NOTES

INTRODUCTION

• vii 'Just had an idea for my first': Sahil Lavingia, Twitter post, April 2, 2011, 2:45 a.m., https://twitter.com/shl/status/54072049395712000.

CHAPTER 1. THE MINIMALIST ENTREPRENEUR

• 1 'The beginnings of all things': Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum , book V, chapter 58.
• 4 'the domain name': Peter Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet,' Deep South Ventures, April 2019, https://deepsouthventures.com/i-sell-onions-on-the-internet/.
• 4 In 2009, that domain name: Peter Askew, 'The Dude That Built DudeRanch.com,' Deep South Ventures, September 2019, https://deepsouthventures.com/dude-that-built-duderanchcom/.
• 4 In 2014, Askew saw: Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet.'
• 5 '[The domain] kept nudging me': Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet.'
• 5 'I'm not a farmer': Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet.'
• 6 Askew and Haygood estimated: Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet.'
• 6 he was having fun: Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet.'
• 7 'Honestly, my customers': Askew, 'I Sell Onions on the Internet.'
• 9 'product-market fit': Marc Andreessen, 'The Pmarca Guide to Startups,' Pmarchive, June 25, 2007, https://pmarchive.com/guide\_to\_startups\_part4.html.
• 12 more than $1 billion: Aileen Lee, 'Welcome to the Unicorn Club: Learning from BillionDollar Startups,' TechCrunch , November 2, 2013, https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/welcometo-the-unicorn-club/.
• 12 According to Matt Murphy: David Baeza, '70% of Startups Fail. How Not to Become a Statistic,' Medium , February 13, 2018, https://medium.com/@davidbaeza/70-of-startups-failhow-not-to-become-a-statistic-f4820144a973.
• 12 The whole system is: Baeza, '70% of Startups Fail.'

CHAPTER 2 : START WITH COMMUNITY

• 24 Sol and Kurtis saw: Sol Orwell, interview with Eric Siu, Leveling Up , podcast audio, June 9, 2019, https://www.levelingup.com/growth-everywhere-interview/sol-orwell-examine-com/.
• 24 In 2011, they launched: Benji Hyam, 'How Examine.com Founder Sol Orwell Built a 7-Figure Business off of Reddit,' Grow and Convert, April 13, 2018, https://growandconvert.com/marketing/examine-sol-orwell-reddit/.
• 24 '100,000 plus karma': Orwell, Leveling Up .
• 24 a measure of how much: 'What Is Karma?,' Reddit Help, https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/enus/articles/204511829-What-is-karma.
• 25 guide to supplements and nutrition: Hyam, 'How Examine Founder Sol Orwell Built a 7Figure Business off of Reddit.'
• 25 By the end of the launch: Hyam, 'How Examine Founder Sol Orwell Built a 7-Figure Business off of Reddit.'
• 25 day-to-day operations: 'About Sol Orwell and Why SJO.com,' SJO .com, August 9, 2018, https://www.sjo.com/about.
• 29 the 'passion economy': Li Jin, 'The Passion Economy and the Future of Work,' Andreessen Horowitz, October 8, 2019, https://a16z.com/2019/10/08/passion-economy/.
• 29 'a world in which': Atelier Ventures, https://www.atelierventures.co/.
• 29 'turn their passions into livelihoods': Jin, 'The Passion Economy and the Future of Work.'
• 33 the '1% Rule': Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell, Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message (Chicago: Kaplan Publishing, 2007).
• 35 'Work in Public': Nathan Barry, Twitter post, March 26, 2016, 10:29 a.m., https://twitter.com/nathanbarry/status/713734553257390080.
• 36 'I realized I would take': Nathan Barry, 'How Teaching Everything I Know Grew My Audience,' ConvertKit, November 18, 2019, https://convertkit.com/teaching-everything-knowgrew-audience.
• 37 become a cult classic: Patrick McKenzie, 'Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued,' Kalzumeus Software, n.d., https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation.
• 37 He now works for Stripe: Patrick McKenzie, 'What Working at Stripe Has Been Like,' Kalzumeus Software, October 9, 2020, https://kalzumeus.com/2020/10/09/four-years-at-stripe.
• 43 In 2020, Calendly posted: Lucinda Shen, 'Meet the Unicorn Founder That Braved War Zones and Missed Meetings to Make His Mark on the Startup World,' Fortune , November 24, 2020, https://fortune.com/2020/11/19/calendly-founder-tope-awotona-startup-unicorn.
• 43 'I didn't know anything': Karen Houghton, 'Tope Awotona-A Founder Story,' Atlanta Tech Village (blog), April 26, 2018, https://atlantatechvillage.com/buzz/2018/04/26/tope-awotona-afounder-story.
• 44 both solve and monetize: Stephanie Heath, 'The Founder of Calendly on Building a Unicorn Tech Company,' Mogul Millennial, May 23, 2021, https://www.mogulmillennial.com/thefounder-of-calendly-shares/.
• 44 'What [great companies]': Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David S Duncan, 'Know Your Customers' 'Jobs to Be Done,' ' Harvard Business Review , September 2016.
• 44 'Nearly half the milkshakes': Clayton M. Christensen, Keynote Address, Techpoint Innovation Summit, Indianapolis, September 29, 2009.
• 47 One business that provides: Michael Ortiz, 'Interview with TheCut App CEO on Modernizing Barbershop Experience,' Modern Treatise , March 28, 2018, https://www.moderntreatise.com/business/2018/3/27/an-interview-with-the-ceo-of-thecut-app.
• 49 'We went looking': Jason Fried, 'Basecamp: The Origin Story,' Medium , October 7, 2015, https://medium.com/@jasonfried/base-camp-the-origin-story-f509fdd725f8.
• 49 'We decided early': Fried, 'Basecamp: The Origin Story.'
• 49 In a bid to solve: Erin DeJesus, 'Introducing Nick Kokonas's Ticketing System, Tock,' Eater , November 30, 2014, https://www.eater.com/2014/11/30/7294795/introducing-nick-kokonassticketing-system-tock.
• 50 During the COVID-19 pandemic: Christina Troitino, 'Reservation Service Tock Launches ToGo Platform to Help Restaurants Impacted by Coronavirus,' Forbes , March 17, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinatroitino/2020/03/17/reservation-service-tock-launches-togo-platform-to-help-restaurants-impacted-by-coronavirus/.

