Applications due 6/11!6-week rapid prototyping bootcamp where you test with real customers.

Sign up

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.

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.

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.

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*

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.

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.

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.

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.