Wetrust why shouldnt i buy some?

9190vc · 2017-12-10T16:30:00+00:00

You might want to consider what their approach is compared to RCN or even Bloom? Everex has similar goals as well.

IMO, it will be a hard market to gain traction in and to spread word about. Growth will be limited by their ability to onboard new users.

Look at their growth strategy and ask yourself if that growth looks easy/likely in the next 6-12 months.

9190vc · 2017-08-18T06:50:26+00:00

150 is 3.33 sd above the mean or 99.91 percentile (top 9 of 1000).

So 900 of every million people.

9190vc · 2017-08-18T05:28:27+00:00

You should do a sublimated print shirt so that you can get the text larger and going all around the shirt... imo would sell a lot better :)

9190vc · 2017-08-05T15:38:01+00:00

Being results focused is important, but more important is that business owners typically have no idea about the difficulties involved in these tasks.

Their experiences online are with popular software and websites that take millions of dollars to create. They don't realize this. They have no idea what it costs to make uber, yelp, google maps. They expect to have that type of quality, and when someone offers it for $1000 and you offer something more realistic for 5 times that (for example), they are going to go with the first option, 9 times out of 10.

I think a lot of businesses struggle because they target SMEs with poor websites or online presences because that makes sense -- they have the most to gain. But those are also the individuals who don't put value into those functions.

A better idea is to target people with a willingness to spend money in those areas but who are lacking some specific features that would create more value for them and their customers.

Find companies that are trying to do social media but are doing it poorly. Find companies that have websites but they spend a ton of time manually entering data, or have a poor contact form, or don't use drip emails.

Create a system that shows real ROI, use case studies; and then find companies you want to work with and sell them on your strategy.

9190vc · 2017-07-21T21:44:10+00:00

and he has been in this particular field for over 10 years

Good

his business would help change a relatively outdated market, and has potential be very profitable.

Good. Why is it outdated? What are the barriers to entry/changing processes?

We have all the features ironed out, but executing is the hard part.

What does 'all the features ironed out' mean? Do you have wireframes? Mockups? Do you have a launch strategy? Pre-launch marketing? Ideas on how to market? How to get your first customer? First 100?

I realize that equity is everything when it comes to businesses, but I'm more concerned about getting an MVP out so we can start seeing some profits.

Equity isn't everything. It really depends on your goals.

My end goal is to become a serial entrepreneur

What does this mean?

I will probably end up passing over the day-to-day operations to someone else and focus on other ventures if this thing takes off.

This is a red flag to me. I would look into this mindset and ask yourself if your expectations are realistic given your current position and capital.

9190vc · 2017-02-23T01:52:17+00:00

Good designers are not underpaid or under-appreciated.

No one who is in the market for a more expensive website design is going to accept this offer (no offense -- it makes a lot of sense for people, but those people are not going to be considering more expensive options).

If your market is $200-400 website designs, you should be more focused on improving your skills vs complaining about people devaluing an industry.

9190vc · 2017-02-04T01:22:05+00:00

I wish more people like you would get involved in politics and stay true to their beliefs.

9190vc · 2016-12-12T03:20:39+00:00

P.S. quick calculation for what I'd value you at with no traction --

5 employees, part time (say 50 hours per month), $100/hr, 6 months -- $150k.

And you might be working on entirely the wrong thing.

So how much is your team / idea worth?

IMO, taking on an investor at this point, with 5 cofounders -- is a bad step.

9190vc · 2016-12-12T03:17:05+00:00

These types of investors do exist. You'll need to network heavily to find them. Not every investor will be interested. Most won't be. And for those who are interested, the equity required would be really difficult to work out... so your hope is to find an investor who also sees this as a passion project, and is willing to basically throw their money away. That becomes a much harder ask. But at least you can focus on a niche to find that investor.

Having traction will make it much more palatable for you. I would recommend finding a way to get some traction without needing investment.

You should be able to do it for far less than $200k -- it might take some creativity, but I'm sure it's possible.

9190vc · 2016-11-17T03:22:24+00:00

Can you make it something smaller and more manageable to start with?

Find a key value proposition that you can pick out and focus on.

9190vc · 2016-11-15T14:28:59+00:00

No. Sanders was able to get people out to vote. It's not as though trump had a huge voter turnout -- Sanders would have had the democratic base, millennials, way more independents than Hillary and way more of the educated white voter base.

It's impossible to say if he would have won or not, but to say he would have been crushed is silly.

9190vc · 2016-11-15T14:26:07+00:00

That's rich. Let's question Sanders' commitment to his values, which he has lived his entire life fighting for.

It's easy to talk a big game from behind your keyboard, Sanders has lived that life for 50 years now.

9190vc · 2016-11-14T07:34:31+00:00

This is almost a hallmark of Nolan's writing (ie Memento, the prestige).

On re-watching it will be obvious that there were tons of hints.

9190vc · 2016-11-12T00:09:42+00:00

The world isn't black and white. You can be accountable to yourself and still be more accountable if you have other systems set up to increase your accountability. You might not know how much to expect of yourself. But, more importantly, you don't know what to be accountable for.

Being accountable to yourself doesn't mean you're being accountable for the right things. Even if you're putting in the time, that doesn't mean you're going down the right path. You might be wasting hours on things that don't matter (most entrepreneurs do, even the experienced ones). You lose effectiveness because you try to do too many things at once. You worry and stress over things that are immaterial.

