Subscribed! Looking forwards to checking these out later today

 

[Andy Black]

YouTube is particularly interesting because I could add a video element rather easily. That might have to be in the works. When I dive into something, I fully immerse. This might be fun to watch for the forum, in addition to the content, because this radio show is a project of mine on full display.

Yes, YouTube is the most fascinating channel/platform to me. The content is evergreen, you can run ads to videos if you want, there’s soooo much attention on YouTube it’s unreal, it helps/ranks on Google, and you‘ve more of people’s attention if they’re watching a video versus listening to an audio.

@Vigilante @Kak ... consider “video first“? You can pull out audio and text from video. And you can of course pull out small nuggets from each episode and post to various places.

Btw... @Fox and @Lex DeVille have solid YouTube channels. @Valier has one that’s gone viral (over 80k subs in a few months with under 10 videos - see his Gold progress thread).

I like that you immerse yourself @Kak, and I like that you use that word.

You also talk about leadership a lot. By putting yourself out there you’re showing people how leaders lead.

“People listen to experts, they follow leaders.” (Dan Gallappo)

People should follow both these new shows to see HOW they start and grow. You’ll learn more from that than listening to experts (aka spending money on a “How To Podcast” course).

Something I smiled at listening to both @Vigilante and @Kak initial episodes? They both had technical issues but left them in.

“Done is better than perfect.”

“Move fast and break things.”
(Mark Z)

“You can’t steer a parked car.”
(James Schramko)

“Start.”
(Dave Happe)

 

[Kak]

Something I smiled at listening to both @Vigilante and @Kak initial episodes? They both had technical issues but left them in.

Lol!

This is something we were both talking about last night. While the Spreaker studio program is great for just banging something out and publishing it... If someone came and rang my door bell and pissed my dog off there is no easy way to pause that and cut it out.

Literally, episode two is recorded on a high dollar broadcast software and I’m hooked. Worlds better. It is a great example of diving in. Learning something and pivoting.

I didn’t need to do 2 months of research. I just needed to become a radio host.

 

[Andy Black]

It is a great example of diving in. Learning something and pivoting.

I didn’t need to do 2 months of research. I just needed to become a radio host.

I despair sometimes, watching people look for maps when they just need to open the front door and step outside.

 

[Andy Black]

While the Spreaker studio program is great for just banging something out and publishing it... If someone came and rang my door bell and pissed my dog off there is no easy way to pause that and cut it out.

A lot of my chats are just recorded Zooms. They’re easy to download, edit, then publish.

 

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[Tethys]

Thanks for this podcast @Kak. I just subscribed! I might reach out to you soon for mentorship on getting started in my business.

 

[Kak]

Thanks for this podcast @Kak. I just subscribed! I might reach out to you soon for mentorship on getting started in my business.

That is so great! Glad to have you listening! @Tethys

Ladies and Gentlemen! Monday's Show is READY!

Prepare to be blown away as Dave and I each discuss 3 fundamentals of business.

We also have a callout for very special listener right at the end so stay tuned for that!

Get it while it is hot! 6 Fundamentals with David Happe

I need a rug in the office... I just realized that and will address that promptly.

 

[Kak]

Thanks for this podcast @Kak. I just subscribed! I might reach out to you soon for mentorship on getting started in my business.

That is so great! Glad to have you listening! @Tethys

 

[Vigilante]

That is so great! Glad to have you listening! @Tethys

Ladies and Gentlemen! Monday's Show is READY!

Prepare to be blown away as Dave and I each discuss 3 fundamentals of business.

We also have a callout for very special listener right at the end so stay tuned for that!

Get it while it is hot! 6 Fundamentals with David Happe

I need a rug in the office... I just realized that and will address that promptly.

What a great show. Make sure you have a pad of paper and a pen when you listen to this one as Kyle drops some great knowledge bomb from the school of hard knocks on fundamentals of building a business. You know it's a fun show when the first part of the post-show recap discussion is whether or not it needs to be marked as EXPLICIT. I enjoyed my guest spot on the show, and look forward to all of your comments and key takeaways. And yes, a special shout out to the "special" listener mentioned at the end of the show. I probably even know who it was...

 

[MoneyDoc]

Loved the show guys!

Expense control - one of the fundamentals I had trouble with in the beginning.

 

[Andy Black]

That is so great! Glad to have you listening! @Tethys

Ladies and Gentlemen! Monday's Show is READY!

Prepare to be blown away as Dave and I each discuss 3 fundamentals of business.

