Yol · 12 Stations · 12 days · Startup › Founder
Think Like a Founder
Someone who runs their company as a search rather than a plan: talks to customers without being lied to, tests the riskiest assumption first, owns a small market, and decides on the hard days.
Twelve Stations, one a day, from six books that founders actually use: what a startup is, how to talk to customers, where the secret is, how small to build, what to measure, when to pivot, which market to own, which channel to test, how much to cut, and how to survive the struggle and tell the truth. The road ends with a one-page founder operating system you have run for two weeks.
The road, station by station
01A startup is a search, not a plan
~5 minfrom The Lean Startup
Today’s Station — start →
02Talk to customers without lying to yourself
lockedfrom The Mom Test
03Find the secret
lockedfrom Zero to One
04Build the smallest thing that teaches
lockedfrom The Lean Startup
05Measure what matters
lockedfrom The Lean Startup
06Pivot or persevere
lockedfrom The Lean Startup
Milestone
Five real conversations
Five real customer conversations run by the Mom Test rules, and one written learning that changed the plan: a killed feature, a changed customer, a pivot considered. Not five compliments; five specifics from the past and a commitment asked for.
07Own a small market first
lockedfrom Zero to One
08One channel at a time
lockedfrom Traction
09Do less, and ship
lockedfrom Rework
10The struggle
lockedfrom The Hard Thing About Hard Things
11Tell the truth, and decide
lockedfrom The Hard Thing About Hard Things
12Your founder operating system
lockedfrom The Lean Startup
Milestone
Destination: Founder in motion
Your one-page founder operating system run as a weekly loop for two weeks: the riskiest assumption, the experiment, the metric and the channel written down each week, and the meeting never missed. Not a finished company; a founder in motion.