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biz/designing_the_ideal_bootstrapped_business.md

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+YouTube video "Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business with Jason Cohen"
+
+# Make Sure There's a Market
+- get 20 or 30 people to give you a check for something that doesn't exist yet
+  - because it solves a pain they have
+
+If you can't scrape together 75-150 customers over some months, it's never going to be a business. 
+LinkedIn direct reachouts, AdWords...
+
+# Pricing/Value
+It must be valuable, so $70+/mo. on average.
+
+Use pricing tiers or a high price with coupon codes.
+Give bloggers coupon codes.
+
+If you're one person ("boutique"), don't hide it.
+
+Annual prepaid: essential. Take the money and re-invest:
+
+- better design
+- development
+- advertising
+
+There's a lot about pricing here, but the main point is that perception of savings is powerful: coupon codes, discounts for annual subscriptions. Also, price elasticity is lower than you expect. "Raise the damn prices." Double, then double again until sales go down.
+
+ARPU - average revenue per user
+
+Tiers
+- 3-4 tiers
+- a crazy big one, 'business tier'
+
+No free trials: money-back guarantee instead.
+
+# Type of Business
+
+B2B ONLY.
+Only recurring revenue, so no "sell to brides" or "services for event organizers"
+  - continuous pain
+  - continuous value
+
+A tool to handle ever-changing conditions, like SEO.
+
+Not real-time/time-sensitive.

biz/value_props_harvard_innovation_labs.md

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+From the YouTube video "Value Props: Create a Product People Will Actually Buy".
+
+"A problem well-defined is halfway to a [business]."
+
+# Four U's
+
+## Unworkable
+- Somebody could get fired for not resolving this problem: real consequences. 
+- mostly for B2B
+
+### Examples
+- iCloud didn't exist/didn't work at first.
+- a generation of kids won't know how to use the internet; the entire country will fall behind the rest of the world.
+
+## Unavoidable
+- is the problem so fundamental that it can't be avoided?
+- e.g. taxes, education, aging
+
+## Urgent
+- relative to other needs
+- you'll get delayed/de-prioritized if you're not addressing priority #1
+- urgency is often created by market shifts, e.g. banking moving online
+    - e.g. mobile, AI
+
+### Related Questions to Prospects
+- What's your number one priority right now?
+- When do you think you'll get to priority #2?
+
+## Underserved
+-