Launch a startup by yourself | Pieter Levels and Lex Fridman

Summary

The speaker shares his unique philosophy on starting companies, emphasizing a 'Scrappy' approach without external funding. He takes on multiple roles, from designer to developer, to quickly validate ideas through prototypes and customer payments. He contrasts his method with big tech's bureaucracy, highlighting the freedom and speed of solo entrepreneurship. The conversation also touches on the therapeutic value of physical labor and the importance of meaningful work for personal fulfillment, even when it doesn't scale to massive success.

Takeaways

• 🚀 The speaker's startup philosophy is to operate without external funding, preferring a self-reliant and rapid approach to product development and validation.
• 🛠️ They take on multiple roles, including designer and developer, to maintain control and speed in the startup process.
• ⏱️ The speaker emphasizes the importance of quick iteration and validation, often launching a minimum viable product within weeks to test market demand.
• 💸 They prioritize actual payment from users as a key indicator of a startup's viability, rather than just sign-ups or interest.
• 🏋️‍♂️ The speaker finds physical and mental challenges, like gym workouts and startup endeavors, to be therapeutic and fulfilling.
• 🏠 They draw a parallel between their father's constant home renovation and their own approach to startups, valuing the process over the end result.
• 💡 The speaker values the joy of creation and problem-solving in startups, suggesting that the journey is more important than the destination.
• 💼 They express a preference for the creative and building aspects of startups over the managerial roles that come with scaling a business.
• 🤔 The speaker reflects on the different motivations and satisfaction levels among founders, especially the contrast between the joy of building and the stress of managing a large company.
• 💰 While the speaker has built successful products, they have not pursued scaling to a large extent or selling to bigger companies, preferring a more independent and enjoyable approach.

Q & A

What is the philosophy behind building startups as described in the transcript?

The philosophy behind building startups involves being scrappy, self-funded, and self-reliant. It emphasizes rapid prototyping and launching within a short timeframe to test the market's response, focusing on whether people are willing to pay for the product or service.

Why does the person in the transcript avoid raising money from venture capitalists?

The individual prefers not to raise money from venture capitalists because it allows for more independence and speed in the development process. It also avoids the stress and bureaucracy that can come with large-scale funding and management responsibilities.

How quickly does the person in the transcript aim to launch a startup after having an idea?

The person aims to launch a startup very quickly, often within two weeks of building it, to test the idea's viability and demand in the market.

What is the significance of the person's preference for working alone on their laptop?

Working alone on a laptop signifies the ability to move quickly without the need for extensive team coordination or bureaucratic processes, allowing for rapid iteration and shipping of ideas.

What is the person's attitude towards physical labor and its relation to mental well-being?

The person views physical labor as a form of therapy and a means to achieve deep happiness. They believe in the value of physical toil and its positive impact on mental health, drawing a parallel to the satisfaction derived from working on startups.

Why does the person in the transcript compare their startup building process to construction work?

The person compares their startup building process to construction work because it involves continuous effort, problem-solving, and the journey of creation, rather than just the end result. It's about the process and the challenges faced along the way.

What is the person's view on the lifestyle of constantly remodeling a house?

The person sees the act of constantly remodeling a house as more about the journey and the process of working on the project, rather than the final outcome. It's about the ongoing challenge and the joy of creation.

Why does the person not want to scale their startups to a very large size?

The person does not want to scale their startups to a very large size because they prefer the freedom, creativity, and less stressful lifestyle that comes with being an independent creator. They also mention the potential unhappiness that can come with the managerial responsibilities of a larger organization.

What does the person in the transcript think about the difference between Elon Musk and typical venture capital-backed founders?

The person respects Elon Musk for actually using the money raised to build physical products and infrastructure, as opposed to typical venture capital-backed founders who may be involved in less tangible or 'dodgy' financial dealings.

How does the person in the transcript define success in their work?

