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Deep Dive with Ali AbdaalHow To Start A Business In 48 Hours - Noah Kagan
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Noah Kagan on Overcoming Fear of Starting and Asking in Business
- Kagan says two fears, the fear of starting and the fear of asking, keep most people from building a business, and that the business mechanics are easier once those are overcome.
- He offers practical tools: the coffee and rejection challenges, the LOT (listen, options, transition) selling formula that reframes selling as helping, the law of 100 for sticking with something, and a 'now not how' mindset.
- Kagan argues that everyone should be an entrepreneur, defined broadly as someone who creates, because it gives the best return on investment, teaches you about yourself and reduces dependence on a single employer.
- He and Ali Abdaal discuss money and happiness, agreeing that money can buy happiness up to a point, that a 'freedom number' is a useful target, and that less ambitious goals can make for a more enjoyable business.
- Kagan describes writing the book with 10,000-hour experts and 1,200 beta testers, and how impending fatherhood has made him more intentional with time, while the pair discuss patience, generosity, and making habits like exercise fun.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasFear, not business know-how, is the main barrier to starting
Kagan says the business half of the process is easier, while the hard part is the fears of starting and asking, which people often don't recognize or admit they have.
Practice rejection as a game
Kagan recommends safe exercises like asking for a coffee discount or setting goals to get rejected a set number of times, so a 'no' stops being an ego hit and you may even get a yes.
Selling is helping
Using listen, options, transition, you find out the customer's problem and what solving it is worth, offer a fit, and then ask for the sale. Kagan says not selling when it's a poor fit is just as powerful.
Stick with it using the law of 100
Kagan quit his podcast around episode 40 and regrets it; he now commits to 100 days, videos, emails or calls, and Ali recounts that his own channel took off before video 100.
Entrepreneurship means creating, and it can be small
Kagan defines an entrepreneur as someone who creates, citing a teacher making extra money from cookies, and argues it gives unlimited upside and reduces reliance on one employer.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesIf you don't start, you'll never get anywhere, and if you don't ask, you'll never get what you want. No ask, no get.
— Noah Kagan
Where most people are and where they can be is actually closer than they think.
— Noah Kagan
Every rejection is just a test if you want something.
— Noah Kagan
It's being afraid and doing it anyways. That's courage.
— Noah Kagan
I'd rather be rich at 40 than rich at 60
— Noah Kagan
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SPEAKERS
Noah Kagan
guestEntrepreneur and founder of AppSumo; former early employee at Facebook and Mint; author of "Million Dollar Weekend."
Ali Abdaal
hostYouTuber, creator-entrepreneur, and host of the "Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal" interview podcast.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
