Stacking the Bricks - Real Entrepreneur Confessions

We're going on a quick break, but this episode includes a sneak peek at what's coming up next. Thanks for a great season, and for all of the positive comments. If you love the show, consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts: https://lovethepodcast.com/stackingbricks 

I recently joined friend Jonathan Stark on his podcast "Ditching Hourly" where he typically talks about business strategies and best practices for helping freelancers and consultants escape hourly billing. And we talked about that world of business quite a bit, including how people often copy the wrong parts of the successes they've seen.But as a self-published digital author himself, Jonathan also wanted to grill me on exactly how we launched The Tiny MBA and sold thousands of copies without a publishing deal...and without boxes of books sitting in my basement.So I indulged him!In this episode, you're going to hear my answers to Jonathan's questions about:Why we decided to make The Tiny MBA a physical, printed book in the first placeHow and why we picked our printing and distribution partner (and why it's not Amazon)And Jonathan and I riff on my new "secret weapon" for building pre-launch momentum, and why it created a 90% conversion rate and some of the fastest sales I've ever seen.I also learned that Jonathan went to music school, and the comparison he draws in the first few moments between learning both business and music through style practices still has me thinking about it weeks later!I'm excited to see Jonathan ship his first paperback book in the future, and if you're inspired to consider self-publishing a print book, I hope the stories and suggestions in this episode help you too.WIth that, let's get into my conversation with Jonathan Stark from the Ditching Hourly podcast. Ready? Here we go. 

This week I'm talking customer research with Eteinne Garbugli. Eteinne is the author of a book called Lean B2B, and after learning that his book included our Sales Safari customer research framework, I offered to talk with him and answer some of his remaining questions about the methodology.In the next 30 minutes, you'll hear Eteinne and I talk about:- the surprising origin of Sales Safari itself- what we really mean when we say "customer pain" and the many forms it can take- why strategically choosing an audience is actually a lot more straightforward than most entrepreneurs make it ...and a whole lot more.In the full interview, we also talked about a bunch of other topics related to entrepreneurship and some of ay-tenne's favorite lessons in The Tiny MBA, but you're here for the Sales Safari so I'm jumping straight into that here on the podcast feed!This is some of the most in-depth information we've ever published about Sales Safari outside of our paid courses, so I'm excited to share it and hope it helps you understand and reach your audiences.Ready? Here we go. 

This week I'm stopping by The Cognitive Bias Podcast with David Dylan Thomas to riff on a topic we're both very passionate about: the intersection of ethics and capitalism.Dave is one of the best people I can think of to talk to about this because as a designer and a strategist, He spent a lot of his career thinking about the implications of bias on our work as creators.And one of the things I've heard Dave talk about over and over and over is how so many of the ethical problems we face in business today might actually be designed problems that we can better solve. And in some cases only solve. If we first understand to the cognitive biases that those problems are rooted in.Dave has spent so much time thinking about bias that he literally wrote a book about it called Design for Cognitive Bias, about how to understand the impact of biases on our customers, our teams, even ourselves. The book is amazing. Everyone who makes things should absolutely read it.Back to ethics and capitalism. Seemingly opposing forces. Right? Well, in this episode, we're going to be talking about: the impact of survivorship bias on the kinds of businesses that people start and growthe relationships that exist between money and power and a very unexpected segue into an episode of the nineties TV show dinosaurs that I promise is more relevant than you could possibly imagine.If you enjoy this conversation, I highly recommend going and checking out. Dave's aptly named Cognitive Bias Podcast for other similar in-depth discussions with industry experts, and then go back and check out these super bingeable back catalog of his 5 to 10 minute episodes where he explores one bias in each one. It's truly a treasure trove of how our we're human brains work. But now, and here, I hope you enjoy this wide ranging discussion about the get rich quick scheme that we call America with David Dylan Thomas. Here we go.  

