Build & Launch

Justin Jackson

A weekly podcast focused on shipping small projects. Every week I'll take you on an adventure of launching a new project. You'll hear the launch stats, hurdles I had to overcome, and how you can learn from my mistakes.

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Seasons

Top 10 Build & Launch Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Build & Launch episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Build & Launch for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Build & Launch episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

EP11: I'll be your birth coach

Build & Launch

02/17/15 • 13 min

This is the show where we build and launch something every 7 days. In this episode Justin does a mid-week checkup with Adam to see how he's doing with his podcasting course.

Once you've promised the world that you're going to make something, that's when things get scary. Because now you have to make it. Most of us would rather create things in our cave and not launch, because that's safe. It's time for you to go public.

Community updates

Marc Eglon built Letterlist.com
Robert is launching Emails that Win on Feb 18.
Seth Werkheiser has an awesome email newsletter called Skull Toaster. Every week he sends out heavy metal trivia + music picks.

This week's project

Listeners have asked me to do a "Build & Launch sprint" where I help someone else launch a product. So this week, I'm working with Adam Clark, to help him launch is course called Irresistible Podcasting.

Action steps: what to do when you feel overwhelmed

Get things out of your brain, and on to paper, or into project management software (we used Sprintly).
Start now, and start small. Get the first thing on your list done. Just sit down, turn off Twitter, turn off your phone, and get the work done.

Don’t try to cajole yourself into action by saying that you’re going to do one tooth then do them all. Just floss one. Do it every day. And watch what happens. I can tell you what happened to me – one day, about three weeks in, I had an itch for completion. I wanted, needed to floss them all. I wasn’t even particularly aware of the change, which seemed natural and unconscious. And now I can’t not floss. Mission accomplished. - Margaret Lukens, Floss one tooth

Previous week's launches

The Build & Launch podcast
The Product Hunt Handbook
Network Effects: a web app for notifying groups via SMS

Show notes

Follow Justin on Twitter: @mijustin
Check out Gumroad's 30 Day Challenge
Email Justin at [email protected]
Get on the mailing list to get all the launch stats
Cover image by Teza Harinaivo Ramiandrisoa

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin.

EP21: Haggard

Build & Launch

03/28/15 • 14 min

It's not about you achieving the American Dream. It's about you getting 1% better ever day.

"Every time you put yourself on the line, you are creating your own luck, and increasing your chances of having some success"

What are you going to do this week to improve your situation?

The only way you get better, is by getting started.

Quote from This American Life, Three Miles

But nothing has happened for her for 10 years. I think it's some special brand of American pathological optimism, that so many of us believe the story of Melanie has to turn out to be happy, and that if it doesn't, something unusual has happened, and not just this is what happens all the time, that the supermarket might be full of Melanies.

Quote from James Altucher on the Tim Ferris podcast:

“I try to get this mindset I want to improve one percent a week. It seems like a small amount but if you do that, it results in enormous improvements over the course of the year."

This week's project: Product People Club

This week's project is an improvement on something I already have. The most successful thing I've ever launched is something called Product People Club: megamaker.co

I want to make it better. This week I'll be calling existing customers, asking them why they signed up, and also figuring out how I can improve it. By the end of the week, I'll re-launch it so new members can sign-up.

Show notes

This American Life: Three Miles (episode 550)
James Altucher on episode 18 of the Tim Ferris Show
Randy Skopecek
David Henry's Course: Stage Lighting Basics
Follow me on Twitter: @mijustin
Rate and review the show
Join the newsletter

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

EP16: How do you launch if you don't have an audience?

Build & Launch

03/05/15 • 11 min

How do you launch if you don't have an audience?

Derek Moreno and Hassan both asked this question.

Your product needs a target market, and you need a way of reaching that target market.

Questions about the Build & Launch experience

Mike Dario asked:

1. What was the biggest challenge?

Find the time and energy each day, for sure. Staying focused and on-task.

2. How did you track the changes each day?

I used Sprintly (project management software). I'd log in each day, look at what I had to do in my backlog, and do that.

3. What was one thing you'll change for next season?

I'd like to do the "next iteration" sprint for each of the projects. Example: for Network Effects, I'd go out and try to get the first 10 customers in a week (record my sales calls, etc).

4. Did any of the projects seem too small, too big?

Network Effects and the WordPress plugin were definitely big projects; but the hardest was probably writing the book by myself.

5. What was the hardest part about teaming up?

Giving up control. In the past, I've been a lone wolf. Sharing everything with a partner was hard at first, but definitely a good decision in terms of our ability to get things done.

6. Why did you start Build and Launch?

I really wanted to kick my own butt into gear. I knew that committing to building and launching something every week would force me to just do it.

7. What type of project would be too big?

Most software projects I think are too big. A really long book (100+ pages) would be difficult as well.

8. In what ways was a weekly sprint helpful for these particular products? Harmful?

It was really helpful in terms of focusing on creating the smallest, tiniest version of each project. Not much harmful actually.