We also have a callout for very special listener right at the end so stay tuned for that!

Get it while it is hot! 6 Fundamentals with David Happe

I need a rug in the office... I just realized that and will address that promptly.

Very good.

Takeaways (from memory as I was walking and didn’t have pen and paper) and with commentary in my own words:

Don’t burn your boats. Don’t go all-in. Don’t be a dumb-a$$ and listen to the “gurus”. Build up that business so it can stand on its own, and don’t try to make it support you too early. It’s like a little flame you’re fanning and don’t want to extinguish.

Capitalism is about creating win-wins. It’s a force for good because a rising tide lifts all boats.

Get your why right. Responsibility. (With great responsibility comes great power.) For me, I have to help people. If I’m not helping anyone it all grinds to a halt.

Be ruthless with expenses. You won’t remember the luxury car, but you will appreciate the savings from hiring the economy car.

Be professional. Be on time. Look the part. Be prepared.


I’ve missed one but can’t remember it off the top of my head.

 

[Kak]

Also! You learn something every day.

I had YouTube cutting my postings up into 15 minute segments... For a couple of days there, I figured that I just needed to have more views or some time to be approved for larger file sizes... I found out today that it was a simple "verification" process. I was able to re-upload everything immediately after this verification and they are all in one piece.

 

[becks22]

Loved this last episode--loved the 'Don't be a Karen' part!

 

[Andy Black]

Loved this last episode--loved the 'Don't be a Karen' part!

This must be a US thing. I understood, but don't follow (if that makes sense).

 

[Kak]

This must be a US thing. I understood, but don't follow (if that makes sense).

Karen is a slang term for a lady that always has to see the manager. She is also the type of person that calls the cops on her neighbors for having more than 5 people at the backyard bbq during covid. She is overall just a type of person you avoid.

Urban Dictionary: Karen

The stereotypical name associated with rude, obnoxious and insufferable middle aged white women. Karens take everything wrong with the typical over entitled western woman and crank it up by several thousand percent. They are a mutated subspecies that descends from the Soccer Mom, and have many...

www.urbandictionary.com

 

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[Andy Black]

Karen is a slang term for a lady that always has to see the manager. She is also the type of person that calls the cops on her neighbors for having more than 5 people at the backyard bbq during covid. She is overall just a type of person you avoid.

Urban Dictionary: Karen

The stereotypical name associated with rude, obnoxious and insufferable middle aged white women. Karens take everything wrong with the typical over entitled western woman and crank it up by several thousand percent. They are a mutated subspecies that descends from the Soccer Mom, and have many...

www.urbandictionary.com

Whoa. Savage. Wouldn't want to be named Karen by my parents.

 

[Vigilante]

Also! You learn something every day.

I had YouTube cutting my postings up into 15 minute segments... For a couple of days there, I figured that I just needed to have more views or some time to be approved for larger file sizes... I found out today that it was a simple "verification" process. I was able to re-upload everything immediately after this verification and they are all in one piece.

Thanks. Just fixed this on my account.

 

[Kak]

Since I am kind of using this as the discussion thread and also a progress thread, I listened to a podcast called "The Audacity to Podcast"... He is literally a podcast about podcasting. He had an interesting point on explicit tagging.

Now, those that know me know I can sometimes be a little salty, but honestly, that is a bad excuse. It is not something I am not exactly proud of. I let a F slide on the Elon Musk show and just kept it in there. I marked it explicit because of one word... That seems a bit ridiculous to have to turn away potential listeners just because I let one word fly.

I want to be proud to share this radio show with anyone, including young people.

It was literally nothing for me to take that show down, cut the word out of there, and repost it clean.

That said, this is a learning process. This isn't a phone call with a friend where I can get angry let loose. This is a radio show that goes out to a lot of people. So I am taking my own professionalism advice. I intend to keep it PG13 from here on out and avoid ever having to put the explicit tag on there. That is a pretty strong label for a fun business radio show.

I am not writing my book that way, it is not the way I handle business meetings, and I am not going to run the radio show that way either.

 

[inputchip]

I just listened to the first 2 episodes. So much gold.

Had a bit of an epiphany while listening to Dave talk about how extra features or better specs don't mean anything unless you are listening to the customer. The customer is always right. Loved the Apple/Android and iPod/Zune comparisons.

There are countless businesses started on the premise that you can take an existing product and simply add features to it and you will have a winning combination. You can add all the features you want, but if you are not in a constant feedback loop with the end-user, those features will fall on deaf ears.