This week I've got a quick brick for you today, on the topic of bosses.One of the things I don't think we talk about enough is how the bosses we've had inform the bosses we become, and that includes becoming our own bosses too.A few weeks back I had the chance to sit down with Lauren Williams from Workplace Harmony and the host of a very fun show called "Caffeinated Convos and Horrible Bosses" where she asks her guests to share their best stories about the worst bosses they've had, and try to learn lessons that can make us better bosses today.Lauren and I talked more about my backstory and The Tiny MBA on her show, which you can go listen to at anchor.fm/horriblebosses, and dig into her archive for more horrible boss catharsis.But in today's mini-episode, I share:- My horrible boss story, and how it informed my approach to business- As well as the impact one amazing boss has had on my life in ways that still impacts me, more than 15 years later.All that and more inside this caffeinated conversation with my new friend, Lauren Williams. Here we go.Find Lauren on Social MediaTwitter: @LaurenShazzamInstagram: @workplaceharmonyHRFB: Workplace Harmony

This week The Tiny MBA podcast tour comes with a twist! Isn't there always a twist? Is it still a twist if you know a twist is coming? I guess M Night Shyamalan would say so.... ANYWAY.I'm bringing you an episode from a brand new show called "Grow the Show" by my friend Kevin Chemidlin and his podcast company, Cue 9 productions.As you might imagine from my repetition of the word "show" this is a podcast about...podcasts. More specifically, it's FOR podcasters. Ya see, Kevin is a professional podcaster himself, now producing successful shows of his own as well as for others. He recently started helping his fellow podcasters - as the title of his new podcast would suggest - grow their show.GTS is a little less of an "interview' show and more focused on making sure each episode teaches a very specific lesson, from a very specific aspect of starting, growing, and even making money with podcasts. The expert just before me was Eric Nuzum, whos name you might not know but whose work you likely do: it includes a bunch of NPR shows like Invisibilia and TED radio hour.On my episode of Grow the Show, we did something I hadn't had a chance to do yet: we looked at the lessons in The Tiny MBA through a very specific lens, exploring how the book applies to podcasters! We go very deep and specific into:how to find your audience on the internetthe specific, concrete elements of audience building and effective self promotionand how to reach them without feeling (or looking like) a spammer.Kevin's new show is great, and I'm excited to see what he does with in the coming months, so if you enjoy this one go search out "grow the show" wherever you get podcasts.If you enjoy this deep dive on audience building with Kevin Chemidlin, make sure you go check out my full episode of Grow the Show along with the other episodes. Here we go.

This week we're taking a break from the Tiny MBA podcast tour to bring you a very special conversation with a very special guest: Nilofer Merchant.Nilofer comes with some serious credentials:She's worked as an executive and strategic consultant at massive companies like Apple, Adobe, Autodesk, Nokia, and many moreShe's shipped 18 Billion (with a B!) dollars in products across her 25 year careerShe's famous for (but not always known as the source of) the phrase "sitting is the smoking of our generation" from her viral TED talk by the same nameShe's written three business books, and currently writes an advice column about making hard business and life decisions that I highly recommend subscribing to: https://atwork.substack.comBut don't get it twisted: unlike many voices in positions of corporate power, Nilofer is a creator like you and me, and uses her position and experience in the business world to make the business world a better place for more people.Nilofer is one of us :)Which part of why I asked her to write the forward for my book, The Tiny MBA.And here's the thing: whenever I have a conversation with Nilofer, we end up somewhere much deeper and more meaningful than where we started. We have a rapport that lets us skip the pleasantries and get right to the real stuff.So in today's episode, Nilofer and I are inviting you into one of those conversations.In this conversation we talk about everything from:How we learned to seek and understand patterns in businessWhat we've learned from our careers of giving professional adviceAnd why peeing in the pool is a problemAnd a lot, lot more.With that, let's get into this very special episode with Nilofer Merchant. Here we go.

Over the last few weeks, I have been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people, just like you.And this time, I took a virtual trip to India to visit to my friends Mayur and Shai-zada on the Remote Explorers Podcast where they talk about remote work and more generally, the culture of work.In the full episode that you can find on their podcast feed, we talked a lot about the current and future state of coworking, but here on Stacking the Bricks I pulled out some of the highlights about business, entrepreneurship, and education that are most relevant to you, including:The three most valuable parts of a college education, and why it might be more valuable for some people than othersWhere the "Tiny" in Tiny MBA came fromAnd since this is a podcast about remote work, a few of my best tips for adapting to remote work (hint: it's got nothing to do with software)So with that, I hope you enjoy this very special presentation from the Mayur and Shaizada, the Remote Explorers. Here we go!

