#717: Noah Kagan — How to Launch a Million-Dollar Business This Weekend

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

Brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 1B+ users; Eight Sleep’s Pod Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating; and Shopify global commerce platform, providing tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business.

Noah Kagan (@noahkagan) was #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint, and has since created seven million-dollar businesses (Kickflip/Gambit, AppSumo, KingSumo, SendFox, Sumo, TidyCal, and Monthly1k).

He is the CEO of AppSumo.com, the #1 software-deals site for entrepreneurs, and has a popular YouTube channel, Noah Kagan.

His new book is Million Dollar Weekend: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Launch a 7-Figure Business in 48 Hours.

Please enjoy!

The blog post for this episode: https://tim.blog/2024/01/23/noah-kagan-million-dollar-weekend/

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[00:00] Start

[03:55] Noah and some of his notable successes.

[07:00] Is Barcelona the new Austin?

[13:43] Navigating the legal hurdles to living/working in another country.

[17:44] Running an $80 million business.

[20:41] Noah’s negotiating basics.

[24:33] The chargeback maneuver.

[27:02] WIIFT (What’s In It For Them?)

[29:54] A recap of the coffee challenge.

[31:31] “Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask.”

[34:12] Other comfort challenges Noah recommends.

[39:12] Feedback is a gift.

[42:26] When comfort challenges aren’t appropriate.

[45:33] LOT (Listen, Options, Transition).

[46:59] Tracking metrics that matter.

[52:17] T3 B3 (Top Three, Bottom Three).

[59:46] Weekly reviews.

[1:02:42] The value of unambitious goals.

[1:06:51] Regrets of billionaires.

[1:13:32] My approach to book launches: then and now.

[1:26:50] Priorities: then and now.

[1:43:19] Finding a sustainable purpose.

[1:49:42] Do I still find my past work useful today?

[1:52:44] Testing the waters with new hires.

[1:55:22] Don’t forget to look in the rear-view mirror sometimes.

[1:56:23] Why should you trust Noah’s advice in Million Dollar Weekend?

[1:59:47] Now, not how.

[2:03:18] What’s your freedom number?

[2:03:59] Getting your ask in gear.

[2:05:09] Counterintuitively, constraints catalyze creativity.

[2:08:17] Turning annoyance into opportunity.

[2:11:21] Determining if your intended market has value.

[2:14:12] Most profitable, elegant businesses are simple at their core.

[2:14:57] Entrepreneurs rise from the ashes of fired employees.

[2:17:14] Why you should start a podcast or business.

[2:18:18] “No solutions, only trade-offs.”

[2:19:01] Putting the idea to the test.

[2:22:52] Are you making this harder than it needs to be?

[2:24:09] The Dream 10 as a test for market viability — and your commitment.

[2:27:07] Rejection as teacher.

[2:27:58] Deliver on promises before worrying about scaling up.

[2:32:01] The three Ws: what, who, and where?

[2:33:04] The AppSumo origin story.

[2:36:24] Early high-touch community building and scaling considerations.

[2:38:29] The BrainQUICKENing.

[2:42:43] Finding underserved opportunities.

[2:44:48] Initiate correspondence with humility.

[2:48:12] Little ask, big ask.

[2:48:56] How do I handle rejection?

[2:51:18] Revisiting the Law of Category.

[2:56:16] How Noah handled a recent rejection.

[2:57:28] Dating circa now and learning optimism.

[2:59:18] How Pat seized opportunity in Poland.

[3:00:36] Free work?

[3:04:35] Behind the scenes of my Opening the Kimono event.

[3:12:02] Making sponsorship deals win/win.

[3:15:47] Streamlining business idea validation.

[3:19:42] Unorthodox simplicity.

[3:22:02] Better to be chased for money than chasing it.

[3:23:45] Best holiday purchases for under $50.

[3:31:28] Is competing for attention on YouTube worth my time and sanity?

[3:39:55] Low-effort, high-reward YouTube experiments.

[3:45:21] Lessons learned from spending more than a million dollars on coaching.

[3:53:01] Benefits of the board.

[3:53:35] How to take on the 48-hour challenge.

[3:56:00] What’s the DEAL with Cindy 10 years after meeting Noah and me?

[4:00:34] Parting thoughts.

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