# The Five-Week Solo Startup

There are no shortcuts. You cannot build a successful company in five weeks.

But for optimists (and lunatics), five weeks is plenty to _start_ a company.

[^note]:
    You probably have a dayjob. Exceed your employer's expectations. Don't
    accept paychecks you don't deserve. Work on your startup mornings (not
    evenings) and weekends. Save your PTO until the third week, and then start
    taking off Mondays/Tuesdays (not Thursdays/Fridays) if needed. If you can no
    longer maintain stellar quality at work, it's time to move on.

## Week 1

Founders must adopt an investor mindset. If you want to create value, learn how
to assess opportunity, how to leverage assets, and how to hedge risk.

[^note]:
    It's okay to fundraise and it's okay to bootstrap. Either way, don't let ego
    rule you. Capital can be a tool like any other.

Investors don't choose startups, they choose _founders_. They want to multiply
their money, and they want _you_ to do it. But you can't just "pivot" a lousy
personality. Nobody wants to bet on a billion-dollar idea that's chained to a
fool.

If you are worth investment, then invest in yourself.

1. **Get a haircut.** Maintain a clean/fresh appearance. Any style will do.
2. **Learn to listen.** If most strangers don't describe you as "charismatic",
   you _must_ upgrade your EQ. Read
   [HTWFAIP](https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people-dale-carnegie/7496534?ean=9780671027032&next=t),
   [Motivational Interviewing](https://bookshop.org/p/books/motivational-interviewing-helping-people-change-and-grow-william-r-miller/19798346?ean=9781462552795&next=t),
   and
   [Supercommunicators](https://bookshop.org/p/books/supercommunicators-the-power-of-conversation-and-hidden-language-of-connection-charles-duhigg/20112446?ean=9780593243916&next=t).
   Use AI [to practice listening](/aimi).
3. **Hire a therapist.** Launching a venture is _hard_. Secondhand-stress ruins
   relationships. Your spouse is not your therapist. If you vent more than you
   listen, your support system will avoid you in proportion to how much you need
   them.
4. **Look in the mirror.** Who are you? What values will you compromise? How do
   you want to behave? How do you want others to perceive you? What do you want
   living to feel like?
5. **Get enthusiastic consent.** If you can't sell your vision to your inner
   circle, _you are not ready to start_. Friends/family should call your startup
   idea "obvious". If they aren't _ecstatic_ about your gameplan, you haven't
   (1) demonstrated competence/value or (2) hedged against known risks.
6. **Take a headshot.** A high-quality profile picture indicates that you were
   once worth a professional photo.
7. **Become searchable.** Investors hesitate to throw money at mysterious
   strangers. Update your LinkedIn work history. Also consider Googling yourself
   to find/delete unused accounts.
8. **Upgrade your audio/video.** Buy
   [a mic](https://www.amazon.com/Shure-MV6-Microphone-Dynamic-Streaming/dp/B0DBJ5DBL8/ref=sr_1_7)
   (if you can afford it). Buy
   [a webcam light](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J8R8RWZ) (even if you can't
   afford it). If you've got Apple devices, buy
   [a mount](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5S7X6BN) for
   [Continuity Cam](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102546).
9. **Go hands-free.** As a business owner, you will be a slave to the telephone;
   invest in some comfortable bluetooth headphones so you can walk and talk.
10. **Learn to send emails.** Quick replies impress investors and customers.
    Respond to every email/SMS/voicemail within 12 hours (preferably less).
    Master the art of terse emails.
11. **Accept AI.** Founders wear all the hats. Pay the extra cash for
    [Grok DeepResearch](https://grok.com) (great for web search) and
    [Claude](https://claude.ai) (best for everything else). LLM text has a
    pungent odor, so beware of copy/paste. And remember that LLMs bias toward
    "unsurprising" results; even correct advice can revert you towards the mean.

## Week 2

Good businesses create non-zero-sum wealth. If you sell that wealth for dollars,
you can create more wealth to sell.

Outside of theft and burglary, [the only way to make money](/make-money) is to
convince other people to give you their money.

1. **Close a customer.** A business with no customers is just a stressful hobby.
   Opt for [FPC](/fpc) (First Paying Customer) before MVP. Nominal revenue (e.g.
   $1) counts. Don't prematurely automate; do boring manual labor and sell
   [before you're ready](/ready-matters).
2. **Serve your customer.** Deliver your promise. Compromise nothing. Treat your
   customer like a deity.
3. **Upgrade.** How can you make this customer exchange more delightful?
   Smoother? Less stressful? Adopt processes. Purchase tools. Hire people.