CHAPTER 3 : BUILD AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE

• 55 'Make something people want': Geoff Ralston and Michael Seibel, 'YC's Essential Startup Advice,' YC Startup Library, n.d., https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4D-yc-s-essentialstartup-advice.
• 61 'If you want to make': Derek Sivers, Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2011).
• 62 'Creating a product': Naval Ravikant (navalr), 'Creating a product is a process of discovery, not mere implementation. Technology is applied science. Would a scientist outsource the discovery process?,' Reddit,
• https://www.reddit.com/r/NavalRavikant/comments/dzio7t/ask_naval_anything/.
• 63 they set up a Google Sheet: John Eremic, 'Growing a SaaS App for the Film Industry with Rigorous Experimentation,' Indie Hackers, n.d.,https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/growing-a-saas-app-for-the-film-industry-withrigorous-experimentation-8aa8348dae.
• 63 Their initial process: Eremic, 'Growing a SaaS App for the Film Industry.'
• 64 Forms of self-employment income for developers: Daniel Vassallo, Twitter post, May 18, 2020, 1:18 a.m., https://twitter.com/dvassallo/status/1262251147135340544.
• 65 their industry impact also expanded: Jane Porter, 'From Near Failure to a $1.5 Billion Sale: The Epic Story of Lynda.com,' Fast Company , April 27, 2015, https://www.fastcompany.com/3045404/from-near-failure-to-a-15-billion-sale-the-epic-story-oflyndacom.
• 65 Noxgear manufactures: Elizabeth Kyle, 'Dayton Startup Profile: High Visibility Vest Makes International Impact,' Dayton Business Journal , November 5, 2019,

https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2019/11/05/dayton-startup-profile-high-visibilityvest-makes.html.

• 66 The idea of building: Peter Fritz, interview with Justin Mitchell, Of- fice Anywhere , podcast audio, April 13, 2020, https://peterfritz.co/voice-messaging-beats-slack-zoom-yac-justinmitchell.
• 67 'Want to find a good': Adam Wathan, Twitter post, May 14, 2020, 8:38 a.m., https://twitter.com/adamwathan/status/1260912251566985223.
• 70 'quantum of utility': John Gruber, 'A Quantum of Utility,' Daring Fireball (blog), n.d., https://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/04/02/utility-paul-graham.
• 76 'Over Thanksgiving break': Lenny Rachitsky, 'How the Biggest Consumer Apps Got Their First 1,000 Users-Issue 25,' Lenny's Newsletter , May 12, 2020, https://www.lennyrachitsky.com/p/how-the-biggest-consumer-apps-got.

