Facebook advertising decoded in 15 minutes!

November 2020 update — I am now working on using Creative AI to automatically generate FB Video Ads that get results. See examples at www.trypencil.com Over seven million businesses will invest over $80 billion across Facebook’s apps and feeds in 2020, and most of...

How to do things that don’t scale

Every day, startups are born and startups die. Thousands of them. I spoke to 600+ early-stage founders while building Indiez, and only a few of them are successful now. This is really surprising to me because most of the founders weren’t incompetent. In fact, some of...

How to tell your Brand’s story.

When you’re deep in the weeds building a business, it can be hard to take a step back and figure out what a broader audience might find interesting about the company you’re creating. Chances are that recent rebrand is not going to be as fascinating to outsiders as it...

Your first 90 day Startup growth plan

When I joined my current company as the first “Growth” hire, I came with a plan — a First 90 Day Plan: to establish an growth experimentation process, promote a growth culture, and demonstrate enough results to get buy-in from the organization, all within my first 90...

What is a Startup?

Understanding Startups Startups are young companies founded to develop a unique product or service, bring it to market and make it irresistible and irreplaceable for customers. Rooted in innovation, a startup aims to remedy deficiencies of existing products or create...

The Soul of a Start-Up

There’s an essential, intangible something in start-ups—an energy, a soul. Company founders sense its presence. So do early employees and customers. It inspires people to contribute their talent, money, and enthusiasm and fosters a sense of deep connection and mutual...