[THREAD] How To Successfully Launch A Startup, Inverted
1/ Mention the incumbent in all of your marketing materials. That way, everyone knows you’re 2nd best.
2/ Pick a category someone else already owns. It’s best to use marketing dollars trying to convince people to stop liking something they already like.
3/ Spend top dollar on branding. When customers (or investors) are judging your product, utility & clarity of the problem it solves is irrelevant. Humans are monkeys. If it’s shiny, people will want it.
4/ Raise as much money as possible regardless of dilution. The real joy of entrepreneurship is working 80 hours a week, carrying the lion’s share of the risk, and gambling your reputation. You’re not in it to make money. You’re in it to “make the world a better place.”
5/ Hire fast, fire slow. The best thing you could possibly do is keep someone on staff you know isn’t a good fit but is just really down for the whole startup vibe thing.
6/ Always recruit who has better college credentials. Work ethic, commitment, and rebellious creativity are overrated. But a white guy with a Harvard MBA who knows his way around an excel spreadsheet? He should be hire #1
7/ Build a product in an industry where you aren’t a super-consumer. You’ll be far more successful at anticipating people’s wants and needs if you are completely disconnected from those same wants and needs in yourself.
8/ Be as vague as possible with your messaging. Use statements like “For People, By People” or maybe “We Tell Human Stories” or maybe even “Results Oriented Business Intelligence.” The less customers understand about what you actually do, the more likely they are to buy.
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💸 The 5 Revenue Streams Every Writer Should Build For Themselves 💸
Today I have ~9 different revenue streams for myself, but these 5 are the big ones that have fueled my career for the past 5 years (and allowed me to quit my 9-5 & go all-in on writing) 👇🧵
1/ Writing as a service
This is without question the easiest revenue stream to build, and where most writers start.
The first big jump in my income as a writer came from ghostwriting. Once you learn how to provide writing as a service (and get paid $$), you're off to the races
2/ Write books/guides/etc.
My 2nd paid product online was a $30 "How To Become A Top Writer On Quora" course. My 1st was a eBook series called "Skinny to Shredded."
Create assets that can be sold infinitely at scale. Small numbers ($$$) add up over time.
[THREAD] How To Find A Mentor (No Matter What Industry You're In)
I have attracted dozens of mentors since I was a teenager. As I've gotten older, I've realized these relationships were the secret to my growth.
Here's how to find mentors of your own 👇👇👇
1/ Don't obsess over finding The Expert.
This is the BIG mistake anyone looking for someone to "mentor them" makes.
All you need is to find someone who knows the very-next-thing you want to learn. Technically, anyone "a little bit further along" can be your mentor.
2/ Start to see everyone around you as A Mentor
- Your co-worker with 1-2 yrs more experience is a mentor
- Your family friend who is always telling "war stories" is a mentor
- Your neighbor, cousin, aunt, uncle who has done what you're trying to do, can all be mentors
Hemingway vs. Faulkner: The Little-Known Rivalry Between 2 Of America's Most Famous Writers
🧵✍️👇
1/ If you thought the 2pac vs Biggie feud in the 90s was competitive, let me tell you the story of Ernest Hemingway versus William Faulkner.
Hemingway grew up in the Midwest, and shortly after high school entered WW1. This inspired his 1st novel, A Farewell to Arms (1929).
2/ Faulkner meanwhile grew up in Mississippi in an educated household. His mother (and Gma) were painters & photographers, and are credited with informing Faulkner's later visual-heavy writing style.
He did not enter the war, and instead attended the University of Mississippi.
“Drop-in” audio is what’s emerging, not necessarily Clubhouse as a product. Don’t get sucked into playing a “better-faster-smarter-cheaper game.”
Be Coke, and never acknowledge Pepsi.
2/ Allow Discovery of Drop-in audio mid speaker.
Twitter’s unfair advantage here is it’s massive fast-moving community. Being able to discover people speaking (literally mid-sentence), hold down, listen to preview, and decide whether or not to stay/keep listening is powerful.
[THREAD]: Here are 10 (painful) lessons I've learned writing 3,000+ articles on the internet over the past 7 years.
On writing advice, growth hacks, going viral, and feeling fulfilled in the process 👇
1/ There is only 1 secret to online writing.
Volume wins.
There isn't a writing platform on the internet where this ISN'T the case. Social platforms. Major publications. Every growth period of my writing career happened during months/years of consistent volume.
Period.
2/ Growth hacks are overrated.
In my early 20s, I spent a LOT of time reading digital marketing blogs about how to get 50% more views here, or 20% more subscribers there.
A lot of it is mental masturbation.
You're far better off just consistently creating new content.