Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[Andy Black]

I hate these kinds of people.

Should have asked for $500.

May I humbly suggest a tip?

Change "I hate these kinds of people" to "I hate it when people do that".


Personally, I try not to use the word hate, and I don't mind it when people put in cheeky offers. Fair play to them for trying.



I remember having a laugh with the guys trying to sell camel rides near the pyramids. They hounded my friend because they could see it wound him up, and they were clearly bored.


"Want a ride on my camel?"

"No thanks. I already have 5 camels at home!"


"Want a photo with my camel?

"No thanks. He's much better looking than me!"


"Can I buy your table for half price?"

"Sure, where do you want me to send the other two legs?"


Etc.


Depends if they're rude or not. If they're rude I just don't reply or turn my back and walk away. Or sometimes I start giving them the rope to hang themselves.


All that to say words matter, and protecting our cheerfulness and peacefulness matters.

YMMV

 

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[rjdgreat]

Am I the only one when embracing vulnerability it leads to calmness and being present? Clarity pop ups and time slow down?

 

[StrikingViper69]

This week I finally got started on my most ambitious musical project to date: a full length classical opera.

6:30pm-7:30pm is opera time. I'll probably increase this as time goes on, but it'll give me a solid start while finishing off a couple of other projects and working on my business.

I've wanted to do this for years and it feels great to have finally started.

 

[KiwiEC]

Any guitar enthusiasts here?

My gf started asking what I want for Xmas. I'm never comfortable with this question, especially because I don't like to receive gifts. I'm way happier when I give.

I'm considering going back to guitar. I took courses in my teenage years and enjoyed it.

I need something to relax alongside my 9-5 + my side business I try to develop. I'm in monk mode since a couple of months, investing all my free time (apart the one I dedicate to my GF who fully supports me) into my business. I just spent the whole weekend on it (litterally, 15h of work each day, I'm just making a small pause to write this).

Even if I expected to go through this, I realize I may need something to chill out from time to time. So why not casually learning as an autodidact? I want something I can progress at. I have banned videos games a while ago.

Well, any recommendation about a beginner model? I would prefer an acoustic guitar with steel strings over a classic guitar.

 

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[StrikingViper69]

Any guitar enthusiasts here?

My gf started asking what I want for Xmas. I'm never comfortable with this question, especially because I don't like to receive gifts. I'm way happier when I give.

I'm considering going back to guitar. I took courses in my teenage years and enjoyed it.

I need something to relax alongside my 9-5 + my side business I try to develop. I'm in monk mode since a couple of months, investing all my free time (apart the one I dedicate to my GF who fully supports me) into my business. I just spent the whole weekend on it (litterally, 15h of work each day, I'm just making a small pause to write this).

Even if I expected to go through this, I realize I may need something to chill out from time to time. So why not casually learning as an autodidact? I want something I can progress at. I have banned videos games a while ago.

Well, any recommendation about a beginner model? I would prefer an acoustic guitar with steel strings over a classic guitar.

For serious beginners the most important things are:

1. Get something semi decent that you can afford. If you can, £300-£600 is a good price range. Cheap guitars... well they're cheap and not nice to play. But if cheap is your only option, do that.
2. Get something that you think is cool AF and you get excited about.

Some people think they need to "learn on a cheap guitar to earn an expensive one". Rubbish - get a good one.
Some people think they have to learn on XYZ type of guitar before getting the one they want - rubbish, get the type you want.

As for a model, anything by a good name is probably ok. The big names, like Fender, you will pay a premium for. Something like a Yamaha that is a decent price is probably a great place to start looking. Ibanez acoustics are probably good.

If you have a friend who plays, consider getting a second hand guitar - you'll get more bang for your buck. Get your friend to look it over before you buy it. Major things to watch out for are cracks in the neck.

When you get it, get it properly setup right away. This gets the string height nice, get's the intonation set and makes it sound sweeter and be a bit more playable. I'd budget for it along with the cost.

 

[Kak]

Does it ever happen to anyone else, if you look back at your journey, that you’d find it bloody hard to do it again? I’ll be honest, if I had to do it all again, I don’t think I’d be able to. Once you have something going, things are easy. But getting something going is bloody hard, if I had to start again in a new industry, without any skills or connections, I’d be dead. Or at least that’s what I think now.

