JDM’s Blog

Customers will kill your startup. If you survive, so will the competition — unless you defend yourself. Here are six strategies to defend your startup & crush the competition.

99% of startups aren't killed by the competition — they commit suicide. But that doesn't mean you don't have to worry about defensibility. Here are 3 competitors to look out for when launching your product.

The biggest predictor of startup success? How quickly you involve customers. I've helped dozens of founders prototype their way to customers — and investors. Here are my 5 go-to prototyping tools.

There is no Us vs Them — it's Us vs Us. Because humanity exists on a bell curve.

Most startup experiments are designed to "see what happens". It's the worst thing you can do when you want to learn something. Here's why — and what to do instead.

Your startup has a lot of potential customers, but you can't market to everyone. The first customer MUST be the most efficient one. Here's a crazy-simple tool to help you find them.

Startups are risky AF. But most startups aren't murdered — they commit suicide. Here are the 10 most common mistakes (and how to avoid them).

In 2008, a small pivot transformed a mediocre startup into a $1bn unicorn. This is the story of a startup called The Point. But you don't know them by that name.

Startups are not small versions of big companies. This misconception is the root cause of nearly all startup failure. Here’s why that doesn’t work, and a framework for what does.

Every founder asks how to find customers for their product. It’s a great question. Too bad they’re asking it far too late.

As a startup founder, you face countless decisions and unknowns, and it can lead to a lack of focus. Alder's Razor can help.

Marketing and copywriting are the worst ways to find customers. But how to hire them is the most common question founders of early-stage startups ask me.

They told you to do a Business Model Canvas. Now what? I've lost count of how many I've done, but it's 100s. Here's an overview — that anyone can understand.

For the first 5 years of my life as an entrepreneur, I sucked at prioritizing. Then I learned this simple tool to find the most important thing to work on right now.

The business model canvas is a vanity exercise. You put a lot into it, but you get nothing out it. Do this instead.

Designing startup business models is HARD — particularly if you're a first-time founder.

When the pandemic forced it all to Zoom, I honestly thought pitching would get a little easier for those who don't like public speaking. But I couldn't have been more wrong.

The most useful skill a first-time founder can learn is asking good questions. But it's really freaking hard.

You're a first-time founder. You know you need to talk to customers. But what do you ask?

Startups can't outspend their competition, but they can outmaneuver them. Here's how AirBnb growth-hacked their way to world domination — and how you can too.

How does a startup founder know when it's time to scale their company? Let's talk efficacy vs efficiency.

74% of startups fail because they scale prematurely. It's frustrating to me because easy to fix — with co-creation.

Startups are risky AF. But design thinking can help us save time, money, heartache, and headache by showing us what isn't worth chasing.

Love your 9-5 job? Have a crippling feat of failure? Like to watch the world burn? Here's a failure how-to. And buckle up — it’s gonna get rough.

I love productivity porn. While it does something for me, it doesn't do anything for me, you know? This is what did.

Lots of startup founders struggle with the business model slide in their first pitch deck because they don't understand it as well as they think they do.

Startups require relentless focus on one key priority. But it's really freaking hard.

It's a great tragedy how many entrepreneurs never get started because they're waiting for the perfect idea.

The to do list of an entrepreneur never gets shorter, but picking one daily highlight has helped me crush my goals.

Failure can be a chute to despair or a ladder to success. The choice is up to us.

Don't get good at answering questions. Get good at asking them.

There are a million reasons not to launch your startup today, but they’re just excuses.

Most elevator pitches royally suck. If you struggle to succinctly explain what you do, try a message map.

The #1 killer of startups isn't what you think it is. It's not bad ideas. It's not lack of funding. It's not even bad execution. And as much as team & founder dynamics impact the success of a startup, it isn't that either.

Startup traction isn't nearly as elusive as it seems. What we're trying to measure with traction is whether the rubber is grasping the road with sufficient friction to propel the vehicle forward. Here's how to do it.

When it comes to customers, all them are right, but that doesn't mean any of them are right.

The biggest predictor of long-term startup success is the early acquisition of customers. Don't make this the last step in your roadmap. Make it the first step.