Jason introduces the Ask Jason live Q&A session with five guests.
He highlights his experience as an investor in 400 startups, founder of multiple companies, host of five podcasts, author of a book, and his extensive knowledge and experience in the startup ecosystem.
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Dustin, a recent startup founder with a technical background, sought advice on marketing his diverse skill set, which includes product design, coding, and operations.
Aiming to build financial stability and gain experience from seasoned founders, Dustin had $100K in student debt with a monthly payment of $600 and a personal burn rate of $40,000 annually.
Jason suggested co-founding a company instead of building up a cash stack, given Dustin's low burn rate and his successful experience bringing on a co-founder after gaining the first customer.
The speaker emphasized the significance of having a strong team rather than being the sole driving force behind a startup's growth.
During his entrepreneurial journey, the speaker gained expertise in translating complex products for blue-collar workers and ensuring their successful adoption.
Overcoming initial fears, the speaker discovered the joy of building relationships and understanding customer needs through customer interviews.
Dustin suggests building a personal brand around customer discovery, a high-demand skill, and completing a 30-day personal branding challenge to establish expertise.
After 30 days, reach out to seed-stage startups and offer consulting services in customer discovery, aiming to engage with 10 startups and secure two clients within two months.
Send customized emails to potential clients, spending approximately 15 minutes writing and 1 hour researching each email, and charge a reasonable rate that covers annual expenses.
Consider transitioning from consulting to becoming a co-founder of a promising startup if successful.
Gradually increase rates as you gain more clients and demonstrate your value.
Participate in Founder Fridays in Denver for networking, problem-solving, and potential customer or co-founder connections.
Bypass traditional job applications and directly reach out to business owners to secure opportunities.
A sniper shot approach, rather than a shotgun or machine gun approach, is more effective in securing opportunities.
A 30-day follow-up commitment is expected to review progress and assess the effectiveness of the strategies discussed.
A definitive winner in venture capital is a startup with a known VC leading the round, setting the price, originating the term sheet, and joining the board with over 10% ownership.
A likely winner is a startup with a priced round, terms coming from the founder, no VC joining the board, and no proper governance.
The speaker's investment strategy involves making a small bet in a likely winner and a larger bet in a definitive winner, aiming for 10-15% ownership in definitive winners.
Jason recommends fund managers to have a larger amount of reserves, around 40%, for better investment strategies. He suggests investing 50k in 100 names and then taking 5 million to invest 500k into the top 10 performers.
Early-stage startups typically have around 25 to 50 unique investors on their cap table by the time they reach Series A funding.
Francis, an audience member, shares that he invests using Jason's strategy, adapted to a smaller scale, with 50% reserves.
Jason mentions Angel University, a three to four-hour class for $300, where all proceeds go to charity.
When choosing sponsorships, consider the alignment between the sponsor's product and the podcast's niche, as well as the potential reach and return on investment.
Underpricing ads and overdelivering value can create long-term relationships with sponsors, while being selective about sponsors helps maintain the podcast's credibility.
Podcast advertising ROI should be viewed as a combination of brand building and direct ROI, with value derived from influencer endorsements and general awareness.
Understand your podcast's natural audience and target sponsors accordingly, considering additional offerings like newsletters or in-person meetups to provide more value.
Focus on creating valuable content and connecting with your audience, especially the top 1% of listeners, through email marketing and direct relationship building.
Sound quality is crucial for a successful podcast.
JD, the founder of a marketing and advertising startup for independent gyms, is considering whether to focus on low-cost growth or raise a seed round for accelerated growth.
Their network marketplace offers world-class marketing and advertising services, with a three-tiered pricing plan and 10 satisfied customers.
To scale and attract venture capitalists, the business needs to transform from an arbitrage-style agency into a software platform accessible to anyone.
The key decision is to determine the best-fit customer base and consider a different category with a higher ticket price.
Experimentation and triangulation are crucial to identify significant arbitrage opportunities and validate the business's potential.
Venture capitalists are interested in platform-based businesses with a clear beachhead market, sustainable growth, and the potential for high margins and innovation.
The business should evolve into a platform where users can participate without salespeople, similar to successful platforms like HubSpot or YouTube.
A top-down approach is needed to fix consistency issues in a highly fragmented market.
As the market and product grow, revenue from multiple markets can be applied to a single national campaign.
Additional products can be added once the chasm rules are followed and the fragmented market is fixed.
The startup offers premium experiences and revenue models for independent brick-and-mortar businesses through membership programs and subscriptions.
It has 31 paying customers and a letter of intent from another dozen.
The top 15 customers generate an average revenue of $900 per month, with the startup capturing $10,000 per customer.
A successful customer, a restaurant, introduced a $100 membership fee for priority seating and other perks, attracting 17 recurring customers and generating $1,700 monthly revenue, potentially covering 30% of its $5,000 monthly rent.
The business model doesn't involve AI and may not attract significant VC interest, but its growth, customer feedback, and churn rate will be crucial metrics for evaluation.
The owner should consider incubator/accelerator programs or a seed round to scale up.
Customer discovery expanded from restaurants and bars to various establishments based on demand, and focusing on owners familiar with subscription models proved effective.
Membership clubs can be successful by offering exclusive benefits and perks that appeal to customers.
An extroverted and passionate person who can engage with local businesses and build relationships is crucial for growth.
The founder should reach out to the Founder University team or the launch accelerator team to explore opportunities.
Founder Fridays is an opportunity for founders to meet and discuss their experiences, challenges, and successes.
It's a chance to network with other founders and learn from each other.
Founder Fridays are held on the first Friday of every month in 71 cities around the world.
Founders can sign up to attend or apply to run a Founder Friday in their city.
The next Founder Friday is on May 3rd, and the prompt is to bring two things: your most significant challenge and one thing you wish you'd learned earlier.
Sign up at founderfridays.tech to attend a Founder Friday.
Take pictures and share them on Twitter at @jason and @twi_startups.
Founder Fridays are happening in 71 cities worldwide, with over 900 members.
The goal is to reach 100 cities and 1,000 members.