The Minimalist Entrepreneur: How Great Founders Do More with Less

Now more than ever before, we don’t need to move to a place called Silicon Valley, go to a school called Harvard or Stanford, and raise money from the venture capitalists. The internet lets you learn from anywhere, network with anyone, and raise money directly from customers.

Press cycles about million-dollar fund-raises and billion-dollar valuations are short-lived and targeted at aspiring entrepreneurs, not people like your customers. Building your audience that way doesn’t work, because a months-old startup has nothing to say, besides that a few rich people gave them some money. Trust me, I know.

The world will tell you to go big or go home, but I say go small at the beginning. And the smallest you could possibly start is to build nothing at all. Instead of skipping straight to software, stick with pen and paper.

Drs. John and Julie Gottman, well-known couples therapists, say they can predict the end of relationships using “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” their name for four types of communication styles that start to appear in a relationship: (1) criticism, (2) contempt, (3) defensiveness, and (4) stonewalling. While some founders succeed at tackling... See more

It’s the community that leads you to the problem, which leads you to the product, which leads you to your business. Once you’ve found community-you fit, start contributing with the intention of becoming a pillar in that community. Pick the right problem (it’s probably one you have), and confirm that others have it. Then confirm you have business-yo... See more

Humans are not computers. We are all unpredictable, emotional creatures. Each person you hire makes the matrix of interactions within your organization more complex. You will make mistakes, but your company values will give you a plan of attack for how to get back on track.

Outsource everything. It’s all you, every day. For now. Then it’s software. Eventually you and your army of robots will be at maximum capacity and you’ll need help. But before you hire your first full-time employee, use freelancers. I’m not talking about exploiting good, hardworking people by paying them less than they deserve. I mean hiring future... See more

While you probably won’t have millions of email subscribers, each subscriber is worth far more than a follower. Besides the product itself, Gumroad’s email list is probably our most valuable business asset.

Amazon has a nice way of thinking about this: “In every board meeting in Amazon HQ stands an empty chair. That seat represents the customer and the customer voice. So everything that is developed and created is scrutinized by the voice of the customer. That voice is what the people in the meeting room ask as if they were in the place and shoes of t... See more