I honestly pity most beginners, they have no idea how hard the road in front of them will be. I look at all the skills I gained in 12+ years and I can’t imagine ever being without those skills or being able to be successful without them. Whenever someones speaks to me nowadays about a business opportunity in another field… I’m never interested, because I know how bloody hard beginnings are and I’m not willing to go through that again.

I prefer to keep building, rock over rock, consistently solidfying my advantage. The more time passes, the stronger I get, the harder it is to compete against me. In the end, time is the ultimate advantage — if you invest it wisely, in due time you will be the absolute master in your chosen field, not just technically superior to others, but superior in terms of relationships and assets. Most people get lazy once they get successful — I’m the opposite, I get hungrier to keep adding more rocks and grow taller.

Time is the ultimate advantage because it takes hard work to make use of it and you can’t make it pass any faster. I wouldn’t be able to start again because I know how bloody long it takes, and if I knew how bloody long it takes to get here, I would never have started. And yet, that is my strongest advantage. Because no beginner can come in and beat that, regardless of how good they are. It’s the ultimate moat. Nobody’s taking away my knowledge and my experience, and getting it will take 10+ years.

Whenever I see someone new trying to compete with me, I laugh. Good, F*cking luck, because you’ll definitely need it. Your only chance is literarily if I fall asleep and stop working. Otherwise you can’t catch up. Things simply take time to build… relationships, money, assets (I have so many assets — thousands of hours!). So this isn’t even about intelligence or any virtue, the game is simply rigged in favor of those who have been investing for longer.

Agreed.

I'm thankful that no matter what happens, no one can take away what I've learned over the years. Being able to carry this experience around makes me realize just how naive I was when I started. But I'm also thankful for that naivate because I wouldn't be here without it.

 

[Matt Sun]

Any guitar enthusiasts here?

My gf started asking what I want for Xmas. I'm never comfortable with this question, especially because I don't like to receive gifts. I'm way happier when I give.

I'm considering going back to guitar. I took courses in my teenage years and enjoyed it.

I need something to relax alongside my 9-5 + my side business I try to develop. I'm in monk mode since a couple of months, investing all my free time (apart the one I dedicate to my GF who fully supports me) into my business. I just spent the whole weekend on it (litterally, 15h of work each day, I'm just making a small pause to write this).

Even if I expected to go through this, I realize I may need something to chill out from time to time. So why not casually learning as an autodidact? I want something I can progress at. I have banned videos games a while ago.

Well, any recommendation about a beginner model? I would prefer an acoustic guitar with steel strings over a classic guitar.

I've been playing guitar for more than a decade, I think you can't go wrong with a Yamaha, for steel strings i've got the Apx-4 and sounds awesome. Thought last few years I've been playing a classic guitar, and would say La Alpujarra is an amazing brand as well, thought Yamaha also has good models here. What do you want to learn ? There is an amazing youtube channel called Sky Guitar with classical peaces that I'm enjoying very much, learnt a Bach adaptation for guitar that it's just amazing. They also have more modern adaptations as well.

 

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[MitchC]

I think starting from scratch how naive you are is a huge advantage, people who know too much talk themselves out of things because they can see all the reasons it wouldn’t work and can see so far ahead at how much work needs doing

The other advantage you have starting from scratch is a very simple business, I keep complicating my business and then having to simplify it again, some of those complications are huge advantages, but most just massive distractions

Looking back to what I started my business with I have no idea if it would work now, it was so basic and bad but people still bought. I’m lucky I had that early success to give me the feedback and motivation to keep doing it until I got better

 

[KiwiEC]

Thanks @StrikingViper69 and @Matt Sun for your feedback.

I needed to know a few brands I can trust. You both mentionned Yamaha so I will probably choose that one.

I would like to learn pop/rock songs from various artists/bands, this includes french songs too.
At some point with more experience I would eventually try singing too, or a duo with my girlfriend.

Sky Guitar channel looks like a goldmine for beginners, I bookmark it.

