Hey, Aaron here! Welcome to this twice-a-month startup newsletter. In each write-up, I tackle questions about building products, financial planning, growth, and raising capital! Today we dive into -

Education:

It’s time for a course relaunch!

In addition to starting social media back up, I’ve decided to “relaunch” my course. The Startups A-Z course is meant to support founders from idea to minimum viable product at the affordable price of $119.99!

If you want to learn about managing a startup in a structured format or know someone who might, this is the course for you! If you want this type of content in a less structured and complementary format, you should check out my YouTube channel. 

As a quick refresher, the course contains over 180 lessons and more than 21 hours of foundational knowledge and actionable guidance (former students will remember all the “homework” I assigned), designed to take the average idea stage founder from uncertainty to confidence as they progress through their startup journey.

Educating founders is one of the things I’m most passionate about, and I’m so excited to be bringing this course back!

Opinion:

Sales is harder than product development

Note: When I say sales, this generally includes any/all customer conversations, whether you’re looking to learn from them (customer discovery) or sell to them.

Now, before all my developer friends and business partners start sending me hateful replies, allow me to explain. Both sales and product development are incredibly difficult tasks that always look easier said than done. The reason I believe sales is harder for the average Founder is because it’s emotionally harder than product development. 

Why? Because building things is fun – really fun. Compare this to having early-stage sales calls where someone is likely to accidentally crush your dreams by expressing no interest in your product idea. Yeah, that’s likely going to happen, and it’s not so fun – trust me. You can see why any Founder, regardless of whether they are a tech-head or not, is (reasonably) less than enthusiastic to dive head-first into talking to potential customers.

I won’t speak for all Founders, but I know when I build a product, I feel like my eyes look upward. I think of all the potential contained in that idea: what the product could be, how many people might use it, how much revenue could be generated, etc. Contrast this to when I speak to potential customers, where I feel like my eyes are pulled back down to earth to see the reality that’s before me – do they want what I am envisioning? It is undoubtedly a hard question to face because, more often than any Founder would like to admit, the answer is no (or at least, not right now if the product still needs improvements).

Building a startup is hard, not just because of the hours and the technicals, but because it takes a strong spirit to willingly and regularly put their ideas out there for judgment, ideas that are often proved wrong.

This is why the startup game is so great, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard. It’s hard to build something people want. It’s hard to solve the mysteries of generating demand. But if you can do it, the world will be yours.

I saw a video a while back, and one line stuck with me, which I believe applies here as well. “Excuse your excuses.”

1. You feel that you’re too early in your startup journey to talk to potential customers? So what? Do it anyway. What if a casual conversation at an industry networking sheds light on a brand new way to look at your idea.

2. You don’t have a website or brand bible yet? So what? What if you learn what kind of brand identity your business should take on from the conversations you have.

3. You’re concerned you don’t have a functional product? So what? You want to work for months and spend thousands of dollars in time, energy, and cash to build something for a customer who you are currently not engaging with? Do you see how that sounds a bit silly? 

Notable News

That’s It For Today!

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Written By Aaron @(un)conventional Team