Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
Alex Hillman, Amy Hoy
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Top 10 Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To 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 Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
EP1 - How Pat Maddox went from 0 subscribers to over $3k MRR in 10 days
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
01/09/15 • 45 min
30x500 Alumni Pat Maddox joins Alex Hillman. They talk about how Pat used the 30x500 process of Sales Safari and dropping ebombs.
Then Pat shares how he ruthlessly followed just three steps every day for 10 days to get from from barely making rent to having over $3000 in MRR from paying customers and over 1000 subscribers on his mailing list.
Tune in and learn from Pat. Check out his blog at patmaddox.com.
This recording originally appeared on UnicornFree.com in an article titled "From zero to $3k MRR in 10 days, the story of RubySteps": https://unicornfree.com/2014/from-zero-to-3k-mrr-in-10-days-the-story-of-rubysteps
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EP41 - Questioning Our Assumptions with David Dylan Thomas
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
10/29/20 • 38 min
This week I'm stopping by The Cognitive Bias Podcast with David Dylan Thomas to riff on a topic we're both very passionate about: the intersection of ethics and capitalism.
Dave is one of the best people I can think of to talk to about this because as a designer and a strategist, He spent a lot of his career thinking about the implications of bias on our work as creators.
And one of the things I've heard Dave talk about over and over and over is how so many of the ethical problems we face in business today might actually be designed problems that we can better solve. And in some cases only solve. If we first understand to the cognitive biases that those problems are rooted in.
Dave has spent so much time thinking about bias that he literally wrote a book about it called Design for Cognitive Bias, about how to understand the impact of biases on our customers, our teams, even ourselves.
The book is amazing. Everyone who makes things should absolutely read it.
Back to ethics and capitalism. Seemingly opposing forces. Right?
Well, in this episode, we're going to be talking about:
- the impact of survivorship bias on the kinds of businesses that people start and grow
- the relationships that exist between money and power
- and a very unexpected segue into an episode of the nineties TV show dinosaurs that I promise is more relevant than you could possibly imagine.
If you enjoy this conversation, I highly recommend going and checking out. Dave's aptly named Cognitive Bias Podcast for other similar in-depth discussions with industry experts, and then go back and check out these super bingeable back catalog of his 5 to 10 minute episodes where he explores one bias in each one. It's truly a treasure trove of how our we're human brains work.
But now, and here, I hope you enjoy this wide ranging discussion about the get rich quick scheme that we call America with David Dylan Thomas. Here we go.
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EP35 - Debugging Humans with Michele Hansen and Colleen Schnettler
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
09/17/20 • 30 min
Over the last few weeks, I have been visiting podcasts all across the internet, talking with entrepreneurs and creative people, just like you.
We'll not necessarily JUST like you, because you might have noticed that these last few conversations have been visits to podcasts hosted by dudes!
Thankfully, I was able to end this white-male-podcast-host streak by visiting with Colleen Schnettler and Michele Hansen on the Software Social Podcast.
Among a sea of white dudes talking about how awesome they are, Michele and Colleen's show stands out as something...special and needed. It feels less like an interview, and more like two smart professional friends offering weekly stories and support about what's going on in their respective businesses.
I love shows like this, that feel more like a human conversation that we, the audience, just get to listen in to.
So if you're into software and business, and like me want to hear more diverse voices talking about the things we're interested in, I highly recommend checking out their podcast backlog after you're done tuning into this one.
So, about this episode!
Like the last several podcast hosts I've visited, Colleen and Michele have recently read my new book The Tiny MBA, and true to form we had a great time going deeper into their favorite lessons from the book to help you get an even better understanding of how these lessons might be valuable for you.
I found it especially interesting how Michele and Colleen both took valuable lessons from the book, even though they are at very different stages of their businesses!
So in this episode, we talk about:
Why education is the most effective marketing you can create
- How psychology can be thought of as "debugging, for people"
- And why one question in The Tiny MBA left Colleen feeling TERRIFIED.
Don't worry, by the time we were done with the conversation, she wasn't feeling terrified anymore, and maybe even excited to take on the challenge I proposed.
So with that, let's get into this...maybe my favorite episode of The Tiny MBA podcast tour to date.
I hope you enjoy this in depth conversation I had with Michele and Colleen on the Software Social Podcast. Here we go!
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EP16 - How do you design products people love?
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
02/05/16 • 50 min
Scott Hurff - who you met back in Episode 2 of this show - just released a new hit book through O'Reilly called "Designing Products People Love."
But Amy and Alex aren't interviewing Scott about his book or his launch in this episode. In fact, the opposite.
In this episode we turned the tables and Scott interviewed us, digging REALLY deep into our combined backgrounds in business and how we do research, conduct "Internet Ethnography" a.k.a. Sales Safari, and how we build learning systems to help our customers and students. You can even learn some of the "expert-level" Sales Safari techniques that we use.
Note: We didn't plan to make this a podcast episode so the audio quality isn't perfect, but when I found this recording buried in some folders a few nights ago I realized that there wasn't anything even close to this comprehensive anywhere out there So it's time to change that..
Click play to tune into this fun, fast-paced, and multi-layered conversation with an alumni we're very proud of, as we share what goes into creating the products that people love, and how we help others do the same.
