Thursday, January 29, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
What are the best online resources (blogs, podcasts, articles, etc.) on startups and entrepreneurship?
4 Best Blogs: [up to date, as of April 2014]
[Update wWarning: Everything below is unfortunately very out of date, like 2012]
Articles:
Quora posts:
Lists:
These contain some overlap with this list, but a lot of great additional stuff.
And Finally...
- Paul Graham: http://paulgraham.com/
- Marc Andreessen (new): http://blog.pmarca.com/ ; (old): http://pmarca-archive.posterous....
- Andy Rachleff: https://blog.wealthfront.com/aut...
- Ben Horowitz: http://bhorowitz.com/
[Update wWarning: Everything below is unfortunately very out of date, like 2012]
Articles:
- Paul Graham, the Art of the Start. http://paulgraham.com/start.html
- Paul again, on the "Black Swans" of entrepreneurship:http://paulgraham.com/swan.htm
- Andy Rachleff on Entrepreneurship from a VC perspective:http://iinnovate.blogspot.com/20...
- Eric Ries on Building a Lean Startup: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/e/...(more at http://www.startuplessonslearned...)
- Achieving Product-Market Fit (Horowitz): http://bhorowitz.com/2010/03/20/...
- Dave McClure's, Startup Metrics for Pirates.
- 13 revenue models: http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/10...
- Example 1: How Seth Sternberg (Meebo) did it: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/0...
- Example 2: How Mint.com did it: http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/08...and Noah Kagan's great post http://okdork.com/2010/10/14/how... (also see Quora posts below)
- Example 3: The importance of being lean and being able to pivot:http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/08...
- What startups are really like (Paul Graham, yet again):http://www.paulgraham.com/really...
- Sequoia Capital (VC firm) on how to write a business plan:http://www.sequoiacap.com/ideas
- Ryan Robert's (StartupLawyer.com), "If I Launched a Startup" (legal and incorporation advice), http://startuplawyer.com/startup...
- Chris Dixon with a good quick summary of how to raise a seed:http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2...
- Legal resources: 101 on Stocks / Options by David E. Weekly:http://www.scribd.com/doc/559450..., http://www.seriesseed.com/,http://www.orrick.com/practices/...
Quora posts:
- How big a factor is luck in startup success?
- How focused should a startup be on being acquired?
- Why did Wesabe shut down, while Mint did so well? and How did Mint acquire 1.0m+ users without a high viral coefficient, scalable SEO strategy, or paid customer acquisition channel??
- What's the story of how Twitter got started at Odeo?
- What were the four/five key decisions that Larry Page and Sergey Brin made in the early days of Google?
- Why is Dropbox more popular than other programs with similar functionality? (see especially Isaac Hall's answer)
Lists:
These contain some overlap with this list, but a lot of great additional stuff.
- Ryan Spoon's "Must-read Quora posts on Entrepreneurship":http://ryanspoon.com/blog/2010/1...
- Andrew Chen's list: http://andrewchenblog.com/list-o...
- Tom Eisenmann's (HBS prof) "Compilation of the best Web Advice":http://platformsandnetworks.blog...
- YCombinator startup library: http://ycombinator.com/lib.html
- Khosla Ventures: http://www.khoslaventures.com/kh...
- Richard Ludlow's list (on thread below)
And Finally...
- Probably worthwhile keeping everything in perspective (amusing post by Joe Heitzeberg): http://blog.500startups.com/2010...
From the perspective of a CEO, what are the most underrated skills most employees lack?
Two skills are incredibly rare: (1) Doing what you say you will do (be reliable); (2) Keeping track of yourself
Doing what you tell people you will do
If you can teach your kids a useful skill that will always help them with their career: teach them to be reliable -- to do what they say they will do. (It is harder than it sounds.)
If you consistently do what you say you will do, you will almost certainly be someone people desire to have on their teams. It is so rare that when you work with someone who is reliable, you never ever want to work with anyone else. You will do anything to keep that person on your team.
Doing what you say you are going to do starts with setting the right expectations. If you tell someone you will get them the deliverable by Tuesday, you need to understand that it can actually be delivered by Tuesday. If you are good, you are probably factoring in slack in case someone in corporate slows you down or your child gets sick.
