Today, we'll help you think through a deceptively tough question - are you a freelancer or an entrepreneur? Every decision you make needs to nest neatly below this core decision for your business to work, but tons of founders are either trying to do both simultaneously or think they're one when they're really the other. We clarify the difference between freelancer and entrepreneur, help you decide which will make you happier, and get you started on the path for whichever you choose. BYLDD Tackle...
Sep 27, 2023•25 min•Season 5Ep. 113
Today, we help you become the type of founder who relishes uncomfortable things that lead to successful startups. There are no real secrets in the startup world - the hard, proactive, uncomfortable work leads to businesses that matter. This work doesn’t happen without a system. Today we help you build that system, using The Costanza Swap, The Three Levers of Resilience, and The Failure Case. Hoo ahh. Tacklebox 00:24 Doing Things You Don’t Want To Do 02:45 Why the Eisenhower Box Doesn’t Work for ...
Sep 20, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 112
Today, we'll lay out a framework to help you identify and kill bad ideas. It's hard to objectively evaluate your idea early on - this framework helps you rise above your idea to do it effectively. A side-effect is that the framework will help you find and pursue the good ideas. We talk through 1) Finding and Evaluating the Real Risk, 2) Predicting Organic Growth Potential, and 3) Predicting the Likelihood of Converting Early Customers, using a startup idea from a listener as an example. Tacklebo...
Sep 13, 2023•23 min•Season 5Ep. 111
Today is the last episode in the three-part series on an internal operating system for people working on startup ideas. We talk through the core pillars - Projects, Areas, Inbox - and the multipliers (like Keystone Actions) that'll make sure you're focused on the things that could be differentiators for your business. After today, you'll have everything you need to build your own system. Tacklebox The PARA Method Getting Things Done Notion GTD Template 00:24 Your Startup System 02:18 The Birthda...
Sep 06, 2023•30 min•Season 5Ep. 110
Today is part 2 of our series helping you build an internal operating system. We identify the four things you'll need to have happen for your startup to gain momentum, then we organize those into a system that'll help you move fast based on inertia. Tacklebox Beehiiv Monkeys and Shakespeare 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Delta 4 Status Level Jump 00:25 - Internal Operating System Part II 03:15 - Monkeys and Shakespeare 07:40 - Smooth Jazz 08: 05 - Reverse Engineering a System 10:4...
Aug 30, 2023•28 min•Season 5Ep. 109
Today, we'll kick off a series that'll help people with jobs and startup ideas build an internal system that'll help them track progress and build momentum. Too many founders have no strategy or measurement system around how they pursue and test an idea - this series will help you do it. In part 1, we go through what a strategy should look like and the three counterintuitive benefits to creating one. Tacklebox Beehiiv 00:00 Jazz 00:25 What should you work on today? 02:29 Golf Clubs in Cities 4:2...
Aug 23, 2023•17 min•Season 5Ep. 108
Today, we'll help you find a differentiator powerful enough that it can support your business. We'll talk through what a differentiator actually allows you to do, five prompts to help you uncover and test one for your business, and Brian's favorite current differentiator - Popup Bagels. Tacklebox Beehiiv Popup Bagels 00:00 Beehiiv 00:33 Differentiator intro 04:00 What do you hire a differentiator to do? 05:44 The Attention Pie 09:03 Smooth Jazz 09:28 Popup Bagels 16:30 Five Prompts for Your Diff...
Aug 16, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 107
Today, we'll help you get out of your own way. We subscribe to the Charlie Munger school of "instead of trying to be smarter, try to be less dumb," and this episode digs into three ways to simplify your startup so that you can move faster. We talk through how to actually implement jobs to be done, how to build systems to amplify your willpower 100x, and how to be more courageous. Also, I'll watch Interstellar. Everyone calm down. Tacklebox Idea to Startup Newsletter (Beehiiv) 00:34 Removing Your...
Aug 09, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 106
Today, we'll talk through a framework that'll help you evaluate whether you're building something useful enough to anchor a business. Most startups fail because the thing they built doesn't make a big enough dent in their customers lives. We'll make sure you don't make this mistake with help from Habit Kangaroo, a startup Brian ran back in 2014, and a GMAT training program his friend ran that helped people get into Harvard. Tacklebox Beehiiv (Idea to Startup Newsletter) Byldd Greenlights 0:30 Bu...
