A podcast for people working on startup ideas. We have 15-minute tactical episodes and occasional interviews with people who did the early things exceptionally well. We've helped launch hundreds of startups worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and these are the building blocks. "This is, without a doubt, the best podcast for people trying to build startups out there." "If you aren't listening to this podcast and you're considering building a business (or you're already building one), what are you doing?" "Must listen for first-time entrepreneurs - excellent storyteller."

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How to Engineer Luck (ITS classic)

October 09, 2025 00:19:51 3.25 MB ( 15.81 MB less) Downloads: 0

Most founders hope to get lucky. But luck isn't random - it can (and has to be) engineered. Today we'll break down exactly what luck is and how you can reverse engineer it. We'll help you identify Luck Gatekeepers and build your Luck Budget. You'll never think about entrepreneurial luck the same way again.Tacklebox (code Holiday for 50% off month one)Graham WeaverTimestamps:00:30 How to get lucky03:11 Story Time: Getting Press for 3Degrees11:06 Tacklebox12:32 The Five Types of Luck15:05 Luck for a Date Planning Service16:25 Luck Gatekeepers17:45 Luck Routines and your Luck Budget

An SOP for Testing a Startup Idea (ITS top 1%)

October 02, 2025 00:24:13 4.38 MB ( 18.87 MB less) Downloads: 0

Today, we'll help you build an SOP for testing startup ideas. We'll use an example from a listener - a startup in the homeschooling space - as a guinea pig. The best way to have a great startup idea this time next year is to test out a bunch of ideas in the interim. This SOP will help you do it, and scale the process.Tacklebox00:00 Tacklebox00:30 Pros and Amateurs02:08 Homeschool Idea05:47 The Story of Future You06:16 Entrepreneur Pro Tactic Number One - Working Backwards from Dreams07:42 Tacklebox08:50 SOPs14:19 An SOP for a Problem Worth Solving14:46 Customer Language15:55 SOP Problem Doc19:40 The Stakes23:00 The Startup Journal

Customers Speak Problem, But You’re Speaking Solution (ITS Top 1%)

September 25, 2025 00:21:32 20.68 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we'll talk about why so many entrepreneurs can't effectively explain what they're doing to their customers. The short answer is they speak the wrong language. Customers speak Problem, entrepreneurs speak Solution. It's like two people trying to have a conversation when one only speaks Latin and the other only speaks Dutch.We go through how to start speaking Problem, and show the power of Problem Language through a live idea test - two landing pages for an AI bot to help people get out of debt: one with Solution Language, one with Problem Language.  TackleboxThe Brain Audit00:00 Tacklebox00:37 How to Speak Problem01:21 The Brain Audit01:55 Farm Stand Problem Language06:03 The Idea: AI to Get Out of Debt07:38 Smooth Jazz08:07 Why You Won’t Use Problem Language10:31 Signs in NYC15:00 AI for Debt17:41 Landing Page Test19:18 The End: This Is Everywhere - Cold Email Examples

How to Nail One-Sentence Marketing (ITS Classic)

September 18, 2025 00:15:45 15.12 MB Downloads: 0

Today’s episode is for everyone who struggles to summarize their startup in a sentence. We lay out a framework to do this well with help from a sticker on the street, a hedge fund, and a Vietnamese coffee shop.TackleboxIdea to Startup Newsletter00:33 One Sentence Marketing01:10 Train to NYC03:04 The best marketing Brian’s seen in a while06:42 Smooth Jazz07:28 Choosing a Customer and the Knowledge Spectrum08:54 Air Quality Idea13:07 Inflection Points + The Conference Exercise14:09 The End - Vietnamese Coffee

How to Name Your Startup (a No Whisper Ideas pod)

September 11, 2025 00:07:57 7.63 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we'll teach you how to name your startup. This is from No Whisper Ideas, a post sent every Sunday by Brian. Customer Interviews Workshop (Starts Sep 15)No Whisper Ideas Weekly Post 

How to Run Customer Interviews with AI (Part 1)

