SaaS Startup Thread, 2nd Time Entrepeneur

[Young-Gun]

Wow.....your really moving ahead. How did you get your results on the second page of Google so quickly?

Your progress is really inspiring me.

Thanks man! I LOVE to hear that other people are feeding off the energy. It's weird how energy isn't "limited", it's more like.. the more you send out, the more you get back. So, you also inspire me - thank you for that!!

As for the Google Results already being 2nd page, I'm sure that's a mix of several key factors:

• The Company Name Research I did to have a short, exact URL with very few close competitors.
• My prior experience building Business Websites (I think this is the 6th website I've built in as many years), so I know what's really important, what doesn't matter, etc. Also a few basic SEO ("Search Engine Optimization") tactics can take you a long way (especially if no one else has your company name). Again, I've learned many of these over the past 6 years, and I'm putting them all to good use on the SaaS website.
• A little bit of luck.

Hopefully the website rank will continue to rise, especially as I add new content and hopefully get a few backlinks at some point.

I've been adding content as fast as I can (mainly new blog articles). This builds trust for upcoming Customer Interviews, and also starts building Organic Traffic and SEO for the future.

Blogging / writing is something I have a ton of experience with (over 600 articles and web pages published), so it's very easy to add more content on a regular basis and watch the Organic Growth metrics.

I don't think Blogging is the best way to scale this SaaS business, but I DO know it helps build trust, authority, and Search Ranking. And, I'm predicting there will eventually be SOME residual Leads and Sales through organic search / blog traffic.

Basically, Blogging on the Company Website is another way to quickly encourage a higher Google ranking and build additional organic traffic, leads, and sales that persist over time.

Plus, if you can't tell by now - I just love writing about business

Hope this gives some insight - basically just showing up (by building a clean, complete website with a good Company Name) is 1/2 the battle when getting ranked in Google.

 

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[Young-Gun]

Great work!

Care to let us know what cold emailing book that is?

Thanks for the words of encouragement! It means a ton to me!!

For sure, the cold email book I read is called Grow Your Business with Cold Emails by Jeremy Chatelaine, the creator of QuickMail... which is a cold-emailing SaaS that he built with his own experiences.

I got it as a Kindle book on Amazon for $9.99. Took two mornings to read and take notes, and I feel about 10x wiser on the topic of PRACTICAL Cold-Emailing for business results.

He covers about every use of Cold Emailing from Direct Sales to Getting Funded. Specifically covers Customer Development Interviews as well.

Also, opened my eyes to the percents I should be shooting for (40% response rate, not 4%).. and specific, exact tactics that I can use to get there.

Please stop by the thread again and send more encouragement!! Or let me know any questions!

 

[Young-Gun]

Hello to anyone following along tonight on my voyage!
I'm feeling great and light-hearted today, there is wind in the sails

It's late at night on Tuesday (technically early on Wednesday).
Today was 2/3 Tutoring Biz, 1/2 SaaS, and 1/4 Life (yeah I know that doesn't add up lol).

Today I completed a Major Yearly Chore for Tutoring Biz:
Most of my free time and "work" energy today was spent doing a major yearly chore for the Tutoring Biz: setting up lesson calendars for the coming 12 months.

The good news is, I shouldn't need to touch this again for another 12-15 months... maybe a couple minor adjustments.
But the worst is over for yearly Tutoring scheduling set-up.
Glad I hustled to get it done in a single day (1 full day of work for 365 days of automated system)

It made me reflect:
15 months from Today, my SaaS target is 250 paying users (equal to approximately $10,000 net monthly profit, if my calculations are in the right ballpark)
I'll probably still be doing customer service and technical work myself, but we'll be well on our way to the BIG goal of scaling to 2,500 users.
With devoted and diligent daily hard work, I believe that 250 users, 15 months from now, is absolutely a reasonable target for my Startup - even possibly low-balling what I'm capable of.

When the 250 User Target is hit... whether it takes 6 months, 15 months, or 5 years.... I could, can, might walk away from Tutoring Biz entirely.
At that point, I could easily live off SaaS without another dime from Tutoring Biz.
So, if I hustle on SaaS - then today's work might be the last Tutoring calendar I ever have to make.
Crazy! We'll hustle to make that reality.

Here's what we got done for SaaS today:
- Finished reading & notes on the Cold Emailing book (see the post one or two above). Feel 10x wiser and better-prepared for Cold Emailing.
- Decided on the Cold Email platform I'll use for my Customer Development (around $75/mo - I'm going to wait until the last second before I subscribe).
- Published 2 more blog articles on SaaS Company Website (we're at 3 articles now, going for 5 total for trust / SEO / fun).
- Outsourced website Favicon design on Fiverr (a nice little touch that stands out as more professional). It should be done tomorrow.

The best news of today is...
My exact Customer Development plan is now Blindingly Clear to me.
I can easily walk through the exact steps and systems in my mind.

Here's why I feel so solid on Customer Development (even though it will consume another 4-8 weeks of hard work):
Talking it out in these forum posts...
Actually testing the Prospect + Interview system and getting early responses...
Making my basic website...
Reading the Cold Email book...
Choosing my Cold Email platform...
Plus improving my plan of attack with recent new knowledge....