Over the last few weeks, I have been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people, just like you.And this time, I paid a visit to Will Toms and the REC Philly community here in Philadelphia. REC - which stands for "resources for every creator" - is a pretty incredible community and resource center geared towards helping artists, musicians, and other creators turn their creative skills into real business opportunities.Just last year, they opened an amazing facility for that community of creatives, sort of like a gym but with digital audio stations and recording studios instead of treadmills and weights.I also admire their dedication to education, and making sure that their community knows how to make the most of having access to those incredibly powerful tools.But most of all, I love the people. The staff, the leadership, and every community member I've met at REC is smart and creative, some of the best Philly has to offer.So I was excited when the team invited me to one of their "creator sessions" to share some stories and lessons surrounding one of my personal favorite lessons in The Tiny MBA: Audience Building Building Trust at Scale.The entire session is more than twice as long as what's here on our podcast, and includes parts of my personal business story. You can check that out on REC Philly's youtube channel.But here on the feed, I jumped straight to the lessons. In fact, you'll hear me give details and context for ten of MY favorite lessons that I hand picked specifically for this audience of creators, and why I picked each one.After sharing these lessons, I was joined on the virtual stage by REC Philly co-founder and my good friend Will Toms. Will is one of my favorite interviewers and moderators to watch work, so for me, being on the receiving end of his questions was a LOT of fun and for you, you're gonna get some new answers that you definitely haven't heard me talk about anywhere!Some of my fav questions from Will and the audience include:- The importance of listening as a business skill, and how you can practice it.- Where I learned how to sell people back their time and confidence.- And how much sharing is oversharing.I love any chance to jam with the REC Philly crew, and I'm very excited to share this session with you.So with that, I hope you enjoy this very special presentation from the REC Philly archives. Here we go!

Over the last few weeks, I have been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people, just like you.We'll not necessarily JUST like you, because you might have noticed that these last few conversations have been visits to podcasts hosted by dudes!Thankfully, I was able to end this white-male-podcast-host streak by visiting with Colleen Schnettler and Michele Hansen on the Software Social Podcast.Among a sea of white dudes talking about how awesome they are, Michele and Colleen's show stands out as something...special and needed. It feels less like an interview, and more like two smart professional friends offering weekly stories and support about what's going on in their respective businesses.I love shows like this, that feel more like a human conversation that we, the audience, just get to listen in to.So if you're into software and business, and like me want to hear more diverse voices talking about the things we're interested in, I highly recommend checking out their podcast backlog after you're done tuning into this one.So, about this episode!Like the last several podcast hosts I've visited, Colleen and Michele have recently read my new book The Tiny MBA, and true to form we had a great time going deeper into their favorite lessons from the book to help you get an even better understanding of how these lessons might be valuable for you.I found it especially interesting how Michele and Colleen both took valuable lessons from the book, even though they are at very different stages of their businesses!So in this episode, we talk about:- Why education is the most effective marketing you can create- How psychology can be thought of as "debugging, for people"- And why one question in The Tiny MBA left Colleen feeling TERRIFIED.Don't worry, by the time we were done with the conversation, she wasn't feeling terrified anymore, and maybe even excited to take on the challenge I proposed.So with that, let's get into this...maybe my favorite episode of The Tiny MBA podcast tour to date.I hope you enjoy this in depth conversation I had with Michele and Colleen on the Software Social Podcast. Here we go!

Over the last few episodes, I've been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people just like you to talk about some of their  favorites tidbits from my new book, The Tiny MBA. In THIS episode I visited with Tony Lopes on the Self Made Strategies Podcast, where he  explores modern collaboration, craft, and persistence.In this shorter excerpt from the longer conversation you can find on his site, we talk about:- The biggest hurdles and challenges in publishing a book (hint - it's not writing a book).- Making reversible decisions- And what people get wrong about risk - keep in mind that Tony is a lawyer!And a whole lot more!With that, I hope you enjoy this in depth conversation I had with Tony. Here we go!