And so if your boss wants something done Monday and you think it cannot be done until Wednesday, you need to be up-front. Because once a date is agreed to, you're on the hook for accomplishing it.
On the less-skilled end of the job spectrum, many people cannot commit to showing up to work consistently and on time. There are many external factors in their life that make even these commitments hard to achieve.
So do everything you can to be reliable -- because there are very few people that one can rely on.
Keep track of yourself
The corollary to being reliable is to make sure you manage yourself.
If you can manage all your tasks and deliverables without reminders, you will be treated like the golden child.
If your boss or colleagues never need to remind you about a project, deliverable, an answer to an email, etc., they will be able to take a load off their mind and be allowed to focus on other areas. And they will appreciate not having to have the uncomfortable conversation with you ("where is that item that was due yesterday?").
This takes a lot of hard work and organization, but most people can do it. You don't need a PhD (or even a college degree) to be on top of everything. You just need to be organized and prioritize its importance. Of course, while most people CAN do this, most people DON'T do this -- so doing it will be a huge differentiator for you.
The underrated skills
If all you do is be reliable and keep track of yourself, you will be indispensable to any company.
Doing what you tell people you will do
If you can teach your kids a useful skill that will always help them with their career: teach them to be reliable -- to do what they say they will do. (It is harder than it sounds.)
If you consistently do what you say you will do, you will almost certainly be someone people desire to have on their teams. It is so rare that when you work with someone who is reliable, you never ever want to work with anyone else. You will do anything to keep that person on your team.
Doing what you say you are going to do starts with setting the right expectations. If you tell someone you will get them the deliverable by Tuesday, you need to understand that it can actually be delivered by Tuesday. If you are good, you are probably factoring in slack in case someone in corporate slows you down or your child gets sick.
And so if your boss wants something done Monday and you think it cannot be done until Wednesday, you need to be up-front. Because once a date is agreed to, you're on the hook for accomplishing it.
On the less-skilled end of the job spectrum, many people cannot commit to showing up to work consistently and on time. There are many external factors in their life that make even these commitments hard to achieve.
So do everything you can to be reliable -- because there are very few people that one can rely on.
Keep track of yourself
The corollary to being reliable is to make sure you manage yourself.
If you can manage all your tasks and deliverables without reminders, you will be treated like the golden child.
If your boss or colleagues never need to remind you about a project, deliverable, an answer to an email, etc., they will be able to take a load off their mind and be allowed to focus on other areas. And they will appreciate not having to have the uncomfortable conversation with you ("where is that item that was due yesterday?").
This takes a lot of hard work and organization, but most people can do it. You don't need a PhD (or even a college degree) to be on top of everything. You just need to be organized and prioritize its importance. Of course, while most people CAN do this, most people DON'T do this -- so doing it will be a huge differentiator for you.
The underrated skills
If all you do is be reliable and keep track of yourself, you will be indispensable to any company.
From a start-up CEO perspective, the #1 skill you should develop is ownership.
Most employees just can't be owners. This may not matter at Adobe, or Google, or wherever.
But up until you have 500 employees or so, the CEO is looking for owners. People that don't just play a role, but truly own something, that make 100% sure it comes in ahead of time and ahead of expectations -- with as little drama as possible.
Ship your feature ahead of time, and make it delightfully better than expected. Better yet, ship a feature everyone else said was too hard to build, that couldn't be done. Hit your sales plan well ahead of time, while still making time to help others and show them how to do it as well. Hit your lead commit ahead of time. Don't just balance the books, but exceed the collections goal, every month. Whatever it is.
This isn't the same as "taking the initiative", it's a superset of that. It's delivering. And it's very, very easy to do in a start-up actually. Vs. almost impossible in a BigCo. Just overdeliver on everything you're given to do. And not just your part -- the whole project you are working on. See where others are falling behind, and help them. Folks around you will naturally gravitate toward that. You'll become a natural leader, over time.
That is the greatest gift to a start-up CEO any employee, at any level, can provide.
And one way or another, over time, your career will skyrocket.
Most employees just can't be owners. This may not matter at Adobe, or Google, or wherever.
