Tweets

@tim_abell To you as well Tim! 🙌

@abigailotwell That outfit is basically all you need to get into Canada. 👍

@jitbit @mattwensing Just my hand holding it sideways 😅

It’s pretty smooth on that ridge, so that probably helped.

Definitely bumpier footage at different times:

https://youtu.be/T5z57LaSgG0

@mattwensing Just my iPhone.

@volkandkaya @buildyoursaas I wrote about this back in 2014 as well:

https://justinjackson.ca/desperation

@iChris Lol. 😂

@noahkagan Yup.

Holds true in politics, in business, in love, and in life.

Lol. So true! https://twitter.com/soundslikecanoe/status/1209135097129132039

@rsobers 🦅🌤⛰

@KennyLange Or Skype Call Recorder if we’re not going live

@KennyLange When we did it live we used this setup:
http://justinjackson.ca/livestreaming

@misstiff_94 @rebeccabarton7 Nice! 👍

@ianlandsman About 20 minutes from town. Yup. 👍

@ianlandsman It doesn’t always look like this, but when it does, it’s incredible.

You get a whole new perspective up here. #vernonbc

@Julian @jjacobs22 I really like @seanwes’ guide on this here:

https://seanwes.com/podcast/423-turn-one-piece-of-content-into-six-or-more-with-this-strategy/

@ideasasylum Iiiinteresting.

Yes, Maybe! (Although, podcast hosting on Transistor is WAY cheaper than a government printer 😁)

@jbrooksuk @HappyDevFM @jessarchercodes Anytime. 👍

@joeybeninghove @Shpigford

@SweatingCommas This is already a great country song.

@taimurabdaal The sad thing for me is now I wonder:

“I wonder if these still exist?” 😞

@Shpigford pfft. carman is the true champion.

@gettingtoramen @joshuaanderton 👍

@HappyDevFM Really enjoyed this one @jbrooksuk and @jessarchercodes! ❤️❤️❤️

@Shpigford no dc talk? lame.

@iannuttall @tylertringas @anupom @dhomann @feedbackpanda Yes, our initial positioning didn’t work the way we thought it would.

Three factors to consider:

1. Current market value =
number of potential customers
x
how much they spend
x
the frequency at which they buy

2. Growth rate =
current market value
x
growth rate (increase in # of customers, spending, frequency)

3. What % of market can you reach?

@tylertringas Yes, but even there, you still need to pay attention to the “macro trend” in the overall market:

Laravel is nothing without a huge base of PHP devs.

FeedbackPanda doesn’t succeed without billions of Chinese citizens wanting to learn English.

@adamwathan @tylertringas @anupom @dhomann @feedbackpanda Yes. I agree with this.

But many folks use quantitative terms for niche:
“Very small group”
“1,000 true fans”
“Small target market”

I like the idea of “a specific definition” of who you’re targeting. (Although, the dictionary definition uses both “specialized” and “small”)

@iannuttall @tylertringas @anupom @dhomann @feedbackpanda There are a number of variables that determine the value of a market:

number of potential customers
x
how much they spend
x
the frequency at which they buy
= current value of the market

You have to be realistic about what % of the market you can get (and if that’s enough $).

@tylertringas @anupom @dhomann @feedbackpanda Yes, part of the problem is that the definition of “niche market” isn’t quantified (by # of potential customers, or purchase frequency).

But when I hear people say “very small niche market” I think: “they must be referring to a market with only 100s of potential customers.”

@anupom @dhomann @tylertringas @feedbackpanda I wouldn't consider online English teachers serving the Chinese market a "very small niche market."

"From 2016 to 2017, there was a 298% growth from 123.6 billion RMB to 489.7 billion RMB."

https://justinjackson.ca/today

@tomdale Ah, now I get it

@abadir_ @songadaymann Nice!!!

My 11 year old discovered @songadaymann’s “Baby Yoda” song on YouTube, and has listened to it (on repeat) for the last hour.

He’ll do this every day now, for the next two weeks.

(Thankfully, I love @songadaymann and Baby Yoda, so it’s 👌)

https://youtu.be/gZ93V_igqPQ

I have a theory that kids (5-12) drive most of the world’s YouTube views, Spotify listens, etc..

- They listen to the same songs, on repeat, every day
- They watch the same YouTube channels (religiously) every day

No other demographic has the same consumption frequency.

@dohertyjf Can you give me an example?

And, what do you mean by “value metrics?”

This is a good answer!

Price is important, but for most businesses “purchase frequency” is what really makes the difference.

(You can only scale price increases so far.)

https://twitter.com/ishisdeep/status/1208516882556428291?s=21 https://twitter.com/IshBaid/status/1208516882556428291

@IshIsDeep I like this answer. Purchase frequency seems particularly important (unless you’re doing enterprise sales).

@spencerfry What causes viral growth? What are the most important variables?

What causes certain products to grow revenue faster than others?

What are the primary factors?

@meet__chopra Glad I could help! 👍

@rrhoover @StuartBlitz @SoftBank if there’s a wave pool I’m in 🌊

Have no fear: the sun is coming back!

🕺🏼☀️💃 https://twitter.com/jessphoenix2018/status/1208474657944293376

@davatron5000 baby yoda fan blogs only

@wesbos Yeah but the government is turning all that CSS into nuclear fission

@wesbos Do you manage a nuclear reactor from that desk too? 😆

@taylorotwell I dig it! 🤙

Caught some good snow waves today.👌

@tylertringas @dhomann I'm advising that folks look for evidence that there are enough people, spending enough money, in a category before they start building their product.