 

[BizyDad]

As a 48 yr old who finds business easier than ever, I am chuckling at the "golly I'm thirty something now and can't do what I did in my twenties" commentary.

Maybe "they" are right and younger generations really are weaker? Shall we resurrect this classic train wreck for you gentlemen?

HOT! - MINDSET - Let’s be real: If you're over 35, you don't have a chance.

Let’s be real, can you make it when your past 35? Now I KNOW what more then the majority of this site will say. “Of course you can! There are so many examples! You can do anything you set your mind to!” The reality is that one’s youth is HIGHLY HIGHLY influential in the direction of one’s life...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

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[socaldude]

As a 48 yr old who finds business easier than ever, I am chuckling at the "golly I'm thirty something now and can't do what I did in my twenties" commentary.

A lot of successful entrepreneurs are late bloomers.

You can cultivate your skills and intelligence with persistent effort. Doesn’t matter if you were the kid in school who wore the dunce hat sitting on a stool facing the wall. It just depends on what your exact issue was.

For me I was a complete dumbass in my 20’s and I probably still am. LOL

 

[biophase]

May I humbly suggest a tip?

Change "I hate these kinds of people" to "I hate it when people do that".
Personally, I try not to use the word hate, and I don't mind it when people put in cheeky offers. Fair play to them for trying.

What I hate is not that they lowball. But it’s that they can’t take it when you “highball” after like you’re not playing fair. I’m not the one that needs to sell or needs to buy it.

It’s like a car dealer saying, it’s only another $100. And I say exactly, it’s only $100, so why can’t you come down it, why do I need to go up it?

 

[marchioness]

Does it ever happen to anyone else, if you look back at your journey, that you’d find it bloody hard to do it again? I’ll be honest, if I had to do it all again, I don’t think I’d be able to. Once you have something going, things are easy. But getting something going is bloody hard, if I had to start again in a new industry, without any skills or connections, I’d be dead. Or at least that’s what I think now.

I honestly pity most beginners, they have no idea how hard the road in front of them will be. I look at all the skills I gained in 12+ years and I can’t imagine ever being without those skills or being able to be successful without them. Whenever someones speaks to me nowadays about a business opportunity in another field… I’m never interested, because I know how bloody hard beginnings are and I’m not willing to go through that again.

I prefer to keep building, rock over rock, consistently solidfying my advantage. The more time passes, the stronger I get, the harder it is to compete against me. In the end, time is the ultimate advantage — if you invest it wisely, in due time you will be the absolute master in your chosen field, not just technically superior to others, but superior in terms of relationships and assets. Most people get lazy once they get successful — I’m the opposite, I get hungrier to keep adding more rocks and grow taller.

Time is the ultimate advantage because it takes hard work to make use of it and you can’t make it pass any faster. I wouldn’t be able to start again because I know how bloody long it takes, and if I knew how bloody long it takes to get here, I would never have started. And yet, that is my strongest advantage. Because no beginner can come in and beat that, regardless of how good they are. It’s the ultimate moat. Nobody’s taking away my knowledge and my experience, and getting it will take 10+ years.

Whenever I see someone new trying to compete with me, I laugh. Good, F*cking luck, because you’ll definitely need it. Your only chance is literarily if I fall asleep and stop working. Otherwise you can’t catch up. Things simply take time to build… relationships, money, assets (I have so many assets — thousands of hours!). So this isn’t even about intelligence or any virtue, the game is simply rigged in favor of those who have been investing for longer.

I respectfully disagree. Imagine you bumped your head. You now have amnesia. Everyone around you knows who you were and what you did. All but you. In time you manage to remember vaguely your life. I say vaguely because you only have a glimpse of moments of your life. No knowledge, no memories about your entrepreneurial activity, nothing.
Now tell me. What would you do? Would you do a 9-5? Or would you do the work? Start all over again. Get the knowledge, put in the work.
Some people don't care that they are older. They don't care about embarrassing themselves. They don't care about the fact that they're entering a new field. They don't care what other people think. They don't mind starting over. They don't care about failing. In the end, what is there to lose? Maybe the unpleasant situation they are currently facing is bigger than the hard work they have to put in.
I think people should be able to start all over again no matter what. It's a strength of character. It shows that you can adapt. That you continuously learn.
It keeps you young and hungry. You might disagree, but these are my 2 cents.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

Now tell me. What would you do? Would you do a 9-5? Or would you do the work? Start all over again. Get the knowledge, put in the work.

