Podcast
Idea to Startup
Hosted by Brian Scordato | Tacklebox · EN
A podcast for people working on startup ideas. We have 15-minute tactical episodes and occasional interviews with people who did the early things exceptionally well. We've helped launch hundreds of startups worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and these are the building blocks.
"This is, without a doubt, the best podcast for people trying to build startups out there."
"If you aren't listening to this podcast and you're considering building a business (or you're already building one), what are you doing?"
"Must listen for first-time entrepreneurs - excellent storyteller."
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
How to Get Your First Customers (The Trust to Risk Ratio)
Feb 400:18:37Tap to summarizeToday, we'll help you get your first customers. We'll do it by learning how to use the trust to risk ratio - a way to identify the big risks that are holding your customer back and shoulder those risks early on to build trust. We talk through risk and trust with Find Your Lobster, Soona, and a finicky water pump. TackleboxSoona
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The One Thing That Matters - How to Find a Differentiator That'll Support Your Business (ITS Classic)
Jan 2300:24:03Tap to summarizeToday, we'll help you find a differentiator powerful enough that it can support your business. We'll talk through what a differentiator actually allows you to do, five prompts to help you uncover and test one for your business, and Brian's favorite current differentiator - Popup Bagels. TackleboxPopup Bagels 00:00 Tacklebox00:33 Differentiator intro04:00 What do you hire a differentiator to do?05:44 The Attention Pie09:03 Smooth Jazz09:28 Popup Bagels16:30 Five Prompts for Your Differentiator
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How to Identify and Kill Bad Startup Ideas Masquerading As Good Ones (ITS Classic)
Jan 1400:23:19Tap to summarizeToday, we'll lay out a framework to help you identify and kill bad ideas. It's hard to objectively evaluate your idea early on - this framework helps you rise above your idea to do it effectively. A side-effect is that the framework will help you find and pursue the good ideas.We talk through 1) Finding and Evaluating the Real Risk, 2) Predicting Organic Growth Potential, and 3) Predicting the Likelihood of Converting Early Customers, using a startup idea from a listener as an example. TackleboxKunal Shah Delta 4Dig out of a Hole Idea to Startup Episode - The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas00:25 - Killing Bad Startup Ideas02:00 - The Three Pillars of the Will Your Idea Fail Framework02:45 - The Startup Idea - AI Messaging for Plumbers and Electricians03:15 - Dig out of a Hole Markets link to episode05:56 - Smooth Jazz06:24 - Part 1 - How to Find and Evaluate the Real Risk07:35 - Flipping your biggest risk to your biggest strength11:00 - Decisions aren’t made in a bubble13:45 - Part 2 - Predicting the Organic Growth Potential14:00 - Kunal Shah Delta 4 Scale17:41 - Part 3 - Predicting whether you’ll actually be able to get first customers to convert18:49 Managed by Q
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The Three Pillars of Sales for Entrepreneurs Who Hate Sales (ITS Classic)
Jan 700:27:48Tap to summarizeA 20(ish) minute skills episode on sales 101 for entrepreneurs who hate sales. We go through three tactics and a bunch of examples to help you build a system for sales that'll help you grow without making you feel slimy. We set up sales for a sabbaticals as a service startup. And we talk through why entrepreneurs hate sales and how to reframe the whole thing.Tacklebox (Code WINTER2025)Text ExpanderStreakPipedrive
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Three Ways to Create Trust (ITS Classic - top 1%)
Dec 3100:17:55Tap to summarizeToday we'll talk about why people hand their keys over to random strangers on the street in New York City, how a person selling cures for baldness converts 80% of the people he speaks with, and how you can build a strategy to cultivate trust with your customers, too.Tacklebox (20% off with code WINTER2025)
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The One-Inch Picture Frame
Dec 1800:14:57Tap to summarizeToday we talk about two methods to help make your big startup plans for 2026 manageable. We borrow Short Assignments and Shitty Drafts from Anne Lamott, we get a little help from Martin Scorsese and a Bronx Tale, and we talk through a startup that's helping 40 year olds deal with loneliness. All in like 14 minutes. Not bad. Tacklebox WINTER2025 for 20% offBird by BirdThe To Do List MonsterThe Saddest Thing In Life 00:00 Tacklebox00:28 Actionable Motivation01:08 How to Actually Take a Swing at Your Potential04:15 The Two Best Ways to Make Progres05:59 The One-Inch Picture Frame10:20 Shitty Drafts12:55 The End: The Saddest Thing In Life
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How to Identify and Kill Bad Startup Ideas Masquerading As Good Ones
Sep 13, 2023Tap to summarizeToday, we'll lay out a framework to help you identify and kill bad ideas. It's hard to objectively evaluate your idea early on - this framework helps you rise above your idea to do it effectively. A side-effect is that the framework will help you find and pursue the good ideas.We talk through 1) Finding and Evaluating the Real Risk, 2) Predicting Organic Growth Potential, and 3) Predicting the Likelihood of Converting Early Customers, using a startup idea from a listener as an example. TackleboxKunal Shah Delta 4Dig out of a Hole Idea to Startup Episode - The Four Characteristics of Great Startup Ideas00:25 - Killing Bad Startup Ideas02:00 - The Three Pillars of the Will Your Idea Fail Framework02:45 - The Startup Idea - AI Messaging for Plumbers and Electricians03:15 - Dig out of a Hole Markets link to episode05:56 - Smooth Jazz06:24 - Part 1 - How to Find and Evaluate the Real Risk07:35 - Flipping your biggest risk to your biggest strength11:00 - Decisions aren’t made in a bubble13:45 - Part 2 - Predicting the Organic Growth Potential14:00 - Kunal Shah Delta 4 Scale17:41 - Part 3 - Predicting whether you’ll actually be able to get first customers to convert18:49 Managed by Q
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How to Test the Startup Idea You Had Over Thanksgiving in 7 Minutes
Nov 30, 2022Tap to summarizeToday, we'll run a 7-minute test on a startup idea I had over Thanksgiving. It's tackling a massive topic - email - but breaking it down into a manageable first customer and use case. You probably had a startup idea over the break, too, and you should use this framework to test it. The secret to startups is that there is no secret - you're more likely to have a successful business if you try out lots of ideas. This pod will help you do that. Tacklebox (50% off month one with code HOLIDAY)
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Startup Practice
Jan 19, 2022Tap to summarizePeople are too precious with ideas. The idea you've got is probably wrong, but the only way you'll get to the right one is working on the wrong one - not waiting for the right one to magically appear. But how do you do that? This episode is about startup practice - how to find and test ideas on the side that'll eventually lead to the one that'll hopefully change your life. TackleboxThe RescueHow to Get Startup Ideas
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Is Your Startup Idea Good? (ITS Classic)
Apr 28, 2021Tap to summarizeThis week's ITS Classic covers whether your startup idea is any good. We talk through a failed startup Brian ran called Find Your Lobster, present a framework to ensure you choose the startup idea that best matches your skillset, and how to stay away from the dreaded Whisper Idea. Byldd is a venture studio that’s democratizing software entrepreneurship.Tacklebox Accelerator Cohort 28 starts June 2, applications are due May 15th.
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