Tweets

I spent $30,000 to get product-market fit.

Here's the story:
https://justinjackson.ca/30k/

@sambreed Pics

@SweatingCommas I’m never letting go

Currently writing my email newsletter:
"how I spent $30,000 looking for product-market fit"

Question: should I put the whole thing in the email body, or link to a blog post?

Don't try to "be" your heroes.

They've doubled down on what makes them exceptional. They've used all of their built-in advantages to get to where they're at.

You need to look at your life, and determine what your strong points are. Focus on those! Develop those!

I believe it was @sehurlburt who said: "There's no shame in using your connections, rich family, etc... to help your business succeed."

But, she's also good at reminding us to help others!

(Accept the hand-up you got, but also give that opportunity to other people who need it)

@austencam This is something I cover in @marketingdevs. The tl;dr is:

1. Choose a group you know, that buys things.
2. Observe, listen, watch for trends.
3. Identify their struggles: "where do they want a better life?"
4. Start offering small solutions the help.
5. Iterate on that.

The people you meet, face to face, matters.

This is why conferences, meetups, coworking, Skype calls, coaching, online communities all matter.

After interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs, the same pattern emerges:

"And then I met [so and so], which enabled me to [get to the next level]."

☝️I'll add that no businessperson ever made it big without some folks taking a chance on them along the way.

If you're in the position to help someone out, do it!

Business is all about leveraging whatever advantages you have.

If you're incredible at SEO, do it.
If you have a personal brand, use it.
If you have rich parents, ask them for $.
If you're good on the phone, make some calls.
If you're healthy, use your energy to make stuff.

Whoa. @james_clear on CBS.

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/961231956670341120

RT @_miguelferreira: Good copy trumps visuals. Always. Here’s a fine example by @mijustin http://justinjackson.ca/words.html #copywriting

@JoshLovesDesign Sure!

@clayhebert I really like the "is this what you want your calendar to look like" piece.

RT @clayhebert: @mijustin I always ask founders...

"Who you want to lead?" and
"If this works...is THIS what you want your calendar to loo…

Usually folks get in trouble when they get romantic about the "form" of the business:

"Wouldn't that be wonderful if we owned a restaurant?"
"Wouldn't it be amazing if I had my own SaaS?"
"Wouldn't it be incredible if we had our own ski lodge?"

You really need to start from:
"Where is there demand?"
"What do customers want?"
"What do people struggle with?"

THEN go out and figure out what form the solution will take. Always do what's best for the customer (as long as you can do it profitably).

Another example, from @patio11:

"I was looking for something to build on Twilio, so I created Appointment Reminder. @peldi asked me 'Do you really want to work for dentist offices?' I said: 'Oh of course not but it's a great business.'"

Don't let function follow form!

Too many folks see an empty lease, and think: "I could start a coffee shop there."

But...

1. They've never worked at a coffee shop.
2. They've never sold a cup of coffee.
3. They don't understand what local coffee drinkers want.
4. They haven't built a reputation for coffee.

Example: my friend @amcwilliam (in #vernonbc) runs the best coffee shop in THE WORLD. (my opinion)

But he started small, with a little coffee cart.

Once he saw the incredible demand, he went out and found the perfect location for @ratiovernon. He knew he could fill those seats.

Everything should follow customer demand: form, fit, and function.

Make sure you have the demand, first, before you determine everything else.

"Form follows function."
☝️ this is true in business.

Beware of the temptation to make "function follow form."

This is where you get something (cool new tech, an empty lot, a business for sale) and you think:

"What could I fit into this space?"

@renebastijans I like it.

@mattragland @podiadotcom Yup!

Created a monthly coaching plan on @podiadotcom a few days ago.

Already have 3 subscribers. 😮

https://justinjackson.podia.com/coaching

@GentScientist I've used a combination of exit poll (automated) and manual follow-up via email + phone.

Depending on how much effort I put in, I can get most folks who cancel.