But up until you have 500 employees or so, the CEO is looking for owners. People that don't just play a role, but truly own something, that make 100% sure it comes in ahead of time and ahead of expectations -- with as little drama as possible.
Ship your feature ahead of time, and make it delightfully better than expected. Better yet, ship a feature everyone else said was too hard to build, that couldn't be done. Hit your sales plan well ahead of time, while still making time to help others and show them how to do it as well. Hit your lead commit ahead of time. Don't just balance the books, but exceed the collections goal, every month. Whatever it is.
This isn't the same as "taking the initiative", it's a superset of that. It's delivering. And it's very, very easy to do in a start-up actually. Vs. almost impossible in a BigCo. Just overdeliver on everything you're given to do. And not just your part -- the whole project you are working on. See where others are falling behind, and help them. Folks around you will naturally gravitate toward that. You'll become a natural leader, over time.
That is the greatest gift to a start-up CEO any employee, at any level, can provide.
And one way or another, over time, your career will skyrocket.
What methods can I use to avoid getting so tired when I do the same amount of a work as my peers who do not get so tired?
I used to be chronically tired. I am not anymore. This was a result of 3-4 years of effort. Here is what worked:
Experiment with your diet: I would try some forms of diet for a month and then make a conclusion. Also observe how you react to certain foods - I found out that simple and refined carbs (bread, pasta, sugars etc.) make me more tired while eating protein and fat rich foods doesn't. A diet that works for me the best is paleo, I don't believe in the reasoning behind it, I just find it a good fit (we all have different metabolism, there is no one diet for all)
It turns out that quality fat is the best source of energy for me. It's steadier and long term (and much healthier - fatty acids, minerals, vitamins), unlike some empty carb meals.
Eliminate coffee: I got some withdrawal effect for first 5 days (headache, energy decrease) and then I started to feel the same but my sleep improved.
Start napping: Instead of coffee I take 15 min nap when I'm tired. It feels like a serious reboot - and it is.
Sleep: Try this app: Sleep Cycle alarm clock period.
Exercise: This is nothing new, but you may want to implement this method: 3 Steps to New Habits to start regular exercise. Basically I was capable of doing 150 pushups but I started to do 10 every morning to make it a routine, rather than force a massive workout right when you wake up. Today I lift, run, box. Workout is as normal as brushing my teeth.
Your natural biorhythm: I tracked my energy, focus and mood on the scale of 1-3 every hour for almost a month. EDIT: I have graded my level of energy, focus and mood by a grade on a scale of 1-3, 1 being the lowest and 3 the highest. E.g when I found it easy to focus or high energy I would grade it 3:
I was surprised to see the numbers added up pretty well:
Thats what I got when I put the numbers in chart. EDIT: I don't eat regularly as my schedule is not fixed so the drops are likely unaffected by lunch/dinner etc.
Things I believe helped:
Meditation: I have meditated for quite a while, I felt I burned a lot of energy on fantasising or being angry or simply thinking too much about irrelevant stuff (after all your brain uses 30% of your energy). Once I learned to observe what's going on in my head I gained ability to stop it.
Cold showers: Better than coffee. I have been doing this for 6 years now, daily. I have not been sick (not even cold) for the entire time. I felt I might be getting cold or flu couple times after running in cold weather/rain but each time it took 1 hour sleep and paracetamol - might be a co-incidence or combination of more things (exercise, diet etc.). Cold showers are very energising, plus if you don't get sick you save a lot of energy.
Zinc: I felt that when I am supplementing Zinc I sleep less and get more out of it. I have no data, just personal feeling but there are some studies that estimate over 70% of men in western world are deficient in zinc (signs include lethargy and tiredness). A study form 2011* also found athletes supplementing zinc had higher testosterone levels than placebo (= more strength, energy, better sleep). Too much zinc can be toxic. EDIT: Also watch your copper when supplementing zinc to avoid deficiency.
Minimize alcohol, porn, masturbation: Let's not beat around the bush, internet statistics show that well over 70% of men watch porn on regular basis - our brains react to it in some serious way as we're designed to react to sex. If you're a normal guy the chances are you jerk-off and watch porn. I believe overindulgence in any of the above results in low energy.
