1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: What's up everybody? Will Lucas here a black tech, Green money. 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: So good to be with you guys as we kick 3 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: off this holiday season. And let's start this off a 4 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: little bit of afrotech news. A lot going on in 5 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: the world today. You can always get news like this 6 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: on afrotech dot com. But in case you haven't logged 7 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: on to the end at this morning or this today, 8 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: this avenue, whatever, I don't know when you're listening, whenever 9 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:22,960 Speaker 1: you've listened, if you have not been over yet, I'm 10 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: going to just give you a little bit of snapshots 11 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: of what you can get on afrotech dot com. So 12 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: first up, early stage investor in Wall Street VET Stephanie 13 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: Thomas is now going to be the managing director over 14 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,840 Speaker 1: at Zeo Capital Partners. She was previously a founding member 15 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: and investor at Impact American Fund IAF and helped that 16 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: company scale from seven million dollars to one hundred and 17 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: ten million in assets under management. At Zeocapital Partner, she 18 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: will lead US investment plans, which include a fifty million 19 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: dollar commitment to inclusive investing through its newly establish Barclays 20 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: Black Formation Investments Initiative BBFI, established just in October like 21 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: a little bit ago. The fund was designed to invest 22 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: in black led companies that are working to address wealth 23 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: and skills gaps through their services and technologies. So if 24 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: you're building in that category and that vertical, you need 25 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: to high at a big shout out to you, Stephanie. 26 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: Much success in other news of black women doing amazing things. 27 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: According to shot Black, Maria Tower is behind one of 28 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: the largest women's health funds. According to shot Black, so 29 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:44,199 Speaker 1: Steel Sky Adventures. They portfolio companies include like Midi Health 30 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: which does menopausal care, Origin which is pelvic floor physical therapy, 31 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: twenty eight Health which is telemedicine for reproductive healthcare, in 32 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: May which is a marketplace for improving black maternal health today. 33 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: To date, Steel Sky Ventures manages about seventy three million 34 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 1: dollars in total assets, that's per shot Black. Place in 35 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: the firm is one of the largest women's health focused 36 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: venture capital firms, Toller told shot Black. Steel Sky partners 37 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: with passionate founders innovating in women's health. We invest in 38 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: series A companies with product founder fit demonstrated solutions to 39 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: critical women's health issues and readiness to collaborate with leading 40 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,119 Speaker 1: healthcare institutions. I'm so glad about that product founder fit 41 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: statement because it's a great segue into today's episode. 'm 42 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: with Lucas Black Tech, Green Money. That was your afro 43 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: tech news. If you want more stuff like that, go 44 00:02:44,639 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: to afrotech dot com, pin it to your bookmarks bar. Now, 45 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: we're taught to give things our best, especially if you're 46 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: starting out in business. You know you've got to give 47 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: it all you got in order to find success, right, 48 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: you know, but what if with respect to business and 49 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: ideas in the beginning, that's the absolute worst thing you 50 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: should do. I want to talk about minimum viable products, 51 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: and this word is specifically for businesses and startups that 52 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: want to scale, meaning you want to grow your revenue 53 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: faster than your costs. It's not like, you know, you're 54 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: building a long care service or some lifestyle business like that, 55 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: where if you want to cut more yards or cut 56 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: more hair, or you know, do more nails, you've got 57 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: to hire more people or purchase a lot more equipment 58 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: in order to do that and grow. Because you're one person, 59 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: you've got limited resources, limited time, et cetera. It's not 60 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: designed to scale. But in a scalable startup, you're growing 61 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: your revenue faster than your costs. So in this regard, 62 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: we're talking about something that might be leveraging technology, whether 63 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: it's an application or a website, even a fashion brand 64 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: or any event like let's say you're putting on a conference. 