This is an interesting pricing spreadsheet for SaaS:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LZXJQQ2Xq_NsKmj6ppui-ee92FObCee7NMy8xQfyoaA/edit?usp=sharing

It's pretty tough getting to $1,000,000 in revenue if you're charging less than $50 per month.

Just guessing here, but I think Stripe has hit product/market fit. 😄

RT @OCallaghanDavid: @mijustin Also identify the metrics of active customers reach out to those that start slipping while you have a chance…

"How long have you been thinking about cancelling?" is a particularly good question.

It shows you that churn is a LAGGING indicator.

People decide to cancel months in advance. It just takes them time to pull the trigger.

Questions to ask when people cancel their SaaS subscription:

1. Why did you cancel?
2. How long have you been thinking about cancelling?
3. What could we have done to keep you as a customer?
4. What are you switching to?

@paulbellows @davebellous You should see if that guy needs a job

Lookin’ good in the trees 👌 @ SilverStar Mountain Resort https://www.instagram.com/p/BeykJhbDZr0/

Entrepreneurs can imagine a better future for their customers.

(Even if they don’t immediately know how they’ll deliver that progress)

Entrepreneurs get excited about making things better.

There are many examples of entrepreneurs who didn’t have a ton of expertise in a given area (Richard Branson with airlines), but saw an opportunity to make things better.

Entrepreneurs are the kind of folks who notice when stuff is broken in people’s lives.

And even if they don’t immediately know *how* they’ll fix it, they’re not afraid to try.

This is why courses, online workshops, and training for devs will continue to be a hot market for awhile:

https://twitter.com/techreview/status/960211358380888065

RT @ianlandsman: In a shocking twist, Donald Trump wasn’t the man for the job when it came to budget deficits https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/02/03/the-u-s-government-is-set-to-borrow-nearly-1-trillion-this-year/?utm_term=.12e07646cf41

@benediktdeicke I was just curious 😉

@iChris The Switch really is awesome.

I was skeptical, but it's by far our most used console to date, and the most widely used by the whole family.

@smithtimmytim It spammed all my contacts.

Might be a good service (kind of LinkedIn for remote workers) but bad first impression.

@KateKendall Yes! It’s terrible.

So many http://Remote.com invites.

(I didn’t realize when I signed up it would be emailing all my contacts)

Currently: getting 5 new invites every few hours.

@impressiver I didn’t phrase it exactly like that. 😉

@earthlingworks Blog traffic doesn’t affect SEO for you?

Invest in @IronMaiden NOW.

https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/959565970644889601

@deanyeong Sweet. 👌

@smithtimmytim YESSSS!

A lot of the biz-oriented Slacks I'm a part of now have a #health channel.

Super important.

This is a good chat between @BrendanHufford and @thehealthgeeks about founder health:
https://soundcloud.com/healthgeeksradio/the-journey-with-brendan-hufford-ep-85

When you ask: "What caused you to buy today?" you're learning:

1. What situations, environments, events, triggers cause people to buy?
2. What progress are they hoping to make with your product? What's the ultimate outcome they're looking for?

Two interesting questions to ask customers:

1. What caused you to buy today?
2. How did you originally find me?

This AMA with @patio11 is good.
https://blog.hntokyo.io/patio11-ama-hn-tokyo/

I especially enjoyed the two questions posed by @SachaGreif 👍

(The first is a solid business question. The second seems designed to get a reaction out of Patrick 😜)

@MatthewBogart 😂

@jonbstrong @LaurenHolliday_ I've had a great experience so far with @podiadotcom.

I wrote about it here: https://megamaker.co/podia/

@release_notes @watsonstuart @jcieplinski For sure!

@marcusthehirsch 1. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard
2. Burton founder Jake Carpenter

@dshlvrsn Reading that now.

@marcusthehirsch Yes! I’ve been listening. It’s good.

If you’re confused by #JTBD it’s because there are two (very) different interpretations.

@alanklement provides a well-researched description of both. https://jtbd.info/know-the-two-very-different-interpretations-of-jobs-to-be-done-5a18b748bd89?source=twitterShare-a02dd1574d08-1517495703

RT @JordanGame6: Damn. Will Smith really got the keys...

