I help startup founders go to market sooner and find traction faster. I'm an entrepreneur, speaker, startup advisor, design thinker, content creator, dad, and junk. Every Monday, I send out three big ideas from me, two curated ideas from others, and one question to help you focus in your journey to find traction.
I'm experimenting with a daily podcast
Hey Reader,
For the last two weeks, I’ve been running a small experiment: a daily podcast.
Each morning, I’ve been sharing one snippet of startup wisdom for you to ponder — and a question to help you focus on what matters.
I call it Startup Meditations.
Each episode is just a few minutes long: no fluff, easy to digest, thought-provoking.
If you’re curious, below is a list of episodes I’ve released so far, and you can check out the full series on substack, or in whatever podcast app you use.
(It’s also a tiktok series, if video is your bag.)
It's an experiment, but I'm just getting started.
As always, thoughts, feedback, requests, and criticism are welcome.
Have a fantastic weekend, my friend!
—jdm
Episodes to date:
- #1 — Procrastivity
- #2 — Competitors vs Competition
- #3 — You’re an imposter!
- #4 — The Value of Disengaged Users
- #5 — Form Follows Function
- #6 — Your pitch should not be very original
- #7 — Aimlessness
- #8 — The Flow Razor
- #9 — The Ikea Effect
- #10 — Validation is Everything
- #11 — Wicked Problems
- #12 — Grit is Overrated
- #13 — Growth Hacking
- #14 — Why design thinking?
3-2-1 Traction Newsletter
I help startup founders go to market sooner and find traction faster. I'm an entrepreneur, speaker, startup advisor, design thinker, content creator, dad, and junk. Every Monday, I send out three big ideas from me, two curated ideas from others, and one question to help you focus in your journey to find traction.
Hey Reader 👋 This week, I become a dad. While my wife and I have gone through the last 41 weeks together (or as together as we can, considering the biology of gestation), there is still the nearly mind-bending thought that one day, likely within a couple of days of you reading this email, I’m just going to walk out of some building a new human. Legally, of course. I’m not planning a heist. That’s where my focus is this week, BUT I could use a small assist… We’re about half way through the...
3-2-1 Traction: Woo-woo, ontic experimental realism, and why you can’t create culture ↓ Hey Reader 👋 Yeah, that subject line’s a doozy, but this newsletter’s not. I’ve got some good stuff for you, though. Here are 3 ideas from me, 2 ideas from others, and 1 question to help you focus. Let’s go. I. 3 ideas from me You can’t create culture As your startup grows, you’re going to start thinking about culture. Most new leaders (and far too many experienced ones, tbh) set about the task of...
3-2-1 Traction: Cofounders, prototypes, and (believe it or not) yoga pants ↓ Hey Reader 👋 Well, it’s Memorial Day in the US, which means summer is basically here. To help you get to the beach faster, I’ll forgo the banter. Let’s just dive in. 👇 I. three ideas from me The answer is often a prototype. In other words, before you build it, ensure you have the right “it”. Because you never do from the start. While 95% of startups fail, startups that cycle through 10 prototypes reduce their failure...