I’m joined by Adam Robinson who has bootstrapped startups to millions of dollars in revenue, as we deep dive on how we would validate and grow a startup idea.1) The Yonder Phone Pouch market is exploding• Locks phones away to create "phone-free spaces"• Already in schools, concerts, comedy shows• Huge potential for innovation (charging, remote unlock, etc.)• Adam predicts 98% of middle schools will require in 10 years2) How to validate & launch a Yondr competitor:• Target affluent customers first (Elon approach)• Have 100s of conversations before building• Look for "eyes lighting up" as signal• Prototype only after strong validation3) Growth strategy: Micro-influencer UGC• Outreach to 1000s of relevant micro-influencers• Send free product, ask for honest posts if they like it• No monetary incentives needed for authentic content• Aim for breadth of coverage, not mega-influencers4) Copywriting Framework• Study successful brands in similar space (e.g. Jolie)• Use AI (Claude, ChatGPT) to adapt their style• Remember: Don't copy, but get inspired and make it your own5) The "third way" of building startups:• Combine Rework's bootstrapping principles with Y Combinator's focus on product excellence• Result: Profitable growth without VC dependency• If product is truly excellent, word-of-mouth drives growthWant more free ideas? I collect the best ideas from the pod and give them to you for free in a database. Most of them cost $0 to start (my fav)Get access: https://www.gregisenberg.com/30startupideas 🎯 To build your own portfolio businesses powered by community you might enjoy my membership.You'll get my full course with all my secrets on building businesses, peer-groups to keep you accountable, business ideas every single month and more!Spots are limited.https://www.communityempire.co/📬 Join my free newsletter to get weekly startup insights for free:https://www.gregisenberg.com/70,000+ people are already subscribed.To improve your rankings your business on Google and using AI for SEO, sign up tohttp://boringmarketing.com/FIND ME ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/FIND ADAM ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://x.com/retentionadamLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/retentionadam/Episode Timestamps:0:00 Intro02:34 Startup Idea 1: Yondr Phone Pouch 2.009:53 How to validate & launch a Yondr competitor18:41 Growth strategy: Micro-influencer UGC26:28 Copywriting Framework30:43 The "third way" of building startups:
Full Episode
Here's what a yonder phone pouch is. It's this contraption that basically prevents you from accessing your phone, which is the greatest drug on earth. I just have this incredibly high level of conviction that some sort of locking phones away is going to be a part of kids' futures, you know, and in a lot of other environments too. And here's where I think the potential for innovation is.
There's a huge opportunity to identify an elegant feature set around this pouch that just makes it work a lot better.
If you were going to create Yonder 2.0 or Yonder for XYZ niche, how would you actually go about doing so? Adam Robinson, you've made it to the Startup Ideas podcast.
This is the highlight of my career. This is literally, it's only downhill from here. I'm so excited to be here. I feel like I'm on a mountaintop. By the way, I was on a mountaintop all of last week. I was in the woods in Colorado, sitting like a monk, basically.
reflecting on life i was nature getting nature therapy you like really achieve deep inner peace if you're totally unplugged and in solitude it happens to everyone we live like that for a million years before we uh were evolved to do that you know um but it's just hard for people like us, right? You're busy. You have, you know, family maybe or whatever.
And it's like, uh, maybe later, maybe when my kids are older and then you never do it. So I just keep doing it. And it's like so great because it actually helps you with the time with your kids. That's how to prioritize it.
So anyway, so you were on that mountain top, you were brainstorming startup ideas. You decided, you decided to text me. We're now here. Um, and, and I'm ecstatic cause I, you're the real deal. You've built, I mean, you've built businesses from zero to 20 million ARR completely bootstrapped. So when you talk, I listen. That's rare.
Yeah.
Not many people end up doing that for a lot of reasons, which we agree are stupid. Some of them, you know, exactly, exactly. So, um, let's just, let's just get into it. You know, what's on your mind right now and what could you share with, with people? So look, I, um,
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