Success for the person is defined by the joy of creation, the process of building, and the challenge of solving problems, rather than the scale of the business or the amount of money made.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Rapid Prototyping and Validation

The speaker discusses their unique philosophy of startup building, which contrasts with the traditional approach of raising money and hiring teams. They prefer a 'Scrappy' method, where they handle all aspects of product development themselves, from design to coding. They emphasize the importance of speed, launching prototypes quickly to test market demand and validate ideas. The speaker highlights the iterative process of building, launching, and improving upon feedback, aiming to see if people are willing to pay for the product. They compare their approach with large tech companies like Google, which they suggest can be slowed down by bureaucracy, while they can operate swiftly and independently.

05:00

🏋️‍♂️ The Joy of Creative Endeavors

The speaker shares their passion for creative expression and meaningful work, which they find more fulfilling than scaling businesses to a large scale. They mention their past in making electronic music and coding, indicating a lifelong pursuit of creative outlets. They discuss the appeal of maintaining a hands-on role in their projects, rather than transitioning into managerial positions that come with scaling a business. The speaker also touches on the idea that many founders find happiness in the building process rather than the managerial aspects of running a large company. They express admiration for Elon Musk's approach to entrepreneurship, focusing on actual product development rather than financial games often associated with the VC world.

Keywords

💡Startups

Startups refer to new businesses that are in the initial stages of development. In the context of the video, the speaker discusses their philosophy of building startups without raising external funding, focusing on rapid prototyping and validation of ideas. The speaker's approach to startups is characterized by a 'Scrappy' method, where they take on multiple roles such as designer and developer to quickly test the market with their ideas.

💡Rapid Iteration

Rapid iteration is the process of quickly developing an initial product and then making successive improvements based on feedback. The video's speaker emphasizes the importance of this approach in startups, where they build a minimum viable product (MVP) and launch it within weeks to test market demand and validate their ideas.

💡Validation

Validation in the context of startups means confirming that a business idea is viable and has potential customers. The speaker mentions that they validate their startup ideas by checking if people are willing to pay for the product, which is a strong indicator of whether the idea is worth pursuing.

💡Scrappy

Being 'Scrappy' refers to operating with limited resources and making the most of what is available. The speaker describes themselves as scrappy because they do not rely on external funding and instead use their own skills to build and launch startups quickly and efficiently.

💡Prototyping

Prototyping is the creation of a sample or model of something before it is produced on a full scale. In the video, the speaker talks about building prototypes of their startup ideas to test them in the market and see if there is demand. This approach helps in understanding whether the product is something that customers are willing to pay for.

💡Creative Expression

Creative expression is the act of conveying thoughts, feelings, or ideas through various forms of art, writing, or other mediums. The speaker discusses how they engage in creative expression through coding and music production, which is a driving force behind their passion for building startups and products.

💡Physical Toil

Physical toil refers to hard, manual labor that requires physical effort. The video's speaker connects the satisfaction gained from physical labor to the satisfaction of working on startups, suggesting that both provide a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

💡Therapy

Therapy, in a broader sense, is any activity that helps to improve a person's mental or emotional state. The speaker mentions that physical hardship, such as working out or engaging in manual labor, can act as a form of therapy, providing a sense of mental well-being and stress relief.

💡CEO

A CEO, or Chief Executive Officer, is the highest-ranking executive in an organization. The speaker reflects on the transition many founders face from being hands-on creators to managerial roles when their startups grow. They express a preference for the creative process over the managerial responsibilities that come with scaling a business.

💡Scaling

Scaling refers to the process of expanding a business or operation. The speaker discusses their reluctance to scale their startups to a large size, preferring to maintain a level of creativity and control over their projects without the stress and bureaucracy that comes with significant growth.

💡Elon Musk

Elon Musk is mentioned as an example of an entrepreneur who has scaled his ventures to a massive size. The speaker contrasts the approach of traditional venture capital-backed startups with that of Musk, who raises money to build tangible products and infrastructure, such as electric cars and space technology.

Highlights

Philosophy of startups is different from the norm, focusing on self-reliance and speed rather than external funding.

