Another Excuse Newsletter

Welcome back to the Another Excuse Newsletter. It isn’t just another excuse, but a reason to start that thing you’ve been putting off.

What to expect this week:
👓Perspective - Curse of Familiar Riches
🔨 Tool - YourStack
🍿Consume - Request for Startups
📖Concept - Marimekko Chart

Perspective

Curse of Familiar Riches

We don't know what we don't know.

We live in bubbles and when our bubble expands, we're still in a bubble.

You're probably thinking, Byron, what the hell do you mean?

Well, the ceiling to our earning capacity is capped by our knowledge.

We're only aware of how much money we can make based on what we've been exposed to.

The traditional exposure is someone above you in your company.

You can see what they're earning and how much longer they've been in the industry, so you know what it will take to get there.

Another example is changing jobs.

Most of us know that a quicker way to increase your income is to move jobs.

Changing jobs usually results in a higher return than a raise and is usually quicker than a promotion.

But once we're exposed to other ways of multiplying our wealth, the whole world opens up.

For many entrepreneurs, the first time they realized that they could increase their wealth by multiples of 10 instead of a few percent, completely changed their mental model.

Meeting people who've done it helps you realize that it's achievable.

We're cursed by familiar riches because we think we're on the best path.

But as soon as you discover a new way to riches you create a new curse.

There's always going to be a better way.

You've just got to expose yourself to as many as possible to remove that ceiling.

Tool

YourStack

I don't know about you, but I'm always curious about what apps different founders use.

Each business is different and there are so many similar products out there, that it becomes difficult to know which one is the best without committing to hours of research and trial and error.

Luckily Alex Liberman, the founder of Morning Brew and StoryArb, has come to our rescue.

This tool is still in the very early stages, but it's already super useful.

Alex is sharing different founders’ tech stacks with us.

The first two he's shared are his own and Noah Kagan’s, the founder of App Sumo.

Your business might not be exactly the same, but you may need to use some of the tools they use.

They have the resources, they've done the research.

So if you're starting out, you’ve got a leg up.

You know which tools are being used in a successful business and now you don't need to shop around.

He's going to add more founders to the list over time, so keep checking back.

Check it out here.

Consume (Read / Watch / Listen)

Request for Startups

Some of us want to become founders but don't know what to build.

Some are just afraid of taking that risk because they don't know whether it's a good idea or not.

Well Y-Combinator, the startup incubator has solved this problem.

They're exposed to the best ideas and have invested in many successful startups.

And over time they've noticed some gaps in particular markets.

So they created a list.

They have literally created a list of all the industries and sub-markets that they feel are underdelivering.

Now, this might make coming up with the idea from scratch a whole lot easier.

I'm not saying pick one and go for it.

You obviously still need to have some unfair advantage and knowledge in that particular market.

But YC has done the hard work for you.

They know what products are needed, and now all you need to do is create them.

Well, find a co-founder, create the MVP, and get backed by YC.

Simple.

Well…simpler than having no idea at all.

Concept

Marimekko Chart

The Marimekko or Mosaic Chart is a chart that isn't used enough.

A few successful entrepreneurs swear by it.

It's pretty straightforward.

It's a chart that gives you a visualization of data from two or more variables.

It gives you an overview of data and makes it easier to recognise relationships between data.

A common example is independence is evident when the boxes across all areas have the same areas.

Different categories are coloured differently making it as easy as possible to interpret and understand.

Having a clear overview of what goes on in your business can help you make better decisions.

We sometimes aren’t aware of the minor details or small percentages that add up over time.

And a chart like this makes it clear.

They can be used for anything, but a great use is to get a bird’s eye view of your business.

If you haven’t applied this chart to your business yet, you should.

It will help you make a few decisions you’ve been thinking about.

Thanks for Reading

Now start something!

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