A playbook for Generating Business Ideas

a. Burn the Boats
I fully committed. I started on my own at the beginning of the year. My
girlfriend moved away a couple weeks prior. I didn’t have cable at my
apartment. I have nothing to do at my apartment besides listen to podcasts. So I
just stayed at the lovely WeWork Soho and worked more.
b. Suck it Up
It was hard…I was stressed…I didn’t have much time for other aspects of my
life…I cut spending on all the stuff I like doing…
I didn’t want to work. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to cold call
people. But I did it anyway.
You hear the stories about how much hardship entrepreneurs go through, and it
sounds so cool and tough. Well let me tell you: It’s all true and it’s a lot less fun
when you’re the one going through it. Even after hearing all the stories and after
working at a startup, I still had no idea how hard it would be.
My friends are at their stable jobs with their stable salaries…and their weekends
off…and I’m just working my ass off without immediate gratification.
Instead of letting the stress cripple me, I acknowledged it, accepted it, and chose
to view it as a positive experience rather than a negative one. I focused on the
long-term outcomes rather than just the short-term hardship.

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5. Ask for Help
In addition to finding ways to help customers, I also asked A LOT of people for
help. I asked people if I could interview them for customer development, I asked
people to share my stuff on Twitter, I asked people for introductions, advice, and
more.
I was shameless! Fortunately, I have a great network of people that were willing
and able to help. Dustin helped me with some data analysis. Brandon helped me
with design. Matt provided a ton of product advice. Lots of people took time out
of their day to answer customer development questions and provide feedback.
Lots of people helped me with promotion. And the list goes on.

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