Shaan Puri is an entrepreneur, investor & top 50 podcast host. He was the CEO of Bebo when they sold to Twitch (Amazon) where he's now a senior director of product.

He invests in startups + recently raised $2.5mil for his "rolling fund" in 11 days, just from a tweet.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/6Hoo38Fr07g

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/ShaanVP

In this conversation we discuss:

• solopreneurship vs high growth startups
• ideas + blueprints for solopreneurs
• creating a life vision + the 3 stages of "becoming"
• selling your company by creating your "Amazon buy button"
• lessons in building trust, persuasion + social dynamics
• how to get unstuck + the A, B, Z framework
• why you should work like a lion, not a cow
• how Shaan makes $50k/month by "working in public"

Timestamps

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:01:51 Shaan's Background
• 00:05:58 Startups vs Big Company
• 00:10:38 Babies, Teenagers + Startups
• 00:13:13 "Stay Hungry, Not Thirsty"
• 00:16:02 How To Correctly Slip Into The DMs
• 00:18:06 Raising $2.5mil In 11 Days From A Tweet
• 00:21:24 "Create An Amazon Buy Button For Yourself"
• 00:23:56 "Companies Are Either Bought Or Sold" - Selling To Amazon
• 00:31:02 Social Dynamics, Persuasion + Lessons From "The Game"
• 00:37:54 How To Come Up With A Life Vision?
• 00:45:19 $50k/Month To Work In Public – "1000 True Fans" Moment
• 00:48:24 Importance Of Emotional Juice In Decisions
• 00:51:33 Soloproneurship vs High Growth Startups
• 00:58:04 Ideas + Blueprints For Solopreneurs
• 01:03:14 Behind The Mind – A, B, Z Framework
• 01:10:27 "Work Like A Lion, Not Like A Cow"
• 01:14:22 "You Either Win Or You Learn"
• 01:15:15 Navigating "Should I Be Doing This?"
• 01:23:09 Feeling Down + How To Get Unstuck
• 01:30:11 3 Stages Of "What Do I Become"
• 01:31:26 Closing

Steph Smith leads Trends at The Hustle. She’s a serial indie maker, writer + marketer.

She’s been a nomad since 2016 & has traveled to 50+ countries while working, learning to code + creating.

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/qQtciVUeOMU

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

What You'll Learn:

• how to pre-sell + validate your idea
• economics of self-publishing vs traditional book deals
• what you can learn from games like chess
• defining your personal monopoly
• finding your first 1000 users
• writing for humans vs google
• leveraging communities + viral platforms

Timestamps

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:02:00 What You Can Learn From Chess
• 00:07:39 Chess vs Real Life
• 00:13:33 Pre-Selling An Idea
• 00:17:51 Economics of Book Deals vs Self-Publishing
• 00:19:23 “Steph is an animal…in a good way”
• 00:21:19 Healthy Competiton + Sibling Rivalry
• 00:25:38 Lifestyle Creep + Golden Handcuffs
• 00:27:14 Steph’s Book: “Doing Content Right”
• 00:29:09 Avoiding Scammy “Online Marketers”
• 00:34:08 Personal Monopoly + Your Differentiator
• 00:39:04 Example: Costco’s Differentiator
• 00:43:17 “What You Wouldn’t Do In Person”
• 00:46:34 Growth Models To Grow Efficiently + Compound Over Time
• 00:48:02 Bedrock Channels: Importance of SEO
• 00:51:09 Example: Writing For Humans vs Google
• 00:55:46 How We Do Keyword Research
• 01:01:43 Tools To Use + Ranking For Keywords
• 01:04:38 First 1000 Users – Do Things That Don’t Scale
• 01:08:40 Leveraging Communities + Viral Platforms
• 01:12:06 “How To Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatedly”
• 01:15:25 The Power Of Building In Public
• 01:19:22 Wrap-Up

Mubashar Iqbal aka Mubs is a prolific creator. He was Product Hunt’s “maker of the year” + has built 90+ products including Pod Hunt + Founderpath

Watch + subscribe on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/CHYNoO6jRiY

Let us know what you think on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/bzaidi
https://twitter.com/mubashariqbal

Five Things You'll Learn:

• knowing when to take on a new project vs calling it quits
• why “founder-product-fit” is as important as “product-market-fit"
• example business ideas + how to validate their potential
• how NoCode tools can get your idea off the ground
• how to avoid procrastination, stay motivated + deal with fear

Time Stamps

• 00:00:00 Introduction
• 00:02:43 Who is Mubs?
• 00:07:48 90+ Projects
• 00:17:18 Most Important Factor When Taking On A New Project
• 00:19:13 Founder-Product Fit
• 00:23:55 Knowing When To Move Onto The Next Project?
• 00:27:31 Dealing With A Lack of Energy + Enthusiasm
• 00:29:12 How to Sell Your Projects
• 00:31:29 How To Value A Business
• 00:35:23 Business Idea Examples
• 00:39:54 Our Business Idea Lists
• 00:42:25 How To Validate An Idea?
• 00:45:20 Bilal's Idea: Real Estate + Airbnb Tool
• 00:49:58 Pros + Cons of NoCode Tools
• 00:52:34 FounderPath – SaaS Debt Funding
• 00:56:05 How Nathan Latka Pitched Mubs + Equity vs Salary
• 00:57:07 "Pay Is Not Always Financial"
• 01:01:27 Future Of Remote Work
• 01:03:26 Avoiding Procrastination + Dealing With Fear
• 01:06:54 Understanding Your Why
• 01:08:58 Wrap Up