Build & Launch
30 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 156 ratingsA 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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Episodes
Did you miss me?
August 14, 2018 01:00 - 3 minutes - 2.94 MBI'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...
EP29: To the future
November 30, 2015 22:11 - 10 minutes - 9.91 MBI'm planning something brand new for 2016. If it's going to launch, I'm going to need your help. Go here, put your email in the sign-up form, and I'll be in touch. Show notes Go to MegaMaker.co, sign-up for the list, and let me know what you think Documentary: Capital C My software project with Marty Dill: Network Effects I asked this question on Twitter Follow me on Twitter: @mijustin Rate and review the show Join the newsletter MegaMaker theme song is "Bad Decisions" by S...
EP28: Here's me at 3:49am whispering into my iPhone
October 16, 2015 21:20 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBLearn how the Marketing for Developers launch went, and his initial sales numbers. You'll also hear the personal audio journals he recorded during the launch process. On sharing revenue numbers On the other hand, sharing numbers can sometimes feel a little… icky. It can feel like you’re shoving your success in other people’s faces.And maybe I need to work on my own insecurities, but I know that no matter how successful I am, all it takes is reading another one of these stupid “How ...
EP27: Looking for that secret sauce
June 27, 2015 21:52 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBReferencing the "cult of personality:" People are buying products thinking that if they can get someone's secret sauce, they can re-create that person's success. Adam Clark said: In our culture, the independent entrepreneur is like the Marlboro Man. Everyone wants to be that guy. Show notes What do you think? Email me: [email protected] Congrats to the winner of the Gumroad Small Product Lab: D.J. Coffman created an awesome product called the Comic Drawing Toolkit for Photoshop. Fo...
EP26: Holy Bananas
May 08, 2015 00:58 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBWhat is product validation? If you're building a product, you want validation. You want to know your product has value - that you're on the right track. Even deeper, you want to be validated. You want to feel like you're not wasting your time. You want to feel like your work is valuable. "YC is like the ultimate validation that you're on to something." - Lauren Kay, Dating Ring If you're building a business, there's only one way to validate that your product idea is good: are people...
EP25: The end is nigh
April 10, 2015 23:46 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MBJustin also gives sneak peek of his new book: Marketing for Developers. The mantra of this show has always been: "Start small and start now." Two common mistakes product people make We try to build ideas that are too big We don't start building right away All the stuff that leads up to getting started doesn't count. The only thing that matters is the work. Writing Tip We often make our writing too flowery and formal. Here's a way to make your writing sound more "human:" read it ...
EP24: How do we create things people want?
April 07, 2015 23:46 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBHow 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...
EP23: Face your fears
April 03, 2015 15:18 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MBThe theme for this episode is "facing your fears." Was Justin able to re-launch Product People Club? He talks to more of his existing customers to discover what jobs they're hiring the Club for. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” - Eleanor Roosevelt This week's project: Product People Club. You can see it it here: megamaker.co Next week's project: Marketing for Developers I started writing this book in January, 2014, but never finished it. The idea had lots of traction (ove...
EP22: Get some guts
April 01, 2015 04:26 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBThis is the mid-week check-up: I had to do some hard stuff and actually call my customers, and hear what they thought of my product. This week's project: Product People Club Product People Club is a membership site for solopreneurs: people making their own stuff, by themselves. Here’s the story: 2 years ago, I was fed up. I wanted to launch and validate something really quickly. So I put up a landing page for a chat room for entrepreneurs. I capped it at 10 members, and decided ...
EP21: Haggard
March 28, 2015 01:00 - 14 minutes - 13 MBIt'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...
EP20: Life vs Projects
March 25, 2015 04:19 - 8 minutes - 8.29 MBIn this episode he talks about balancing our creative projects with getting out and living your life. Ultimately, I believe that relationships are more important than the things we make. This week's project Weekofhustle.com - commit to building your project in a week. Start on a set date, and launch 7 days later. Show notes Follow me on Twitter: @mijustin Rate and review the show Join the newsletter Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm. Update from 2021: A lot has happen...
EP19: Eating my own dog food
March 20, 2015 20:34 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBJustin is recording on the road from Edmonton, Alberta. In this episode: with only 4 days to work, Justin launch the first product of Season 2? See what it's like to eat your own dog food. This week's project Back in Season 1, Carl and Justin created a WordPress plugin that allowed you to create your own online course, and sell it using Gumroad. For this week's project, Justin decided to eat his own dogfood, and use the plugin to host his own online course. He had 4 days to re-b...
EP18: Announcing Season 2
March 17, 2015 01:20 - 10 minutes - 9.76 MBHere’s the deal: normally with this show I announce a new project on Friday, and I ship it on the following Thursday. Today is March 16th, 2015. I’m going to Vegas on April 12th for MicroConf and don’t want to launch anything that weekend. That gives me 4 weeks, to launch 4 new projects. Let's do this. This week's project I’m going to do a short week and try to launch something this Thursday. That gives me only 3 days. I'll be using ProductPress to re-launch my course, Build Y...
EP17: We did wreck a few things
March 11, 2015 06:44 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBI give an update about the bachelor party (many soda pops, no one got hurt, everyone came home safe). Product update Carl and I received a cease-and-desist email for Productify. We've re-named the product ProductPress. Future Products WeekOfHustle.com JustinJackson.ca/Course Advice for people building their first product: Start small, and start now. Choose an idea that people want: something that will help you make your first dollar on the internet. Set your own goals: don’...