Over the last few weeks, I've been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people just like you to talk about some of their  favorites tidbits from my new book, The Tiny MBA. In THIS episode I visited with Matthew Arnold on the Iowa Idea podcast, where he  explores modern collaboration, craft, and persistence.We talk about:- Why businesses - especially agencies - get distracted by awards- What it means to "flintstone" your work- And what people get wrong about passionAnd a whole lot more!With that, I hope you enjoy this in depth conversation I had with Matt. Here we go. 

Over the last few weeks, I've been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people just like you to talk about some of their  favorites tidbits from my new book, The Tiny MBA. In today's episode, I visit with Brendan Hufford from the SEO for the Rest of Us podcast to talk about some of his favorite lessons from The Tiny MBA.We talk about:Learning and feedback loopsBuilding in publicThe valuable knowledge that's often locked up behind closed doorsIn the full episode (which you can watch on Brendan's youtube channel) we talk more about the backstory and design of the book, so you can go check that out over there if you like. But for here on the stacking, the bricks feed, I jumped straight to the part where we start talking about the lessons that Brendan learned from the book and wanted to share.I hope you enjoy this in depth conversation with Brendan and I. Lets go!

Over the last few weeks, I've been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people just like you to talk about some of their favorites tidbits from my new book, The Tiny MBA. And today I'm sharing an episode from a live stream that I did with Ken Rimple and Becca Refford at Chariot Solutions, an enterprise tech consulting firm right here in Philadelphia. Chariot is a big force in the Philadelphia tech community, doing lots of great things for technologists in the region.In today's episode, we riffed on a few of Ken and Becca's favorite nuggets from the book, including:The power of slowing down to take a look for hidden CThe real reason self-promotion feels achy to you. And we explored a hidden theme of "wellness" in the book!Also, a quick shout out to Hannah Litvin, the designer behind The Tiny MBA. In this episode, we talk a little bit about her designs and the design process that we went through together. If you're thinking about creating a book of our own, and are interested in hiring a designer, you should absolutely check her out: https://www.behance.net/hannahlitvinIf you're interested in my full backstory, you can and should go check out the full episode The Tech Cast youtube channel: But for here on the stacking, the bricks feed, I jumped straight to the part where we start talking about the lessons of the book.I hope you enjoy this in depth conversation with Ken Rimple and Becker Refford from Chariot Solutions.

Hope you're safe, hope you're well, hope your loved ones are well, hope you're finding ways to stay sane and of course, finding ways to keep stacking the bricks to build your own product business. Over the coming weeks I'm going to be adding new episodes to the Stacking the Bricks feed to highlight conversations that I've been having across the internet with creators and entrepreneurs. Why have I been having these conversations? One: I'm stuck at home, just like you! But two: I have a new book, The Tiny MBA 100 Very Short Lessons about the Long Game of Business Short enough to read in 20-30 mins Available as an ebook but also for the first time, a paperback book! Today's episode is one of the first conversations I had about the book, with Louis Nicholls from the Sales for Founders podcast. Louie was one of the beta readers, and invited me to kick off a new seasons of his show to talk about the book and to go deep on a few of the lessons inside. I'll let him introduce the episode in a moment, but if you want to get your own copy of The Tiny MBA, you can go to https://tiny.mba to order it in paperback or ebook formats, OR find it on the amazon kindle store. With that, here's Louis. Oh, and go subscribe to his show too: https://pod.salesforfounders.com Enjoy. Full and Interactive Transcript available for this episode: http://stackingthebricks.com/podcast/ep30-sales-for-founders--the-tiny-mba/

Nathan Johnson left a corporate gig to bootstrap an affiliate business to 100,000 users. But to get it any bigger - and profitable - he would have to give up the very thing he left his corporate gig for: freedom. Ouch. Find out how he changed course to build a different business that DOES let him travel and spend more time with his family, while helping an audience of professional photographers.

I've been wanting to do an episode with Brennan Dunn for a LONG time. He's one of our most successful students, having built an empire of resources and products for freelancers at doubleyourfreelancing.com. But freelancing rates aren't the only thing Brennan has figured out how to double...now he's mastered the art of personalizing on-page content to boost conversion rates, often 2x or more! Brennan has come a long way since he joined 30x500 with the idea to build and AirBnB for homecooked meals...and in this episode you're going to learn how he built his empire by stacking the bricks.