I’m not sure what I’d do. Maybe some folk here are psychologically stronger than me, but if that happened to me, I think I’d probably be depressed and hopeless for quite some time, probably many months if not 1-2 years.

Would I get a 9-5 job at the end of that? Probably not, I’ve never had a 9-5 job my entire life, it’s a bigger unknown than doing my own thing. I’d imagine I’d go back to what I started with the first time, freelancing direct response copy. It’s basically a job, but it can make you $5-7K/mo if you’re good.

Contrary to the entrepreneur stereotype, I think I’m quite risk averse by nature. As I build some savings I’d probably consider trying some business on the side and building back up. Initially I’d probably freelance on Upwork and build a personal brand on LinkedIn (as a foundation base for my business later). Posting content for yourself and writing for clients sort of goes hand in hand anyway.

I think people should be able to start all over again no matter what. It's a strength of character.

You are right — if you have the strength of character to begin with. Not everyone does. Personally as I get older I’m much more aware of my strengths and my weaknesses. I have personally stopped being so concerned with improving my weaknesses and instead my focus is playing to my strengths. As I grow older I am more accepting of the things I’m not good at, and more understanding of the fact that focusing on my strengths is a lot more important.

@BizyDad has sort of pointed correctly above that this is more of a psychological issue than an age issue, something I agree with.

 

[rpeck90]

Influencer X loves it! (But only because he earns 20% commission on sales)
Free bonuses! (A bunch of worthless value made out to be worth millions)
Act now or its gone (No, it won't be gone)
Only 10 left! (No, there's not 10 left, but billions)
Limited offer! Expires in 4 days! (No, I'm lying again)

There's the education.

Amazing that lying, fibbery, and BS is a standard, acceptable practice.

I strive to be better and not sell my soul for a playbook that requires fibbery to make sales. Spectacular products don't need such bullshit.

To be fair, the "launch" model is used in a variety of industries, notably fashion and the likes of video games, to create buzz around products.

Whilst there are obviously a lot of people who use the scammy method you've highlighted, larger businesses that can afford to do things properly generally have it as an integral part of their marketing strategy.

Does it ever happen to anyone else, if you look back at your journey, that you’d find it bloody hard to do it again? I’ll be honest, if I had to do it all again, I don’t think I’d be able to. Once you have something going, things are easy. But getting something going is bloody hard, if I had to start again in a new industry, without any skills or connections, I’d be dead. Or at least that’s what I think now.

I honestly pity most beginners, they have no idea how hard the road in front of them will be. I look at all the skills I gained in 12+ years and I can’t imagine ever being without those skills or being able to be successful without them. Whenever someones speaks to me nowadays about a business opportunity in another field… I’m never interested, because I know how bloody hard beginnings are and I’m not willing to go through that again.

I prefer to keep building, rock over rock, consistently solidfying my advantage. The more time passes, the stronger I get, the harder it is to compete against me. In the end, time is the ultimate advantage — if you invest it wisely, in due time you will be the absolute master in your chosen field, not just technically superior to others, but superior in terms of relationships and assets. Most people get lazy once they get successful — I’m the opposite, I get hungrier to keep adding more rocks and grow taller.

Time is the ultimate advantage because it takes hard work to make use of it and you can’t make it pass any faster. I wouldn’t be able to start again because I know how bloody long it takes, and if I knew how bloody long it takes to get here, I would never have started. And yet, that is my strongest advantage. Because no beginner can come in and beat that, regardless of how good they are. It’s the ultimate moat. Nobody’s taking away my knowledge and my experience, and getting it will take 10+ years.