... These have all helped me map out the key steps and details for Customer Development in an intensive 4-8 week period.
It's only the lack of Coding knowledge that's holding me back now.

Of ALL the SaaS project - what I'm most concerned about now is Learning to Code.
Not because I think it will be difficult, but because I know it will be time consuming.
Every other stage of my project besides Coding has proven systems and a clear plan of attack... I'm confident they will work nicely.

With everything else I AM doing - I am NOT setting aside enough time to learn and practice Coding.
I can feel that.

But, I do feel GREAT about the Customer Development phase. And that's 1/4 of the War. This portion of the project is primed to succeed, and almost ready to begin in earnest.
Give me 4-6 weeks and I'll have a massive pile of REAL NEEDS to choose from and work on.
At that point it's just a matter of Building the Solution.

--------------------------------------------

So, since the Coding is the only part I'm currently uncertain about...
I'm still willing to think outside the box for the "Building the Solution" phase.
I've considered cutting in my little brother, a friend, or an outsourcer to handle it.

Realistically though, I think I'm on my own for this project.
Think I will be the one that Builds it by hand.
And in many ways, I prefer it that way.

I know I can do this - just have to invest more time to learn and practice Coding.
Coding is going to constantly be fighting vs Customer Development, Life, and Tutoring Biz to get time during my waking hours.

But that doesn't change the fact that I *must* learn all I can about Coding. And time is short. And my yacht awaits.

I face a crossroads: Do I "pause" Customer Development and focus on Learning to Code?
Or, do I go full-tilt on Customer Development and figure out how to Build the Solution after I've Found the NEEDS?

Gonna have to make a philosophical decision real soon.
Luckily - Either way, things will work out!

Here's why: Find the Need, Learn to Build the Solution.
The order of events doesn't matter that much.
Just DO IT.

For now, for tonight, the progress on Customer Development and Tutoring Biz feels good.

Goodnight for now! More to report tomorrow!

 

[daru]

I may be wrong, but finding the need seems more important at this stage? My experience is that coding becomes much easier to learn with a real problem to solve instead of text book examples.
A small reflection also, when it's time to code, one tends to spend a lot of time on Google search, Stack Overflow and personally I use a lot of pen and paper to solve programming problems.

By the way, I love this thread! Big time action faker myself but reading this at least pushes me towards real action.

 

[Young-Gun]

I may be wrong, but finding the need seems more important at this stage? My experience is that coding becomes much easier to learn with a real problem to solve instead of text book examples.
A small reflection also, when it's time to code, one tends to spend a lot of time on Google search, Stack Overflow and personally I use a lot of pen and paper to solve programming problems.

By the way, I love this thread! Big time action faker myself but reading this at least pushes me towards real action.

Hey man! Thank you!
This is great advice for me today - thanks so much for sharing. And it's SO awesome to me that you're enjoying this thread - trust me, that means a lot. You've given me a huge extra boost of energy and focus all morning long with your comment! No joke!! Thank you!!

I agree - finding Need is the *single* most important part of this Endeavor.
But then again - relatively speaking, I feel crystal-clear and confident on every phase of this project... except for the actual Coding, which is still a bit of a black box to me.

That's one of the big reasons I feel driven to learn more Python + Django before I proceed much further.

Very glad to hear your reflection that you spend a lot of time researching during the Coding phase of a project. Since I have so little practical experience with Coding, it's awesome to learn more about other people's Coding Workflows in the Real World. And particularly good every time I hear that "no one knows it all" and even the best / daily programmers are always asking questions, doing research, learning new things etc.

I'll definitely "learn a lot on the job." A big project is a great way to improve your Coding skills, right!?

However, I think I need to push myself to develop more Basic / Intermediate Coding Skills and Knowledge, as fast as possible.
Then I can leave most of my "Advanced" development for the meat of building the Need-based project.

The good news is, I know 10x more about Coding than compared to where I was a month ago.
The vocabulary and common terms, the basic exercises, the workstation setup... these all feel familiar now, if still a bit clumsy.
I'm very much a Beginner, but at least I've got the personal pride of saying I have begun! Wooo!!

Hope to see you on the thread again! Working extra-hard today in your honor!!

----------

EDIT: Just for a bit of detail on what I'm doing today / this morning:
I'm back in Learn Python the Hard Way.

I've temporarily skipped past my Text Adventure (I was starting to feel stuck / stagnant / discouraged).
The fact is, I learned a TON from that project.
Sure, there's more I could do to keep expanding (and learning from) it.
But at the same time, it's just an exercise.
Adding to my Text Adventure might be educational (and fun) but it's only peripheral to building my SaaS.

I can easily return to the Text Adventure later (if I want to), armed with some new Coding tricks from future chapters of the book.
It was an excellent exercise, and basically now I'm just skipping the "Extra Credit" work that I could hypothetically still do.

In any event, it feels good to move on to the next chapter - I think that's important.

So, currently doing a hardcore review / study session of a comprehensive list of Python keywords and commands.
Lots of note-taking and independent study & reading on Google!
A bit mentally taxing, but nice to learn new stuff.