Links mentioned in this episode
- Designing Products People Love
- How to create a product people want to buy
- Desmond Morris
- LineIn
- The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Part 1, Part 2
- Learn Startup is Backwards
- Freckle Time Tracking
- Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
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EP5 - The evil voicemail effect
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
02/15/15 • 7 min
Earlier this week, Alex and I were stuck. Hard. I was crazy unhappy with the lessons I'd been trying to design. What I was doing... wasn't working.
Why was I stuck? What did we do to get unstuck? What on earth is the "voicemail effect" and why is it the source of so much writer's block?
If you find yourself stuck in a project — and therefore avoiding it — then this episode might give you the inspiration you need to figure out why. That kind of thinking can save your project.
More insider peeks at https://unicornfree.com/2015/watch-us-build-our-next-product
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EP19 - A Swift Kick in the Ass (The Game of Business)
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
03/11/16 • 4 min
Got 5 minutes? Then let Amy give you a swift kick in the ass.
Listen to this quick, bite-sized episode of Stacking the Bricks to learn why business is unlike any other game you've ever played.
Need another swift kick in the ass from time to time?
Subscribe to Stacking the Bricks for more and join our spam-free email list for more stories from the trenches of building our businesses, interviews with real entrepreneurs like us, helpful (and free) how-to resources, and a whole lot more.
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EP14 - What are your New Years Pants?
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
01/26/16 • 24 min
Why are we talking about Amy's pants on a business show? There's a connection, we promise. You know this is gonna be good.
Stacking the Bricks is back for 2016!
Special thank you to everyone who reached out and told us that you missed the show in the time since our last episode. We missed making them for you!
The good news is that with the new 30x500 Academy "construction" complete, we're able to focus our attention on you this year and that starts with bringing back the show. It felt SO GOOD to get back on a microphone!
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EP17 - Kids Incorporated
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
02/12/16 • 52 min
Amy has talked about starting Freckle. Alex has talked about starting Indy Hall. But NEITHER of these were our first brushes with business.
To get our true origin stories, you'd need to see what we were doing to earn money while we were still in grade school. And it wasn't from babysitting...
Jump into a time-traveling DeLorean with us to go back, back back in time and learn how our EARLIEST experiences with business, making sales, and understanding customers and their behaviors shaped the businesses we run today.
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EP23 - "Everything will get easier if..." (Part 1 of a series)
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
07/01/16 • 30 min
2015 was the best ever for Amy's SaaS business Freckle, with $625k of gross receipts, and so far we’re on track to hit close to $800k annual run rate (ARR) before this year is out. Those are some big numbers, but we didn’t start out there, and it hasn’t been all smooth sailing.
In this episode we talk about the first of Five things I wish I’d known when I started Freckle, things that would have made my life so much more profitable and pleasurable.
Up first is "There is always another inflection point coming" aka the myth that "everything gets easier when..."
In this episode, we cover:
- Why this original article seemed to catch on like wildfire
- How to avoid post-launch depression
- Ways to keep making money until your SaaS is paying the bills
- Amy's favorite acorn squash recipe & Rudy's Rutabaga Rule
- ...and a lot more
Listen up, and subscribe to get the next episode:
Teams are NOT 'just add water'
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EP13 - Justin Weiss's shift from side projects to successful product launches
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To
03/09/15 • 42 min
"The idea that, oh well, I shouldn't charge money for this because... some reason.
Justin spent years noodling on side projects. He made every excuse in the book for not charging for them, including some we haven't often heard:
At the time, it seemed like, 'Why should I charge money for this? This is a passion project of mine.' So I should just release it for free."
But last year, he decided to make a change.
Justin took 30x500. In the first 3 weeks of droppin' ebombs on his blog, he added his first 50 mailing list subscribers. (ebomb, n: our special brand of educational content marketing.)
He kept at it, just an hour or two a few times a week. He researched his audience using Sales Safari; he wrote ebombs; he came up with a simple formula, really, to make writing those ebombs dead simple.
He started a book on the wrong foot; threw it away. Twice. Then he went back to basics and wrote, launched, and presold a beta book. He revised and shipped a finished book. He's made nearly $20k in sales so far. He didn't get on Hacker News or Product Hunt, just built his blog, built his list, and sold from there.
All on an hour or two a few times a week, in the morning, on the side
Justin also has a job and a little kid.
If my prose seems rote and workmanlike, it's because that's exactly what Justin did: He used 30x500 to take something people angst about, that they treat like their BIGGEST EMOTIONAL STRUGGLE EVER, and turned it into something he could simply do, the same way, over & over until he had created a wonderful result.
It's not that his book itself is formulaic, but the process to create it could be a formula. And maybe his ebombs have a distinct pattern to them, but they help people, and people share them, and nobody's complaining.
The process isn't exciting. The results are.
If I could snap my fingers and teach the entire world something, that would be it: The drama of "creative work" rarely helps, and often hurts. It's energy and value just... burning off.
If you're in the place now where the "fun" and "excitement" has worn off and you want to get real and make a product that helps people, and one that earns you money... well, you definitely want to listen to Alex's interview with Justin today!
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FAQ
How many episodes does Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To have?
Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To currently has 44 episodes available.
What topics does Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To cover?
The podcast is about Career, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Podcasts, Online Marketing, Business and Careers.
What is the most popular episode on Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To?
The episode title 'EP41 - Questioning Our Assumptions with David Dylan Thomas' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To?
The average episode length on Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To is 32 minutes.
How often are episodes of Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To released?
Episodes of Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To?
The first episode of Stacking the Bricks: Creators and Entrepreneurs You Can Relate To was released on Jan 9, 2015.
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