CHAPTER 4 : SELL TO YOUR FIRST HUNDRED CUSTOMERS

• 90 'people will jump': Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Addictions (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), Kindle ed.
• 90 This model, popularized by: 'The Freemium Business Model,' AVC, https://avc.com/2006/03/the\_freemium\_bu/.
• 92 'Millions of people': 'Bring Your Creative Project to Life,' www.Kickstarter.com, https://www.kickstarter.com/learn.
• 93 products geared toward personal development: 'About Please-Notes,' PleaseNotes.com, https://pleasenotes.com/pages/about.
• 93 a PleaseNotes journal: Ande Lyons, interview with Cheryl Sutherland, Startup Life with Ande Lyons , podcast audio, February 15, 2018, https://andelyons.com/use-creativity-clear-visionconfidence-rapid-results/.
• 93 She eventually raised: 'PleaseNotes-Find Your Passion and Live It!,' Kickstarter.com, December 18, 2019, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pleasenotes/pleasenotes-find-yourpassion-and-live-it.
• 97 Richest Self-Made Women: Kerry A Dolan, Chase Peterson-Withorn, and Jennifer Wang, eds., 'America's Richest Self-Made Women 2020,' Forbes , October 13, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/self-made-women/.
• 97 started out with cold calls: Megan DiTrolio, 'Stitch Fix's Katrina Lake Dishes Out Savvy Business Advice,' Marie Claire , May 14, 2020, https://www.marieclaire.com/careeradvice/a32376163/stitch-fix-katrina-lake-business-advice/.
• 97 'The more shameless': Sarah Spellings, 'How I Get It Done: Stitch Fix CEO Katrina Lake,' The Cut , December 30, 2019, https://www.thecut.com/2019/12/how-i-get-it-done-stitch-fix-ceokatrina-lake.html.
• 99 they found that working: 'Our Story,' Mailchimp, https://mail-chimp.com/about/.
• 99 Chestnut and Kurzius have: Jake Chessum, 'Want Proof That Patience Pays Off? Ask the Founders of This 17-Year-Old $525 Million Email Empire,' Inc. , December 11, 2017, https://www.inc.com/magazine/201802/mailchimp-company-of-the-year-2017.html.
• 102 she decided to make one herself: Jaime Schmidt, Supermaker: Crafting Business on Your Own Terms (San Francisco: Chronicle Prism, 2020), 24.
• 102 She experimented for months: Schmidt, Supermaker , 38.
• 102 She set up a simple website: Schmidt, Supermaker , 38.
• 102 she found a rhythm: Schmidt, Supermaker , 41- 43.
• 103 many times, they returned: Schmidt, Supermaker , 53.
• 103
• 'Early customer feedback': Schmidt, Supermaker , 57.

CHAPTER 5 : MARKET BY BEING YOU

• 107 'Marketing is really': Peter Economy, '11 Michael Hyatt Quotes to Inspire You to Happiness and Success,' Inc. , February 11, 2016, https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/11-michael-hyattquotes-to-inspire-you-to-happiness-andsuccess.html#:~:text=%22Marketing%20is%20really%20just%20about,others%20something%2 0you%20care%20about.
• 121 launched its first podcast: Ari Levy, ' 'Startup' Podcast Offers a Rare Fly-on-Wall View of Tech M&A After Gimlet's $200 Million Sale to Spotify,' CNBC, October 22, 2019, cnbc.com/2019/10/22/startup-podcast-offers-inside-view-of-tech-ma-after-sale-to-spotify.html.
• 122 If content is king: Bill Gates, 'Content is King,' Bill Gates' Web Site, January 3, 1996, http://web.archive.org/web/20010126005200/http:/www.microsoft.com/billgates/columns/1996e ssay/essay960103.asp.
• 123 'Entrepreneurship: work 60 hours a week': Sahil Lavingia, Twitter post, February 10, 2021, 8:08 p.m., https://twitter.com/shl/status/1359670684675239936.
• 131 The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated: Ali Mogharabi, 'Digital Ad Spending Poised for Exceptional Growth,' Morningstar, December 11, 2020, https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1014195/digital-ad-spending-poised-for-exceptionalgrowth.