Before I get sucked into writing all day, I'm closing TFF and focusing on Coding till Evening...
(There's only a bit of Tutoring Biz and Life work to handle today)

 

[Owner2Millions]

Thanks man! I LOVE to hear that other people are feeding off the energy. It's weird how energy isn't "limited", it's more like.. the more you send out, the more you get back. So, you also inspire me - thank you for that!!

As for the Google Results already being 2nd page, I'm sure that's a mix of several key factors:

• The Company Name Research I did to have a short, exact URL with very few close competitors.
• My prior experience building Business Websites (I think this is the 6th website I've built in as many years), so I know what's really important, what doesn't matter, etc. Also a few basic SEO ("Search Engine Optimization") tactics can take you a long way (especially if no one else has your company name). Again, I've learned many of these over the past 6 years, and I'm putting them all to good use on the SaaS website.
• A little bit of luck.

Hopefully the website rank will continue to rise, especially as I add new content and hopefully get a few backlinks at some point.

I've been adding content as fast as I can (mainly new blog articles). This builds trust for upcoming Customer Interviews, and also starts building Organic Traffic and SEO for the future.

Blogging / writing is something I have a ton of experience with (over 600 articles and web pages published), so it's very easy to add more content on a regular basis and watch the Organic Growth metrics.

I don't think Blogging is the best way to scale this SaaS business, but I DO know it helps build trust, authority, and Search Ranking. And, I'm predicting there will eventually be SOME residual Leads and Sales through organic search / blog traffic.

Basically, Blogging on the Company Website is another way to quickly encourage a higher Google ranking and build additional organic traffic, leads, and sales that persist over time.

Plus, if you can't tell by now - I just love writing about business

Hope this gives some insight - basically just showing up (by building a clean, complete website with a good Company Name) is 1/2 the battle when getting ranked in Google.

hmmm......interesting....so you have the blog on the website for SEO and content. What is the content based on? My Internet SaaS company will be my first company. But I have coding experience, both on the backend as well as on the web. I never built a business website or intended on selling something from a website. You are making a good amount of progress.....Im still trying to find a industry with problems that I can tackle on my own lol(although I have a computer science background).

 

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[Owner2Millions]

I may be wrong, but finding the need seems more important at this stage? My experience is that coding becomes much easier to learn with a real problem to solve instead of text book examples.
A small reflection also, when it's time to code, one tends to spend a lot of time on Google search, Stack Overflow and personally I use a lot of pen and paper to solve programming problems.

By the way, I love this thread! Big time action faker myself but reading this at least pushes me towards real action.

I couldnt agree more with you! there is just so much information out there about coding and computer science that it could put you in the stage of education forever(meaning not taking action)

 

[Owner2Millions]

By the way @Young-Gun the Python+Djano skill set along with web hosting is definitely a good skill set to have.

 

[Young-Gun]

hmmm......interesting....so you have the blog on the website for SEO and content. What is the content based on? My Internet SaaS company will be my first company. But I have coding experience, both on the backend as well as on the web. I never built a business website or intended on selling something from a website. You are making a good amount of progress.....Im still trying to find a industry with problems that I can tackle on my own lol(although I have a computer science background).

Great question. My first 3 articles have just been personal posts of a 'Founder' nature. Ranging from tiny 300 word post to a medium 900 word post. They have to do with my values / motivation behind the company... also to our methods for finding Real Needs... and some musing on Startup Tips for other Founders and Software Companies.

For my tutoring company I've written over 500 blog articles... many of them over 3,000 words. Some get traffic, some don't. But the articles that get traffic DEFINITELY help me make money from sales of services/products.

Not saying it's a real 'Scalable' way to grow a huge company (although has worked for some people.) But if you are short on Cash for Marketing / Advertising then it's hard to ignore Blogging. If you do it right, a good article can last for 10-20 years or more, and still be relevant and generate traffic. And it costs NOTHING besides the initial investment of time.

I think it will be the same with my Software Company. Plus, I just kind of enjoy blogging.
It's hard to predict which articles will have a major impact in terms of traffic (at least, I don't know how to predict)
But, it's like everything else - if you put yourself out there first, it's very realistic that you'll attract some attention/traffic.

Like I mention, it serves many purposes for me to Blog, so it's a minor part of my overall (multi-year) strategy. Doesn't mean it has to be for everyone.
Still, think about everything blogging can accomplish for a business:

• Build trust - you show a commitment to what you're doing, and you can also share a more personal side.
• SEO - more content, more Google ranking... simple as that.
• Shows Current Activity - Makes company look alive, active, engaged. Again, more trust.
• Evergreen content - a good blog article can provide value / traffic / information for years (for other people, and for your business)
• Organic web / search traffic -It's hard to "be found" unless you put stuff out on the web (blogs, videos, comments, etc)
• Social Media Sharing Content - Same as above, blog articles can be shared around, etc
• More data for your Analytics - see what your audience pays attention to. Throw stuff at the wall, and do more of the popular stuff.
• Get Blog Comments from readers - more engagement, more money.
• Future emailing list - can put popups / subscribes or other Calls To Action... you 'own the property' of your own content... use it as a farm to make more $$$ in the future! Traffic, subscribers, attention = $$$.

There are other reasons you might want to blog... but those are some of my favorites.
And, there are reasons you might NOT want to blog for your company... could take focus off whatever your particular strengths / strategy are.