9. How did your wife handle this experience?

Lol. I'll have to get her on the show and have her talk about her side. ;)

10. How much after work time did you devote to this?

An average of 2 hours a day (14 hours a week). Most of this was after work, with big chunks on weekends.

Season 1 launches

The Build & Launch podcast
The Product Hunt Handbook
Network Effects: a web app for notifying groups via SMS
Irresistible Podcasting
Productify: Gumroad plugin for WP Membership Sites

Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

EP2: A ton of coffee and feeling good (Launch Week)

Build & Launch

01/26/15 • 12 min

Want to Build & Launch your own thing? Join Justin Jackson as he launches a new product every week. Listen and learn from his wins and misses, and get motivated to ship your own SaaS, mobile app, ebook, or other digital project.

Want to help make Build & Launch a success? Subscribe, and leave a review in iTunes!

For the podcast's launch week, he's doing 5 mini episodes on what it takes to build and launch a podcast. Today's episode: start now and start small.

"Before you run out and buy a bunch of gear, record something now! You don't need a fancy mic to start practicing."

How to record your first podcast

Find the Voice Memos app on your iPhone
Choose a topic you'd like to talk about (see yesterday's episode)
Write out an outline for a short 5-10 minute episode
Open up the Voice Memos app and record your episode!
Repeat over and over again: practice recording that same episode dozens of times
Send Justin your mini-episode: [email protected]

Launch week: How to make a podcast

Episode 1: Choosing a topic (yesterday's episode) Episode 2: Record your first episode (this episode) Episode 3: Podcasting equipment Episode 4: Recording, interviewing, editing Episode 5: Launching and promoting

How to start a podcast

Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

EP1: Don't make stuff for hippies (Launch Week)

Build & Launch

01/25/15 • 12 min

Build & Launch is an experimental podcast about launching products. Every week, Justin Jackson takes you on a journey of shipping something new. You'll get to here about his missteps and wins as he creates something and then launches it to the public. Then you'll be able to check back the following week and hear about his launch stats: revenue, traffic, conversion rates, everything!

Want to help make Build & Launch a success? Subscribe, and leave a review in iTunes!

For the podcast's launch week, he's doing 5 mini episodes on what it takes to build and launch a podcast. Today's episode is about choosing a topic.

Launch week: How to make a podcast

Episode 1: Choosing a topic (today's episode) Episode 2: Record your first episode Episode 3: Podcasting equipment Episode 4: Recording, interviewing, editing Episode 5: Launching and promoting

Show notes

Product People podcast
Kyle Fox
Merlin Mann: "People come for the topic, and stay for the voice"
Venn Diagram: choose your audience wisely
/r/bankmanagers on Reddit
Gumroad's 30 Day Challenge
Justin Jackson's newsletter
Follow Justin on Twitter: @mijustin
This week's cover photo by David van der Mark

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Did you miss me?

Build & Launch

08/14/18 • 3 min

I'm baaaaaack! Here’s an update.

Show notes

Sign up for my newsletter: justinjackson.ca/newsletter
On the blog: Maybe you shouldn't be a solopreneur
Leave a review on iTunes!
Send Justin a message on Twitter: @mijustin
Send Justin a message on Instagram: instagram.com/mijustin
Subscribe on YouTube
Podcast hosting: Transistor.fm
Theme music: Striker-metal.com

Update from 2021: what am I working on these days?

A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin.

Want to start a podcast?

EP9: I called my competition

Build & Launch

02/10/15 • 17 min

I called a competitor on the phone.

There's always this worry that someone with the same idea is going to launch at the same time, and they're going to steal all of our thunder.

Join Justin Jackson as he talks with Kiki Schirr about not getting discouraged when competitors pop up.

It's kind of like showing up to a party and you're wearing the same dress as someone else.

This week's Build & Launch project

This is also the mid-week check-up for the second product we're building live on the show: a fully functional web application. In this episode you'll hear from my partner in crime, Marty Dill: will we be able to launch this side-project (working only in our spare time) on Thursday?

You can see the website here: networkeffects.me

Show Notes

Sign-up for the beta of this week's project: networkeffects.me
Want to get started? Check out Gumroad's 30 Day Challenge
Kiki's book: The Product Hunt Manual
Justin's book: The Product Hunt Handbook
Join the Build & Launch newsletter to get all the stats
Want to share your project? Find me on Twitter: @mijustin
Almost 20,000 listens in February so far! Help out by leaving a review in iTunes.

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

EP5: Re-launch my beard (Launch Week)

Build & Launch

01/29/15 • 15 min

Yesterday was launch day for the podcast. It landed on Product Hunt, and there was a flurry of excitement. But what happens the day after you launch? Today I talk about the post-launch blues.

We launch part of ourselves with the stuff that we do. We're launching ourselves in a podcast, or a book, or product. It's tough. - Paul JarvisYou're in really vulnerable position. You're putting something you've been working on in private out in public. The launch is fun, but then you have to do the work. And you're back by yourself. - Jarrod Drysdale

Stats update

Podcast listens: 2312 listens so far (up from 955 listens yesterday)
Most popular episode: Podcast Gear Starter Kit
29 ratings in the US iTunes Store (up from 12 yesterday)
My favorite review so far
677 views on buildandlaunch.net (up from 671 views yesterday)

Beard update

Current photo.

