Tweets

Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
Katharine’s background:

She’s a climate scientist but she lives in Texas (the heart of the oil industry). She’s also an evangelical Christian.

She’s learned how to speak to all kinds of people about the climate crisis in terms that resonate.

@KHayhoe’s example is inspiring.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
If you are overwhelmed by climate change, and feel powerless to act, I highly recommend this book by @KHayhoe.

She demonstrates how to have meaningful dialogue with folks all over the political spectrum on the climate crisis.

It’s a book about hope and practical action.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
@adamstac really appreciated your episode with @jack. Thanks for putting that out. 👍
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
A lot of my content ideas come from questions being asked on Reddit.

For example, here someone was having low mic volume problems in Riverside.

So I recorded a quick video response that I also made public on @TransistorFM's YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/HQwX_6RkyaY
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
I'm writing an update to my newsletter on our Product Hunt launch for @PodcastSites.

Anything specific you'd like to know?
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Business idea:

FaaS
"Force me to do shit; as a service"

I call you up, and you stay on the line and make sure that I do work that I've been procrastinating on (taxes, paperwork, cleaning my office, whatever).
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
Reminder: Andreessen Horowitz invested at least $100M in Clubhouse.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Evening stroll
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @justinvincent
@justinvincent ICQ, Campfire, Yammer, Hipchat, Skype Chat...

All came before Slack. The customer demand for "group chat" had been building for decades.

When Microsoft bought Yammer (2012), it had 5 million users.

Butterfield's whole "we don't sell saddles" didn't help him win against MSFT.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
RT
RT @mijustin: I wonder if the proliferation of vague headlines, value-props, and sentiment-based "benefit-driven" copy is actually working.…
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
RT
RT @mijustin: In my experience, the better the business opportunity, the simpler your marketing efforts need to be.

If you're needing to l…
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
BTW – @sherrywalling is an amazing resource on mental health for founders. If you're not following her already, you should be!
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
"The advice to anyone listening is: don't underestimate the velocity of your market. If you're in a market that is squeezed, I would say go to another market (unless you're a glutton for punishment)." – @Patticus, @ProfitWell

Great thoughts on choosing a good SaaS market. 👍
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @AliAbdaal
@AliAbdaal For many years, I had “label anxiety,” largely around: “how should I introduce myself at meetups? What am I?”

The nice thing about the “founder” label is it can encompass many things.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @machadogj
@machadogj Except, the leaders in a given product category are usually of that caliber.

So you're still in the ring with high-level competitors.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @brennandunn
@brennandunn @louisnicholls_ @Shpigford I’m not talking about pre-destination. 😉

Again, the original thread is just about the statistics:

Many people try to build a business that gives them a FT income, most fail and don’t keep trying.

When anyone can put out a shingle, it makes sense that most biz will fail.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @hieu_ngvan
@hieu_ngvan @Shpigford There are other limitations as well: you might run out of money, have limited time, have other demands (kids), and not be able to afford the opportunity costs of trying to build a business.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @earthlingworks
@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus A lot of the time, they haven’t found the right market/opportunity yet.

Market “pull” is different in SaaS. Took me a while to figure it out.

It’s why “quitting an idea that’s not working” is usually the right advice. 👍

It’s better to look for another opportunity.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @earthlingworks
@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus I was earning more $ from my businesses (than my ft jobs) before Transistor.

This is best wave I’ve ridden though.

Jon and I are definitely good at riding this wave together. Neither of us could have done this alone.

Without market pull, we definitely wouldn’t be as successful
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @earthlingworks
@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus I mention growth and potential a bunch of times.

But statistically, most people who try to build a business that makes a FT income will fail.

Most won’t persist.

And, markets can’t have “unlimited” winners. Many will try and fail.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
My framing of “success” here is aimed specifically at those indie founders who are hoping to make at least a full-time income from their business.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @Shpigford
@Shpigford My meta point is statistical: because it’s easy to want/start a business that gives you FT income, many will try, and most will fail.

(Your definition is more broad. I agree that we should encourage folks to make stuff, experiment, etc)
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @Shpigford
@Shpigford Failure is probably less subjective than we think.

I think most indie founders would say that initial success = “more freedom and more money than I’d get from a job.”

There’s still a big chance that most who try won’t reach that mark.

Most can’t afford to keep trying forever.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @JackEllis
@JackEllis Most people bomb when they try standup comedy (even funny people).

Those that succeed have two characteristics:

1. They’re funny
2. They spent the time to work on their material, learn, grow, etc

If you have potential, you still need to develop your fundamentals to compete.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
I’m not saying we should block anyone from trying to be an entrepreneur: it’s good to try!

(And one characteristic of those who “make it” is they try, repeatedly, until they make it)

But statistically, most folks won’t persist or succeed (same is true in music, art, sports).
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @Shpigford
@Shpigford You clearly had what it took to “grind, learn, gain skills, and develop” as a founder. 👍

I’m also not saying we should block anyone from trying.

But statistically, it’s just true that most people won’t “make it” (same is true in music, art, professional sports).
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
This is what makes business so interesting: anyone can suit up and play at the highest level.

This isn’t true for most high-level pursuits: if you run on an NBA court, you’ll be asked to leave. ⛹️😄

In business anyone can play, but you’re up against serious contenders.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
And, like most pursuits, on any given day, an unskilled fighter might land a lucky punch.

But it’s rare, and founders like this usually can’t do it twice.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
Entrepreneurship is an incredibly competitive pursuit where anyone (regardless of ability) can participate.

Some new founders have what it takes to grind, learn, gain skills, and develop into competitors.

But the vast majority of people who try don’t have what it takes.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Most of us would get destroyed if we hopped into a ring at the UFC.

But in business, anyone can hop in the ring and say “I’m an entrepreneur!”

It should come as no surprise that “most businesses fail.”

When anyone is allowed to jump in the ring, most will get knocked out.
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @earthlingworks
@earthlingworks @TheOmarZenhom @Patticus Of course, in most markets, there is always going to be a type of founder who is likely to fail no matter what. (“Wildly different levels of success”)

What we want to avoid is good founders choosing bad markets.

(Help founders who have "what it takes” to choose better markets)
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
I've been getting so many DMs from SaaS founders about this @Patticus interview.

A really 🔥 clip:

"The dynamics of your market guide everything. The thing I got wrong was 'the market.' Some markets are not big enough!"
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @yongfook
@yongfook One thing I spoke to @patticus about today was this industry-wide graph on @ProfitWell.

Overall growth rates for SaaS companies:

- In June 2020, growth rates for $100+ ARPU SaaS companies were 4.23-5.29%.
- Now they're 1.62-2.81%
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
@arvidkahl your idea of “it not being a ladder to wealth creation, but more of a web” reminded me of @SachaGreif’s article:

@sachagreif/the-spiderweb-strategy-12ebd2f35595" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://medium.com/@sachagreif/the-spiderweb-strategy-12ebd2f35595
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Replying to @mijustin
"Some of these markets are not big enough [to build a good business on]. Take, for example, the subscription market: it's not that big! There are, max, 150,000 companies!" – @Patticus
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Justin Jackson
Justin Jackson@mijustin
Just finished an amazing chat with @Patticus.

We talked about the @ProfitWell team selling to @PaddleHQ, but also got into a ton of other stuff surrounding SaaS, how to think about markets, whether to go big, etc.

Hoping to publish it on @buildyoursaas soon! 🙌
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