I couldnt agree more with you! there is just so much information out there about coding and computer science that it could put you in the stage of education forever(meaning not taking action)

Yes, VERY true. I'm going to have to resist that urge to spend waaaaay too much time reading until the SaaS is generating Noteworthy Profit.
Same with Startups / Entrepreneurship - there is a glut of information. Easily leads to paralysis.
Action-Fakes will steal the days of our life.
Really, the minutes of your life.. since Action Fakes are usually about how you spend your MINUTES, not how you spend your DAYS (imo).

I was just thinking about this.
The balance of Real Learning vs Action Faking.
I *fully* believe in the power of learning the Right Things at the Right Time.
But, it's easy to get overwhelmed or bogged down in 'Learning Phase.'

I'm going to try to LIMIT my overall Reading for the first 12 months of this project to 5 startup books and 5 coding books.
Usually I'm the opposite - I read a TON - but in this case reading mostly distracts from what needs to be DONE.

That said, going in blind is NEVER wise... especially when older, more successful, smarter people have done it before.. and written whole BOOKS about it.
And, I still have some "Programming Basics" to learn, before I can fully put the book down.

But yea - as someone who tends to pick up 3x more books than necessary...
This time, I'm trying to make extremely picky choices about the books I read for Coding (and Startups).
I want to learn from more experienced people, but I don't want to action-fake at ANY point in this.

With smart choices I believe I can read 5 books for each topic to feel I'm completely equipped to do the rest on my own.
Even that is probably overkill... I think 3 would be enough.
But like I said, I love to read... and I'm a fast reader... so we'll just see when we get there.

By the way @Young-Gun the Python+Djano skill set along with web hosting is definitely a good skill set to have.

Awesome! I hear that even Google, YouTube, etc have portions built on Python and Django.
Based on that, I'm sure that, like a sport motorcycle, the Machine is capable of far more than the Man (me) will ever really need or be able to use.

Along with the idea of "limiting to 5 study books,' I'm kind of forecasting my Coding progress will go like this:
- Finish a careful study of Learn Python the Hard Way
- Find an equally good 'Django for Beginners' text with plenty of hands-on exercises (know of any?)
- Mid-Level 'Build Basic Web Apps with Python+Django' course or book.
- Advanced SaaS-focused course, book, or online articles.
- Start My Biz Project and figure out the rest as I go.

Anyway, glad as always that I'm proving some extra inspiration for your own work.
Today was pretty productive for me, I'll post an update before I sleep tonight!

 

[Young-Gun]

Progress for today (Wednesday) - was good!

By design, today was more "Theoretical Studies" than "Practical Progress."
I wanted to slow my momentum on Customer Development. Poke my head up, and check my course.

What I saw was: I need to move forward on Coding Studies.
At the same time, now is the perfect time to speed-read a Classic Startup Book... acquire more knaaaaawwwledge from the BEST entrepreneurs in the Software Business.
(This isn't an Action Fake - See my post/response above re: "Action-Faking by reading" vs. "Plunging In before acquiring knowledge / wisdom")

Tutoring Biz was not too busy today (got a decent sale though!)
Life was only medium-busy, allowing Mental Space to learn crucial new concepts for SaaS.

Today's key SaaS progress:

• Spent several hours on hardcore coding study. Today's chapters in Learn Python the Hard Way were a blend of reviewing key Coding concepts + independent research to learn new topics.
• Wrote and Published Software Blog article #4. The company blog looks great with 4 posts! Makes the company site look more alive, trustworthy, personal, and human.
• Read and took notes on first 2 chapters of Steve Blank's Four Steps to the Epiphany which will be one of my 5 startup books that I'm limiting myself to for the next 12 months. These will be companions to my 5 coding books/courses.

On paper there's less "activity" today, but I'm glad I chose to move forward on Learning rather than Action today.

To state again - I feel VERY confident in my Process and Work Ethic when I start Customer Development in earnest.

This is my last chance to study Coding and Startup before the sh*t hits the fan with wall-to-wall Customer Development interviews and emails.
So, I plan to make the most of it.

And, I guess I made my philosophical choice for the moment - learn a bit more Coding before moving on to full-time Customer Development.

This is not an action fake. It's just that Coding knowledge lags significantly behind every other phase of the project.

To prove (mostly to myself) I'm not faking, I'm giving myself just 3 days to learn a SH*T TON about Python coding.
I demand of myself that three days from now (on Sunday), I will have noticeably-better Practical Skills in Coding.
This is basically like a kid doing college Cram Session, but with Adult-level motivations.

Don't want to say much more tonight.. I still have some Coffee and energy to keep studying Python.
More updates tomorrow!

Thanks everyone for reading and encouraging me! I love you!! Might as well just come out and say it at this point lol

 

[daru]

Along with the idea of "limiting to 5 study books,' I'm kind of forecasting my Coding progress will go like this:
- Finish a careful study of Learn Python the Hard Way
- Find an equally good 'Django for Beginners' text with plenty of hands-on exercises (know of any?)
- Mid-Level 'Build Basic Web Apps with Python+Django' course or book.
- Advanced SaaS-focused course, book, or online articles.
- Start My Biz Project and figure out the rest as I go.

