Personal MBA

Here are 7 steps I would follow if I were starting my business from scratch tomorrow:

1. Understand one problem that one specific group of people have

2. Create a clear and concise roadmap to solving that problem

3. Figure out your product format

4. Decide on where to host it

5. Find some customers

6. Turn customers into testimonials

7. Create a system for repeatable selling

“You will not learn anything of lasting importance from TV, movies, podcasts…they’re junk food. Successful people converge on 3 ways to learn: lots of reading time, some exercises and projects, and conversations with people who are slightly ahead of them.”

In an idea world, what you’re really buying is that person’s entire life experience. All the problems they’ve already figured out how to solve that you don’t. All the shortcuts they’ve learned about that aren’t even on your radar.

You expand the capacity of the business by adding more people who know more than you do.

To get things done is management; to make people grow is leadership.

Financially successful people choose to do work that is economically rewarding, then manage their income with frugality and thrift.

When we [at Y Combinator] say ‘focus on product,’ it means that you put almost all of those hours into talking to users, creating product, and making sure that you have some users that really love your product.

In other words, today’s cloud and mobile companies — Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Google — may very well be the GM, Ford, and Chrysler of the 21st century. The beginning era of technology, where new challengers were started every year, has come to an end; however, that does not mean the impact of technology is somehow diminished: it in fact means

Midjourney built its business with 40 employees and earned $200 million in revenue for 2023.

I’ve met with dozens of these companies now, and the story is the same. They make a great product and nail their positioning—and then they’re off to the races.