September 03, 2025 00:24:37 23.63 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we build a machine to help you actually run customer interviews.We’ll use AI to tackle the big blockers—accountability, CRM setup, outreach, transcription, and even how to pick your first customer. You’ll hear the idea Brian is testing with the interview machine, and we’ll walk through exactly how AI can make the process faster, more uncomfortable (in the right way), and a lot more effective. Plus, a bit on creativity and being human.Tacklebox Customer Interview Workshop (starts 9/15)ClaudeCalendlyGranola00:00 Intro00:30 Avoiding Criticism04:08 The Job of Customer Interviews09:12 Smooth Jazz09:30 Whisper Ideas11:35 The Idea:15:35 The AI Interview Machine17:34 Accountability19:13 Top of Funnel Outreach21:18 Interview Execution22:39 Synthesis23:43 The End

A Four Part System to Generate Ideas (aka how to let your brain be a brain) - ITS Classic

August 28, 2025 00:23:14 22.32 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we talk through a 4-part system to generate ideas - one that'll tap into your brain's natural ability to develop novel solutions rather than just waiting (hoping) inspiration will strike. We'll do it with a little help from a baseball training facility, a corked wine bottle, and an MRI startup. The Tacklebox Customer Interviews Workshop - Sept. Session is OPENIdea to Startup NewsletterFermenting IdeasPod: Customers speak ProblemPod: How to Create a Strategy for your StartupReadwiseIdea to Startup Bot00:26 Idea People02:47 A Baseball Training Facility04:45 Inversion07:46 Smooth Jazz9:24 Part 1: Identifying the Problem12:34 Part 2: Collecting17:22 Part 3: Chewing20:14 Part 4: Testing21:37 The End + How to Start

How to Build a "Skeptical Startup" - $8k per month in 10 hours per week (ITS Classic)

August 21, 2025 00:21:04 20.23 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we'll help you tackle the big question for entrepreneurs with startup ideas and jobs - when's it time to quit the job and focus on the startup full-time? You should think about this question the second you start working on an idea, and you should use the Skeptical Startup framework - a goal of $8k per month in 10 hours per week - as a guide. The Skeptical Startup framework is magical, and Brian will show how it'll help you focus with an example startup.  TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterIdea to Startup BotFarnam Street - Surface AreaThe AlchemistNatalie Imbruglia - Torn00:30 When to Quit Your Job03:25 Life Expenses Excel Sheet04:05 The Skeptical Startup Framework06:25 The Idea: Home AV Improvements07:44 Smooth Jazz08:22 The Logistics of $8k11:26 An AV Marketplace12:46 Reduce the Surface Area15:27 The Search16:30 A Lead for the AV Startup19:16 The End - Your Goals19:26 A Goal Framework

Normal Brain vs. Entrepreneur Brain

August 14, 2025 00:19:38 18.85 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we talk about the difference between Entrepreneur Brain and Normal Brain. Normal Brain is out to sabotage your startup. We teach you Entrepreneur Brain to make sure that doesn't happen. Tacklebox 10-Day Customer Interview WorkshopAli Abdaal - The Good Student vs. The Good Entrepreneur Mindset (text, Ali's email signup)Graham Weaver - How to Design a Winnable GameDaina Trout EpisodeTimestamps:00:30 Entrepreneur Brain vs. Normal Brain01:50 The $2 Million Dollar House05:30 Customer Interviews Workshop6:06 Situation #1: The Overwhelming To Do LIst10:57 Situation #2: When Things Don’t Work13:09 Situation #3: When You Feel Unprepared15:48 Situation #4: When You Are Low On Resources18:17 The End: Lotto Tickets

How to Get Two Months of Work Done in One Weekend

August 07, 2025 00:20:51 20.02 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we'll help you get two months of work done in a weekend. We break down a four-part sprint framework that is actually realistic and manageable for founders with full-time jobs and families or dogs or other responsibilities / dense, unpredictable lives. We also show how a sprint helped launch Habit Kangaroo, one of Brian's side projects, a few years back. The framework covers goal-setting, preparation, creating urgency through "hooks," and how to rely on people to stay happy. Share it with a potential cofounder and get to work. Tacklebox Customer Interview Sprint WorkshopGraham Weaver00:26 - Three Things: Thing One: A Weekend Sprint01:30 - Habit Kangaroo04:37 - Feedback Loops09:45 Smooth Jazz10:10 - Sprint Structure: Goal, Prep, Hook, Reliance10:15 - Goal12:36 - Prep14:56 - Hook16:53 - Reliance19:38 - The End - Happiness