Dave Ceddia knew how to ship, but none of his projects had ever made a sale. Today, $15,000 in sales of his book "Pure React" later, he knows how to create new, bigger products for his loyal and growing audience. In this episode, you'll find out how he stopped thinking of himself as a "lifer" at a cushy job to being in control of his professional future.

Donovan picked up JFS in December. Read it over Christmas. By the end of February, he'd grown his mailing list to 1,500 people. He created a landing page and JFS'd an email course on CSS animation, with a price tag of $49. In the first 7 days, he made 50 sales — for a total of over $2,000. NICE. To learn more about how Donovan did it — including specific techniques for getting traffic to his blog posts — listen in right now…

Here is the double-edged sword of the software business: All the “features” in the world will not matter if you don’t have the customer pipeline. It is better to lose many customers over a missing feature than spend a month on a feature that people say will make them sign up. Yet there really are features you’ll require in order to get and retain your best customers. OK, so maybe it’s a triple edged sword. Or maybe a citrus reamer. Shut up.

Adding people - partners, employees, contract staff - is one of the hardest parts of growing a business. It doesn't get talked about enough, and partly, because it's hard to talk about openly. In this episode we talk about the reasons why working with people falls apart so often and some things we've learned along the way to make wise decisions when adding people to the team.

2015 was the best ever for Amy's SaaS business Freckle, with $625k of gross receipts, and so far we’re on track to hit close to $800k annual run rate (ARR) before this year is out. Those are some big numbers, but we didn’t start out there, and it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. In this episode we talk about the first of five things I wish I’d known when I started Freckle, things that would have made my life so much more profitable and pleasurable. Up first: "Inflection Points," aka the myth that "everything gets easier when..."

When Kai Davis sends you an email, there's a good chance he's asking for something.

Let us show you how most of the "risk" in starting a business isn't really risk at all.

Got 5 minutes? Then let Amy give you a swift kick in the ass. Learn why "accountability" doesn't work the way you think it does, and how to change your mindset to get more done.

Got 5 minutes? Then let Amy give you a swift kick in the ass. Listen to this quick, bite-sized episode to learn why business is unlike any other game you've ever played.

If we're honest...some of the most crucial parts of our business are a mess. A mess that makes money, but messy still.

Amy has talked about starting Freckle. Alex has talked about starting Indy Hall. But NEITHER of these were our first brushes with business. To get our true origin stories, you'd need to see what we were doing to earn money while we were still in grade school. And it wasn't from babysitting... Jump into a time-traveling DeLorean with us to go back, back back in time and learn how our EARLIEST experiences with business, making sales, and understanding customers and their behaviors shaped the businesses we run today.

Scott Hurff - who you met back in Episode 2 of this show - just released a new hit book through O'Reilly called "Designing Products People Love." But Amy and Alex aren't interviewing Scott about his book or his launch in this episode. In fact, the opposite. In this episode we turned the tables and Scott interviewed us, digging REALLY deep into our combined backgrounds in business and how we do research, conduct "Internet Ethnography" a.k.a. Sales Safari, and how we build learning systems to help our customers and students. We didn't plan to make this a podcast episode so the audio quality isn't perfect, but when I found this recording buried in some folders a few nights ago I realized that there wasn't anything this comprehensive anywhere out there. So it's time to change that. Click play to tune into this fun, fast-paced, and multi-layered conversation with an alumni we're very proud of, as we share what goes into creating the products that people love, and how we help others do the same.

The right motivation is a fire under your ass, not a Happy Place you retreat to in your mind when things are hard. The right motivation is enduring, meaningful, and personal — and often times, painful. Here's what the right motivation is not: fantasies of acclaim fantasies of riches and luxury fantasies of retiring early to a Mojito Island They're fun, but actually destructive to your ability to keep going. Why? Why can't these shiny Lamborghini Goals keep you going? What will? Listen to the latest episode of Stacking the Bricks to find out!

Why are we talking about pants on a business show? There's a connection, we promise.

