Welcome!

Wassup. If you’re new here, I’m Jack Boudreau.

Why do I have a newsletter?

I often see most startup content being built by people who are (1) impossible to relate to or (2) they’re straight up not doing the damn thing. Consider the 3x founder who blogs about their days in the trenches from an ocean view penthouse or the management consultant who “know’s what it’s like” because they’ve built hundreds of powerpoints for high growth companies.

Very few are willing to share when they’re in the thick of it. Like the reeeeeaaaaal thick of it…take us for example. Habits has less than 10 employees, were under $750k in ARR, have raised less than $500k, and launched earlier this year.

The Learning Curve

When I scroll through my DMs, I often notice a lot begin as follows: (1) “hey I have this idea…” (2) “my friends and I have this side hustle…” or (3) “when did you begin to…” And they all ultimately lead to a question about the first few months of any startup.

And the truth is, a lot of the beginning is a blur. Because I had no idea what I was doing. Call me an amateur all you want, but the more founders I meet, especially the most seasoned & experienced, I find most feel the same way.

It’s going to sound condescending as f*ck, but the beginning is all about your ability to figure it out.

If I Were To Start Over

Generally speaking, here’s my playbook to get a startup, side hustle, or really any type of business off the ground.

1. DO NOT QUIT YOUR DAY JOB and force yourself to squeeze extra hours in they day to do the following.

2. Find the overlap across what you’re good at, your passions, and an industry you’re interested in.

3. Talk with as many experts, customers, and people in that overlap.

4. Find a small problem and provide a simple solution. For example, Habits LLC began with Google Sheets and me sending e-introductions to financial advisors.

5. Charge for your service, take refundable deposits, or find some sort of way to monetize.

Now you’re on to something and (in my eyes) you’ve earned the right to debate if it’s worth going full-time. And in that debate you’ll figure out what the next steps are.

And you better get your personal finances in order before you do something like quitting your sole source of income.

Find Your Superpower

Every founder I’ve ever met is extrodinary at something. But usually they fall into two buckets (1) sales/marketing or (2) product/engineering.

We all know where I fall…so the question is where do you?

The point is to leverage the power (for me sales/marketing) to evangelize your platform and bring your vision to life.

And don’t worry if you don’t know what your super power is. Because you’ll be forced to figure it out when your back is against the wall.

Visual or Auditory?

Now the last thing you gotta figure out is how you best digest new information.

In other words, are you a visual or auditory learner? Do you watch a youtube video or listen to a podcast when learning something new?

Maybe it’s a combo or you could possibly be like me and be neither. Unfortunately, I’m a stubborn a**hole who is an experiential learner, which means I have to personal experience and find the solution on my own or it won’t register in my brain.

But knowing this will be the the bedrock to problem solving early on.

Don’t Compare

Alright this is not a recommendation, but a prescription.

Be wary of reading stories about Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, blah blah blah…

I was victim to it, but trying to replicate or follow someone elses journey (especially early on) will drive you insane.

And this also goes for starting a side hustle or even some small business you plan to replace your existing 9-5.

It’s all about figuring out YOUR journey, YOUR path, and using YOUR skills to get you there.

HMU

Contrary to what you might think, I get maybe 2-3 emails a week through this newsletter. So seriously, if you’d like to dive further into this topic just shoot me a note at [email protected] 

Odds are I’ll see it immediately vs. a social media DM.

^{Find Your Financial Advisor}

If you’re somebody on the sidelines or are not sure if a financial advisor makes sense for you or your family, just shoot me an email at [email protected].

Or… visit our website and book time with us!

Thanks for reading, Habits fam. See you back here next week for more.

-JB