3 builders who never spoke to each other

Shrink the goal to one sale you could make today

Replace the revenue target with a single transaction: one buyer, one small price, this week. The exercise breaks the habit of using planning and research as procrastination, and the least technical mechanism that could work is usually the right place to start.

The method

1. 01

   Reach for the least technical mechanism that could work - a phone call or a spreadsheet you sell - before building a web app.

2. 02

   Shrink your launch goal to a single transaction: sell one ten-dollar item to one buyer before aiming at a million in sales.

3. 03

   Shrink the first step to one conversation: find a single prospective customer today and pitch them the idea.

4. 04

   Give yourself 72 hours to earn $1,000 from a standing start, as a way to break the habit of using planning and market research as procrastination.

What it returned

• On Justin's first day at a startup his boss handed him a lead list and told him the phone was how the company made all its money.

• The contrast drawn is that building a large business is complicated while talking to one potential customer and pitching them is simple enough to do today.

• Welsh sets this as an exercise for his Creator MBA students and expects more attempts to fail than succeed, arguing the market feedback is worth having either way.

Sources

• This is what starting small looks likeJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · This is what starting small looks like · undated
• I wasted 4 years of my life doing thisJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · I wasted 4 years of my life doing this · undated
• The $1,000 Weekend ChallengeJustin Welsh · justinwelsh.me · The $1K Weekend Challenge: Quick Validation and Revenue · 2024-08-24
• Just Do ItPreetam Nath · preetamnath.com · Start today · 2021-01-24