A Startup Storytelling Framework for Non-Storytellers (top 1% classic)

July 31, 2025 00:24:31 23.55 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we'll help all the non-storytellers tell a compelling story about their business. We've got a framework that'll walk you through the ingredients of a compelling story, and a mise en place-inspired approach that'll help you get to story market fit. We've got some rules, some variables, some accelerants, and an example about a service that helps Airbnb hosts launch their own interior design businesses.  TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterBuilding a Story BrandYour New Life Will Cost You Your Old OneWork Clean - The Life-Changing Power of Mise en PlaceHow to Write Essays that Spread00:30 Storytelling for your startup03:24 The Two Reasons for the Barefoot Son Story07:09 Smooth Jazz07:37 The Three Ruls of Good Storytelling for Entrepreneurs08:45 Rule 1: Good Stories Are About Speed10:44 Rule 2: You Don’t Matter11:39 Rule 3: A Good Story is Earned12:22 Mise En Place14:10 The Ingredients of Your Story17:09 The Accelerants19:24 Airbnb Interior Design23:23 The End: Montaigne

How to Flounder Effectively

July 24, 2025 00:17:58 17.25 MB Downloads: 0

Most startup advice says you need to be "maniacally focused" on one thing. I disagree. You need to balance your focus with some good old fashioned floundering. This episode is about the balance - when to focus and when to flounder - and how to build each skill. We even built a framework to help you out - The Four Rules of Floundering. The Let's Actually Run Customer Interviews Workshop - a 10-day program that'll help you actually, finally, run proper customer interviews. This will kickstart your business. $150 through July 31 with code "EARLY"Flounder Mode 0:00 Let’s Run Customer Interviews Workshop01:12 Mailbag02:44 How to Flounder03:56 The Idea: Community Investment Circles07:11 When is it time to become “maniacally focused”?10:35 The Four Rules of Floundering15:26 Floundering’s real value: longevity

How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market - A Mouse Pod (encore)

July 16, 2025 00:24:20 23.36 MB Downloads: 0

One of the most-listened and shared episodes of 2024 - an episode that multiple people reached out months later to say "this single episode helped me launch my business." So, that's cool. It's on standing out in a crowded market, and it's on mice. Specifically, the guy who got rid of ours. There are four lessons, a framework, Customer Journey Mapping and the Feature Fold. TackleboxIdea to Startup NewsletterIdea to Startup BotSugar (but it stinks)00:30 Intro02:00 We’ve Got Mice05:15 The Mouse Man’s Funnel07:50 Smooth Jazz08:21 One - Build Your Funnel to Match Customer Emotion11:45 Good Questions For Your Funnel12:30 Two - Contrast from the Feature Fold14:30 Saving your Customers a Decision15:53 Three - Take Yourself Seriously19:14 Four - The Things Other People Stink At22:14 The End22:50 Recap of the Four Lessons

Stop Beating Yourself Up

July 09, 2025 00:23:01 22.1 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we'll help you stop beating yourself up so that you have the space to take the creative, strategic risks your startup needs to be successful. We'll go through the Eight Eccentricities of Startups - stuff you beat yourself up over but shouldn't - and three practices to help you navigate them. We also talk about baseball, goldfish, and Guy Raz. TackleboxStop Beating Yourself Up Post00:30 Stop Beating Yourself Up02:53 The Beating Yourself Up Equation06:49 Smooth Jazz07:04 The Reality of Baseball09:18 The Eight Eccentricities of Startup Progress17:16 Three Practices to Break the Beat Yourself Up Cycle

How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers (Encore)

July 03, 2025 00:20:53 20.05 MB Downloads: 0

Today, we've got a classic, much-listened to episode on getting your first 1,000 customers. We contrast the approaches of two pizza companies - Push for Pizza and Slice - and see how each company's early growth approach led to their bigger strategy. You also get a much less polished Brian on the mic. My grunge era. Enjoy! TackleboxSliceFirst 1000 SubstackTacklebox + Self-Serve Product