Yes! Do the Tutorials on Django Documentation From there you expand to the overall documentation as you rebuild your blog website with Django!

Then there is frontend development and deployment. Deployment to a real server on Internet is something few think about but that shit almost made me give up when I started out. Should have become easier now but be prepared for some frustration. Let me know if you need any help with that later on. Know a few things about Linux servers, database setup etc.

 

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[Owner2Millions]

Yes! Do the Tutorials on Django Documentation From there you expand to the overall documentation as you rebuild your blog website with Django!

Then there is frontend development and deployment. Deployment to a real server on Internet is something few think about but that shit almost made me give up when I started out. Should have become easier now but be prepared for some frustration. Let me know if you need any help with that later on. Know a few things about Linux servers, database setup etc.

What web hosting do you use? I use linode and I agree at first it got me pissed off some many times? and databases as well....

 

[Owner2Millions]

I agree with what Daru said, study the documentation and also look at youtube tutorials Im no Djano expert but I learnt from Youtube and just Google stuff.

 

[daru]

What web hosting do you use? I use linode and I agree at first it got me pissed off some many times? and databases as well....

Rackspace Cloud Servers (Ubuntu). But stuff like Heroku is supposed to have made it simpler?

 

[Owner2Millions]

Rackspace Cloud Servers (Ubuntu). But stuff like Heroku is supposed to have made it simpler?

Your website must be huge? But yes stuff like that and linode, digital ocean, etc....is a bit easier but The frustration is still prevalent lol. By the way Gentlemen.....Javascript(front end GUI type of stuff) can be annoying as the back end stuff. JS has a shit ton of libraries, which can be good and bad but just be aware of the headaches ahead. Im still doing market research myself. I realize the industry I targeted was really going solving the industry need with software.....so back to square one.

 

[daru]

Your website must be huge?

Haha, nope. Bunch of small stuff and its "good to have". Dont cost me much.

 

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[Young-Gun]

Yes! Do the Tutorials on Django Documentation From there you expand to the overall documentation as you rebuild your blog website with Django!

Then there is frontend development and deployment. Deployment to a real server on Internet is something few think about but that shit almost made me give up when I started out. Should have become easier now but be prepared for some frustration. Let me know if you need any help with that later on. Know a few things about Linux servers, database setup etc.

Excellent, I love hearing a "preview" of the technical stuff I'll be getting into as I move forward.
Honestly I'm a total nerd, so learning stuff like this makes me happy.
It's challenging, but what the hell else am I supposed to do with my free time? Sit around and not learn new things because they're hard...? lol.

Can't wait to finish the basics of Python and start moving on to Web Applications!
There must be SO MUCH cool stuff to learn!

 

[Young-Gun]

I agree with what Daru said, study the documentation and also look at youtube tutorials Im no Djano expert but I learnt from Youtube and just Google stuff.

Awesome. Glad to hear you're self-taught in the Coding / Development field as well!!

It's so cool how self-education builds momentum if you just put in the hours.
You learn the basics from a kindly, well-organized teacher or textbook...
Then, gradually you figure out how to find the intermediate info on your own...
Over time you become an advanced problem-solver through practice and experience...
Eventually YOU are the "Guru" that new Novices ask for advice! Hehehe.

So, to readers of this thread who are hesitating on taking action out of fear -
DON'T BE AFRAID TO LEARN BY DOING!

This is 2017 - the age of Self-Education!
Between Google, YouTube, Wikis, and Forums, we all have the Library of Alexandria on our laptop.
Let me be frank - if you say to yourself "I can't learn x because y..." well, you're just making EXCUSES!!
The specific excuses don't matter. All the information is out there.
You have so many examples in this thread already showing how ACTION overcomes lack of knowledge.

If you're action-faking because of lack of knowledge, just LEARN AS YOU GO.
This thread is proof - at least 4 self-taught coders and developers in here.

Trust in the process.
Trust in the Human Cerebral Cortex.
Trust in practice, experience, and self-reliance.

It's not that hard if you just keep PUTTING IN THE HOURS.

Wow I got off-topic, but thanks @daru you inspired me!! 😀

 

[Young-Gun]

Quick update for tonight, about 10 pm on Thursday and a friend coming over soon to hang out.

Luckily, today was a relatively easy day for Life and Tutoring Biz.

Relevant side note, today I was thinking how I can't wait to be in a completely new business from Tutoring.
There was a tutoring parent today being annoying, needy, time-consuming....

I just kept smiling and nodding at him and thinking to myself, "I'm going to make sure that in 18 months I never have to listen to this kind of ridiculous crap again."

Today I was drawing on this to give me the FIRE to work morning, afternoon and night.
I will MAKE SURE my Software Company is paying the bills in 18 months... with plenty of cash to spare for fun.

Today's SaaS Progress was devoted to LEARNING to CODE:

• Put in a solid 4 hours of coding study and practice with Learn Python the Hard Way and supplemental research online.
• Read and took notes on half a chapter in 4 Steps to the Epiphany (it's a realllly long chapter, lol).

It looks small and simple in two bullet points, but I've learned an enormous amount today.
Not gonna waste any more time tonight - friend is almost here, and when he leaves I'll stay up late and keep studying.
Tomorrow (Friday) I have a lot of time, and will continue the same plan of attack.

