Taking small bets with Daniel Vassallo [#34]

03/10/22 • 49 min

Have you ever heard that to grow your business, you must think big? Well, what if we were to tell you that's not always the case. Joining Conor on today's episode is special guest Daniel Vassallo. Daniel is a master of taking small bets and has a fascinating story to share.

Daniel's professional career was a roaring success as he worked for the globe's largest e-commerce retailer, Amazon. However, despite the promotions, benefits, and attractive six-figure salary, Daniel decided to take the bold plunge from his desirable full-time role into the unknown realm of self-employment on a mission to strike a more sustainable work-life balance.

In this episode, Daniel reveals his small bets portfolio strategy, openly shares his learnings from failure, and explores the benefits of aiming for low-hanging fruit. Daniel also unpacks the randomness and unpredictability of business and reminds us how success is never a guarantee. Key points throughout the episode include:

An introduction to Daniel Vassallo.
Developing muscle for uncertainty.
The journey of self-employment and exploring future opportunities.
Daniel's inspiration generator for choosing suitable projects.
The key of knowing what to pursue and what to avoid.
The importance of making small bets and not over-investing.
Finding work-life compatibility.
Validating ideas and growing through failures.
The role of randomness and chance in business.
Finding inspiration amongst the wins.
Converting a hobby into a stream of income.
How small wins can make a massive difference.
Why analysing your customers buying patterns is vital.
The steppingstones to success: why visibility and credibility are essential.
Daniel's advice on obtaining your first 10 customers.

Connect with Daniel Vassallo:

https://dvassallo.com/

https://dvassallo.gumroad.com/

https://twitter.com/dvassallo/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielvassallo/

Connect with First 10 Podcast host Conor McCarthy:

https://www.first10podcast.com

https://twitter.com/TheFirst10Pod

https://www.linkedin.com/in/comccart/

Resources:

Book: Hollywood Economics by Arthur De Vany.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollywood-Economics

Check out my podcast partners!

Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1389931

Otter:
https://otter.ai/referrals/ETRNKY16

Calendly:
https://calendly.grsm.io/ilev18qxpn1e

This podcast was produced in partnership with podlad.com

Send us a text

An introduction to Daniel Vassallo.
Developing muscle for uncertainty.
The journey of self-employment and exploring future opportunities.
Daniel's inspiration generator for choosing suitable projects.
The key of knowing what to pursue and what to avoid.
The importance of making small bets and not over-investing.
Finding work-life compatibility.
Validating ideas and growing through failures.
The role of randomness and chance in business.
Finding inspiration amongst the wins.
Converting a hobby into a stream of income.
How small wins can make a massive difference.
Why analysing your customers buying patterns is vital.
The steppingstones to success: why visibility and credibility are essential.
Daniel's advice on obtaining your first 10 customers.

Connect with Daniel Vassallo:

https://dvassallo.com/

https://dvassallo.gumroad.com/

https://twitter.com/dvassallo/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielvassallo/

Connect with First 10 Podcast host Conor McCarthy:

https://www.first10podcast.com

https://twitter.com/TheFirst10Pod

https://www.linkedin.com/in/comccart/

Resources:

Book: Hollywood Economics by Arthur De Vany.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollywood-Economics

Check out my podcast partners!

Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1389931

Otter:
https://otter.ai/referrals/ETRNKY16

Calendly:
https://calendly.grsm.io/ilev18qxpn1e

This podcast was produced in partnership with podlad.com

Previous Episode

Building on what already exists with Shane Melaugh [#33]

Send us a text

Are you ready to ignite an idea, fire up your business and transform your life!? If so, you will love soaking up today's episode with entrepreneur expert Shane Melaugh. Shane Melaugh has founded multiple seven-figure companies, including Thrive Themes, and is currently building his cultivating personal development community, ikario.