Some markets are just better than others. And it's worth figuring out what those are.

@dhomann @tylertringas Just so we're on the same page. Do you agree with these definitions?

@dhomann @tylertringas Your target customer is call centers?

@secos How practical is that?

I can’t think of any bootstrapped software companies that are in that position.

(Only having 1-2 customers, out of a total accessible market out of 10)

@secos But there’s one more important variable in there you missed: “how many people have that need?”

The size of the market matters.

If only a handful of people want it, it’s hard to build a comapny around that need.

@dhomann @tylertringas I’ve given a few examples of companies and markets here.

I’m curious: can you give me a few examples of a bootstrapped software companies that fit your definition of "going after a niche market?"

@dhomann @tylertringas “You can be successful no matter what size market you target.”

Are you sure that’s true?

@dhomann @tylertringas Many successful bootstrappers targetted large product categories:

- Basecamp (PM software)
- ConvertKit (ESP)
- Mailchimp (ESP)
- Campaign Monitor (ESP)
- Wildbit (ESP, code hosting)
- Kayako (help desk)
- Braintree (payments)
- Craigslist (classifieds)

@tylertringas @dhomann I think you and I mostly agree, and we’re just missing each other because of semantics. 😉

@iannuttall @tylertringas @datanyze @nathanbarry “The market” is "X number of people actively spending money on Y."

It’s the category. Almost always, people are switching from one product in the category to another.

“Targeting a niche” can help get you a foothold; but that’s mostly a positioning exercise.

@dhomann @tylertringas I’m on the side of choosing a market with lots of customers (“a rushing river”) as opposed to trying to find a “small stream.”

@tylertringas @datanyze @nathanbarry He’s in the email market (“people who buy email newsletter software”).

Positioning matters, but only after you’ve chosen your market category.

The point is, you have to focus on a category where people are already spending money.

People switched from MailChimp to Convertkit.

@LloydThinks @GregorySchier I’ve been using @statamic for my personal site and really like it: http://justinjackson.ca

We got some snow here in #vernonbc

@Sampathmallidi @datanyze @ConvertKit Over 27,000 customers!

One side-effect of being an early-stage bootstrapped founder that doesn’t get talked about much:

We don’t sleep so good.

cc @benediktdeicke @r00k @jonbuda

@M_Gagliano @datanyze They don’t, they’re metric is “websites analyzed.”

The revenue metric comes from @Baremetrics’ Open Startups.

According to @datanyze, ConvertKit only has 0.34% market share (vs MailChimp’s 60.51%).

But, even with that tiny slice of the market, ConvertKit is doing $1.6 million in MRR! 😮

The market you choose matters!

@tiggreen I really like the @statamic writing experience. 👍

@nwquah Love the dinosaurs one! 🦖 ❤️

@f_graciolli delete those unused domain names! 😜

@derrickreimer i am oldz

Related:

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1200127940115062785

@Stphn_Lacey What’s happening here?

@jamesmills But, SOMEBODY has to maintain it. 😜

(Also, it’s very likely you’ll continue to get support requests, DMs asking for help, etc…)

@johnnytong Nice. 👌

@tnorthcutt Totally applicable.

Everything you implement will need to be maintained.

(Be careful about what you start)

@balsamiq 🙌

Great post @asmartbear!

https://blog.asmartbear.com/whats-the-important-thing-that-is-powerful-enough-to-override-all-your-deficiencies.html

@helena Definitely “Atomic Habits” by @JamesClear.

This is cool: https://peoplefirstjobs.com/

🙌 @Wildbit

@andrewculver Where’s the snow

RT @egarbugli: In this post, entrepreneur @mijustin shares a list of the mental triggers that cause people to act and buy software products…

@chasewreeves @jaethan (I’m eating Crispix right now)

@chasewreeves @jaethan Yes! 💯

@janelleallen Thanks for sharing it!

@jaethan Sometimes the wave you’re surfing doesn’t last forever.

That’s the challenge with markets: you never (really) know how long they’re going to last.

You give it your best guess, and pick the best wave you can.

(Also: I think GF is here to stay as a staple)

@darbyfrey I don’t remember registering for a marathon.

@IAmSunnyDan There’s almost always some form of preexisting demand.

The new creation is often an evolution of something that existed before.

@enigmaticsoulrg The Happiness Lab by @lauriesantos

RT @mijustin: Like a surfer, you look for rising tides. 🏄‍♀️

For example: the breakfast cereal market will reach $40 billion in 2023.

“Bu…

@r00k “They said no after some debate.”

Typical dev team purchasing process. 🤣

@cheriehu42 Ooh! I love stuff like this. 👍

@yongfook Yes. This.

@petersuhm Love this!

RT @mijustin: Many of the successful founders you see didn’t win because of their brilliant idea or perfect execution.

More likely: they f…

@smgrieser @bwertz @TransistorFM I also have a pretty good conference talk on this here: https://youtu.be/yHWpqov1Rvk

@smgrieser @bwertz @TransistorFM I’ve written a pretty good guide on this here: https://transistor.fm/make-money-podcasting

@iChris http://transistor.fm/preview

RT @mijustin: One thing marketers, salespeople, devs, designers, and founders probably don’t want to hear:

When demand is really strong, y…