More updates tomorrow! Thanks everyone so much for reading, advising, and encouraging me - it gives me so much extra motivation to keep going!

 

[daru]

Excellent, I love hearing a "preview" of the technical stuff I'll be getting into as I move forward.
Honestly I'm a total nerd, so learning stuff like this makes me happy.
It's challenging, but what the hell else am I supposed to do with my free time? Sit around and not learn new things because they're hard...? lol.

Can't wait to finish the basics of Python and start moving on to Web Applications!
There must be SO MUCH cool stuff to learn!

You should watch TV and wait for that lottery ticket to cash in as everybody else!

Sorry, could not resist the temptation.

Keep learning!

 

[Owner2Millions]

You should watch TV and wait for that lottery ticket to cash in as everybody else!

Sorry, could not resist the temptation.

Keep learning!

Im also a nerd as well at the core, but I enjoy the occasional F*cking time away nonsense lol

 

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[Young-Gun]

You should watch TV and wait for that lottery ticket to cash in as everybody else!

Sorry, could not resist the temptation.

Keep learning!

Lolol. you have a similar sense of humor to me. XD
Thanks bro I will learn like a sponge this weekend in your honor!!!

 

[Young-Gun]

Hey ya'll, tonight I'm both sleepy and in the flow on my studies.

Update on SaaS progress for Friday:
- Studied my butt off almost all day with Learn Python the Hard Way.
Moved forward several *big* chapters, now about 80% of the way through the book.

Definitely a sense of progress today.
There are Coding concepts I understand today that I did NOT know yesterday.
Had several mini- breakthroughs and AHA moments on really tough concepts.

Today when I looked at some advanced code (e.g. real-life business applications I might build for my company), I feel like I recognize about 90% of the vocabulary, keywords, and syntax, even though I can't trace everything the program is doing (yet).

There's still a HUGE, and I mean HUGE amount I don't understand.
But I've learned most of the primary Python 'alphabet,' so to speak.
So now I can "sound things out" like a child.
And that's much more than I could do a month ago.

In terms of specific actions for today's studies:
Made and drilled some Coding flashcards...
Took some notes on the hardest parts of the textbook...
Practice exercises and extra-credit assignments from the book...
Did additional independent research on more Coding concepts I wanted to know about.
Sometimes lost focus, but did a pretty good job of getting back on track.

Plan for the next few days is to continue the same!
Hope all is well with everyone reading!

 

[Young-Gun]

Mid-day update for Saturday:

Company Website is now on first page of Google results if you search our name.
True, it's at the bottom, but it's still the first page of results for a <week old website.
As a bit of early encouragement this is awesome!
We only have 4 blog articles and about 8 basic pages.
I did a bit of basic SEO, and remember the company name was chosen *very carefully*. But other than that, I haven't done any new work for it.
Fully believe I can get rank 1 or rank 2 within the year of 2017!

In case you're wondering why I consider our Website so important:
When I switch into Full-On Customer Development mode, then every bit of credibility will help.
No one will know me from Adam, and I don't have much "substance" to my company.... or pre-existing credibility with them.
If I'm cold-emailing hundreds of people per day, some of them will look me up by Company Name before deciding how to respond.
At that point, my website either HELPS ME or HURTS ME.

Right now, I feel super confident because my website won't just help, it will help A LOT. It's specifically designed to increase the number of positive interview results I get.

Later, I can morph the site into a Sales Machine to help with Marketing the SaaS. But for now it's perfect for its intended purpose.

Spent morning THINKING about coding:
What I mean was... letting my mind work over the problems.
Dwelling on, and reviewing, the concepts that I've had trouble with in the past few days.
And, I continue to have minor breakthroughs.
Taken together, they add up to more Coding confidence with each passing hour.

Gotta do some Tutoring Biz and Life stuff for a while now.
But, I will knock it out, and get back to Coding studies today.
I have an assignment to complete, and a big project to start.
About 80% through Learn Python the Hard Way right now.
More updates soon!

 

[Young-Gun]

Late-night update for Saturday:

Made a huge amount of mental progress by studying and practicing Coding almost all day.
Basically I've just spend all afternoon and night on Code today.
I took my Text Adventure game from two weeks ago.
And, I'm re-building it *from the ground up* using all the new Coding knowledge I've acquired in the past two weeks.
Also, I'm pushing myself to add challenging new features to the Text Adventure 2.0 that will stretch my capabilities and force me to learn new tricks.

This is great, because now I see the limitations of my previous approach to the Game.
And, the tricks I know now, will allow me to build the Game I had in mind in the first place.
But if you remember, I was getting "stuck" because I couldn't figure out how to make the Code do certain things.
Well, now I know how to do a lot more of them!

Also cool - this new level of stuff is not easy for me yet.
I still need a lot of hands-on practice with the recent new concepts.
So, re-building the Text Adventure Game is a perfect activity to practice with.

I already had the general structure and map for the Game prepared, which I can copy over.
But, this time I can build a much better structure for the whole program.
So, I can focus on learning the new stuff by building off my old work.

I feel like I've learned so much today. It's probably been about 6-7 solid hours of hands-on Coding, reading, note-taking, and independent research online.