@sandhillsbrew @pippinsplugins This looks gooooooood

@iEatsALot YES! That was @contestkit. They're awesome.

Best way to validate your idea? Build a landing page. ✅
Best way to launch your idea? Build a landing page! ✅

Today's the last day to get $20 off "Build better landing pages:"

https://justinjackson.podia.com/build-better-landing-pages?coupon=TMW3

@drewwilson You need an education, young blood!

https://www.pcmag.com/feature/340587/the-forgotten-world-of-bbs-door-games

@drewwilson did u create a door game for my favorite bbs.

@drewwilson did u make a tabletop game

@fortelabs Yup! 👋

Good signs for a software product:

1. When people are recommending you in Slack. (The new word-of-mouth)
2. When your app gets a permanent spot on a company's intranet: https://sites.google.com/a/watkinson.org/start/
3. When users build their own apps / workflows around your software (Zapier, etc...)

@monzo when are you coming to canada?

What raves and software have in common https://justinjackson.ca/raves/

@ruxton No, 80 full-sized sheets (tabloid paper).

I'm guessing we fit 20 on a page?

We were cheap. ;)

Tomorrow's newsletter includes a link to 1998-rave-budget.xls

🍄 "What raves and software have in common." 🍄

https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

Awesome thread.

"If you feel that same desperate floundering to find your calling, and you're considering what you dug as a child, try thinking about it sideways. What was the *heart* of what you loved?"

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/957644815629520898

Thinking about writing about "What raves and software have in common" in my next newsletter: https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

(Also, check out this 90s flyer I found from my time in the #yeg rave scene)

@lachlanjc @rrhoover I'm humbled.

(Especially since I have a 15 year-old *and* a 12 year-old and NEITHER of them read my stuff 😂)

@StephenWilson Great answer.

I think @basecamp and @CAH are both doing that with their shows.

They're building trust through storytelling.

@lachlanjc No way! How did you find my stuff?

I've been following you since grade 9 https://justinjackson.ca/grade9/

BTW - we're still looking for new ways to "destroy" what's being written. Any of you JavaScript heads able to contribute:

A "burn" effect 🔥
An explosion effect 💥
Other? 💫

Finally updated http://writeanddestroy.com today.

(A project by @micahbrich, myself, and you!)

It would have been smart for @Twitter to make personal accounts free (but you need to verify identity), but charge for corporate accounts.

https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/957686987229618176

Happy Snowy Sunday!

What are you folks up to today?

“Aim for th highest expression of your talent.” – @RyanHoliday

RT @naval: Success is the enemy of learning. It can deprive you of the time and the incentive to start over. Beginner’s mind also needs beg…

RT @madebybourn: I have issues with product commitment and I know exactly where it came from..I think https://medium.com/chronic-creator/i-have-issues-with-commitment-847c90aa38fc#---0-185 #startup #ent…

@paullferguson Wow!

"I've been following you since grade 9"

☝️tomorrow's newsletter is going to be interesting.

https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

@joelgascoigne @buffer Well done Joel! These numbers are looking 💯

Just got the sweetest swag from @darianrosebrook and @compassofdesign! 🔥

@clientgiantrob does this mean I have to stop eating peanut butter sandwiches at 11:35pm

Insanely helpful if you're looking to create a course in 2018:

https://www.podia.com/guides/how-to-create-an-online-course

@zodman Mixpanel

RT @mijustin: Technology always has a flip side.

There are benefits (convenience, speed, connectivity, creative empowerment)

But we don’t…

@ratiovernon @startupvernon Nope, just saw it on the Spudz instagram. 😄

@adamwathan @Slayer They’re coming to the Okanagan too! 🤘

@BarrettABrooks @delk There are a lot of agencies with pretty sophisticated scraping tech that do all of this automatically.

I've yet to see sales automation that "feels good."

If you want better landing pages, check out this mini course:

https://justinjackson.podia.com/build-better-landing-pages

🎉 Just introduced a bunch of new @tiny_wins mini-courses in my @podiadotcom store!

https://justinjackson.podia.com