I just finished the Survivorship Bias piece in Unscripted . It got me thinking about how many graveyards full of failed business ideas there must be that we simply don't ever hear about. It bothers me that all the hard-fought lessons learned by founders never reach the next guy/girl to help them on their journey.
My motivation in starting this thread is that at least if my execution fades into oblivion, some future soul will see where I wandered into the woods and not follow the same path. It's one way I see of providing value to this great community.
With that said, my idea is well-documented in this Ideas thread. Feedback there was positive enough for me to continue on to execution (big thank you to folks who commented/voted there).
TL;DR: The plan is to build a competitive intelligence service for eCommerce entrepreneurs/businesses, with actionable insight on creating new/improving existing products.
In the past week since posting this idea, I've finished the official Django tutorial (a Python web development library) and am ready to start building an MVP. It will be a long process because I've never built a (non-WP) website before. I do have good experience with Python which helps.
My goals:
My whys:
My next steps:
Thank you for reading. Happy to answer any questions or discuss feedback. In the meantime, back to work!
My motivation in starting this thread is that at least if my execution fades into oblivion, some future soul will see where I wandered into the woods and not follow the same path. It's one way I see of providing value to this great community.
With that said, my idea is well-documented in this Ideas thread. Feedback there was positive enough for me to continue on to execution (big thank you to folks who commented/voted there).
TL;DR: The plan is to build a competitive intelligence service for eCommerce entrepreneurs/businesses, with actionable insight on creating new/improving existing products.
In the past week since posting this idea, I've finished the official Django tutorial (a Python web development library) and am ready to start building an MVP. It will be a long process because I've never built a (non-WP) website before. I do have good experience with Python which helps.
My goals:
- Create a barebones MVP without getting sucked into the web development rabbit hole and losing motivation. I want to build this site with Django primarily, with some borrowed HTML from wherever I can find it. If I can get traction, I think I will shift to reinvesting earnings into outsourced web development to improve the site (unless I'm knowledgeable enough to make the changes myself).
- Long-term (next three years) the goal is to replace my income from my current Slowlane job. I want to be cognizant of whether or not I am on the right "road" and pivot early on if needed. My first major milestone is MRR of $1000, at which point I would not be replacing my income, but I would feel ready to quit and go all-in on the business.
My whys:
- My major WHY is to free my time to help my parents when they become frail. I don't want to have to choose between keeping my Slowlane job and caring for/spending time with my parents in their final years. I'm sure most of us have some experience with this type of dilemma and the slow-burn regret it causes that never quite goes away.
- I have a selfish WHY involving a sibling rivalry
- Finally, I need to free myself and my significant other from our life-draining job commitments.
My next steps:
- In contrast to what I wrote in the above thread, I've realized that learning React (front-end language) would be action-faking and probably a waste of time. Armed with Django and some HTML I should be able to create an MVP. With that said, I now need to:
- Create my back-end with Django
- Collect/scrape the necessary data from the web
- Analyze and transform this data into digestible content
- Set up a pipe to feed this content through to my Django backend
- Figure out how to visualize this content on the front-end without inducing nausea for users
- At some point during the above steps, create a landing page (thank you @Vadim26 for this advice in the above thread) to generate a first-access user list and get ideas on what customers ultimately want
Thank you for reading. Happy to answer any questions or discuss feedback. In the meantime, back to work!
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