Whenever I see someone new trying to compete with me, I laugh. Good, F*cking luck, because you’ll definitely need it. Your only chance is literarily if I fall asleep and stop working. Otherwise you can’t catch up. Things simply take time to build… relationships, money, assets (I have so many assets — thousands of hours!). So this isn’t even about intelligence or any virtue, the game is simply rigged in favor of those who have been investing for longer.

This happens in all markets, even in royalty. Newcomers have to innovate. If they innovate well enough, they create a paradigm which they become a leader of (essentially the "blue ocean" strategy). It's one of the biggest reasons why many beginners fail - they work within the confines of an older paradigm which has already been consolidated.

If I were to compete with you, I would have to develop a new system that achieves results which yours cannot replicate, possibly with technology you have no clue about. To solidify gains made as a result, I would then have to create a series of high level tools to make the system work in a way that is conducive to an ecosystem. The ecosystem would then grow based upon the community that adopts it.

In warfare, you see this by the enemy getting outflanked & routed due to incapacity of being able to defend against an innovative form of attack (either in terms of direction or power). That innovative form of attack then builds a powerbase which used to be exhibited as an empire.

I actually watched a documentary the other day which shows a decent example, about someone called John Pym. He created the English Civil War and is the reason why democracy generally exists in the form it does today. The documentary was called Charles I - Downfall of a King if anyone is interested.

Great companies reinvent themselves to adapt to new market conditions. If you're not prepared to put everything on the line each time you release something new, you'll become obsolete. I think it's an indicator of greatness to be able to do this continually. Tom Ford is a recent example I was reading about here - left Gucci after revolutionising it, started his own globally acclaimed fashion label, sold that and is now looking to do movies until he dies as a billionaire. Nintendo started as a trading card company in 1889. Lamborghini started with tractors.

I respectfully disagree. Imagine you bumped your head. You now have amnesia. Everyone around you knows who you were and what you did. All but you. In time you manage to remember vaguely your life. I say vaguely because you only have a glimpse of moments of your life. No knowledge, no memories about your entrepreneurial activity, nothing.
Now tell me. What would you do? Would you do a 9-5? Or would you do the work? Start all over again. Get the knowledge, put in the work.
Some people don't care that they are older. They don't care about embarrassing themselves. They don't care about the fact that they're entering a new field. They don't care what other people think. They don't mind starting over. They don't care about failing. In the end, what is there to lose? Maybe the unpleasant situation they are currently facing is bigger than the hard work they have to put in.
I think people should be able to start all over again no matter what. It's a strength of character. It shows that you can adapt. That you continuously learn.
It keeps you young and hungry. You might disagree, but these are my 2 cents.

This is a more appropriate approach in my opinion. High performers don't rest on their laurels. If you're not prepared to take unfathomable risks, you'll end up stagnating.

 

[MTF]

Tom Ford is a recent example I was reading about here - left Gucci after revolutionising it, started his own globally acclaimed fashion label, sold that and is now looking to do movies until he dies as a billionaire.

F*ck this part of the interview is so depressing:

But over the course of our time together, he also reveals a new sensitivity – and more than a little heartbreak. “Maybe a year ago,” Ford tells me, “I had to have knee surgery from tennis. So they had to put me under. When I went in, they said, ‘Who do we contact in case of emergency?’ And I literally had no one. So I put my PA.”

But otherwise, thanks for sharing that as I always find it interesting to see people breaking from their past and embracing something new.

 

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[rpeck90]

F*ck this part of the interview is so depressing:



But otherwise, thanks for sharing that as I always find it interesting to see people breaking from their past and embracing something new.

Indeed. I revere Tom Ford's public persona, but am always weary of the "behind the scenes".

No problem RE the share!

 

[Black_Dragon43]

This happens in all markets, even in royalty. Newcomers have to innovate. If they innovate well enough, they create a paradigm which they become a leader of (essentially the "blue ocean" strategy). It's one of the biggest reasons why many beginners fail - they work within the confines of an older paradigm which has already been consolidated.

If I were to compete with you, I would have to develop a new system that achieves results which yours cannot replicate, possibly with technology you have no clue about. To solidify gains made as a result, I would then have to create a series of high level tools to make the system work in a way that is conducive to an ecosystem. The ecosystem would then grow based upon the community that adopts it.