I find real sex energising so I don't do the other stuff and get more of it, or if I get none at all I go to gym instead. There is an ongoing 30 day challenge started by Tim Ferris The 30-Day Challenge: No Booze, No Masturbating (NOBNOM) try it and experience for yourself.
Eliminate mindless browsing: I cut down on using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Feedly and Quora. I now get focused information and don't mindlessly browse questions or newsfeed I don't really care about. Instead I listen to tech/business podcasts while running. My theory is that the way these sites are designed is to lure you into compulsive habit of endless trigger-reward loop that's difficult to stop (infinite scroll, notifications etc.) and it screws with your brain chemistry. There are apps like K9, openDNS, self-control etc. to help you set restrictions.
Like I said this was a result of 3-4 years, I have built these habits slowly one step at a time. I tried much more than the above but most experiments failed. Above is what gave me some measurable or tangible results.
All of this may appear a bit overwhelming to some people but as a result of extra time and energy I managed to increase my productivity, income, learned new things (programming, Spanish), started side projects e.g. Botto Shoes - Coming Soon!, traveled and got in a great shape - so there is some serious ROI.
There are still challenges. One last thing to add, that helped a lot was seeing this as a long-term, never ending effort rather than a one-off hack. It improved my focus and helped to eliminate a feeling of failure that you get with one-off efforts.
Hope that helps.
*Chang, C., Choi, J., Kim, H., Park, S. Correlation Between Serum Testosterone Level and Concentrations of Copper and Zinc in Hair Tissue. Biological Trace Element Research. 14 June 2011.
Experiment with your diet: I would try some forms of diet for a month and then make a conclusion. Also observe how you react to certain foods - I found out that simple and refined carbs (bread, pasta, sugars etc.) make me more tired while eating protein and fat rich foods doesn't. A diet that works for me the best is paleo, I don't believe in the reasoning behind it, I just find it a good fit (we all have different metabolism, there is no one diet for all)
It turns out that quality fat is the best source of energy for me. It's steadier and long term (and much healthier - fatty acids, minerals, vitamins), unlike some empty carb meals.
Eliminate coffee: I got some withdrawal effect for first 5 days (headache, energy decrease) and then I started to feel the same but my sleep improved.
Start napping: Instead of coffee I take 15 min nap when I'm tired. It feels like a serious reboot - and it is.
Sleep: Try this app: Sleep Cycle alarm clock period.
Exercise: This is nothing new, but you may want to implement this method: 3 Steps to New Habits to start regular exercise. Basically I was capable of doing 150 pushups but I started to do 10 every morning to make it a routine, rather than force a massive workout right when you wake up. Today I lift, run, box. Workout is as normal as brushing my teeth.
Your natural biorhythm: I tracked my energy, focus and mood on the scale of 1-3 every hour for almost a month. EDIT: I have graded my level of energy, focus and mood by a grade on a scale of 1-3, 1 being the lowest and 3 the highest. E.g when I found it easy to focus or high energy I would grade it 3:
I was surprised to see the numbers added up pretty well:
Things I believe helped:
Meditation: I have meditated for quite a while, I felt I burned a lot of energy on fantasising or being angry or simply thinking too much about irrelevant stuff (after all your brain uses 30% of your energy). Once I learned to observe what's going on in my head I gained ability to stop it.
Cold showers: Better than coffee. I have been doing this for 6 years now, daily. I have not been sick (not even cold) for the entire time. I felt I might be getting cold or flu couple times after running in cold weather/rain but each time it took 1 hour sleep and paracetamol - might be a co-incidence or combination of more things (exercise, diet etc.). Cold showers are very energising, plus if you don't get sick you save a lot of energy.
Zinc: I felt that when I am supplementing Zinc I sleep less and get more out of it. I have no data, just personal feeling but there are some studies that estimate over 70% of men in western world are deficient in zinc (signs include lethargy and tiredness). A study form 2011* also found athletes supplementing zinc had higher testosterone levels than placebo (= more strength, energy, better sleep). Too much zinc can be toxic. EDIT: Also watch your copper when supplementing zinc to avoid deficiency.