Aug 02, 2023•25 min•Season 5Ep. 105
Today, we talk through four characteristics of great startup ideas (with a bonus fifth Brian thought of post-recording). We discuss organic growth, market innovation vs. product innovation, growing markets, product swaps, and happiness. The goal of this episode is to help shape fuzzy ideas and give you new ideas. Tacklebox Beehiiv 1:27 The Personal Venn Diagram 5:18 Smooth Jazz 5:46 The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas 6:48 Characteristic 1: Potential for Organic Growth 9:14 Character...
Jul 26, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 104
Today we talk about organic growth. Your startup won't be successful if your first customers aren't compelled to tell people about how you've helped them. Luckily, organic growth is straightforward. There are ways to predict it and ideas better suited for it. We talk through an equation for organic growth and dig in on why people share. Tacklebox Insider Newsletter (beehiiv) 00:34 Intro to organic growth 4:24 Why social ads won’t work 5:54 Outline of the Organic Growth Equation 7:08 Smooth Jazz ...
Jul 19, 2023•28 min•Season 5Ep. 103
Today, we'll help you build a system for creativity. We'll start by defining creativity as an equation to make it more accessible. Then, we'll develop a system that focuses on the inputs of the creativity equation. We talk through the Commonplace Book, Commencement Speeches, a sports writer and the movie Sahara. Then, we get into the weeds on how to set up and implement your own personal creativity system. Tacklebox Weekly Podcast Newsletter The Great Talks, Lectures, and Speeches of History Not...
Jul 12, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 102
Today, we'll talk about the big question - should you start with a focused niche? There are pros and cons to the approach, but the perceived cons - "what if I get tired of the niche in a few years?" , "what if the niche doesn't lead to a bigger market?" , "isn't a niche just hiding from the bigger problem I want to solve?" have gotten louder lately. So, we'll address them. We'll go over what a good niche looks like, how to get one, and how to grow. Podcast Insider Sign Up Tacklebox Kurt Vonnegut...
Jun 28, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 101
Today, we'll talk through why you didn't get a product live last weekend despite an episode that walked you through a step-by-step process to do it. Last week, we ignored the emotional stuff. The inertia and discomfort that keep people from doing something new. Today, we tackle it. We give you a framework to lean into discomfort and answer the questions that nag at you and hold you back from putting stuff live. Byldd Tacklebox 0:35 Magical Products 1:51 Story of company that helps restaurants so...
Jun 21, 2023•23 min•Season 5Ep. 100
Today we'll help you get the first version of your product up and out. We use a three-part framework to help you focus in on the one core feature you've got to nail. We also find your customers inertia and ride that wave to make it easier to use your product than not. We get help from an airbnb for lawn equipment startup and move the ball forward on the chronic pain idea. Subscribe to get Idea to Startup extended info + show notes + frameworks + bonus eps Tacklebox The Personal MBA Episode Detai...
Jun 14, 2023•28 min•Season 5Ep. 99
Today, we'll talk through how to identify and pursue the big, consequential ideas - what we'll call Quests. We go through how to identify them, how to wrap our arms around them, and what to do when you (inevitably) feel intimidated. We'll do it with a little help from the 90 Yard Mistake, a ghost kitchen idea, and some chronic pain interviews. Quest (drink). Tacklebox Choose Good Quests...
Jun 07, 2023•26 min•Season 5Ep. 98
Today, Seth Godin (!!) virtually dropped by to talk through a bunch of startup ideas. He gives his opinion on how he’d start everything from a pasta truck to an updated CSA program. We dive into risk, emotion, tension and doing things that matter. Seth talks about the distinction between entrepreneurs and freelancers and the danger of thinking you’re one when you’re really the other. We talk about marketplaces and domain expertise and knowing what it is you’re actually selling. This is my favori...
May 31, 2023•49 min•Season 5Ep. 97
Today, we'll talk about one of the most common hurdles entrepreneurs run into - getting tempted by a new idea a few months into working on a different idea. We lay out a framework to identify the first principles of the new idea fast so you can decide if it's worth a pivot. We also dig in on why the urge to pivot shows up, procrastination, and how to win a baking contest. And, English Lords from the 17th century. Tacklebox...
