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{I'm moving this from the INSIDERS because I think it's more valuable for all the members to share my learnings on the public board}
I don't want to make it too much about me, here's my premise which you can skip if not interested.
THE IDEA
When at 14 I was lost, didn't know what to do next. I had no friends and didn't believe at all in myself. I started reading and applying some self-help stuff. Serendipity kicked in: I've found my first mentor. He was the friend of my father and gave me directions on what to do next. I started to believe in myself because he did it, and thanks to that ended up selling my first company at 18 and getting admitted to a prestigious university despite coming from one of the most impoverished areas of Europe. At University, I had time to think and perfect my skills.
The problem was: I still had tremendous social anxiety. Couldn't talk with others without getting anxious. I hired a dating/social skills coach. He taught me the right mindset and corrected me when I was wrong; most importantly, he led me to discover myself and have confidence in myself. I would say that now my social skills are way beyond average and thanks to his help I've now friends and a girlfriend who are simply fantastic.
The thing is: we all need help and someone that shows us the way. When I sold my first company, I made so many stupid mistakes and lost thousands of dollars in the process. It's true, I learned a lot out of it, but I could have saved lots of time and money by asking for help to someone who had already gone through the same process.
Sure, there are books! I read an average of two books every month, but I've found that the more you grow as an entrepreneur and human being, the less answer you'll find in books.
As @MJ DeMarco wrote in Unscripted , "how-to books are practically useless." Doing the shit will move you forward; we all agree with that. However, here's the thing...
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS LIKE HITTING THE GYM
In the past 5 years, I failed at lots of ventures, however, but simply showing up things started getting better and better. My experiments made me learn what was better to do, and I've recently closed two relatively big freelancing contracts that will help me fund my project. It took me a lot to understand where I was wrong, but I made it.
At 14, I started hitting the gym every week. I was skinny as F*ck, however, in a year and a half I was able to do very well at bodybuilding, the secret was in the following elements:
- Accountability (from peers)
- Personal trainers or experts bodybuilders who corrected me when I was doing stuff wrong
- Choosing the right program for my goal (Fastlane business vs. a business that breaks the CENTS)
- Showing up every F*cking week and put the focus on it (consistency)
IN BUSINESS:
- You can get the accountability by merely joining a meetup group in your town or even from this or another forum. At the gym, I had friends with which I was training every week.
- You can get the right idea (program) from the problems you experience every day or see other people suffering from.)
- It's all on you to F*cking show up every day and pours in the sweat (failures and learnings)!
But... Where the heck do you get the personal trainers. The mentors?
Sure, there are lots of so-called "business coaches" around. From my experience, just 1% of them actually have done the stuff. They are just talkers, bloggers who cannot walk their talk.
Sure, you can cold outreach other successful people in your town and ask for a coffee, but how it's not a straightforward process, successful people are busy by definition 'cause they value their time. Surely they'd like to help, but it's not easy to get their attention and time
THE SOLUTION
A platform where you can get people who are successful or with vast expertise in your industry to respond at your queries, either by text message or a call.
HOW TO VALUE SKEW MY WAY TO BEATING THE COMPETITION
You probably might have heard of some similar platforms which exist already and do the same exact thing of the business I'm starting.
I've been using most of them for years, both as a mentor and as a customer.
From using them, I've found that they lack basic attention to the customer. The biggest competitor got acquired and has not been innovating for years anymore, even barely replying to their customer support, despite having hundreds of thousands of visitors each month. Same for another similar platform, they're not innovating and not adding new crucial features that would have made my life way easier as a customer.
There is a new platform that just got started but to join as a customer, you have to pay a yearly subscription, which is undoubtedly convenient for the company, but not for the customers.
I've also experienced as I've been Director of Growth of a funded startup, a two-sided marketplace.
NEXT STEPS
- Getting 100 experts on the platform through outreach on LinkedIn, other platforms and my personal network
- Creating a landing page to start getting the email of people interested in joining
- In the meantime, I'll code a basic version of the platform
__
I would love you to critic my idea and whatever fallacy you see in my thinking. Every advice would be more than accepted too
Thank you!!
In particular, I'm not sure whether innovating in terms of features and bringing up superior marketing will be enough to get more customers from my competition.
P.S. I hope I don't sound self-promotional, but if you'd like to join as an expert here where you can quickly apply: Experts Registration Form I'm sure there are hundreds of people who'd be a fantastic addition!