Founder is a designer and developer, creating everything from logos to products.

Emphasis on rapid prototyping and launching to test market demand quickly.

Validation of ideas is through user sign-ups and willingness to pay, not just interest.

Most ideas fail, but a rapid iterative process helps refine and test them.

Comparison to big tech companies like Google, which can be slowed by bureaucracy.

Advantage of being a solo entrepreneur is the ability to ship products quickly without red tape.

Founder's casual work attire symbolizes a relaxed and efficient work style.

Physical exercise is valued for its therapeutic effects and connection to nature.

Overhead press is the favorite exercise, providing a sense of accomplishment.

Physical toil is seen as a form of therapy and a metaphor for the joy of work.

The founder's father's approach to constant home renovation as a hobby reflects a love for the process over the outcome.

Startups are about the journey, not just the end goal, providing a reason to wake up and work.

Work is driven by enjoyment and creative expression, not just financial gain.

Many successful products were not scaled up due to a preference for a more relaxed and creative lifestyle.

Founders often find the role of CEO stressful and prefer the hands-on work of building.

Elon Musk is respected for raising money to build tangible products, unlike some VC-funded startups.

The founder has experienced low points in life, suggesting a deeper, personal side to the entrepreneurial journey.

Transcripts

you've launched a lot of companies and

built a lot of products as you say most

failed but some succeeded what's your

philosophy behind building the startups

that you did I think my philosophy is

very different than most people in

startups because most people in startups

they they build a company and they raise

money right and they hire people and

then they build a product and they find

something that makes money and I don't

really raise money I don't use VC

funding I do everything myself I'm a

designer I'm the developer

I make everything I make the logo so for

me I'm much more Scrappy and and because

I don't have funing like I need to I

need to go fast I need to make things

fast uh to see if an ID works right I

have an ID in my mind and I build it

build it like a mro mini startup um and

I launch it very quickly like within you

know two weeks or something of building

it and I check if there's demand if

people actually sign up and not just

sign up but if people actually pay money

right like they need to take out their

credit cards pay me money and then I can

see if the idea

is validated and most ideas don't work

like as you say most feel so there's

this rapid iterative phase where you

just build a prototype that works launch

it yeah see if people like it improving

it really really quickly to see if

people like it a little bit more enough

to pay and all that that that whole

rapid process is how you think of I

think it's like it's very rapid and it's

like um if I compareed to for example

Google you know like our big tech

companies especially Google right now is

kind of struggling like they made like

Transformers they made made all they

invented all the AI stuff years ago and

they never really shipped like they

could have shipped jet gbt for example I

think I heard in 2019 and they never

shipped it because they were so stuck in

bureaucracy but they had everything they

had the data they had the tech they had

the engineers and they could Didn't Do

It um and it's because these big

organizations it's it it can make you

very slow so being alone by myself on my

laptop like you know in my underwear in

a hotel room or something I can ship

very fast and I don't need to like I

don't need to ask like legal for like oh

can you vouch is you know I can just go

and ship you always code in your

underwear the your profile picture

you're like slouching a couch in your

underwear chilling on a laptop no no but

it's I do wear like shorts a lot and I I

usually just wear shorts and no T-shirt

cuz I'm always too hot like I'm always

overheating thank you for showing up not

just in your underwear but wearing

shorts I know you know I still wearing

this for you but thank you um thank you

for dressing up I think it's cuz I since

I go to the gym I'm always too hot

what's your favorite exerise in the gym

man over press over press like shoulder

press yeah

okay but it feels good cuz you're doing

like you do you win because when you

what is it I do 60 kilos so it's like

120 pounds or something like it's it's

my only thing I can do well you know in

the gym and you stand like this and

you're like I did it you know like a

winner pose yeah Victory pose I do bench

press squads

deadlifts hence the uh the mug yeah

talking to my therapist it's a deadlift

yeah because it acts like therapy for me

you know yeah yeah it is which is

controversial to say like if I say this

on Twitter people get angry physical

hardship is a kind of therapy yeah I

just rewatched uh Happy People year in

the tiger that Warner Herzog film where

