How to Start a Business in One Weekend, with Noah Kagan

Jan 31, 2024

Noah Kagan, entrepreneur and business strategist, shares valuable insights on starting a business in one weekend. He discusses the power of asking in business, the simplicity of starting a business online, and the importance of testing ideas and embracing failure. Noah also provides guidance on improving asking skills, finding quality candidates quickly, and the challenges of scaling a business. Additionally, he emphasizes the value of hiring elite advisors, finding advisors, setting financial goals, and shares three key takeaways for starting a business.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Starting a Business Online and Sponsorship Ads

20:31 • 5min

Testing Ideas and Embracing Failure

25:39 • 22min

The Art of Asking for More

47:24 • 5min

Finding Quality Candidates Fast with Indeed and Supporting Ideas with Dell Technologies and Intel

52:18 • 2min

Challenges of Scaling and the Value of Hiring Elite Advisors

54:28 • 2min

Finding Advisors and Implementing Their Advice

56:10 • 7min

Setting Financial Goals and Creating a Timeline

01:02:51 • 18min

Three Key Takeaways for Starting a Business

01:21:20 • 6min

#485: If you’ve ever thought: "I’d love a business BUT …”

I don’t have TIME
I don’t have MONEY
I don’t have IDEAS
I have TOO MANY ideas and I don't know where to start
I'm not technical
I'm not creative or artistic
I'm not good at sales

You're not alone. Countless people don't start businesses or side hustles for these reasons.

And they're losing thousands -- perhaps millions -- in opportunity cost.

How much could you make if you started a side hustle that eventually scaled into a business? Possibly millions. Today's guest, Noah Kagan, is living proof.

Noah was employee #30 at Facebook. His stock options, if fully vested, would be worth over $1 billion today.

(If you want to do the math -- his stock options came to 0.1 percent of the company, which has a current market cap of $1 trillion.)

But Noah was fired just a couple months before his stock options vested. So rather than getting a billion-dollar payout, he got nothing.

He sank into a deep depression, eventually recovering with the help of a therapist who counseled him on how to reframe the experience.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He became a serial entrepreneur, building multiple businesses. His most successful venture now makes $80 million in gross revenue, and his personal take-home is $3.3 million per year (which comes from a $200,000 annual salary and $3.1 million profit distribution.) His net worth is $36 million.

Not a billion, but still not too shabby.

Noah recently wrote a book called "Million Dollar Weekend: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Launch a 7-Figure Business in 48 Hours."

He sits down with us (in person!) to share:

-- how to find business ideas

-- how to overcome objections and rejections

-- how to scale

By the end of the episode, the common objections that you often hear -- like "I don't have time/money/ideas" -- will be quashed.

Please enjoy!

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode485

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices