Idea to Startup

Today we talk about two methods to help make your big startup plans for 2026 manageable. We borrow Short Assignments and Shitty Drafts from Anne Lamott, we get a little help from Martin Scorsese and a Bronx Tale, and we talk through a startup that's helping 40 year olds deal with loneliness. All in like 14 minutes. Not bad. Tacklebox WINTER2025 for 20% offBird by BirdThe To Do List MonsterThe Saddest Thing In Life 00:00 Tacklebox00:28 Actionable Motivation01:08 How to Actually Take a Swing at Your Potential04:15 The Two Best Ways to Make Progres05:59 The One-Inch Picture Frame10:20 Shitty Drafts12:55 The End: The Saddest Thing In Life

Discover the power of in-person customer acquisition, crucial for early-stage founders. Learn how specificity builds trust and drives conversions! Explore methods to find hard-to-reach customers, including filter events and park strategies. Get tips on crafting an effective outreach script, emphasizing problem-solving. Physical cards and simple landing pages can help capture interest. Ultimately, realize that stepping out of your comfort zone pays off, yielding the best ROI and deeper customer insights.

In this lively discussion, the host reveals why a coffee truck is the perfect startup idea for today. They break down key criteria for a successful business, highlighting the importance of founder fit. Tips on getting your spouse onboard with entrepreneurial plans are shared, featuring practical strategies. Additionally, a selection of ideal gifts for new entrepreneurs is provided, ensuring that anyone launching their venture has the support they need for success. Tune in for inspiration and holiday cheer!

This episode is a toolkit for right-brain founders who get lost in ideas and struggle to execute. Brian shares three practical systems—AI as your left brain, the Regroup System, and the Ice Box—to help you make consistent progress, despite the whole right brain thing. This is a practical guide for turning creativity into momentum.Tacklebox (code HOLIDAY2025 for 50% off)The sailboat race I mentionTimestamps:00:30 How a Prolific Investor Invests04:47 Right Brain, Left Brain07:38 Jazz - CODE HOLIDAY202508:13 You Don’t Have a Goal11:30 Outsourcing your Left Brain to AI13:05 The Regroup System15:01 The Icebox16:59 The End

Choosing your first customer can make or break your startup. The right customer can drive growth, while the wrong one can doom you. Key characteristics include acute pain, strong knowledge, measurable success, influence in their network, and frequent interactions with your product. Founders learn to actively seek out and validate these traits before scaling their business. Plus, real-world examples help illustrate the path to early success.

Explore the intriguing dilemma of whether to niche down as an entrepreneur. Hear about the benefits and drawbacks of a focused approach, and understand how a good niche can establish trust. Discover how to grow from a niche—vertically or horizontally—while learning the importance of influential customers. Delve into stories of unique business concepts, like a chef teaching through smell, and reflect on the importance of choosing a niche that addresses customer needs, not personal preferences. Trust your future self to navigate the journey!

Hard problems are the only problems worth your time. Today, we'll talk about how to identify them and build a business around them. We'll dig in on decisions customers avoid and using those decisions to anchor early traction. We'll talk through Brian's favorite current business - a guy who buys used cars for you - and how to approach helping people with chronic pain.  Also, I'm writing a book! Want to help me? Sign up here. Tacklebox

Today, we talk about why you struggle so much with easy, seemingly straightforward tasks as a founder. You probably assume this is a productivity problem, but it's actually a nervous system problem - you've maxed out your Risk Threshold. We talk about how to navigate that and build a startup while being a human. Also, I'm writing a book!HELP BRIAN WRITE A BOOKTacklebox 00:30 - Brian’s Writing a Book02:34 - Why Easy Stuff is Hard05:02 - Your Risk Threshold07:15 - The Riskiness Equation11:27 - Why This Is So Bad and What To Do14:14 - The End

Most founders hope to get lucky. But luck isn't random - it can (and has to be) engineered. Today we'll break down exactly what luck is and how you can reverse engineer it. We'll help you identify Luck Gatekeepers and build your Luck Budget. You'll never think about entrepreneurial luck the same way again.Tacklebox (code Holiday for 50% off month one)Graham WeaverTimestamps:00:30 How to get lucky03:11 Story Time: Getting Press for 3Degrees11:06 Tacklebox12:32 The Five Types of Luck15:05 Luck for a Date Planning Service16:25 Luck Gatekeepers17:45 Luck Routines and your Luck Budget

Today, we'll help you build an SOP for testing startup ideas. We'll use an example from a listener - a startup in the homeschooling space - as a guinea pig. The best way to have a great startup idea this time next year is to test out a bunch of ideas in the interim. This SOP will help you do it, and scale the process.Tacklebox00:00 Tacklebox00:30 Pros and Amateurs02:08 Homeschool Idea05:47 The Story of Future You06:16 Entrepreneur Pro Tactic Number One - Working Backwards from Dreams07:42 Tacklebox08:50 SOPs14:19 An SOP for a Problem Worth Solving14:46 Customer Language15:55 SOP Problem Doc19:40 The Stakes23:00 The Startup Journal