65 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: Those things, the revenue can grow for a business like 66 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: that faster than the amount of effort, resources, etc. That 67 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: you're putting into it. So my goal by the end 68 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: of this episode not only is it that you're convinced 69 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: that you may not need to dive in with both feet. 70 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: I want to get you to embrace the logic and 71 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: why that might not be smart, but also my hope 72 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: is that you have an idea of what you should 73 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: do next with this information. So unlike the kind of 74 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: businesses that I mentioned earlier, the landscape or the barber, 75 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: the nail tech small businesses, if you think about it, 76 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: we're not necessarily trying to be profitable upfront those kind 77 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: of businesses. You're trying to be profitable with every deal 78 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: with a scalable operation at the MVP stage. All we're 79 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: trying to do at this point is prove that people 80 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: want what we're building and that they'll pay for it. 81 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: And so with that, I need to start this conversation 82 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: with talking about passion and romance, and not the kind 83 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: of passion in romance you know that you googly eye 84 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: and somebody, but the kind of passion in romance that 85 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: you might be googly eye and your ideas. I'm going 86 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: to just say it in the most stark terms. I 87 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: know how just because you care about the thing that 88 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: you're working on does not mean the market does. And 89 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: that's not easy for a lot of people to hear 90 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: because we believe that because we think we have the 91 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: best idea for solving whatever problem that the world believes, 92 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: the market believes it's a worthy idea to be on 93 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: the shelf. Because some ideas that you have, people may 94 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,279 Speaker 1: appreciate the idea, but they're not willing to pay for it. 95 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: It may not be a problem at the level of 96 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: them bringing you know that they want to go in 97 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: their pocket and reach out their wallet or pull a 98 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,280 Speaker 1: phone out for Apple pay. They may have the problem, 99 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: but they don't have the pain at such a level 100 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: that they are willing to solve the problem with your solution. 101 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: And think about it this way, it's not always pain 102 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: that people are trying to solve for it's also desire. 103 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: Maybe they think what you're doing is cute, but are 104 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: they willing to embrace you or cute for themselves such 105 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,440 Speaker 1: that they'll pay for it at a rate or at 106 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: a dollar amount that makes it make sense for you 107 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: to produce the thing. So just because people have displayed 108 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: some level of interest in what you've displayed interest in 109 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: developing does not mean there's a place for it on 110 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: the shelf. This is what this process of going through 111 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: the minimum viable product phase will help you figure out. 112 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: So what is a minimum viable product? It's just the 113 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: finest for those of us who don't know what it means, 114 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: a minimum viable product. And I'm gonna give you my 115 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: pairaphrase and then I'll give you the actual definition per Google. 116 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: So the definition, if you ask me, is what is 117 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: the least I can do? The least viable thing I 118 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 1: can do? And I'm going to come back to that word, 119 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: the least viable thing I can do to prove that 120 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: it is worth it to go to the next step 121 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: and invest more in it. My idea in my business, 122 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: what's the least thing I can do? Because all I'm 123 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: trying to do again, all I'm trying to do at 124 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: this stage is prove that the market wants it and 125 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: they will pay for it something the market wants. There 126 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: are some things the market wants that it will not 127 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: pay for at a level that makes it make sense 128 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: for a producer to produce it. So I went to 129 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: Google and just the first website that came up was 130 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: my VA three sixty. I don't even know who does 131 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: this website, but it's just the first one that came up. 132 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: So their definition of the minimum viable product is the 133 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,440 Speaker 1: first form of a product that you can release to users. 134 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: It provides core functionality without any additional features. Entrepreneurs use 135 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: MVPs and viable products to assess how customers feel about 136 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: an idea. If the idea does have potential, they use 137 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: customer feedback to develop the next version of the product. 138 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: There's a couple things in there I want to point 139 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: out because it's important to do, because I started this 140 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: conversation off talking about why you should not give your 141 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: best in the early stages of a scalable startup scalable business, 142 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: and that was a little bit intentionally abrasive, because I 143 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: believe you should always give your best. But what I 144 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: mean by not giving your best is don't do the most, 145 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: do the least. You have to do viability in order 146 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: to prove. But that viability standard means you gave your 147 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 1: all at that minimum level. What all can you do 148 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: at this minimum level to make it viable? So if 149 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: I am interested in starting, you know, let's say I 150 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: want to start a new website and I want to 151 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: do news what is a minimum viable product? Because I 152 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: don't have any eyeballs come into my domain today, I 153 