Launch week: How to make a podcast

Episode 1: Choosing a topic
Episode 2: Record your first episode
Episode 3: Podcasting equipment
Episode 4: Recording, interviewing, editing (yesterday's episode)
Episode 5: Launching and promoting (this episode)

How to launch your podcast

Have 3 episodes in the bag before you submit to iTunes.
Create a podcast-friendly RSS feed with your 3 episodes (I used simplecast.fm for this).
Submit it to the iTunes store by going into iTunes, clicking on iTunes Store, selecting Podcast on the right-side, and the clicking on Submit a podcast (screenshot here)
Wait for Apple to email you.
Once it's live in iTunes, it's time to start hustling. You need to get as much initial traction you get (rating, downloads, subscribes) will determine how you rank in iTunes.
Write your network individually, and ask them to rate the show. Here's the email template I used.
If you use Overcast to listen to podcasts, you can share the show on Twitter.
Find an online community that would be interested in the show. Examples: Product Hunt, Designer News, or a sub-reddit on Reddit.

Show Notes

Rate the show on iTunes!
Allan Branch (from Less Accounting) left this tweet
Gumroad's 30 Day Challenge
Build & Launch newsletter
Follow Justin on Twitter: @mijustin

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

EP24: How do we create things people want?

Build & Launch

04/07/15 • 14 min

How do you know what people want? After spending 24 hours in the mini-van with 4 kids, Justin is back from the Easter long-weekend and ready to update us on his progress on this week's project: "Marketing for Developers."

Project update

You'd think that I would learn my lesson: in order to do these week-long sprints, plus record and edit this podcast, plus do my day job, I really can't have anything else on my plate. But, like an idiot, I scheduled this Season of the podcast while I was going to be away in Alberta on a 4 day road-trip.
Not sure if I'm going to make the Thursday deadline, but I'm still hoping to make a serious dent in writing this book: Marketing for Developers.

Three ways to validate your product idea

1. Email 15 people in your niche and ask them if they'd pay for your product.

This is the approach that Rob Walling used when he validated his idea for Drip:

I emailed 17 SaaS owners that I know, and I said "I'm thinking about building this product: would you use this? Would you pay me for this?" And out of those 17, I got 11 people who said yes.

2. Use a landing page with an email sign-up form

People giving you their email address is one proxy for gauging interest. This is what Nathan Barry did with his first book:

There's intention there. When you say "Sign-up to hear more about this book." The assumption there is that you're signing up because you want to buy it.

3. Do a webinar

A third way to validate your idea comes from Brennan Dunn. He thinks that doing a live webinar is a great first step. It's way easier to do a webinar (and see if anyone's interested) than write a book, or create software.

Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

EP6: This is it: first product announcement!

Build & Launch

01/30/15 • 12 min

Whoo. This is it. This is the day I announce the first product I'll be working on for Build & Launch. I wanted to start really small: I think the mistake most people make when they're building their first thing, is they choose something way too big.

"Nobody has the balls to do this." - Jarrod Drysdale

Product announcement

The first official Build & Launch product is... The Product Hunt Handbook.

The only way to truly validate an idea is seeing if people will pay money for it.

There’s two important things you need to cover when building anything:

Who is this for? What specific type of person am I targeting?
What’s their pain? Why would the hire this product? What’s going to convince them to take out their wallets, and buy?

New show format!

Initially, was going to do a 30 min episode a week, but people are loving these smaller 10-15 minute episodes.

Here's what I'm going to try out: I'll do 3 mini-episodes a week:

Start project + previous week’s stats
Mid-week checkup
Launch day!

Stats update

Podcast listens: 3584 listens so far (up from 814 listens today)
Most popular episode: How do you say Creeper in French?
37 ratings in the US iTunes Store (up from 12 yesterday)
My favorite review so far
Mailing list: 421 subscribers so far
347 views on buildandlaunch.net (down from Tuesday's high from 1,334 views yesterday)

Beard update

Current photo.

Show Notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Build & Launch have?

Build & Launch currently has 30 episodes available.

What topics does Build & Launch cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Web, Marketing, Personal Journals, Saas, Software, Startups, Podcasts, Business and Apps.

What is the most popular episode on Build & Launch?

The episode title 'EP29: To the future' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Build & Launch?

The average episode length on Build & Launch is 13 minutes.

How often are episodes of Build & Launch released?

Episodes of Build & Launch are typically released every 3 days, 20 hours.

When was the first episode of Build & Launch?

The first episode of Build & Launch was released on Jan 25, 2015.

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Build & Launch

Justin Jackson

Top 10 Build & Launch Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Build & Launch have?

What topics does Build & Launch cover?

What is the most popular episode on Build & Launch?

What is the average episode length on Build & Launch?

How often are episodes of Build & Launch released?

When was the first episode of Build & Launch?

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