Minimize alcohol, porn, masturbation: Let's not beat around the bush, internet statistics show that well over 70% of men watch porn on regular basis - our brains react to it in some serious way as we're designed to react to sex. If you're a normal guy the chances are you jerk-off and watch porn. I believe overindulgence in any of the above results in low energy.
I find real sex energising so I don't do the other stuff and get more of it, or if I get none at all I go to gym instead. There is an ongoing 30 day challenge started by Tim Ferris The 30-Day Challenge: No Booze, No Masturbating (NOBNOM) try it and experience for yourself.
Eliminate mindless browsing: I cut down on using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Feedly and Quora. I now get focused information and don't mindlessly browse questions or newsfeed I don't really care about. Instead I listen to tech/business podcasts while running. My theory is that the way these sites are designed is to lure you into compulsive habit of endless trigger-reward loop that's difficult to stop (infinite scroll, notifications etc.) and it screws with your brain chemistry. There are apps like K9, openDNS, self-control etc. to help you set restrictions.
Like I said this was a result of 3-4 years, I have built these habits slowly one step at a time. I tried much more than the above but most experiments failed. Above is what gave me some measurable or tangible results.
All of this may appear a bit overwhelming to some people but as a result of extra time and energy I managed to increase my productivity, income, learned new things (programming, Spanish), started side projects e.g. Botto Shoes - Coming Soon!, traveled and got in a great shape - so there is some serious ROI.
There are still challenges. One last thing to add, that helped a lot was seeing this as a long-term, never ending effort rather than a one-off hack. It improved my focus and helped to eliminate a feeling of failure that you get with one-off efforts.
Hope that helps.
*Chang, C., Choi, J., Kim, H., Park, S. Correlation Between Serum Testosterone Level and Concentrations of Copper and Zinc in Hair Tissue. Biological Trace Element Research. 14 June 2011.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
My 1st app, 100,000 downloads within first 3 months.0 money spent on advertising
Hi,I would love to share my story if i get a few comments asking about it 
As it is lengthy I don't know if i should write it or not.Without knowing if there is demand for it.
And by the way,my app now comes under top 20 results when you search for a music player.
Edit:
Please note I am the only person responsible for designing + developing + marketing.
I wrote this story so that my friend can sell it off to get a job and he did get it
So here is the story:
It was my first app and since I was just a student ,that means I didn't had any money to advertise.
However I managed 150$.
1. The selling point for my app was the UI/UX. And for me the presentation was everything. I knew I was short on budget,and I wanted to convert every click into a download (i mean there is a high probability that if a person clicks on the link,he may not download it because of poor screenshots)
So good,professional looking screenshots were important.So for that I needed a photoshop professional
(although I designed the app myself,I wasn't very good at photoshop) so I hired a guy from freelancing websites.
I paid the guy 50$ for 5 screenshots
good icon
I then hired a guy for the video.
Now if you don't know how most of the videos are made,you may end up paying 150-400$
there are websites from where you can buy templates for virtually everything.
So we purchased a 25$ template,hired a guy for 40$ to do the changes to it.
So the whole video was done for 65$
2 I got fake facebook likes(40,000 likes for 40$ people are real but they don't come to know when they liked the page,there are scripts for fake facebook likes) as we thought it can be used as an audience,but turns out it was a waste,as facebook has changed it algorithms,and a post's visibility only increases if it gets enough momentum(i.e comments and likes).And it is quite obvious that no one would be interested in a post from a page which they never liked themselves.
The post never reached 40,000 people which was our intended target.
3. I got the description done,ourselves.There are websites for SEO (or ASO ,app search optimization)like sensor tower which can be used for figuring out which keyword to use.
4. Added 1000+ friends on facebook from my college before the launch
5. I launched the app.
6. I gave credit to those people on how they were so supportive and accepted our random friend requests and then sneaked in the download link with very pretty images.People like to take credits for no reason ,just like they want to feel good and superior and want to be a part of something, without any reason,I just exploited it.
7. The early downloads and reviews were quite important
8. They reviewed and downloaded.About 200-300 of them.
9. Just after I launched it,I changed my schedule and started sleeping 9 hrs in 2 days .i.e 4.5 hrs a day,with 3 hrs of sleeping shifts.
i searched for lists of websites which review android apps.Sent them a copy pasted message and often making intentional mistakes while typing the subject like "Android 'ApP' Review",to get their attention as you are not the only one sending them emails. we tried to make it look as professional as we could.But tried to keep the message friendly.I posted them 100 each day.
