The New North Star

Building a sustainable business for the next 90 days, scalability be damned.

Last week I wrote about my first 90 days back in the startup saddle, my meanderings through the idea maze, and a summary of lessons learned.

By far my best choice last quarter was to invest in PMF camp. I learned a methodology for startup building that resonates strongly. I’ve tried so many startup projects, literally dozens of ideas filled with customer interviews, prototypes, market analysis, etc., and have rarely found traction.

My best career successes have been joining something else that already had traction and helping it accelerate. No longer! I’m committed to figuring this startup thing out.

The new north star

This brings me to my north star for my next 90 days: revenue. I have one single goal, to make enough money to make this business my going concern. My number is $100,000.

My best approach to reach this goal is to sell my expertise (however limited it is) for money. To this end, I’m building an AI training and consulting company.

We signed up our first project last week and in a few days we’ll have real, green dollars in the door.

We’re not taking on just any project. We are focused on our sphere of how to use AI at work. We believe most of AI is over hyped and the amount of grifting what AI can practically do does a big disservice to people trying to navigate how to use it effectively.

Here’s what I’m intentionally avoiding this quarter:

I’m not stressing about “how to scale this business.” I’m not wasting an ounce of energy on what this business looks like in six months or a year or if consulting work is going to drain my soul. None of that matters right now. My sole focus is creating real value for real clients right now. And getting paid for it.

I’m not overbuilding. I’ve fallen into this trap before—spending weeks or months developing solutions for imaginary users (even if that user is me). This time, I’m keeping it scrappy: quick iterations, simple solutions, and real client feedback.

What success looks like

If I hit my revenue goal of $100,000, I’ll know I’m onto something. More importantly, I’ll have proven that I have a sustainable business. Every conversation, proposal, and deliverable will teach me something valuable. If demand is what matters, I am building a machine to continually find demand.

One day they’ll be a project, something that a client brings up, that opens my eyes to demand I can see outside of this single company. Call this consulting based demand searching. I’m finding demand by actually building for what people are willing to pay for.

A call to action

If you’re curious about practical AI adoption for your team—or if you know someone who is—reach out. I’d love to have a conversation about what’s working, what’s not, and how we can navigate this exciting (and often confusing) space together.

Let’s see where the next 90 days take us.

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#HappyLearning