Long way to go, but definitely moved the needle forward again today.
Probably about to call it a night (it's past midnight and there's stuff to do tomorrow).

Happy to end tonight on a high point! Best of luck to you (and me) for tomorrow!

 

[Young-Gun]

Update for Sunday Night:
This is a pretty bizarre one.
So, I stayed up all night yesterday after my last post. Just couldn't sleep, tried for about an hour between 3-4 AM.
Didn't stick, so I stayed up all night and worked on my Tutoring Biz advertising.
There was a project I've been meaning to do for a long time. And, I got it about 75% knocked out.

Then, I remember making a pot of coffee an hour after sunrise.
Had a cup, looked at my bed, and when I opened my eyes again it was about 1 PM.

There was a little bit of tutoring biz I had to do, then I had some spare time at the office.
Momentarily unsure how to use the hour, I decided to work on my Coding flashcards.
After all, my tutoring biz has plenty of flashcard materials lying around the office...

So, I've spent today's free time making a big stack of Coding flashcards.
Just like I used them before, flashcards are an incredibly effective way to commit Coding concepts to memory quickly.
Hand-making them forces you to "process" the information in your body.
It's much more effective than just moving your eyes over the page.
Hand-making and drilling flashcards until concepts are memorized is even more effective than taking notes on what you read!

The way I'm doing it (the "adult" way with no teacher or professor forcing you)... is even better. Because YOU have to CHOOSE which concepts you commit to flashcards.
That means breaking things down.
I love cutting 3x5 index cards in half. (Colored cards of course, more fun!)
That makes these tiny units that you have to work with.
It forces you to break down difficult concepts to the simplest terms.
Additionally, you're forced to write simple and concise definitions of vocab words, special terms, and stuff.

Plus, there's nothing that compares to hand-writing your own cards.
You now become "part-time Author" of the concepts.
By writing these concepts out I take PHYSICAL part in the IDEA space.

It's quite remarkable to me how much the flashcard system helps learn tough things quickly. I know I keep repeating myself, but if even one reader tries it for themselves and likes it - it would make me very happy!

If you've never tried making flashcards - for quickly memorizing, or for learning difficult (but small) concepts quickly - you have to try it. It will change your life.
"Trust me. I'm a pro tutor."


Overall this has been a good use of my "brain dead" day, since obviously my sleep is all screwed up now from staying up all night.
Luckily, I actually have managed to learn a good amount of Coding stuff
Specifically, I'm studying the Python style sheet (PEP-8) which is about 20 pages of dense info on appropriate formatting for your code.

I find that by understanding the formatting of the Code in-depth, it helps me memorize and visualize how and why each small part fits together into a whole program.

Look, I'm a total Novice at Coding, but there's something I'm a Pro at - Learning.
After 16 years at some of the best schools in the country... (thank you PARENTS),
And 7 years of full-time TEACHING... I've gotten to observe and experience a lot of COOL lessons about learning.

I'm guess I'm just pretty proud of my super-smart flashcard method XD
And if you're reading, I truly hope I'm providing a useful example.
I want to prove (just like I said over a month ago) that it's not that hard to learn to Code what you need for your Business Idea.
And guess what - I'm having a ton of fun learning it!!

IN sum - today was quite productive towards both Tutoring Biz and Learning to Code.
It probably would have been better to sleep normally... but then again, maybe not.
We'll see how much it affects my energy this coming week.
Sometimes it's good to work in a "manic" mood when you don't even want to sleep!

My GF is coming over in a sec, so I probably am done for the night... time to catch up on Walking Dead

 

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[Fathazard]

Great thread @Young-Gun

I'm also creating a SAAS business (all hail the king of scale! ... and profit margins!). Stumbled across your thread this evening and read all of it. Maybe I should start my own

I've come across two things that could help you in your process:

1. During idea extraction on the phone: don't take notes. It distracts you from steering the conversation in the right direction, and your prospect will feel that you're not 100% "there". RECORD the conversations instead, and listen to them again the day after. Then take your notes
2. You said that some of your prospects were annoyed when you contacted the owners directly, but I still believe it's efficient. So, one way to get the email address of the owner (works for my industry at least), is to use a WHOIS service to find out who registered the website of the business. I use this: WHOIS Search, Domain Name, Website, and IP Tools - Who.is. Surprisingly often it's done using their private email.

I'd love to connect with others here on the forum also in the SAAS sphere - perhaps for regular Skype conversations in a Mastermind group fashion?

So far I'm chugging along alone, being a bit of a lone wolf and an introvert like so many others here.

 

[Young-Gun]

Great thread @Young-Gun

I'm also creating a SAAS business (all hail the king of scale! ... and profit margins!). Stumbled across your thread this evening and read all of it. Maybe I should start my own

I've come across two things that could help you in your process:

1. During idea extraction on the phone: don't take notes. It distracts you from steering the conversation in the right direction, and your prospect will feel that you're not 100% "there". RECORD the conversations instead, and listen to them again the day after. Then take your notes
2. You said that some of your prospects were annoyed when you contacted the owners directly, but I still believe it's efficient. So, one way to get the email address of the owner (works for my industry at least), is to use a WHOIS service to find out who registered the website of the business. I use this: WHOIS Search, Domain Name, Website, and IP Tools - Who.is. Surprisingly often it's done using their private email.

