Winning leads to leveling up.
Leveling up leads to harder opponents.
Harder opponents leads to losing.
Losing leads to learning.
Learning leads to winning.
Just depends what part of the cycle you’re in.
“I think Tesla will have sort of a ChatGPT moment, maybe if not this year, no later than next year. Suddenly 3 million cars will drive itself with no one, then 5 million, then 10 million cars.”
- Elon Musk
Legendary investor Peter Lynch said: "in the stock market - the most important organ is the stomach, not the brain."
For founders - I say the most important organ is your balls, not your brain.
Most smart people are total wussies. Half intensity & full self-doubt.
Don't be them!
• Michael Jordan: 9,000 failed shots
• James Dyson: 5,126 failed vacuums
• Thomas Edison: 10,000 failed lightbulbs
They failed for DECADES before success.
Meanwhile, you get one rejection and quit immediately…
Me: I want to buy toilet paper
Costco: yep
Me: …and an 85 inch TV
Costco: yeah nw we got you bro
Me: also weird q but do you know where to get a $5 rotisserie chicken
Costco: buddy ur not gonna believe this
Q: Best advice for a pre-product/market fit startup?
One of my favorite pieces of advice on this topic comes from Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong: “Action produces information. Just keep doing stuff.”
He borrows this from Paul Graham who said: “Startups are like sharks. If they stop swimming they die.’”
Even if you’re not sure what to do, just try something different. Don’t get stuck in endless debate or analysis paralysis.
When you try a product or go-to-market experiment, it will produce information and help you come up with better ideas of what to try next.
This is true even when you build the wrong thing because it will help you identify which hypotheses about your users, value proposition, go-to-market strategy, etc. are wrong.
So if you’re pre-product/market fit, my best advice is to just keep moving and trying things.
Follow @startuparchive_ for more tactical startup advice!
#1 tip for scaling your eCom brand in the early days?
Test like a crazy person.
And not just ad creatives.
But products / product features.
Design. Colors. Packaging.
Everything.
Then double down on what's working fast.
If you want to drive someone crazy:
Ask Midjourney to generate a game of Where's Waldo.
It will generate images that LOOK legitimate enough to spend time looking - but do not, in fact, contain Waldo (I think?).
The music industry is about to change forever.
This AI-generated song created by "ghostwriter977" is blowing up on TikTok.
It features AI Drake ft. The Weeknd, and is SO good. Sound on 🔊👇