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: don't have any eyeballs downloaded my app and subscribing to 154 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: my newsletter. I don't have any eyeballs or demands from 155 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: advertisers to come and check me out. What is a 156 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 1: minimum viable product in that scenario. In that scenario, a 157 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,720 Speaker 1: minimum viable product could be my Instagram page. How many 158 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: people can I engage in the types of content I 159 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: am going to produce things to produce content around, produce 160 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 1: ideas around, produce words around such that I see okay, yesterday, 161 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: it was one hundred people. Following today's it's one hundred 162 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: and ten people following Tomorrow, there's one hundred and fifty 163 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,720 Speaker 1: people following a week from now, there's two hundred people 164 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: following and my engagement on every post continues to go up. 165 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: That is some sort of proof that people are interested 166 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: in my take. So what is the next step from 167 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: that Instagram or that Twitter account, or that Facebook profile 168 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: or that LinkedIn situation. I could go start a newsletter 169 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: for free. There's plenty of websites where you can go 170 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: and you can create a newsletter. Keep it under most 171 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: of them like make you keep it under a certain 172 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: number of subscribers at the free level. Like let's say 173 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 1: I don't know list to be true, but let's say 174 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: like constant Contact or what's another one, Mailchimp. Let's say 175 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: constant Contact. A Mailchimp will allow you to create a 176 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: newsletter for free if you have less than one hundred subscribers. 177 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: I think Mailchimp actually does. It's constant Contact. I don't 178 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: believe does. But Mailchimp, I believe, has their pricing structure 179 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: to allow you to use their service for free if 180 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: you have under a certain number of subscribers. So, if 181 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: you want to be the next big publisher, the next 182 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: big blog, the next big you know, hot take giver, 183 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: the way to do that is to create content and 184 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: build a following. You don't go and build a ten 185 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: thousand dollars website on day one. You don't go and 186 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: buy twenty thousand dollars cameras on day one. You don't 187 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: go and invest in studio time at your neighborhood podcast 188 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 1: studio and spend you know, thousands of dollars an hour 189 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: just to figure out if people want to consume your stuff. Now, 190 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: if you got it and you want to do that, hey, 191 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:44,119 Speaker 1: by all means, but in a minimum viable product scenario. 192 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: To save you the time, the effort, the resources just 193 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: to figure out if people care about your take is 194 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: to start with what is the minimum What is the 195 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:02,439 Speaker 1: least viable thing you should you doing just to prove 196 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: that the one hundred dollars you're gonna spend as an 197 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: investment into more equipment, better resources, it's people, etc. That 198 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: it's actually going to a good cause. That's what the 199 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: minimum viable product is designed to do. So, if you 200 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: are I talked about fashion early, if you're creating a 201 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: fashion brand, you don't necessarily have to go and spend 202 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: a bunch of money on inventory. There are plenty of websites. 203 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: Spring is now one of them, used to be called 204 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:42,600 Speaker 1: Tea Spring, Shopify, does this now where you can create 205 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: you can even sell the T shirt designs and the 206 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: shirt designs even other branded things that you design and 207 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: you don't pay anything effectively until somebody buys it and 208 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: then they print it, they create it with your designs 209 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 1: on demand. Amazon, I believe, is getting into this business. 210 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: I know Shopify, does I know t Spring which is 211 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: now red, which is now Spring Red Bubble is one 212 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: And this is something you can do just to prove 213 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: that people want your stuff. Every year, at least once 214 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: a year, sometimes twice, but at least once a year, 215 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: I get somebody who is because I have a marketing 216 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: technology agency. Also we do video production and all that 217 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: stuff creatio and so every year I'll get at least 218 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: one person who says, hey, I created this book. I 219 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: want to market and sell it, develop a website for 220 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: it so I can sell it. And I'm like, I'm 221 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: thinking to myself, like, who's waiting for this book? Who's 222 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: who asked you for this book? And so they spent 223 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: all their blood, sweat and tears writing this book that 224 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: nobody's waiting for. And it baffles me that people do 225 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: this now. If you want to write just because you 226 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: got to get it out. That's fine, but there are 227 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: better ways. If you're writing in order to be a 228 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: published author, in order to sell your knowledge, insights, words, 229 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 1: there are smarter ways to go about doing it. For instance, 230 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: if I'm writing a book, here's what I would do. 231 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: I would write one chapter of said book. I would 232 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: write one chapter of the book, and I would write 233 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: no more. Unless you know, again, you just got to 234 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,480 Speaker 1: get it out, that's fine, But I would write one chapter. 