"The idea that, oh well, I shouldn't charge money for this because… some reason. Justin spent years noodling on side projects. He made every excuse in the book for not charging for them, including some we haven't often heard: At the time, it seemed like, 'Why should I charge money for this? This is a passion project of mine.' So I should just release it for free." But last year, he decided to make a change.

Click here to watch the video of the ebomb that you hear in the intro of this episode -> https://unicornfree.com/2015/so-youve-got-some-safari-and-ebombs-now-what-pain-to-product-coaching-part-2 ebomb, noun - our special 30x500 term for "actionable educational content marketing". Yeah, cuz that's a mouthful. So drop a knowledge bomb on 'em. Ebomb 'em.** Sooo… you've got some Sales Safari data, you've got some quality ebombs under your belt, now what? How big should your ebombs be? What if it feels like you're exhausting a small watering hole? How do you go from ebombing to a product? What thing should you try, if your ebombs aren't getting great traffic or signups? What's the best way to open up (and sell) a (free) ebomb? When's the right time to start on the product, anyway? Ummm soooo… if you hear things over and over in the watering holes, what do you do with it? What if the pros in your audience… uh… aren't in love with you? How is it actually kind of magical and productive to be annoying?

"I just need someone to hold me accountable." "If only there was a community where I could get advice…" "Let me tell you my plan…" Have these phrases ever passed your lips? And then you failed to 1. execute your plan, 2. take action on the advice you received, or 3. be accountable? I'm going to assume the answer is "Yes," because it's a mistake we've all made before. Although some of us longer than others. That's what I did for about a decade before shipping Twistori, before Freckle, before JavaScript Performance Rocks! — before 30x500. I used to talk about the business I would build, some day. The software I would design, some day. I had HUGE ambition. I was always looking around for something that would make me do it. And I learned: There's no such thing. There is no force on earth that can make you do something. Really — nothing. Even if a moustachio'd highwayman held you at gunpoint and demanded "YOUR LAUNCH DATE OR YOUR LIFE," you would still be choosing between consequences: Do I ship? Or do I take the bullet? You get to choose. You cannot be truly forced. And why would you want to be, anyway? Why would you want to put yourself in that position? Nobody does, not for long. So you say you want "an accountability partner," and that lets the pressure off, and then… nothing gets done. No surprise there: you relied on the pressure, and then you let it escape. Accidentally on purpose. This is a pattern I've seen over & over in myself, before I decided to get over it. And in the last 5 years I've seen it in so many of our students. It's one of the core causes of failure and if you want to succeed, you need to address it. To help you, I recorded a little Amy Productivity Psychology Story Time for you. I explain the why, the wherefores… and what to do about it.

Newsflash: Lean Startup and Customer Development are inherently broken. If you ask me, the whole process is functionally bankrupt. Why? Let me answer your question with a pair of questions: Why do you create good things… but nobody buys? Worse: Why do you feel the thrill of a great idea, then get stuck before you even finish the damn thing? In short: Why all the struggle? And why do people worship the struggle? This lil mini-episode I made walks you through the problem, and the solution. It’s only 13 minutes. It could just be the 13 minutes that’ll end the idea-fail cycle for you forever. This mini-episode is from a video that appears here, if you'd like to "see" what Amy is talking about: https://unicornfree.com/2015/video-failure-vs-creating-a-product-people-want-to-buy

Jim Gay is a busy dad. A REALLY busy dad, with 4 kids. He really wanted a product business so he could spend more time with his family instead of working endless stressful hours to pay the bills. But this episode isn't actually about making time at all...it's about clearing a path for success. Do you remember the approach to tidying we talked about in episode 6 and 7? We learned that the path to a tidy home is deceptively simple...and part of the process involves letting go of things that are holding you back. In this episode, 30x500 alum Jim Gay talks about going through exactly that process, and how hard but important it was to start his product business with a clear perspective. You'll learn how he rebooted his approach, immersing himself in the community to learn what they care about most. Jim did so many smart, strategic things to build his audience: from turning his most popular ebombs as talks for conferences, to being really intentional about the KINDS of blog posts he wrote in the first place. And he's done very well for himself - his launch weekend topped $10k and he's earned over $60,000 from his first product since the first beta release. But Jim made some mistakes, too. One mistake in particular had big emotional costs in additional to delaying his financial success for over 2 years. It's a mistake that Amy and I have seen countless people make, and we've even made ourselves. You're going to have to listen to see what that mistake was, and how he recovered from it, and how selling products is helping him achieve his goal...having more time to spend with his family. Links mentioned in this episode http://clean-ruby.com http://twitter.com/saturnflyer http://sivers.org/obvious http://baconbizconf.com Interested in being part of our 30x500 Pioneers program? Sign up here and we'll send you details about the launch next week: http://30x500.com/pioneers