Shane's personal story is fascinating. His mission via ikario is to share his life experiences with as many people as possible to help them break free and transform their lives into beautiful success stories. In this episode, Shane openly shares how his life transitioned from constraints, struggles, and an overwhelming sense of failure to finding freedom, wonderful success, and ultimately, unlocking a better life. Throughout the discussion, Shane explores the importance of building on what already exists, reveals a brilliant tool for filtering through business ideas, and highlights why we shouldn't overlook self-care and personal development. Key points within this episode include:

How to organically grow a loyal customer base.
Understanding marketing techniques to reach new audiences.
The power of personal interaction when building a business.
How to identify and meet your customers needs.
Sell before you make it! The benefits of testing your existing audience.
A brilliant tool for filtering new business ideas.
Napkin Maths – how to determine the feasibility of a business plan.
Becoming comfortable with saying no.
The ikario story: unlocking potential through self-development.
Why self-care should never be overlooked.
A book recommendation for becoming a better entrepreneur.
Shane's advice on obtaining your first 10 customers.

"Hustle and grind 24/7 till you make it is the worst way to try and make it. If you don't have rest in your life and you're not strategic about having high-intensity focus and then deep rest, you're just basically cutting yourself off at the knees because you're hampering your own ability to learn and make progress." – Shane Melaugh.

Connect with Shane Melaugh:

https://activegrowth.com/about/

https://activegrowth.com/podcast/

https://ikario.com/about/

https://twitter.com/actigrow

https://www.youtube.com/user/imimpact

https://www.linkedin.com/shane-melaugh

Connect with First 10 Podcast host Conor McCarthy:

https://www.first10podcast.com

https://twitter.com/TheFirst10Pod

https://www.linkedin.com/in/comccart/

Resources:

Book: So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport.

https://www.calnewport.com/books/so-good/

Check out my podcast partners!

Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1389931

Otter:
https://otter.ai/referrals/ETRNKY16

Calendly:
https://calendly.grsm.io/ilev18qxpn1e

This podcast was produced in partnership with podlad.com

Next Episode

Finding people who care with Rob Walling [#35]

Send us a text

‘’The biggest risk is not can you build this? The biggest risk is that no one cares. So how do you validate that someone will care? And how do you validate that someone will be willing to pay for what you are selling?’’ – Rob Walling.

Calling all bootstrap founders! Joining us on today’s masterclass on launching and growing a business is special guest Rob Walling. Rob is an admired serial entrepreneur, investor, author, and host of the popular podcast ‘Startups for the Rest of Us’. Since 2005, Rob has guided thousands of startup founders through his widespread books, recordings, articles, and MicroConf discussions.

In this episode, Rob kindly lends us his time to openly share his experience of finding people who care when starting and growing a business. Rob also reveals how to communicate with your customers and unpacks the magic within collecting customer feedback. This episode may seem short and sweet but trust us when we say it is stuffed with brilliant insights and actionable nuggets of advice for you to take away straight from the master of startups. Key points throughout the discussion include:

An introduction to Rob Walling.
When is the right time for building an audience?
The art of selling: warm VS cold leads.
Business development and the magic of customer feedback.
The early day selection process: unlocking product-market fit.
Smashing sales as an introvert.
The key to capturing clients and communicating effectively.
Sustainable marketing in a tech-savvy world.
How to avoid an unprofitable business.
Book recommendations for business builders.
Rob’s top two sales techniques for obtaining your first 10 customers.
Why a landing page is a must!
The rhythm of business growth from beginning to take-off.

Connect with Rob Walling:

https://robwalling.com/

https://twitter.com/robwalling

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robwalling/

https://microconf.com

https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/about

https://tinyseed.com/

Connect with First 10 Podcast host Conor McCarthy:

https://www.first10podcast.com

https://twitter.com/TheFirst10Pod

https://www.linkedin.com/in/comccart/

Resources:

Book: The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick.
http://momtestbook.com/

Book: Traction by Gabriel Weinberg.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/Traction

Book: How the World Sees You by Sally Hogshead.

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/how-the-world-sees-you

Book: Fascinate by Sally Hogshead.

https://www.howtofascinate.com/store/books

Check out my podcast partners!

Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1389931

Otter:

The First 10 Podcast - Taking small bets with Daniel Vassallo [#34]

Transcript

Conor McCarthy00:00:03.660

What's important for us, especially when we're starting out is to find the very, very, very small wins, the low hanging fruit because I think that's, that's the biggest thing. That's what changes everything. Once you do find something small that works, then you can build on top of it.

Conor McCarthy00:00:19.210

Hello, and welcome to season four of the First 10 podcast. I'm your host Conor McCarthy, and I help