235 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,480 Speaker 1: I would create a one page website. You can do 236 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: this on the variety of sites. Google allows you to 237 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: do this for free. If you want to spend a 238 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: little bit of money, that's fine too. But create a 239 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: one page website that allows people to insert their email 240 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: address for a free chapter of the book. Now, nobody 241 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: knows you haven't started writing the whole book. Only you know. 242 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 1: But you can say, hey, book name is how to 243 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: Build an MVP. It's coming out in twenty twenty five. 244 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: But if he goes to this website right now, you 245 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: get a free chapter. And in order to get that chapter, 246 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: when they get to the website, they got to give 247 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: you that email address. So they give you the email address, 248 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: they automatically get this free chapter. In their inbox. It's 249 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: just a PDF. It's easy. So now, not until I 250 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: have created this one page website that allows me to 251 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,479 Speaker 1: collect email addresses, and in return for those email addresses, 252 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: an automatic email get sent to that new subscriber, because 253 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: you're adding them to a newsletter, which is the point 254 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: of this. Not until I have done that at enough 255 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: and got enough subscribers, would I believe that there's enough 256 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,479 Speaker 1: people who want my book on creating an MVP. So 257 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:17,159 Speaker 1: if I'm looking at this website and I'm seeing three people, 258 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: I'm making up numbers, but three people in three months 259 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 1: have signed up to get the free chapter, there's probably 260 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: gonna be one person waiting for the book. That's with 261 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: thirty three percent. That's high because not everybody who subscribes 262 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: actually wants the content. So you got to determine the 263 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: MVP to determine if I should spend the hours it's 264 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: gonna take, the weeks is gonna take, the months, is 265 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: gonna take, the dollars is gonna take to then go 266 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: get somebody to create the artwork and do all the 267 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: illustrations or whatever whatever whatever like, if I'm going to 268 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: spend that spend that time, energy resources, etc. On this book. 269 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: I better know somebody's waiting for the book. So what 270 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: you do is once you know, hey, there's a thousand 271 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 1: people waiting because a thousand people signed up for this thing. 272 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: I know too many people who have books, boxes of 273 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,400 Speaker 1: book boxes of books in their garage that they wrote 274 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: a book and they thought they were going to be 275 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: on the New York Times bestseller list, so they went 276 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: and bought all of these books of the thing that 277 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: they wrote that nobody asked them for. They didn't do 278 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: any preparation of the market. They didn't do any market 279 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: development to generate excitement interest in the book that they 280 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: were writing. But what I gave you is a very 281 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: simple way to do it. And you can do this 282 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: with almost anything. You can do this with an actual application. 283 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: You can build your debt and you can start getting 284 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:05,479 Speaker 1: market research on hey, this is how the app works. 285 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 1: And you can build mockups. There's actually websites that you 286 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: can go to, such as flutter or flow is one, 287 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: retool is another. And what you do is you go 288 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: to these websites and you build a mock up of 289 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: your app, a mockup of your website, and then you 290 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: start showing this thing to people, you start demonstrating it 291 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 1: to them. The buttons are very often on a lot 292 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: of these apps. The buttons will work. So if I'm 293 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: on one page and I click a button, it'll take 294 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: me to what I would see actually as the second 295 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 1: page in a real app on my phone, but it's 296 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 1: just a mockup. And so the buttons are like clickable 297 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: very often in a lot of these new prototyping softwares. 298 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: And so then I'm taking that and I'm showing people 299 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: who are in the target demographic, the people who are 300 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: the people who I'm targeting or will target. Once I 301 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: have found that the marketplace actually wants this thing and 302 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: they want it for me. Oh, we'll come back to 303 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: that in a second. That the marketplace actually wants this thing, 304 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: then I know, okay, I might have something here. Because 305 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: I actually showed this to people who could use it. 306 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: They would pay for it. They might even even signed 307 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: up for my email list. They might have actually given 308 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 1: me a dollar to be the first user once it's built. 