they document people that are doing

trapping they're essentially just

working for survival in the wilderness

year round yeah and there's a deep

happiness to their way of life because

they're so busy in it in nature yeah

100% like there's something about that

physical physical yeah toil yeah my dad

taught me that my dad always does like

Construction in the house like it's

always re Ren the house he breaks

through one room and then he goes to the

next room and he's just going in a

circle around the house for like the

last 40 years so but so he's always

doing construction the house and it's

his Hobby and he like he taugh me when

when I'm depressed or something um he

says like get a big like what do you

call like a big uh mountain of sand or

something from construction just get a

shovel and uh bring it to the other side

and just you know do like physical labor

do like hard work and do something like

get set a goal do something and I I kind

of did that with startups too yeah

construction is not about the

destination man it's about the journey

yeah yeah sometimes I wonder people who

are always remodeling their house is it

really about the remodeling or no it's

not is it about the project Journey the

puzzle of it no he doesn't care about

the results well he shows me he's like

this amazing I'm like yeah it's amazing

but um then he wants to go to the next

room you know but I think it's very

metaphorical for work cuz I also I never

stop work I go to the next website or I

make a new one right or I make a new

startup so I'm always like like like

gives you something to wake up in the

morning and like you know have coffee

and then uh kiss your girlfriend and

then you have like a goal not today I'm

going to fix this feature or today I'm

going to fix this bog or something I'm

going to do something you have something

to wake up to you know and I think um

maybe especially as a man also women but

you need you need a hard work you know

you need like an Endeavor I think how

much of the building that you do is

about money how much is it about just a

deep internal happiness it's really

about fun because I would cuz I was

doing it when I didn't make money right

that's the point so I was always coding

I was always I was making music I made

electronic music Dr based music like 20

years ago and I was always making stuff

so I think a creative expression is like

a meaningful work that's so important

it's so fun it's so fun to have like a

daily challenge where you try figure

stuff out but the interesting thing is

you built a lot of successful products

and you never really wanted to take it

to that level where you scale real big

and sell it to a company or something

like this yeah the problem is I don't

dictate that right like if more people

start using IF millions of people

suddenly start using it and it becomes

big um I'm not going to say oh stop

signing up to my website and pay me

money but I never raised funding for it

and I think because I don't like the the

stressful life that comes with it like I

have a lot of um founder friends and

they tell me secretly like with hundreds

of millions of dollars in funding and

stuff and they they tell me like next

time if I'm going to do it I'm going to

do it like you because it's more more

it's more fun it's more Indie it's more

chill it's more creative they don't like

this they don't like to be manager where

you become like a CEO you become a

manager and um I think a lot of people

that start startups when they become a

CEO they don't like that job actually

but they can't really exit it you know

but they like to do the ground work the

coding so I think that keeps you happy

like doing something creative yeah was

interesting how people are pulled

towards that to scale to go really big

and you don't have that honest

reflection with yourself like what

actually makes you happy CU for a lot of

great Engineers what makes them happy is

the building the the quote unquote

individual contributor like where you're

actually still coding or you're actually

still building and they let go of that

and then they become unhappy um but some

of that is the sacrifice needed to have

a impact at scale if you truly believe

in a thing you're doing but like look at

Elon he's doing things million times

bigger than me right and um would I want

to do that I don't know you can really

choose these things right but I really

respect that I think elon's very

different from VC Founders right VC

start is like software there's a lot of

[ __ ] in this world I think there's a

lot of like dodgy Finance stuff

happening there I think um and I never

have like concrete evidence about it but

your God tells you something's going on

with like companies getting sold to

friends and VCS and then they do

reciprocity and this Shady Financial

dealings with Elon that's not he's just

raising money from investors and he's

actually building stuff he needs the

money to build stuff stuff you know hard

Hardware stuff um and that I really

respect you said that there's been a few

low points in your life you've been dep