Cofounders, prototypes, and (believe it or not) yoga pants
Buckle up — controversial hot takes and strong opinions coming at you fast.
3-2-1 Traction Newsletter
Every Monday morning, you’ll get three big ideas from me, two curated ideas from others, and one thought-provoking question for you — all to help you find traction for your startup, or fail fast trying.
Strong teams, burnout, and who becomes an entrepreneur
Plus: you probably don't need a co-founder (yet), the folly of "make it easier" as a product strategy, and how to reduce friction in your life as a founder. Let's do this.
Is AI a bubble? Also, original pitches suck!
The cyclical process of validation, learning by doing, extending your runway, and more! Here are 3 ideas from me, 2 ideas from others, and 1 question for you this week.
Disengaged customers, creative destruction, and the competition we ignore
How you can increase retention by avoiding the survivorship bias; becoming a better founder by leveraging AI; and much, much more.
Validated learning, how not to waste your life, and what we can learn from Ikea
Three big ideas on how to find your most productive self as a startup founder; how not to let your best life get in the way of your only life; and how the Ikea effect kills creativity.
The one where I answer your questions
We've got a great set of reader questions: traction metrics, investor theses, buying behaviour, category creation, and more!
Failure is data, except when it’s not
Aphorism aside — by default, failure isn’t data. If you want to learn from failure, you have to do these three things.
Will customers steal your idea? It's complicated.
Today, we’re playing a numbers game: 3 scenarios to watch out for, and 6 strategies to overcome them.
This is the #1 rule of startups
It's my new razor: always favor the shortest possible time-to-customer.
Ugh — enough about grit already!
In true JDM style, let’s begin the new year with a rant and a hot take.
The best advice of 2022
It's been a year of content, so I dove back into the archives to see what you asked about. Turns out, there are themes...
You can go from idea to revenue in 24 hours
Think this subject line is clickbait? You’re dead wrong. Over the last few weeks, I’ve seen a dozen teams do exactly that. These are their stories. *dun-dun*
Working on your business model canvas? Stop.
The best way to fill out the Business Model Canvas isn’t one BOX at a time, but one STORY at a time.
You have an idea for a startup…now what?
Like every fall, I’ve been spending more than 100 hours per month with aspiring founders who are just getting started with their idea. They all ask the same question: how do I get started? It’s time to demystify starting a startup.
Never put the "what" before the "where"
Never build the thing before knowing where you’ll sell the thing. Lest you launch to crickets.
Why I mentor founders — and a special announcement!
I spend a lot of my “free” time mentoring startup founders. This is why, and how.
Goals, signals, & metrics — oh my!
I’ve been thinking a lot about the neglected art of innovation accounting, and how we just don’t talk enough about in our startup communities. So, here’s a quick overview of one of the central concepts. May it bring you immediate value.
You can prototype anything — and you should
In this email, I’m going to break down the why, what, and how of prototyping, and why prototyping is appropriate at *every* stage, from idea to scale. In other words, if you’re not prototyping, you should be.
The two biggest effects on product value — and price
Pain is tempered by a lack of urgency. Startups get pricing wrong and develop weak value propositions because they don’t understand this core concept.
It’s time we talk about measurement
I promised in my last issue to do a deep dive on pirate metrics with some tips and trips on how to find and optimize them. Well, here it is. Enjoy.
Find focus for your startup
Aimlessness kills startups. Here's how to combat it.
7 (not-so-easy) steps to find your startup’s first customer
Successful startups begin with 1 paying customer — not 100. That mindset shift changes everything, because getting one customer isn’t complicated.
Archive
I am in the process of migrating older editions of this newsletter to my new site. In the meantime, you can read older posts on the archive.