kentf

We are planning on having a path for pre-revenue by summer, so definitely get on the waitlist. We process the waitlist on a first come, first serve basis. If we think we can help you, we will make you an offer, and give you access to our data-driven next actions / OKRs.

Thanks! We are trying our best to make it transparent and obvious

"If you fancy a journey, I recommend Fort Walton, Kansas."

"I was thinking of Maui"

"Forget Maui."

A cynical take is that all these ad platforms drive a ton of app installs for Apple and create stickiness on iOS. Without all these targeted ads, it will decrease app downloads and with the App Store already under such scrutiny they decided to measure twice and cut once.

I remember when I rolled my eyes at Apple making a Maps product. I thought it was a fruitless, dumb idea. I prefer Apple Maps to Google Maps now... don't underestimate Apple's ability to plant a flag and move it inch by inch each year.

Man, I would buy it but I need wheels on mine.

100M+, Same with Bill Simmons on the Ringer. His was 86M I think, Joe's is like 100M+

Won’t Meteor.js make this project extinct?

Wolfram, A new Kind of Science. Could re-define fundamental physics and computing.

Still not 100% sure what this all means, but this podcast helped me understand spinners. I feel like there is an entire area of physics that I have never heard of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg93Dm-vYc8 (Weinstein and Penrose)

I used it for years. Donated $20. Thank you :)

Would be curious on how much their Joe Rogan is responsible for their Q4 spike.

Welcome Stripe :) Let’s keep making access to capital better! (https://clearbanc.com) (https://20mintermsheet.com)

We invest in fast growing companies using machine learning models. So our algorithms make the investing decision, not humans. We connect you with a human to walk you through diligence process, but your funding status is determined by our algos

$50M in equity and $250M for a new fund. Happy to answer any questions.

I run a niche keto / nutrition online store in Canada. https://ablecells.com

Worth the entire listen. Amazing how small the original iPhone team was and how they structured (or didn't) themselves.

And Clearbanc will fund it :)

iPhone

I bought their lifetime subscription when it first came out, and it's wonderful. I would recommend, I listen to it nearly daily.

Here are more detailed thoughts: https://medium.com/@kentf/nootropic-review-brain-fm-addddeee...

Congrats! A fantastic app, and fantastic team.

Congrats on getting started, few people actually do. It's a celebration regardless of what happens. Now onto your questions.

1) I used the products myself and had friends asking me lots of questions. Dogfooding at it's best.

2) 3 days after going live I got my first sale.

3) No, except when it came to free shipping.

4) No, all SEO and intentful Facebook Ads

5) No, I used Hubba for pictures and product descriptions. And Unsplash for backgrounds. I am a software engineer that has been on the marketing side for 8+ years, so I know how to write good copy. But it's really not that important. Your products, pictures, and prices do 90% of the selling.

6) If you have a product that people want, and can target them with SEO + ads, you don't need content. I have two blog posts and definitely would love to do more social + content but I limit myself to spending 2 / hour a day on this per night. I am sure that if I invested in content, it would be a good investment. Just need to prioritize based on my self-imposed restrictions at the moment.

7) No hacks. Great products, hassle-free returns, fair prices and fast shipping :)

haha purposely didn't include it, didn't want it to feel too self-serving.

PsiGate is the common gateway and Magento / custom builds are pretty much the standard.

I have a Canadian LLC and an American one too. Navigating the HST (Ontario tax) has been tricky but I should be all squared away soon. Really need to find a good accountant as doing that part myself is quite challenging.

I considered removing Hubba completely from the post but the truth is that I use it. I work in marketing/growth and realized a year ago that I knew very little about the retail world. I decided to spend my own money to learn the business and bring those learnings back into my job. So in that sense, sure this is an AD, if anything it's an AD for Shopify given how much I love their software.

If you notice, there is no mention or link to my actual store that could drive $$$ into my pocket directly. The point is not to market my store, but to show you how easy it is, with the right tools, to break free from dropshipping.

It's too bad if that's all you take away from this post. The truth is that I use Hubba on a weekly basis to find new products and I haven't been able to find anything else to help me there. There are lots of marketplaces but most are full of crap or only work with dropshippers. At least on Hubba, I know the brands are being vetted by a team of humans for quality and integrity.

If you have a better alternative or another service I would be happy to include it in here.

Appreciate the comment

Anyone can join, but if you want to buy you need to get verified with a valid US tax ID. We also review each account within 48 hours and if you are a drop shipper or Amazon reseller, you are removed from the site.

Can you give some insight into how you choose what products you want to add to your site?

- I use the products I sell, and I am diligent about only putting up ones that are actually good.

What was your initial investment cost for inventory?

- $8,724

How much inventory (dollar amount) do you keep on hand now?

- Would rather not say here, DM on twitter :)

Why would a customer choose to buy from your site over someone like Amazon?

- Great customer service - Domain knowledge of the products - Fast shipping - Easy, no hassle returns - Service attitude

Do you have any thoughts on Facebook vs Google adds (which you prefer, which drives more traffic, which drives more spends)?

- Google will always yield higher quality traffic.

Is there anything such as a Shopify App, website, or service that you wish existed that currently doesn't?

- Great question need to think on it, follow up with me on Twitter @kentf.

Spree, it's a Rails Engine and def my fav for 3rd party hosting.

Curated assortment, domain knowledge of the products, word of mouth, fast shipping, and fair discounts to power users.