EP16: How do you launch if you don't have an audience?
March 05, 2015 21:14 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBHow 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 wha...
EP15: The only thing that matters is doing the work
March 03, 2015 21:12 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBJustin responds to listener questions: Question 1: How do you decide if an idea is worth launching? The product founder doesn't push an idea on the people. Instead, the people provide the inspiration for the product.Your product idea really has to be something that people want. You can't force your idea on people, hoping that they'll buy. Question 2: How do you build products if you have kids and a full-time job? The only thing that matters, is the work – when you’re building a pr...
EP14: I want candy
February 28, 2015 00:45 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MB7 days ago, Carl and Justin set off on an adventure to build a unique WordPress plugin in one week. Also - kids or no kids? This week's project The inspiration for this project came in August, after I launched my course. The course platform I was using was expensive. I was being charged $130 / month + 4% of course sales + transaction fees! Since August I've had to pay $1,288.00 to that service. If I'd used Productify, I would have paid only $39. ;) What I really wanted was to ho...
EP13: The Art of the Hustle
February 24, 2015 22:23 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBThis week he's working on a WordPress plugin with Carl Alexander. They're hoping to ship it on Thursday; will they make it? Everybody is in a unique place in life. Some of us have our health, some of us have more free time than others, some of us have more resources than others... that's just the way it is. The challenge is for each of to not compare ourselves to other people who are in a different situation. Instead, let's figure out: how can we make something tiny, and put it out ...
EP12: You gotta know when to hold ‘em
February 20, 2015 23:41 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MBHow do you know when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em and when to walk away? Also: Justin announces the new Build & Launch product for this coming week. It's something we've never done on the show before... Launch notes: Irresistible Podcasting Course by Adam Clark Today's episode is a crossover episode with Adam Clark's The Gently Mad ep 33. Did nearly 5 figures in pre-sales in December When we last left our hero, Adam Clark, we had an honest discussion about the real challenges ...
EP11: I'll be your birth coach
February 17, 2015 20:31 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBThis 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 l...
EP10: Born in the 80's
February 13, 2015 23:04 - 13 minutes - 12.6 MBThis week Justin teams up with his friend Marty to build and launch a web application called Network Effects. Were they able to launch in time? Community update: Corey Stone built & launched: herokeyboard.com Kyle Adams creates incredible icons + illustrations: kyleadams.me Justin Weiss released his book “Practicing Rails”: www.justinweiss.com/practicing-rails/ On burnout It doesn't do you any good to burn yourself out and end up in bed... or worse, a hospital bed. Did they la...
EP9: I called my competition
February 10, 2015 20:36 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MBI 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 ...
EP8: Do you even launch, bro?
February 06, 2015 18:29 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBWhen we last spoke, I was mid-week through his experiment of building a product in 7 days. Yesterday was supposed to be launch day, did I succeed? Listen as I expose his personal audio journals to the world, chronicling his journey of writing and shipping "The Product Hunt Handbook." Explore the struggle, the obstacles, the exhaustion! The actual work of producing a product is hard. Most of the time you waste is not getting to the actual work. In this case, the only thing that matte...
EP7: Observe the tired man in his habitat
February 03, 2015 14:54 - 10 minutes - 9.93 MBIt’s the mid-week checkup! Last Thursday Justin announced the first product he'd be building. He only has 7 days to do it. In this episode you'll hear real-life journal entries from Justin as he attempts to write The Product Hunt handbook for delivery on Thursday. He also got a special surprise... listen to hear about that. Follow-up We made it to the top of New & Noteworthy in iTunes! Thank you! (Keep leaving those reviews) You can pre-order The Product Hunt Handbook now and g...
EP6: This is it: first product announcement!
January 30, 2015 17:28 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBWhoo. 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...
EP5: Re-launch my beard (Launch Week)
January 29, 2015 02:46 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBYesterday 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 ...
EP4: How do you say Creeper in French? (Launch Week)
January 28, 2015 01:11 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MBIn this episode we hear what Justin's family thinks about this crazy experiment. Also: why is Justin standing in a completely dark closet? Launch stats I promised that I'd share all my launch stats for each project I release. So far, in the last 24 hours, here are the stats: 955 podcast listens 671 page views on buildandlaunch.net (almost all from Product Hunt) 12 ratings in the USA iTunes Store 5 ratings in the Canadian iTunes Store 93 upvotes on Product Hunt Launch email ...
EP3: Podcasting gear starter kit (Launch Week)
January 26, 2015 01:02 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBWant to start your own podcast this year? For Build & Launch's inaugural week, Justin Jackson is doing 5 mini episodes on what it takes to build and launch a podcast. Today's episode: what kind of of podcasting gear you should get. Want to help make Build & Launch a success? Subscribe, and leave a review in iTunes! Once Build & Launch starts it's official season on February 5th, 2015, Justin Jackson will launch a new product every week. Listen and learn from his wins and misses, a...
EP2: A ton of coffee and feeling good (Launch Week)
January 26, 2015 00:38 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBWant 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 a...
EP1: Don't make stuff for hippies (Launch Week)
January 25, 2015 23:50 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MBBuild & 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 podcas...