 

[rpeck90]

David & Kyle, excellent shows (I've listened and subscribed to both).

Some takeaways:

On keeping expenses low, Bill Gates used to fly coach even when Microsoft was a public company. One time, he chartered a plane because he had to attend a meeting and Steve Ballmer scalded him for it:

Bill Gates - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

In my own life, I've held similar ideals (thanks largely to my mother). A good example is when I attended an art convention in Paris several years ago, I didn't book a hotel for the last evening, instead using it as an opportunity to walk around the the center of the city and observe the monuments. No tourists at the Eiffel tower @ 2:30AM:

-

On the customer being right, I don't think the Apple example is as cut and dry as you made it sound.

Yes, they excelled at making their products brain-dead simple ("intuitive") (which is what a large number of customers "want"), but the most important thing they did was innovate.

The iPhone is a once-in-a-generation product which redefined culture. Its impact has been so great that it's rare to see anyone without one. Creating such a product not only requires the design acumen to make it simple, but the engineering prowess to create a new form factor. Achieving this was very hard.

My point is that, whilst an intuitive UX was obviously what people "want" from Apple, that would be nothing without the core focus on innovation that Jobs, particularly, was known for.

The problem with this is that it often leads innovative companies do things that are somewhat contrarian to what people think they want. For example, the iPhone 4's Antenna problem was blamed on customers not holding the phone correctly. Another example would be the removal of the headphone jack.

Doing "what the customer wants" is not necessarily in their best interest. The best example of this is from this CopyBlogger article, suggesting that instead of trying to force-feed children their greens, why not blend them into a tasty milkshake, which they want to drink (if you gave them what they "wanted", they'd be eating sugar all day... but if you give them what they "need", they'll thank you later in life): -

4 Vital Elements of an Appealing Offer - Copyblogger

If you’ve got something to sell, at some point you’re going to need to present an offer. Sounds simple, and it is. There's just one problem.

copyblogger.com

2. Make it taste good
On the other hand, you try feeding my kid broccoli.

I think it’s fantastic stuff. I eat it every week. My kid considers it the culinary equivalent of waterboarding.

To me, broccoli is delicious. To my kid, it’s not.

Different markets want different things.

It’s much easier to sell something people want than it is to sell something they need. We’re grudgingly pushed toward certain behaviors by our needs, but we’re pulled wildly by our wants.

Basically, you have two options.

1. You can find a customer who adores broccoli. They’re certainly out there.
2. You’ll sell something like a smoothie. It has the vitamins, minerals, and fiber of the broccoli, but it tastes more like a milkshake.

When you’re selling it, bring up the delicious taste first, and close the deal by making them feel good about all the logical health benefits.

There's a Henry Ford quote bandied around which suggests the same:

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.

I'm not suggesting the notion of the customer being right is incorrect, but once you get deeper, there are certain "things" that the buyer wants from a product (results). I think this is likely what you were trying to emphasize. Buying Apple isn't (necessarily) about having the highest Ghz chip... it's about having an up to date device that works without having to spend 3 months getting it set up properly.

-

On professionalism, I think that's one of the largest takeaways anyone can have.

I've been in situations whence "dressing down" was considered normal. The best people still showed up dressed properly. The reason was they actually wanted to grow and progress. For the price of a decent suit, shirt etc (which, even if you go totally bespoke, would be no more than $5k), you'll be treated MUCH differently than if you didn't.

A GREAT demonstration of this is when Kevin O'Leary referred to a watch as a "conversation starter":

View: https://youtu.be/y_inZW20i3M?t=665

Buying a high end watch (and, yes, it has to be real) has little practical value.

However, the implicit value of owning it (why you own it, how you came into it) is what creates value for you. People want to know its provenance, and will often approach you based solely on the perception curated by it.

The notion is exactly the same with dressing well. Dressing properly (particularly if you're male) changes how people respond to you. I think women have it a little harder as their "dressing well" can often seem suggestive... but for a man to actually give a damn about getting his suit cut properly, well fitted shirts, and getting in shape is underrated. The reason (without going off tagent) is men are typically valued on their performance.

A word of warning on this is that if you dress "too" well, it becomes distracting. I've seen guys wearing the whole shabang, without anything to show for it. As O'Leary alludes-to in the video above - it's probably better to accentuate your wardrobe as many do their body. Most buy Tattoos as a means to immortalize some moment in their life. You can do the same with your clothing (I don't advocate tattoos) - push the boat out every so often and buy something that signifies a particular moment in your journey.

