2 builders who never spoke to each other

Deliver the outcome by hand before you build it

Run the paid workshop, the manual service or the free session that produces the result your future software promises, aimed at the same customers. Money changing hands is the proof, and the presale forces you to name the problem, the value and how you will reach buyers before you can ask for it.

The method

1. 01

   Run a paid workshop on the topic before building the product, as proof that people will actually hand over money for it.

2. 02

   Deliver the outcome your future software promises as a manual service or workshop first, aimed at the same customers.

3. 03

   Use the presale as a forcing function: you cannot ask for money without first naming the problem, the value proposition and how you will reach buyers.

4. 04

   Run a free, low-effort webinar on something you are genuinely excited about before you have anything to sell, and treat the volume of follow-up questions as your demand signal.

5. 05

   Cap the planning at about a month and spend the rest on several cheap ways to sell the thing for real, instead of a year of preparation and one large launch.

What it returned

• 2019

  Marie Poulin ran a casual Notion webinar in 2019 with nothing for sale; it marked her as the person who knew the tool and people began asking her questions constantly.

• Brennan Dunn suggested it; Justin did it for the Build Your Audience course and it worked.

• 37signals ran workshops on helping small businesses work better years before shipping software with the same purpose.

• Alternatives the author wishes he'd run before opening a skate and snowboard shop: selling boards from his truck at the skatepark, renting a temporary mall unit over Christmas, trying home delivery.

Sources

• 2014: a year of making stuffJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What were my biggest hits of 2014? · undated
• Business lesson: less research, launch smallJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · What I should have done: smaller experiments · undated
• Find a good partyJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How do you find a good party? · undated
• Unconventional bootstrapping: round 1Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · 1. Teaching forces you to start small · undated
• Presales: Saving Time, Money, EffortDru Riley · trends.vc · 🔑 Key Lessons · 2020-12-14