Why your next business idea is a tweet

Before we begin, new podcast is out talking about multipreneurship with Jesse Pujji who’s running a holdco called GatewayX after selling his bootstrapped company for 8 figures.

Super tactical convo on multipreneurship 101.

Listen on Apple or Listen on Spotify

There are no ads in my podcast or this newsletter but…

If you enjoy either, share it on Twitter so I know to keep recording and writing.

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I have a new mindset shift.

I treat every social post as a potential minimum viable product. It’s the tip of an iceberg for a potential million dollar business opportunity.

How I got here:

One of the largest YouTubers told me something I can’t get out of my head:

“I don’t start a YouTube video until my team has full conviction in the title and the thumbnail. No title/thumbnail, no video.”

Most people would think to do it in reverse — think of a good idea, write a script, record & edit, tease the video, and give it the perfect title and thumbnail before publishing.

But this makes perfect sense, and here’s why: they’ll tweet the thumbnail out just to gauge the reaction. Or even just share the concept. Do people love it or hate it?

If the audience can’t wait to see more, then he has the green light.

The video is already validated before the creator has even started making it. Isn’t that the goal of a minimum viable product?

You’re gauging if people want the product you built. What better and cheap way to do it via a free social post from the comfort of your home?

When I was coming up in tech in 2011, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries was the bible. It talked about lean aka quick/cheap ways to validate and build products. And basically popularized this concept of “minimum viable product”.

A dozen years after 'The Lean Startup' hit the shelves, I'm convinced that using social posts as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) represents the evolution and new face of the lean startup methodology.

I’ll give you an example of how I’ve recently been testing this:

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with this concept called Multipreneurship. I’ve written about it before. To test if there is a business opportunity around it.

1. I tweeted it, it got thousands of likes

2. I wrote the Multipreneur Manifesto on Substack, it got dozens of replies from you

It was clear that something had struck a chord. Sometimes I write something and I hear silence. This time was a loud, resounding something is here.

So, I went on to acquire the domain Multipreneurship.com. There's more to come on that in the future, but the crux is, there's likely a full-fledged business waiting to be built around this MVP.

Now, diving deeper into this, we can identify a framework that I call the 'Reverse Validation Matrix.' Most creators work from the top down, creating content, and then seeking validation. In contrast, successful YouTubers employ a bottom-up approach, first securing validation and then producing content.

Another framework is the 'Social Post MVP' – a lean, efficient, and accessible way to gauge market interest for potential business ventures. It's as simple as putting your idea into the world via a tweet or a post and monitoring the response. This strategy is a game-changer, giving you tangible market validation at zero cost.

In summary, we're witnessing a paradigm shift in how we validate ideas, with social posts becoming the new MVPs in this 'Lean Startup 2.0' era.

So next time you craft a social post, remember, you might just be shaping the foundations of your next big venture.

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❤️ Greg’s bookmarks:

5 things I found interesting this week:

1. How I fixed my smartphone addiction. I’m always looking for ways to curb that addiction. Interesting read on having 2 phones.

2. Who are these people buying $2000 Aman document binders. The power of brand!

3. The unbundling of excel. This is a space to pay attention to.

4. Imagine a South Park episode written, animated, directed, voiced, edited all without a single human being. With the Hollywood strike, AI is coming to the rescue?

5. I changed up the look my YouTube channel. Subscribe for exclusive videos coming soon. You’ll enjoy.

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   Photo of the week:

   

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Ways to work together?

1. Interested in making AI work for you? Take the YouProbablyNeedaRobot email based course called “5 tools 5 days”.

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2. Hire a design team that focuses on building products communities love. Waitlist only. Design has mega impact and we use Dispatch for all our businesses. Free to set up a call.

   I jump into a few random sales calls sometimes too.

3. Work with Boring Marketers. I’m astonished how they can drive revenue using SEO. Waitlist only.

   Ask them about the SEO audit that isn’t listed on their website.

4. Work with the Late Checkout Agency. Full service building and designing your favorite products. We only work with Fortune 500 companies and 1 startup a quarter.

   Min budget = $100k. DM me on Twitter if interested.

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter

I read every comment on YouTube and Twitter. So, see you on the internet.

Be well,

Greg Isenberg