Over time, you get a stable of high quality pieces which ooze sophistication, as they have stories attached to them. You're not buying a Tom Ford sweater just because it's there... you bought it because it was the first time you'd made $10k in a month.

As a final part to this, notice how Kevin refers to one of his pens as a "weapon":

View: https://youtu.be/2wfWK2Z9A58?t=597

Same sentiment as above.

--

I just listened to the first 2 episodes. So much gold.

Had a bit of an epiphany while listening to Dave talk about how extra features or better specs don't mean anything unless you are listening to the customer. The customer is always right. Loved the Apple/Android and iPod/Zune comparisons.

There are countless businesses started on the premise that you can take an existing product and simply add features to it and you will have a winning combination. You can add all the features you want, but if you are not in a constant feedback loop with the end-user, those features will fall on deaf ears.

Big realization for me also. Put in other words, you could say that focusing on the provision of results (rather than product) is what drives value.

 

[inputchip]

“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”

― Steve Jobs

I think this quote often gets misinterpreted to the point where entrepreneurs think that they don't need to do market/user research. He isn't implying that at all. In my opinion, Steve is saying that customers might not be able to articulate the SOLUTION to their problems, (i.e. they don't know what they want as a solution), but they can surely articulate the problems that they face and what they would like to see improved.

Sure, most people would state that they wanted a faster horse, but this is just one of many solutions to the problem of slow transportation.

People would say, "we need a faster way to type on our phones, we want letters on our dial pad!" But really, there are multiple solutions to this problem (e.g. T9 texting, flip-out keyboard, sliding keyboard, blackberry keyboard, touch screen keyboard, and then something completely outside the box, voice to text transcriptions.)

Apple has perfected problem-solving in innovative ways. More-so in the Steve Jobs era than the present day. But make no mistake, product improvements are always based on end-user feedback, whether or not they can explicitly articulate it. It helps when the innovators are also end-users of their own products such as in the case of Steve Jobs.

 

[Kak]

OK! This will be cool!

For the back half of the week (maybe the back half of every week) I would like to have basically "open phone lines." I think it would be fun to hear from you all... So we are going to give this app a shot and see where that gets us.

IF you want to be featured on The Kill Bigger Radio Show click this link and record a message to us. Be sure to introduce yourself, forum name is fine if you are worried about privacy, tell us where you are from and ask a question!

Business, leadership, capitalism, you name it.

We shall see how it goes!

Send a voice message to Killbigger

www.speakpipe.com

 

[Roz]

Another great episode guys. Totally loved it.

And @Kak you couldn’t have picked up anything better than Solid understanding of Capitalism as your #1 fundamentals of business, IMHO. I was smiling ear to ear when you spoke those words because it was the same thing I was mulling over for the past few days.

Capitalism is widely misunderstood as you rightly said, thanks to the business owners with ‘screw you’ mindset. What’s sad (or stupid?) is that according to this 2 year old article, most millennials are not interested in building wealth because they think capitalism will cease to exist when they are in their 60’s.

The major criticism against capitalism is ‘the wealth is held by 1% and so there is unequal distribution’. What they fail to see is that capitalism offers them opportunities everyday to move into the 1% category but they decide not to pursue it. They worry about unequal distribution of wealth while ignoring the equal distribution of opportunities to acquire wealth (please correct me if I am wrong).

Since you will be writing a book in the future, could you please touch on this topic? Would love to read in KAK style.

My second takeaway that I personally enjoyed is from @Vigilante –The customer is always right. Me and my father have a very small biz on the side selling a snack product. Nothing big, sales is average. After few months, we decided to add a new ingredient to the snack because ‘we thought’ it would taste better than before. It certainly did but only for us. The already low sales began to dip because the customers preferred the old taste and disliked the new. That was my moment of realising ‘give what they want’.


Lines that I loved from the episode:

Capitalism floats all the boats.
You won’t remember the car but certainly remember the money you saved.

Karen is a slang term for a lady that always has to see the manager. She is also the type of person that calls the cops on her neighbors for having more than 5 people at the backyard bbq during covid. She is overall just a type of person you avoid.

Urban Dictionary: Karen

The stereotypical name associated with rude, obnoxious and insufferable middle aged white women. Karens take everything wrong with the typical over entitled western woman and crank it up by several thousand percent. They are a mutated subspecies that descends from the Soccer Mom, and have many...

www.urbandictionary.com

The definitions on UD are hilarious.

 

[Kak]

@Roz This is a screen shot from a very large, yet undisclosed word document on my computer.