309 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: All sorts of ways you can determine if people are 310 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:37,919 Speaker 1: serious about using the product when it's ready. So I 311 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: mentioned a second ago, I meant to mention this at 312 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: all in the episode, but I'm glad I said that 313 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 1: it was do they want the thing? And are you 314 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: the best person to build it? Because there is such 315 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: a thing as product market fit, which means that my 316 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: product is designed in such a way that the market 317 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 1: who it's designed for it's built for they match. So 318 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: the people who would use this thing are willing to 319 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: use it because it's made for them. Is my product 320 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: design to situate that it's made for the market that 321 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,680 Speaker 1: is trying to satiate? Then there's a question of founder 322 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: product fit. Just because you have an idea for something, 323 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:27,439 Speaker 1: what makes you uniquely situated to do this thing? What 324 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: is it about you that says, you know what? I 325 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: believe you're the guy to solve this problem because eventually 326 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: you're going to have to sell users. Eventually you're gonna 327 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: have to sell investors. And what they're going to be 328 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: looking at is not just the idea, not just the product, 329 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: not just the team you developed. They're also going to 330 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 1: be looking at you and saying, what is it about 331 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: this person? What is it about Jill? What is it 332 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: about Henry that makes me believe he's going to go 333 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:07,640 Speaker 1: out into the marketplace evangelize this thing and win? Are 334 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: you the best person to solve the problem that you're 335 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: trying to tackle just because you're passionate about it and 336 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: just because you had an idea or just because you 337 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: had the idea, does that mean it's best for you? 338 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: That's work you gotta do. Do you have the skills 339 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: those personal qualities that the market believes aligned with the 340 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 1: solution to the problem. So these are things that at 341 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:47,080 Speaker 1: your early days of starting a company, starting one that 342 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: specifically scales or that should scale. These are the questions 343 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: you have to answer and so your work, hopefully number one. 344 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 1: Hopefully what we've accomplished today is getting you to think 345 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: about are you doing too much too early? What are 346 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:12,640 Speaker 1: things you can do that might not be the ultimate thing? 347 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: And look Amazon. When Amazon started, Jeff Bezos knew, Hey, 348 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: one day, I would really love to be able to 349 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: sell TVs on the internet. One day. I would really 350 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: love to be able to sell a car on the 351 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: internet one day. I would really love to be able 352 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: to sell anything on the internet. But what can I 353 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: do today to prove that the market will buy things online? 354 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: I'm going to sell books online. That's it. When Amazon started, 355 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: all they sold was books online. And then as that 356 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: started to make sense, say, okay, what things go with 357 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: books that people say that they're here buying books are 358 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: what kind of things can we sell that book lovers 359 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: since they're coming here already to buy books. Oh, they 360 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: might want a bookmark, they might want a pencil, they 361 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: might want a journal. And so they started to expand 362 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: and then sell more and more and more things. But 363 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: the minimum viable product was a website that just sold books. 364 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,719 Speaker 1: So you need to start thinking about what is it 365 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: you can do today with the limited resources. Sometimes having 366 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: limited resources is actually a blessing in disguise, because you 367 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: shouldn't necessarily always go spend a whole bunch of money 368 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,440 Speaker 1: on something that's unproven. What you should do is put 369 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: a little bit towards it, whether that be time, resources, 370 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: dollars or whatever, and just see if the thing starts 371 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: to go. And then once you figure out what goes, 372 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: that's when you pour fuel on the fire. But you 373 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: don't pour all your fuel into this thing that and 374 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: there's no fire. What you want is to figure out 375 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: what actually is showing some signs, and that's where you 376 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: go to the minimum. The minimum viable product helps you 377 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: that this process of developing a minimum viable product, the 378 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: thing that you can do at with the smallest thing 379 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: you can do that takes the least amount of resources, 380 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: that's actually viable, the least viable thing, not the least alone, 381 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:38,320 Speaker 1: but the least viable thing. What is that thing that 382 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: you can do in your category? And so think about that, 383 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: and then once you determine that, do that and only 384 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: that until you found success. And once you found success, 385 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: you know then that people actually might want this thing. 