CHAPTER 6 : GROW YOUR SELF AND YOUR BUSINESS MINDFULLY

• 139 'Life is like riding a bicycle': Albert Einstein, letter to his son Eduard (February 5, 1930), quoted in Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007), 367.
• 143 'default alive or default dead': Paul Graham, 'Default Alive or Default Dead?,' www.PaulGraham.com, October 2015, http://www.paulgraham.com/aord.html.
• 147 'digital by default': Tobi Lutke, Twitter post, May 21, 2020, 10:55 a.m., https://twitter.com/tobi/status/1263483496087064579.
• 147 even giants like: Jack Kelly, 'Here Are the Companies Leading the Work-from-Home Revolution,' Forbes , May 26, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/05/24/thework-from-home-revolution-is-quickly-gaining-momentum/.
• 147 'very excited to see': Sam Altman, Twitter post, May 21, 2020, 1:56 p.m., https://twitter.com/sama/status/1263529191581954049.
• 149 'I thought we were just': Charlie Keegan, 'Stitching Life into Hamilton,' 41 Action News, KSHB-TV, Kansas City, MO, June 14, 2019.
• 152 'A Kids Book About did': Megan Rose Dickey, 'The Journey of a Kids Book Startup That Tackles Topics like Racism, Cancer and Divorce,' TechCrunch , August 18, 2020, https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/18/the-journey-of-a-kids-book-startup-that-tackles-topics-likeracism-cancer-and-divorce/.
• 157 one founder departs the company: Steli Efti, 'The Secret to Successful and Lasting CoFounder Relationships,' The Close Sales Blog , December 23, 2020, https://blog.close.com/thesecret-to-successful-and-lasting-co-founder-relationships/.
• 158 four types of communication styles: Ellie Lisitsa, 'The Four Horsemen: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, & Stonewalling,' The Gottman Relationship Blog , April 23, 2013, https://gottman.com/blog/the-four-horsemen-recognizing-criticism-contempt-defensivenessand-stonewalling/.

CHAPTER 7: BUILD THE HOUSE YOU WANT TO LIVE IN

• 165 'You can dream': Jeff James, 'Leadership Lessons from Walt Disney-How to Inspire Your Team,' Disney Institute Blog , https://www.disneyinstitute.com/blog/leadership-lessons-fromwalt-disney--how-to/.
• 167 'What's the one thing': Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results (London: John Murray, 2019).
• 171 'celebrate every opportunity to learn': Wildbit.com, https://wildbit.com/story/philosophy.
• 178 WeWork is one example: Charles Duhigg, 'How Venture Capitalists Are Deforming Capitalism,' New Yorker , November 23, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/30/how-venture-capitalists-are-deformingcapitalism.
• 178 'the tendency in most': Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong (New York: Bantam, 1970).
• 187 '$115k-$135k/year': Adam Wathan, Twitter post, May 24, 2020, 3:32 p.m., https://twitter.com/adamwathan/status/1264640396640096264.

CHAPTER 8 : WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

• 191 'We are born to wander': Robert Moor, On Trails: An Exploration (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017).
• 194 'A healthy man wants': 'Confucius,' http://web-profile.net/articles/quotes/confucius.
• 195 'dizziness of freedom': Søren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Oriented Deliberation in View of the Dogmatic Problem of Hereditary Sin , translated by Alastair Hannay (New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2015 [originally published 1844]).
• 196 'time billionaire': Tim Ferriss, interview with Graham Duncan, The Tim Ferriss Show , March 1, 2019, https://tim.blog/2019/03/01/the-tim-ferriss-show-transcripts-graham-duncan-362/.
• 199 'Occasionally I angel invest in': Sahil Lavingia, Twitter post, June 1, 2020, 11:00 a.m., https://twitter.com/shl/status/1267471126571057158.
• 202 In 2019, Shopify: 'We Need to Talk About Carbon,' Shopify, September 12, 2019, https://news.shopify.com/we-need-to-talk-about-carbon.
• 202 By 2030, Google: 24/7 by 2030: Realizing a Carbon-Free Future , Google white paper, September 2020, available at www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/247-carbon-freeenergy.pdf.