Amanda has learned the hard way that publishing beautiful books on the Kindle and other e-readers is a pain in the ass. In this hour long masterclass, Amy and I help Amanda through her first steps in turning this deep vein of pain into her first product. We talk about: Choosing and narrowing an audience (including some critically counterintuitive lessons) How to spot evidence of a market (where's the proof that lots of people have the same itch you're trying to scratch) Designing who your product will resonate with first How to develop marketing content (we call them ebombs) How to use audience jargon to connect with your audinece How to figure out what your audience already knows (and use that to your advantage) ...and a lot more This recording originally appeared on: https://unicornfree.com/2015/from-pain-into-a-product-a-real-live-coaching-session

Want a different result than you've been getting? Then you need a different approach. Enjoy part two of our 2-part conversation to learn the revolutionary approach that Japanese organizing expert Marie Kondo teaches for tidying, and how those lessons apply to your startup, too. Bonus: life (and business) wisdom from ancient Chinese philosophers, 500-year-old French noblemen, and the Bible. If this is your first episode of Stacking the Bricks, we'd recommend going back to Episode 6 to listen to the first part...it'll help set the stage for this episode. But...if you don't mind your listening to be a bit more of a jigsaw puzzle then by all means...keep listening. :) Get BOTH parts, all of the background on this show and all of the show notes in one place: https://unicornfree.com/2015/what-a-japanese-organizing-expert-can-teach-you-about-your-startup Links mentioned in this episode Managing the Absurd on Amazon Alex's guide to writing for your audience

Right now I'm reading a book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Japanese organizing expert Marie Kondo. It's amazing. I can't recommend it enough. Already, I'm feeling an increase in lightness, beauty, and joy in my home. But that wasn't the reason I started reading it to Alex during one of our Skype calls last week. Nope, I shared it with him because of a deeper truth, and its masterful presentation. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up isn't just about tidy homes, it's about life. The book itself is so good because it throws out every traditional piece of advice. Marie proves it: Little by little won't solve the problem. Storage won't fix the problem. Fancy boxes and shelves and "one thing a day" won't get you there, ever. You have to do something radically different to get a radically different result. Most startup advice is on the day-to-day level: the little tactics. Try this, try that. Pivot. Split-test. But like tidying, the problem occurs upstream. These tactics will never fix the broken strategy. The lessons from this book? Virtually the same lessons we have learned ourselves in business, and what we do our damnedest to teach our students. The previous failures, the negative self-talk, the self-perpetuating cycle, the backsliding that terrifies our students… it's all exactly the same as Marie describes in her students. Only the implementation details change. Sound at all familiar? It sure sounded familiar to me. Listen to part one of our 2-part conversation to learn the revolutionary approach Marie teaches for tidying, and how those lessons apply to your startup, too. Bonus: life (and business) wisdom from ancient Chinese philosophers, 500-year-old French noblemen, and the Bible. -Amy Links mentioned: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up on Amazon Why running a consultancy doesn't prepare you for building products Amy's 500-years-ago essayist doppelganger, Michel de Montaigne The 7 steps to failure - How do you create a product that people want to buy? This recording originally appeared at: https://unicornfree.com/2015/what-a-japanese-organizing-expert-can-teach-you-about-your-startup

Earlier this week, Alex and I were stuck. Hard. I was crazy unhappy with the lessons I'd been trying to design. What I was doing… wasn't working. Why was I stuck? What did we do to get unstuck? What on earth is the "voicemail effect" and why is it the source of so much writer's block? If you find yourself stuck in a project — and therefore avoiding it — then this episode might give you the inspiration you need to figure out why. That kind of thinking can save your project. More insider peeks at https://unicornfree.com/2015/watch-us-build-our-next-product