I'd love to connect with others here on the forum also in the SAAS sphere - perhaps for regular Skype conversations in a Mastermind group fashion?

So far I'm chugging along alone, being a bit of a lone wolf and an introvert like so many others here.

Great advice - thank you. I'm especially thankful for the 'don't take notes' advice - and glad you noticed a similar phenomenon.
I did feel like I was having a LOT of trouble listening AND taking notes.

Wow - recording conversations - that's insanely brilliant. Thank you, I will definitely move in that direction instead.

Re SaaS mastermind:
@TheDillon__ had just recently contacted me with a similar idea!
I'd definitely be interested in participating, although there's so much on my plate right now that I probably shouldn't take on a new leadership role right now. I just wouldn't be able to a good job of it.
But yes, if someone else wants to direct and schedule a Fastlane SAAS Mastermind, I would absolutely take part - I've never done a Mastermind before, ever!!

 

[Young-Gun]

Update for Monday night:
Woo! Ok, so today was definitely part 'recovery day.'
I found the lack of sleep from two days ago hitting me really hard, as expected.

Still, progress - on SaaS, Tutoring Biz, and Life - was good and enjoyable. Working in a daze can be kind of nice! Lol.

Here's what we got done today for SaaS:

• Continued Coding Studies
• Drilled 60+ Coding Style flashcards, made yesterday (3x separate sessions throughout the day).
• Got Text Adventure v2.0 (hereafter called Escape II) up and running!!

Results:
Definitely feel more confident in my Coding at the end of the day, compared to this morning!
There are only 2 flashcards out of most recent big stack that I'm still working on.
Like I said in my last post, it's crazy how fast this helps you learn.
Making the flashcards by hand is half the battle.
In 2 days I feel like I've absolutely leapt ahead in the grammar and style rules of Python Coding!! Awesome

Progress on Text Adventure, "Escape II"
This bit here is more for the "Coding Nerds" among us.
What I've been struggling with today was getting my Game Loop up-and-running.

Yesterday was the day of going from Dictionaries (simple, limited) to Classes (complex, powerful).
I'm now using a system of Classes for rooms/scenes (hereafter called 'scenes').
Each scene is its own class, filled with all sorts of fun descriptions, dictionaries, methods, and attributes.
This also requires a brand-new Map Class, which contains a dictionary of Scenes, among other things (mainly a few 'next_scene'-type methods that still confuse me...)

This is a rebuilt of v1.0, where all scenes were merely Dictionaries mapped to each other with a simple Map dictionary.
And, the new Class system will allow me to do things like Items, Food, Weapons, Inventory etc - all good practice for "adding features" to Business SaaS.

Problem is, the added power of Classes has increased the complexity of my program to the next level.
And the number of lines has significantly increased.
Just all makes it tougher for me to keep track of everything that's going on, and at times, #comments only seem to make things worse.

But, I enjoy the challenge, and it's getting me used the thought processes I'll need to use for building Business Software!
I can really feel it building my brain. Nice to learn brand-new things... haven't pushed myself this hard in a while.

So, it was just about 10 PM tonight when I finally screwed around with the Game Loop + Map + Scenes combo enough to get the first (text-based) scene of Escape II starting to show up on the monitor!!

There's much more to do. Most of the main features are still missing. But, I feel much more clear about the next steps (even though I'm not perfectly clear yet...)

It's actually really fun; I would say I'm having a really good time building this game, even when I'm frustrated.

The idea of doing this for a BUSINESS is so cool to me still -
The possibilities for PROFITABLE CODE are SO endless!

Current Challenge:
It looks like the plan for coming few days is:
- Keep building Escape II as long as it's teaching me things.
- Catch up on some Life stuff (man, Life is always getting in the way! haha)
- Don't fall behind on Tutoring Business (Important! It's still gotta pay the bills for months to come!)
- Review the stack of Coding Style Flashcards.

I don't feel like I'm going to burn out on this, but I *do* need to make sure I get more rest this week.
It's not good being so sleepy in the middle of the day.
(I can get away with it right now because it's Spring Break for my students, and Tutoring Biz is always slow this week of the year).

More updates tomorrow!
Thanks for reading and advising!! Progress feels great!!

 

[Young-Gun]

Quick update mid-day on Tuesday:

- Got more of Escape II working this morning, including basic Inventory display.
It feels so cool putting my new Coding tricks into action.
Line by line, hour by hour I feel this Coding domain becoming somewhere more comfortable and cozy.
There's a lot of slow going, but I think that's natural.

- Reviewed my flashcard stack again this morning. Got 99% correct!
I think I'm good on these for now - doesn't feel like I'll get any more out of them for now.
Could be good to review my whole stack of cards in a couple of weeks, to stay sharp!

- Balance of Life and Tutoring Biz... being pretty efficient.
But, I could be *more* efficient, but I'm also sort of sleepy from past few days.
There are some lingering Life / Tutoring commitments that are bothering me, I will get them done SOONER rather than LATER.

More to do today; for now I'm off to Tutoring office!
Updates later; onwards!