Brief Summary
Greg Isenberg and Daniel Dalen discuss three startup ideas and how to build sustainable businesses. They explore the concept of credibility badges, embeddable businesses, and opportunities within the Shopify ecosystem. They also discuss the importance of aesthetics in product design and the value of building a cash flow positive business.
- Credibility badges can be a lucrative business model, similar to the Better Business Bureau, by providing businesses with a way to display their legitimacy.
- Embeddable businesses, like offer button.com, can be successful by providing value to other websites and leveraging their authority.
- The Shopify ecosystem offers numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs to build businesses that solve pain points for e-commerce brands.
- Aesthetics play a crucial role in product design, attracting attention and increasing perceived value.
- Building a cash flow positive business provides freedom and allows for sustainable growth without relying on external funding.
Intro
Greg Isenberg and Daniel Dalen introduce the podcast episode, focusing on startup ideas and building sustainable businesses. They emphasize the importance of getting inside each other's brains and exploring different business concepts.
Startup Idea 1: Best Product Plaques for Credibility
Greg shares his first startup idea, inspired by a dentist's "Best Dentist in America" plaque. He proposes creating a business that sells "Best Product of the Year" or "Best E-commerce Brand of the Year" plaques to businesses. He draws a parallel to the Better Business Bureau, which generates significant revenue by selling credibility badges. Daniel agrees that there's a need for credibility in the market, especially for products like AI notepads. He suggests that a platform like Product Hunt could be a good model for aggregating supply and demand for these plaques.
Startup Idea 2: Embeddable Businesses
Greg introduces the concept of "embeddable businesses," businesses that integrate their services into other websites. He uses his own product, offer button.com, as an example, which allows users to embed a button on their website to make offers for the business. Daniel finds the idea interesting and points out that many existing tools, like Typeform, are already embeddable. He emphasizes the importance of building layered solutions on top of existing infrastructure.
Startup Idea 3: Shopify Ecosystem Opportunities
Greg discusses the potential for building businesses within the Shopify ecosystem. He highlights the success of companies like Instant, which provides instant page builders for Shopify stores, and his own fulfillment business, which integrates Last Mile carriers into Shopify's fulfillment status. Daniel agrees that the Shopify ecosystem is a lucrative space with significant opportunities for entrepreneurs. He emphasizes the importance of understanding pain points within the e-commerce space and building solutions that address them.
Building Sustainable Businesses
Greg and Daniel discuss the importance of building sustainable businesses that generate cash flow and reinvest capital. They contrast this approach with the "get acquired" strategy, which involves building a business with the goal of selling it to a larger company. Greg prefers the freedom and control that comes with building a self-sustaining business. Daniel agrees, emphasizing the importance of building something that brings joy and allows for personal growth.
Content Creation Strategy Discussion
Greg and Daniel discuss their content creation strategies, particularly the decision to avoid explicitly asking for comments and subscriptions. They believe that authentically sharing their experiences and learnings is the best form of marketing. Daniel agrees, emphasizing the importance of building a brand in public and sharing valuable insights with their audience.