## Week 3

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

Create wealth and sell it to customers. You will not succeed if you cannot (1)
create wealth, (2) find customers, and (3) sell that wealth.

1. **Close five customers.** You can do this. You have something they need.
2. **Serve your customers.** Pamper them. No excuses.
3. **Upgrade.** Adopt/build/hire processes/tools/people that increase quality,
   improve consistency, increase speed, reduce cost, etc.
4. **Land a loan/investment.** By working with customers, you've probably
   identified a concrete use for capital. Convince a family member or friend to
   send a small check ($1k-$25k). Simple loans are easiest; you can remain a
   sole-proprietor indefinitely and skip loads of paperwork. If you want to
   exchange equity (i.e. a security), they
   [probably need to be an accredited investor (i.e. "millionaire")](https://kkoslawyers.com/what-to-be-aware-of-in-the-friends-and-family-round-of-financing/);
   you'll need to incorporate (e.g. [Stripe Atlas](https://stripe.com/atlas))
   and manage stakeholders (e.g. [AngelList](https://www.angellist.com)). Each
   investment -- no matter how small -- is faith in _you_. Make every penny
   count; repay their wagers tenfold.
5. **Follow up.** You're sending more emails; don't wait for people. Pester Plan
   A, start Plan B, and devise Plan C. This is your life now.
6. **Create visual media.** You will soon be sharing pitch decks, ads, etc. You
   need professional illustrations, a "good enough" logo, high-quality photos
   (or renders), explainer videos, etc. You might have good enough taste to do
   it yourself, but _you do not have enough time_. Hire somebody (e.g.
   [Fiverr](https://www.fiverr.com)) to produce more materials than you think
   you need. Don't be lazy -- stock photos and AI images reek of corporate
   cringe.

## Week 4

Don't lose focus. Share your wealth.

1. **Delight existing customers.** This is (and will forever be) your main duty.
2. **Meet new customers.** Who are your customers? Where do they go? What are
   their wildest hopes/dreams?
3. **Upgrade.** Better. Faster. Cheaper.
4. **More loans/investments.** Befriend leverage. Deploy capital.
5. **Launch a landing page.** The internet is cool, but don't overdo it. Choose
   a simple website host (e.g. [Squarespace](https://www.squarespace.com),
   [Shopify](https://www.shopify.com)). Embed/link a webform for leads.
6. **Advertise.** Yes, everybody hates ads. Swallow your pride and advertise on
   Instagram, Google, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.
7. **Share your pitch deck.** If you're going to fundraise, start now. Build a
   pitch deck. Do not reinvent the wheel; investors expect slides with specific
   information. If you're lucky, somebody will spend 20 seconds scrolling
   through it on their phone. Prefer pictures/charts over words; Claude/ChatGPT
   can plot data quickly. Your goal is to (1) prove competence, (2) guarantee
   profits, and (3) mitigate risks. Ask Grok DeepResearch to match you with
   compatible VCs/incubators/accelerators; submit your deck to each website.

## Week 5+

Put everything together. Construct an engine that _predictably_ transforms money
into wealth, and then wealth into more money.

1. **Grow.** Delight customers. Meet customers. Upgrade. Borrow. Advertise.
   Repeat.
2. **Pitch.** If fundraising, submit pitches. Listen. Hedge risks. Refine your
   thesis. Repeat. Don't be greedy, and never cash a check that is chained to a
   fool. Revere $1K checks, $1M checks, $1B checks. Somebody believes in _you_;
   don't betray that trust. Live your values without exception. Protect every
   damn ounce of reputation.
3. **Recruit.** Go fast alone; go far together. Find friends. Surround yourself
   with your favorite people; bring out their best. Help them achieve their
   wildest dreams, and don't get left behind.

This is just the beginning. The rules are simple, but the game is grueling:

- When demand is scarce, listen to customers. You should (A) increase
  quality/experience, (B) reduce costs, (C) educate customers, and/or (D) admit
  defeat.
- If capital can help, ask for it.
- If you've got more demand (customers) than supply, you should (A) raise prices
  and/or (B) increase supply.
- If each new customer brings $10 of profit, you should spend up to $10 to find
  a new customer.

If you succeed, share that abundance with others. Remember where you're going,
remember where you came from, and choose who you're becoming.