Best tweets on building a startup

Instead of pivoting your startup, jump.

A startup is a theory about something the market wants, but doesn’t yet exist.

If the theory underlying your startup is wrong, a pivot is rarely the correct answer.

Every startup has acquisition as a backup plan, except for the ones that win.

Rolex doesn't sell watches, they sell status. Apple doesn't sell iPhones, they sell luxury. McDonald's doesn't sell burgers, they sell convenience. Nike doesn't sell shoes, they sell performance. Lesson: Don't sell the product, sell the benefit.

I've built a marketer's utopia, created 3 SaaS's, sold a 7 fig Shopify app, walked away from a $1 Million deal, built & scaled multiple successful Shopify stores, worked with Tony Robbins and I still feel like I'm slacking. Bruh I'm 22...

My ex-partner was a real estate agent He would make his clients sign the final contract with a $800 Mont Blanc pen Once the deal was firm, he would encapsulate the pen in a glass box and send it to the client "You bought your first house with this pen"

3 types of people you need in your network: 1. Doers (Copywriters, Salespeople, Marketers) 2. Systemizers (Processes, Efficiency, Automation) 3. Dreamers (Visionaries, Builders, Disruptors) Impossible to lose like this.

Startups unbundle old companies. Creators unbundle old concepts.

airbnb has no houses uber has no cars your agency has no clients this is the new economy

Landlord spent $2M to rent 2 houses for $7.4K/mo I spent $20K building a SaaS that makes $24K/mo

My day job is growing startups. I've worked with a few hundred by now. Here's how to grow your podcast, newsletter, blog, YouTube, and Twitter. Hope this helps! A thread:

Most productive things you can do: - 4 hours of deep work - Meditate 60 minutes - Close open loops slowing you down - Take a journal into nature and troubleshoot problems - 20 minute walk - Dinners with people more successful than you - Sleep 7+ hours - Clean your environment

Deep Work 2 hours Break 2 hours Deep Work 2 hours Break 1 hour Deep Work 1 hour Test it for a day and you'll realize: All $$$ are made during the 'breaks' Because that's when your subconscious is free enough to cook up breakthrough ideas/angles.

The worst business to create is the one where YOU are the product. It's not a business, but a job. What you sell should never be yourself, but a product, process, system, software, service, course that takes customers from point A to point B WITHOUT you.

Entrepreneurship will EXPOSE all your personal flaws Because in order to grow profits, you must grow personally “What’s stopping the growth?” 10/10 it’s the person in the mirror Had to check myself before I wrecked myself.

I made my first $100k as a copywriter without knowing the difference between 'than' and 'then' hahaha.

In startups, you’re never “spending” money on community You’re “investing” in community Small nuanced difference, major mindset difference

What no-one tells you about starting a startup: - You most likely won't make life changing money - Your mental health is always at risk - You don't need to create the next Facebook - You'll fail forward - You are constantly getting rejected - It's a beautiful ride

Money Twitter can make money. Startup Twitter can make money. But here's why I think the COMBINATION of it is deadly A thread on how you can build a million dollar biz:

I'm a startup founder. Here's my daily routine: 4:00AM: Wake up 4:01AM: Yell FUCK 4:02AM: Meditate for 3 hours 5AM: Start working with my 9-screen setup 6AM: Drink black coffee because milk is for non hustlers 7AM-12PM: ? 12:01PM: Sleep after carpe dieming the shit out of my day

The longer you’re in the startup game the more you realize how big the gulf is between people who talk and people who execute.

My bootstrapped SaaS MRR over time: 🐢 0 to $10k took 1+ years 🐇 $10k to $20k took 8 months 🐆 $20k to $30k took 6 months ❓ $30k to $40k...?

"Side project marketing" is a powerful way for tech founders to drive traffic to their main app. Think: small free tools related to your main app. v hard to come up with ideas though. Got an idea for Bannerbear? Suggest it and I'll pick one to build and ship tomorrow!

As a technical SaaS founder you might be tempted to build things like: giving free accounts to people, giving free trial extensions, temporarily upgrading an account for free. My advice: if it has the word "free" in it, don't waste time building it. Focus on paying customers.

Last month: best month ever in terms of revenue This month: absolute bloodbath Welcome to SaaS life!

I have raised a million for my startup and failed There is another way, it's called bootstrapping

One of the scariest thing as startup founder is how much your startup can take over on your personal life

What people think startup is: - think - think harder - build - sell - you're rich What it really is: - build A - build B - build B2 - build B3 - build C - build D - build E - build E2 - build E3 - oh sales 💸 And it both cases, people: "you got lucky"

0 -> 1k: 9 years 1k -> 8k: 7 months 8k -> 25k: 5 months Starting is the hardest

I created my first startup in 2015 and it went sideways I created a 2nd startup in 2017 and it failed I created another one in 2021 and this one pays my bills Stick to it

> You pick a skill > You watch 35 hours of YouTube learning it > You send cold emails and get a client > You document every aspect of your work into a case study > You put that case study on your website > You send more cold emails to get clients

“I do Facebook ads for e-commerce” Is not an offer “I do cold email for agencies” Is not an offer “I do email marketing for course sellers” Is not an offer Retweet this thread

If I have a B2B offer it takes a grand total of 4 hours labor to shoot a VSL, make landing page, write email scripts, and scrape a list Would have a full blown outbound campaign running within 24 hours if I didn’t need to warm up domains Stop dilly dallying SPEED

Your only job in the beginning is social proof. For the first 3 months of any venture the entirety of your focus should be spent trying to get social proof. Nothing else. Just need social proof

> Buy domain, build landing page on Carrd > Buy second domain, add Google Workspace, only send cold emails from there > Scrape leads, write personalized compliments > Send emails > Get clients

I've helped 750+ startup founders. I always try to ask: "How did you come up with your idea?" Here are their answers:

If you're a founder raising venture capital, here's how I decide if I'll invest in your startup:

Founders who combine coding and marketing become unstoppable

startup idea: Grammarly but for coding

What's more difficult to crack in a startup? 1. Coding 2. Marketing

I’ve built a 50K/month agency I’ve built a 70k/month coaching program I’ve built 200+ person sales teams And I’ve created national marketing campaigns that brought in 100+ million Different products, services and industries The one constant? Human nature

Whenever anyone who runs a business tells me their schedule and it's something like "I wake up, meditate, journal, gym, sauna, MMA..." I usually just assume their business is going under

The thing about positioning is that it supersedes all else You can literally get dumber, work fewer hours, and put in less effort every year but still make more money if your positioning improves

On startup competition: You laugh at them until they laugh at you The trick: take every competitor seriously You never know who dethrones the king

How to optimize for luck: - Fall in love with problems, not solutions - Hang/work with the smartest people possible with diverse opinions - Be consistent - Cut distractions - Failure happens. Whatever - Mindset & belief in yourself - Try to be optimistic - Be kind to people

Founder cheat sheet: - Celebrate wins - No meetings one day a week - Prioritize mental health - Assume VC will dry up - Zag when others zig - Prioritize product design - Be profitable, you'll sleep better - Iterate on growth engine - Iterate on storytelling - Have fun

Top of the top Everything you want is sitting right outside of your comfort zone New week, New opportunities