May 24, 2023•23 min•Season 5Ep. 96
Today, we'll talk through a landing page system that'll help you find a great initial customer - one that can anchor your business. We'll talk through the circle framework, as well as the One Person Landing Page and the Emotion / Logistics / Urgency flow. This will help you identify the right customer to focus your product building efforts on. Tacklebox Owl City - Fireflies Daniel Priestley Unbounce Score...
May 17, 2023•26 min•Season 5Ep. 95
Today we chat with Jonathan Swanson , cofounder of Thumbtack , Athena , and Powerset . We cover a ton of ground - starting with the Sunday idea club that led to Thumbtack, how to scale a marketplace, and how to choose ideas you'd happily spent a decade on. Next, we jump into the science of delegation - the idea at the core of Athena. Jonathan talks through how to delegate to an EA, when to start with one, a system of delegation that creates asymmetric upside and what type of founders should cons...
May 10, 2023•55 min•Season 5Ep. 94
Today, we're going to talk about one of the fundamental laws of startups - The Wedge. It's the best way to build trust when you have a product that's got a longer feedback loop or requires a lot from your early customers. We'll show a few examples and build out a framework to help guide you when you're looking for, and implementing, a wedge. Byldd Tacklebox Six Easy Pieces...
May 03, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 93
Today, we'll talk about people. An old boss of Brian's said the best way to see into the future is to see the present in higher resolution than anyone else. Understanding people - yourself and your customer - will let you understand their behavior. This will let you better predict how they'll act than anyone else and build for it. We talk through a cold email that'll get you customers to speak with and a method to make sure you're unbiased in what you hear. Tacklebox Stutz Pyramid Wes Kao All Ey...
Apr 26, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 92
Today is week two of testing out a startup idea live on the show. We're pushing and pulling on the chronic pain idea, setting up the system to get interactions with customers and establishing our organizing principle for the first phase of the business: speed. Tacklebox Chartr
Apr 19, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 91
Today, we'll kick off a series where Brian is going to test out a startup idea live. We begin the way every idea should begin - by figuring out why the thing will fail and building in systems to avoid that fate. Brian touches on Thrust and Drag, The Goldfish Cleanse, Journal of a Startup, and exactly what you should do to get to first principles for your startup idea. Tacklebox Thrust and Drag...
Apr 12, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 90
Today, we'll talk through the hardest decision an early-stage entrepreneur has to make - quit on your idea or stick it through? This decision rarely has enough information and the entrepreneur never has enough context to make it. Lots of entreprenuers quit right before their idea was about to get interesting or stick with ideas that never had a chance for years. This pod lays out a decision framework to help with the quit or stick question. Tacklebox Sell the Position podcast...
Apr 05, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 89
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. Byldd Tacklebox...
Mar 29, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 88
Today, we'll finish up on Thrust and Drag. This time, we'll talk about building trust with your customer in six seconds - creating thrust that'll buy you another six seconds, and another after that. There's art and science to getting people's attention in such a short period of time, and we'll talk through both. Tacklebox The Million Dollar One Person Business Building A Second Brain Clickdrobe...
Mar 22, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 87
Today we'll talk about thrust and drag, the components of momentum. Momentum is the lifeblood for startups, but most people leave it to chance. By focusing on the inputs of momentum - thrust and drag - you can build systems to ensure you keep moving forward. Gaps kill startups. This system removes them. Email [email protected] with "Uncomfy" in the subject to be invited to Uncomfy Hour Tacklebox Song where Taylor Swift burns Jake Gyllenhall...
Mar 15, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 86
Today, we'll hit on the most asked question in our now functional podcast question submission list. What if the thing you're building isn't solving a bleeding neck problem? What if it's just something you think people will want? Something that'll improve their life, but not something they loose sleep over? Should you still pursue it? How? We'll talk through Linguini, Yeti, gross margins and status level jumps and land on the answer - is that type of business worth your time? Uncomfy hour - email...
Mar 08, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 85
Today, we'll talk about content. Two of the most asked questions we get are "should I create content?" and "if I should... what the heck should I say?" Creating content feels daunting until you realize the best way to create content is to not create content. We go through how to do that, leaning on a few examples and a content generating framework. We also crown the best burrito in NYC. Tacklebox Dos Toros / El Gallo Bird by Bird...
Mar 01, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 84