Are you a procrastinator? Don't feel bad about it - DO something about it. On this show, you’re going to be hearing a short story from my business partner and co-host Amy Hoy admit something....there was a time when she wasn’t so great at shipping. That's right, the author of Just Fucking Ship (http://justfuckingship.com) used to be a serial procrastinator. As she describes, "I could ship work and projects for other people - bosses, clients - but when it came to shipping my own things I was the worst." Amy goes on to describe the sequence of events that snapped her out of her nasty habit and started her down the path of shipping, including one of her most famous projects http://twistori.com, including the story behind one of her most famous projects http://twistori.com and how it helped her career. This episode is just a tiny excerpt from a longer interview hosted by one of our friends and alumni, Sean Fioritto, who has been writing a series called “Github Ghost-towns” (http://www.planningforaliens.com/blog/2015/02/04/how-to-ship/) where he’s been talking about all of those side projects that we spin up…and then leave to rot. You know what I’m talking about. ;) The FULL LENGTH interview with Sean is action-packed with stories and advice from Amy and I, including a bunch of tips that we use every day to make sure we keep shipping the products and ebombs that you all seem to love so much. So go check it out at http://www.planningforaliens.com/blog/2015/02/04/how-to-ship/ Get your own copy of Just Fucking Ship There are 21 principles that we used to Just Fucking Ship the book Just Fucking Ship. You can learn what they are here and pick up a copy for yourself: https://unicornfree.com/just-fucking-ship

We didn't hit our goals (which was mostly our fault). We let deadlines slip, and probably let some people down. Amy got really sick. :( So of course, looking back on 2014 feels like we didn't get all that much done. But when Amy and I sat down and spent an hour going over the stuff we did do...we realized that holy cow, it was a lot. A bit further down on this post, we've put together our comprehensive review of 2014. It's complete with revenue and subscriber numbers, where we have them readily share-able. You'll see that 2014 might not have been as unproductive as we'd felt. After pulling this list together, Amy and I sat down again to talk about how the year went, and talked about the difference between how we felt... and what the facts actually showed. And this time, we recorded that conversation so you can listen in! You can expect more audio stories and conversations like this one in 2015! That'll include interviews with successful bootstrappers (and not just our own students) and more chances like this one to peek "behind the curtain" and see how Amy and I truly work together, using our unique strengths and differing approaches to actually compliment one another. This recording originally appeared on UnicornFree.com in an article titled "2014 Year In Review – The year that sucked, or did it?": https://unicornfree.com/2015/2014-year-in-review-the-year-that-sucked-or-did-it

30x500 Alumni Scott Hurff joins Alex Hillman. They talk about how Scott's approach to building products has changed, and what he's learned from both of his launches. By his own measures, Scott's first product - a technical course for designers wanting to use Quartz Composer - was far from "perfect". But even without perfection, his launch still exceeded his expectations and earned him $10k on launch week. Then, when he improved his launch by incorporating ebombs & our 30x500 launch sequence technique, Scott more than tripled his launch revenue. Also, like a lot of us, money isn't the only motivator. Scott's learned that there's some amazingly good feelings that come from being in the business of helping people succeed. Tune in and learn a whole lot from Scott's experience. Check out his blog at scotthurff.com. This recording originally appeared on UnicornFree.com in an article titled "What if your product launch fails? This interview will give you $10k reasons to do it anyway.": https://unicornfree.com/2014/what-if-your-product-launch-fails-this-interview-will-give-you-10k-reasons-to-do-it-anyway

30x500 Alumni Pat Maddox joins Alex Hillman. They talk about how Pat used the 30x500 process of Sales Safari and dropping ebombs. Then Pat shares how he ruthlessly followed just three steps every day for 10 days to get from from barely making rent to having over $3000 in MRR from paying customers and over 1000 subscribers on his mailing list. Tune in and learn from Pat. Check out his blog at patmaddox.com. This recording originally appeared on UnicornFree.com in an article titled "From zero to $3k MRR in 10 days, the story of RubySteps": https://unicornfree.com/2014/from-zero-to-3k-mrr-in-10-days-the-story-of-rubysteps