386 00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: Then you go and put the resources, spend the extra time, 387 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: you know, take off a day, a week of work 388 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: or whatever, spend a little bit more money on the thing, 389 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: you know, buy a better piece of equipment. But not 390 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: until you figured out that the market actually even wants 391 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,640 Speaker 1: this thing from you in the first place. What's interesting 392 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: about the minimum viable product and all everything I just 393 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,920 Speaker 1: said it's interesting about it. But what's interesting in this 394 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: moment is the viability actually is a moving target. So 395 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,120 Speaker 1: as you build viability at one level, the point of 396 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: a business is to grow, and so what is the 397 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: viability requirements at the next level. So you're always looking 398 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: to test features, test things, test test new avenues for 399 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: business growth, not with again, not with both feet jumping 400 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: out the window, jumping into the water, but your test 401 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:05,080 Speaker 1: thing at every stage to see where is the next easiest, 402 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:11,400 Speaker 1: most efficient path path for growth. So once you have 403 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: that thing, you're making money, you're building a user base, 404 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: you're getting sales, you're getting new people to sign up, 405 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: you're getting signatures on the line, you're getting interest. There's 406 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: another level and there will always be another level. And 407 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,879 Speaker 1: so what you want to do as a founder is 408 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: start to train yourself to be in this always testing 409 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: sort of mentality, always testing phase, because that's where the 410 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: growth is. This is what you sign up for when 411 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: you go build a business. You want to constantly. It's 412 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,400 Speaker 1: like playing Jenga in a way. It's like you're always 413 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: you know, testing which block is the easiest one to 414 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:00,239 Speaker 1: move based on the amount of effort I can give 415 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: it safely. And just like Jinga, I think Jenga is 416 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: the perfect example. The perfect parallel to a minimum viable 417 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: product is one you got to be fast. And so 418 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: you want to release a product, some version of your product, 419 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,920 Speaker 1: the viable version, to the market as quickly as possible, 420 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 1: and you want to do it without committing a whole 421 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,919 Speaker 1: lot to the effort. You know, you don't want to 422 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,639 Speaker 1: put all your chips in on the minimum viable product. 423 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 1: You want to test it at a level to where 424 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: you're not putting the company, the whole thing, your personal 425 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: self at risk. That's the point of the minimum viable product, 426 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: so that you don't put yourself at risk. You're testing 427 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: at a level quickly, getting the market quickly, and at 428 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: a level that just gives you inside Again, you're not 429 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: trying to prove that you can make money yet, You're 430 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: just trying to prove that there is a market for it. Yet. 431 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: That's all you're trying to do. And then you want 432 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 1: to learn what resonates with the market that you're going after. 433 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: And so in this minimum viable product phase, you're going 434 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: to learn things about the business that you would have 435 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: not you would not have had an opportunity to do 436 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: if you delivered this fully fledged product at the onset. 437 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: There's this quote, I think it was by Reed Hoffman, 438 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 1: and he said, if you're not embarrassed by the first 439 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,720 Speaker 1: version of your thing that you release into the world, 440 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: you've released it too late. So many of us want 441 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 1: the whole thing to be perfect, with a ribbon on 442 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: it everything is perfect before we release anything. And what 443 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: you do is you rob yourself of the opportunity to 444 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: learn what the market actually wants from you when you 445 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: do that. On another episode down the line, we'll talk 446 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: about l doing that publicly. We'll talk about showing the 447 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: behind the scenes and why it's important to allow people 448 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 1: to grow with you behind and get exposure to the 449 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: behind the scenes of it, the mistakes and the failures. 450 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: Maybe you should show that. We'll talk about that another 451 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: episode though. Hey, listen, if you got something out of 452 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: this episode, y, it would do me a big favor 453 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: to just share it with somebody. Share this with somebody 454 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: who you think will get something out of it. That's 455 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: all I ask. I'm with Lucas's Black Tech, Green Money.