Well, do you know what happens to most pioneers?

They die with arrows in their backs.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of innovation – I'm more of a fan of solid, reliable work, and building a brand/reputation and system to do the work better. And doing it in a competitive industry.

I can see where you're coming from, since you're in software, maybe it's more relevant there. But in my opinion, "Blue Ocean Strategy" is for most people a terrible choice. I'd argue that most beginners fail precisely because they're trying to innovate and follow the blue ocean approach. In other words, it's precisely because they don't work in the confines of an older paradigm.

Creating a new paradigm is something that will simply be inaccessible to most businesses. Thousands try, only one succeeds. Virtually 99.9% of innovators I've seen here or elsewhere have failed. Every day there's a new app, a new software, that the owner thinks will revolutionize an industry, establish a new paradigm. Most people severely underestimate the costs of opening up a blue ocean, financial as well as political.

Opening up a blue ocean is virtually impossible without significant (ie, millions) in financial backing and access to the backing of at least some established players. Sure, there are some people out there who will successfully open Blue Oceans. I'm you can cite some. But I see them as the exception, not the rule.

Personally, I started by copying everything that my most successful competitors were doing. I still copy good things I see to this day. That's free market research for me, and I get the goods, without paying the price. If I were to start again in a different industry, I'd take the same approach. Who is making money? What are they doing to make that money? Let's do the same first, make some money, then begin making it better.

Better in all ways – better at getting case studies, better at getting results, better at selling, and so on. All of these are the result of better business processes. I have a better process to get case studies... therefore while you get 1 case study, I get 10. I have a better process of selling the service... while you get 1 new customer, I get 2 or 3.

But the point is you always want to start from what's working already. And yes, it's true, I'll never start the next Facebook. So what?

I'm arguably in one of the reddest oceans out there: lead generation. I have thousands of competitors. Every day I get messaged by at least 4-5 of my competitors. What helped me is that they're all hustlers, and I'm a builder. I will sit there and build better systems than they will to do the same work. I don't care about innovating. I'll let someone else innovate, and then steal their innovation if it's good. And if it's not, I've spared myself the costs.

 

[Belesarius]

Hello,
I have a question for those of you residing in the United States, and I would greatly appreciate any insights or experiences you can share.

I am currently planning to enter the US market with a pest control product. In my home country, it is punishable by law to kill most insects, including wasps, spiders, and others, even if they are inside your home. I was quite suprised, guess I have some crimes against spiders under my belt. I want to know about the situation in the US.

Could you please enlighten me on any laws in the US that might prohibit individuals from killing insects inside their homes? I've come across information mentioning exceptions, such as in the State of New Jersey, but I'm curious about the general perspective and experiences across different states.

Thank you for your help.

 

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[BizyDad]

Well, do you know what happens to most pioneers?

They die with arrows in their backs.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of innovation – I'm more of a fan of solid, reliable work, and building a brand/reputation and system to do the work better. And doing it in a competitive industry.

I can see where you're coming from, since you're in software, maybe it's more relevant there. But in my opinion, "Blue Ocean Strategy" is for most people a terrible choice. I'd argue that most beginners fail precisely because they're trying to innovate and follow the blue ocean approach. In other words, it's precisely because they don't work in the confines of an older paradigm.

Creating a new paradigm is something that will simply be inaccessible to most businesses. Thousands try, only one succeeds. Virtually 99.9% of innovators I've seen here or elsewhere have failed. Every day there's a new app, a new software, that the owner thinks will revolutionize an industry, establish a new paradigm. Most people severely underestimate the costs of opening up a blue ocean, financial as well as political.

Opening up a blue ocean is virtually impossible without significant (ie, millions) in financial backing and access to the backing of at least some established players. Sure, there are some people out there who will successfully open Blue Oceans. I'm you can cite some. But I see them as the exception, not the rule.

Personally, I started by copying everything that my most successful competitors were doing. I still copy good things I see to this day. That's free market research for me, and I get the goods, without paying the price. If I were to start again in a different industry, I'd take the same approach. Who is making money? What are they doing to make that money? Let's do the same first, make some money, then begin making it better.