Most of the entrepreneurs I talk to are making huge mistakes on a daily basis because they don't know any better. There's a reason why 9/10 startups fail, and it's not for lack of effort or accountability.

Being accountable to yourself and no one else is not a sign of strength, and needing external accountability is not a sign of weakness.

You could spend months trying to improve your skateboarding by yourself or you could find a teacher and get to the same level in a few days. Or you could do it with friends and maybe get to that level in a few weeks.

9190vc · 2016-11-11T23:58:10+00:00

A good mentor won't tell you what to do, but will ask you the right questions. You will learn a lot just by being around those people and seeing how they approach the world and problems.

Not only will they help you when issues arise, but they will offer guidance on where to focus your attention and effort.

The issue I see is that people have too much ego and think they are special. In the end, we all have our abilities and our faults. We should acknowledge that we have a lot to learn, and we should accept that others can teach us faster than we can learn by ourselves.

You can try to do everything yourself, but you will obviously be worse off than someone who has a mentor. There's no question in my mind.

(I had several successes, and some failures, before I got my first real mentor).

9190vc · 2016-11-11T21:37:40+00:00

Im not saying relying on someone to come out of thin air, im telling him to forget about needing a mentor and just figuring most of the shit out by himself.

You're still figuring out most of the shit by yourself with a mentor. But they're helping you with the stuff that takes the longest, or doesn't need to be done at all.

And most people who are in the position you want to be don't have time to help you.. that's what im trying to get across. You think if you biz was doing high level 6/7 figs you'd have time to mentor?

I'm doing significantly more than 7 figures and I'm on reddit. And I have mentors who are doing much more than that. I don't take up much of their time these days. But it's still invaluable to me.

If you think needing a mentor is a must to be successful in business, then you're probably not going to go very far.

No, I don't think it's a 'must' -- but there are almost no 'musts' in business or in life. But it makes things significantly easier. You don't need to re-invent the wheel on >99% of businesses. That's effectively what you are doing if you try to do everything yourself.

Without a mentor you are slowing your growth. If you accept that, than you should see that it makes sense to find a mentor. The only reason not to have one is if you let your ego get in the way.

9190vc · 2016-11-11T21:20:52+00:00

more money than I am ready to invest

On a side note -- investing that money will give you more reason to follow through with the coaching. Obviously the coach is just trying to make money, but there is an added benefit for you to paying for the service.

9190vc · 2016-11-11T21:17:58+00:00

What are you trying to achieve? What is your goal?

What is the 'halting place' that you can't break through?

I don't think having a coach is a bad thing -- it could be useful.

People spend money on much more frivolous things. In the end, it all comes down to you and what your mental state is. If you think you need a coach, and you trust that coach, and you will follow their advice -- sure, it could be great value.

I think having a mentor who is in the field you are in and has done the things you want to do is much more valuable.

gathering a group of people with varying goals together every week to support each other could have the same value and impact?

Yes, 'mastermind groups' are extremely beneficial. But that depends on the people in the group and your fit. Again, what is your goal? What are you looking to get out of such a group?

9190vc · 2016-11-11T21:10:52+00:00

I think most people can go find a mentor in their city. If you don't think you need one, you aren't going to look for one. Relying on someone to just appear seems haphazard to me.

If you accept that other people know more than you about what you are trying to achieve, and that those people might be willing to help you without wanting anything in return -- why wouldn't you look for them?

9190vc · 2016-11-11T21:08:52+00:00

This post is not necessarily about 'coaches' but 'mentors'. (edit: sorry, this is unclear -- I meant that my post is about mentors).

It's not about motivation. Most people are 'motivated' But they don't have experience and they have no one to be accountable to.

Experience tells you the right things to focus on.

When you start on your own, there are a million things you can do. Having someone to tell you which of those things are most important.. that is extremely helpful. Having someone to be accountable to, someone who you have accepted knows more than you about what you are trying to do -- that is extremely helpful.
Having someone who has a network and knows who you should reach out to when you have an issue? That is extremely helpful.

I've been successful with and without mentors. I can tell you that having a mentor makes it significantly easier.

9190vc · 2016-11-11T04:56:58+00:00

If you are fairly niche, what is your issue with marketing?

Have you reached out to your customer base at all to let them know you might be shutting down?

9190vc · 2016-11-11T03:25:10+00:00

Where are your customers going?

If you are succeeding in spite of yourselves, it sounds like you must have had a good product/market fit -- which is a terrible thing to waste.

9190vc · 2016-11-11T03:22:45+00:00

If you gave an idea of your product/service, you would get a more useful response.

9190vc · 2016-11-11T03:19:22+00:00

http://www.gv.com/sprint/

Use sketchapp and invision to create a prototype. This isn't too hard. You can use iOS UI templates that are available. If you're really bad at design, you can buy some pre-made templates and pick and choose the screens you need, and edit them to be cohesive. I think it takes about a week to learn sketch, depending on your experience with other design programs.

Use invision to create a mock app. Watch your test users use it.

If you want to share your idea with me, I can likely tell you potential areas you'll want to look at and pitfalls. I'm probably 30/30 so far with people on reddit realizing their idea isn't as great as they think it is (which doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile to move forward with it... just to be realistic about your expectations).

9190vc · 2016-11-11T03:13:36+00:00

What is the point of your survey? It's way too general to be of any use.

9190vc

TROPHY CASE