The 7 Day Startup: You Don't Learn Until You Launch

Core Principles

• The most critical lesson in entrepreneurship is that You dont learn until you launch. Real learning and validation only happen after the product is in the hands of users.
• For a business to have significant growth potential, it must be built on a foundation of Scalable business models are essential for growth.
• The ultimate validation for a business idea is not signups or traffic, but a relentless Focus on paying customers.
• Understanding the difference between a Startup vs Business is crucial for setting the right goals and expectations.
• Idea, Execution, and Hustle are the three pillars of a successful startup.
• It's important to distinguish between productive work and busy work by understanding Hustle vs Anti-Hustle.
• One of the biggest killers of startups is the tendency to make assumptions instead of relying on real-world data.
• The difference between an Entrepreneur vs Wantrepreneur is the willingness to take action and launch.

Business Rules

• Test every assumption to make data-driven decisions.
• Avoid premature optimization and solve problems as they arise.
• Do what you say you will do to build trust and a good reputation.
• Benchmark against the best to set high standards for yourself.
• Learn from others and yourself to avoid reinventing the wheel.
• Outlearn your competition by learning faster than anyone else.
• Build a business that can run without you to create a scalable asset.
• Look for sources of momentum and double down on what's working.
• Manage your motivation to stay in the game for the long haul.
• Fire bad customers to protect your time, energy, and sanity.
• Focus on retention to build a sustainable business.
• Avoid short-term thinking and focus on building long-term assets.
• When in doubt focus on the product.
• Love your work or you will eventually fail.

Productivity

• Parkinsons Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, which is why setting aggressive deadlines is so important.

Team

• Because it's rare for one person to excel in all three pillars of a startup, understanding The importance of co-founders is key.
• A successful startup requires not just Product-market fit, but Product market founder fit.

Methodologies

• The 7 Day Startup is a framework for launching a business quickly by focusing only on what's essential to get paying customers.
• A Manual-first MVP is a powerful way to launch a service-based business without writing any code.
• A Minimum Viable Product should be a high-quality product that solves a real problem, not just a collection of features.

Idea Validation

• A structured approach to Idea Selection Criteria is crucial for filtering out unviable business concepts.
• When choosing an idea, it's helpful to use a framework like the 9 Elements of a Great Bootstrapped Business Idea.
• It is not enough for users to like a product, you must Validate monetization strategy early to ensure you are building a sustainable business.
• Many common "lean startup" validation techniques are Flawed validation techniques and can lead to false positives.
• To get real, actionable feedback from potential customers, it's important to use the principles of The Mom Test
• A great way to de-risk your idea is to Solve problems people are already paying for.

Execution

• Don't get bogged down in analysis paralysis when choosing a name. Here's How to choose a business name quickly and effectively.
• It's possible to Build a website in one day for under $100 using modern tools.
• Launch day is just the beginning of a long journey.

Business Model

• Once you've launched, you need to Refine your business model based on customer feedback.
• This Case study of an unscalable business highlights the importance of building a business with a scalable model from day one.
• There are 5 criteria for a scalable business model that can help you build a business with growth in its DNA.

Marketing

• A Basic marketing funnel is a simple and effective way to turn strangers into customers.
• There are many ways to get your first customers. Here are 10 Ways to Market Your Business.

Metrics

• Focus on The One Metric That Matters to avoid the distraction of vanity metrics.
• It's important to Set realistic targets to stay motivated and to make good decisions.