Better in all ways – better at getting case studies, better at getting results, better at selling, and so on. All of these are the result of better business processes. I have a better process to get case studies... therefore while you get 1 case study, I get 10. I have a better process of selling the service... while you get 1 new customer, I get 2 or 3.

But the point is you always want to start from what's working already. And yes, it's true, I'll never start the next Facebook. So what?

I'm arguably in one of the reddest oceans out there: lead generation. I have thousands of competitors. Every day I get messaged by at least 4-5 of my competitors. What helped me is that they're all hustlers, and I'm a builder. I will sit there and build better systems than they will to do the same work. I don't care about innovating. I'll let someone else innovate, and then steal their innovation if it's good. And if it's not, I've spared myself the costs.

Respectfully, I think you are missing the point entirely.

It doesn't matter if you're in a blue ocean or a red ocean.

What matters is... Do people want what you have to offer?

Your tactic of sticking a competitive industries does show market demand. And for that reason it works. Not because the industry is competitive, but because there is market demand.

A blue ocean can be opened without requiring millions of dollars. My ex-wife has a friend who was a fry cook at McDonald's. Single mom. About to be homeless. She got tired of the way bed sheets would come off the bed. So she invented bed sheets with elastic on the corners.

Voila, a new category of bed sheet. My ex-wife helped her and get a small business loan. The lady knew nothing about business. But she got the right people around her and within a couple of years was a millionaire.

Because her idea solved a problem people were having.

She didn't consider herself an innovator, or an inventor, or entrepreneur. She was just a mom who wanted bed sheets to work the way they're supposed to work. She's also the closest person I've ever met to being an actual " overnight success".

In her case, opening up this blue ocean was easy because again there was existing market demand.

Someone developing something unique has a harder time bringing it to market because often the market needs to be educated on the problem.

I think I posted recently about my friend who is doing this software play for banks and hospitals. His sales process is a lot slower than bed sheet lady, because the banks and hospitals tech staff need to be educated about the problem. And then they have to admit in their fragile egos that they didn't catch the problem in the first place. And then they have to go through a whole thing of deciding whether they can try and fix this problem themselves.

But the writing's on the wall for my friend's business. There's a very real security issue. People are becoming more aware of it. In another, maybe five years, maybe 10 years, a service like his will become practically a requirement for bank/hospital CTO's to use. A "best practice" if you will.

His issue is, can he last long enough to get to that point? Right now, the market has a need, but doesn't know it has a need, therefore there isn't much demand. But there will be.

On a forum of a guy who preaches the message of "solve a problem to create value" (obviously I'm paraphrasing) you tried to make the conversation about "market competitiveness". Market competitiveness is the symptom.

A blue ocean is simply a large problem that no one is solving. A red ocean is a problem "everyone" is solving.

The cool thing about a red ocean that perhaps makes it feel like the safer choice is it has N and possibly S built in.

 

[BizyDad]

Hello,
I have a question for those of you residing in the United States, and I would greatly appreciate any insights or experiences you can share.

I am currently planning to enter the US market with a pest control product. In my home country, it is punishable by law to kill most insects, including wasps, spiders, and others, even if they are inside your home. I was quite suprised, guess I have some crimes against spiders under my belt. I want to know about the situation in the US.

Could you please enlighten me on any laws in the US that might prohibit individuals from killing insects inside their homes? I've come across information mentioning exceptions, such as in the State of New Jersey, but I'm curious about the general perspective and experiences across different states.

Thank you for your help.

Generally speaking, we don't like bugs.

But this is a regulated industry because we don't like things that cause harm to our children either (with the obvious exceptions of soda, fast food, social media, guns, video games, etc, because Americans obviously love all that).

But we have 50 states bro. No one here will enlighten you on the laws of 50 states. Start with New York, New Jersey, and California. They are likely to have the most laws about this...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

LOL, who would have thought?

Hello,
I have a question for those of you residing in the United States, and I would greatly appreciate any insights or experiences you can share.

I am currently planning to enter the US market with a pest control product. In my home country, it is punishable by law to kill most insects, including wasps, spiders, and others, even if they are inside your home. I was quite suprised, guess I have some crimes against spiders under my belt. I want to know about the situation in the US.