I don't want to make it too much about me, here's my premise which you can skip if not interested.
THE IDEA
When at 14 I was lost, didn't know what to do next. I had no friends and didn't believe at all in myself. I started reading and applying some self-help stuff. Serendipity kicked in: I've found my first mentor. He was the friend of my father and gave me directions on what to do next. I started to believe in myself because he did it, and thanks to that ended up selling my first company at 18 and getting admitted to a prestigious university despite coming from one of the most impoverished areas of Europe. At University, I had time to think and perfect my skills.
The problem was: I still had tremendous social anxiety. Couldn't talk with others without getting anxious. I hired a dating/social skills coach. He taught me the right mindset and corrected me when I was wrong; most importantly, he led me to discover myself and have confidence in myself. I would say that now my social skills are way beyond average and thanks to his help I've now friends and a girlfriend who are simply fantastic.
The thing is: we all need help and someone that shows us the way. When I sold my first company, I made so many stupid mistakes and lost thousands of dollars in the process. It's true, I learned a lot out of it, but I could have saved lots of time and money by asking for help to someone who had already gone through the same process.
Sure, there are books! I read an average of two books every month, but I've found that the more you grow as an entrepreneur and human being, the less answer you'll find in books.
As @MJ DeMarco wrote in Unscripted , "how-to books are practically useless." Doing the shit will move you forward; we all agree with that. However, here's the thing...
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS LIKE HITTING THE GYM
In the past 5 years, I failed at lots of ventures, however, but simply showing up things started getting better and better. My experiments made me learn what was better to do, and I've recently closed two relatively big freelancing contracts that will help me fund my project. It took me a lot to understand where I was wrong, but I made it.
At 14, I started hitting the gym every week. I was skinny as F*ck, however, in a year and a half I was able to do very well at bodybuilding, the secret was in the following elements:
- Accountability (from peers)
- Personal trainers or experts bodybuilders who corrected me when I was doing stuff wrong
- Choosing the right program for my goal (Fastlane business vs. a business that breaks the CENTS)
- Showing up every F*cking week and put the focus on it (consistency)
IN BUSINESS:
- You can get the accountability by merely joining a meetup group in your town or even from this or another forum. At the gym, I had friends with which I was training every week.
- You can get the right idea (program) from the problems you experience every day or see other people suffering from.)
- It's all on you to F*cking show up every day and pours in the sweat (failures and learnings)!
But... Where the heck do you get the personal trainers. The mentors?
Sure, there are lots of so-called "business coaches" around. From my experience, just 1% of them actually have done the stuff. They are just talkers, bloggers who cannot walk their talk.
Sure, you can cold outreach other successful people in your town and ask for a coffee, but how it's not a straightforward process, successful people are busy by definition 'cause they value their time. Surely they'd like to help, but it's not easy to get their attention and time
THE SOLUTION
A platform where you can get people who are successful or with vast expertise in your industry to respond at your queries, either by text message or a call.
HOW TO VALUE SKEW MY WAY TO BEATING THE COMPETITION
You probably might have heard of some similar platforms which exist already and do the same exact thing of the business I'm starting.
I've been using most of them for years, both as a mentor and as a customer.
From using them, I've found that they lack basic attention to the customer. The biggest competitor got acquired and has not been innovating for years anymore, even barely replying to their customer support, despite having hundreds of thousands of visitors each month. Same for another similar platform, they're not innovating and not adding new crucial features that would have made my life way easier as a customer.
There is a new platform that just got started but to join as a customer, you have to pay a yearly subscription, which is undoubtedly convenient for the company, but not for the customers.
I've also experienced as I've been Director of Growth of a funded startup, a two-sided marketplace.
NEXT STEPS
- Getting 100 experts on the platform through outreach on LinkedIn, other platforms and my personal network
- Creating a landing page to start getting the email of people interested in joining
- In the meantime, I'll code a basic version of the platform
__
I would love you to critic my idea and whatever fallacy you see in my thinking. Every advice would be more than accepted too
Thank you!! In particular, I'm not sure whether innovating in terms of features and bringing up superior marketing will be enough to get more customers from my competition.
P.S. I hope I don't sound self-promotional, but if you'd like to join as an expert here where you can quickly apply: Experts Registration Form I'm sure there are hundreds of people who'd be a fantastic addition!
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