Could you please enlighten me on any laws in the US that might prohibit individuals from killing insects inside their homes? I've come across information mentioning exceptions, such as in the State of New Jersey, but I'm curious about the general perspective and experiences across different states.

Thank you for your help.

Depends on the state, @Kak had a story.

 

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[Timmy C]

Anyone else here who uses Filmora for video editing suddenly finding that ''silence detection'' is now cutting off parts of your Audio?

Stumped as to how to fix it.

 

[Belesarius]

LOL, who would have thought?

View attachment 52410




Depends on the state, @Kak had a story.

Didn't know that was such an obvious fact. For example I didn't know that you cannot use your vacuum on spiders. Everyone that I know does it on a regular basis.

 

[Belesarius]

Generally speaking, we don't like bugs.

But this is a regulated industry because we don't like things that cause harm to our children either (with the obvious exceptions of soda, fast food, social media, guns, video games, etc, because Americans obviously love all that).

But we have 50 states bro. No one here will enlighten you on the laws of 50 states. Start with New York, New Jersey, and California. They are likely to have the most laws about this...

Thank you for your reply. It was actually my plan to look through every state law. Just wanted to know if there was something blatantly obvious that I am not aware of, but am not familiar with because I am not from the US. I didn't want anyone to do the research for me.

 

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[BizyDad]

LOL, who would have thought?

View attachment 52410




Depends on the state, @Kak had a story.

This reminds me of the uproar over the women's soccer team/wnba pay.

Women don't support sporting events or super hero movies in anything close to the amount of support men do.

Didn't know that was such an obvious fact. For example I didn't know that you cannot use your vacuum on spiders. Everyone that I know does it on a regular basis.

Can we cancel Belesarius for advocating violence against spiders?

Meanwhile, it looks like people took the idea of spider vacuum and ran with it.

vaccuum on spiders - Google Search

 

[Lana Ocean]

Today is an insight day. I visited a startup lab in Ireland. Once again I realized how much we depend on our environment.
You come to a meeting with a modest desire to do business for at least 10000$, but here people offer millions and make millions and you start to want more and believe that you can!

The environment makes you. It changes the way you think.

After all, when every day you communicate with people who are happy to have any job for 40 hours a week, you begin to adopt the course of their thoughts and stop believing that your dreams can become a reality.
It's great that there is a forum like this. It's great that online meetings have started. And of course it would be great to get together off-line at least once a year.

 

[Belesarius]

This reminds me of the uproar over the women's soccer team/wnba pay.

Women don't support sporting events or super hero movies in anything close to the amount of support men do.



Can we cancel Belesarius for advocating violence against spiders?

Meanwhile, it looks like people took the idea of spider vacuum and ran with it.

vaccuum on spiders - Google Search

View attachment 52412

Hahah pls don´t cancel me. Normaly I catch all the spiders in my house with a paper towel and a glass because I am not afraid of them, and I don´t want to kill them. But some arachnophobic people are literally unable to use any non lethal force or they will not be able to sleep for days, after they saw a spider on the wall. I am well aware of these products but they are very poorly executed.

 

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[WillHurtDontCare]

Does it ever happen to anyone else, if you look back at your journey, that you’d find it bloody hard to do it again? I’ll be honest, if I had to do it all again, I don’t think I’d be able to. Once you have something going, things are easy. But getting something going is bloody hard, if I had to start again in a new industry, without any skills or connections, I’d be dead. Or at least that’s what I think now.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH4cv1e1MvU

 

[Kak]

LOL, who would have thought?

View attachment 52410




Depends on the state, @Kak had a story.

Unless you want to devote your life to killing bugs, it's pretty much illegal here too.

‎Kyle Keegan Radio Show: Lowlife Government Canceled a Business and Cost Me Millions - Ep 255 on Apple Podcasts

‎Show Kyle Keegan Radio Show, Ep Lowlife Government Canceled a Business and Cost Me Millions - Ep 255 - Nov 10, 2021

podcasts.apple.com

It's pretty much a rant against occupational licensing.