10. Spamming on facebook groups.The post here doesn't have to be professional and the screenshots should not look professional,if they are
,(these screenshots were differnt from the ones one the app page) you will give an impression that your app comes from a company and it won't appear as a personal request but like an advertisement which you don't want.I posted them 100 each day
11. Sending messages to youtubers to review it and then posting on their new videos ,asking people to try it and asking the channel owner to review it.I posted them 100 each day or maybe more.
12. Posting on reddit,forums, qoura etc.
13. reviews from fiverr.
14. backlinks.
15. update regularly.
We did this for 20 days.
The rest of the downloads were all organic(means they were due to people searching for a music player etc,rather than clicking somewhere)
13. Now the app is getting 2000+ downloads per day on average (for the last 20 days).All of them are organic.
As of now,(i.e 14th october,the app stands at 97,000 downloads
Currenlty when you search for a "music player" our app ranks at the number 20.
And it is the only app within the top 20 with a range of 50,000-100,000 range.
All other apps have atleast 1/2 million downloads.With the maximum at 500 million.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...sicplayer.free
As it is lengthy I don't know if i should write it or not.Without knowing if there is demand for it.
And by the way,my app now comes under top 20 results when you search for a music player.
Edit:
Please note I am the only person responsible for designing + developing + marketing.
I wrote this story so that my friend can sell it off to get a job and he did get it
So here is the story:
It was my first app and since I was just a student ,that means I didn't had any money to advertise.
However I managed 150$.
1. The selling point for my app was the UI/UX. And for me the presentation was everything. I knew I was short on budget,and I wanted to convert every click into a download (i mean there is a high probability that if a person clicks on the link,he may not download it because of poor screenshots)
So good,professional looking screenshots were important.So for that I needed a photoshop professional
(although I designed the app myself,I wasn't very good at photoshop) so I hired a guy from freelancing websites.
I paid the guy 50$ for 5 screenshots
good icon
I then hired a guy for the video.
Now if you don't know how most of the videos are made,you may end up paying 150-400$
there are websites from where you can buy templates for virtually everything.
So we purchased a 25$ template,hired a guy for 40$ to do the changes to it.
So the whole video was done for 65$
2 I got fake facebook likes(40,000 likes for 40$ people are real but they don't come to know when they liked the page,there are scripts for fake facebook likes) as we thought it can be used as an audience,but turns out it was a waste,as facebook has changed it algorithms,and a post's visibility only increases if it gets enough momentum(i.e comments and likes).And it is quite obvious that no one would be interested in a post from a page which they never liked themselves.
The post never reached 40,000 people which was our intended target.
3. I got the description done,ourselves.There are websites for SEO (or ASO ,app search optimization)like sensor tower which can be used for figuring out which keyword to use.
4. Added 1000+ friends on facebook from my college before the launch
5. I launched the app.
6. I gave credit to those people on how they were so supportive and accepted our random friend requests and then sneaked in the download link with very pretty images.People like to take credits for no reason ,just like they want to feel good and superior and want to be a part of something, without any reason,I just exploited it.
7. The early downloads and reviews were quite important
8. They reviewed and downloaded.About 200-300 of them.
9. Just after I launched it,I changed my schedule and started sleeping 9 hrs in 2 days .i.e 4.5 hrs a day,with 3 hrs of sleeping shifts.
i searched for lists of websites which review android apps.Sent them a copy pasted message and often making intentional mistakes while typing the subject like "Android 'ApP' Review",to get their attention as you are not the only one sending them emails. we tried to make it look as professional as we could.But tried to keep the message friendly.I posted them 100 each day.
10. Spamming on facebook groups.The post here doesn't have to be professional and the screenshots should not look professional,if they are
,(these screenshots were differnt from the ones one the app page) you will give an impression that your app comes from a company and it won't appear as a personal request but like an advertisement which you don't want.I posted them 100 each day
11. Sending messages to youtubers to review it and then posting on their new videos ,asking people to try it and asking the channel owner to review it.I posted them 100 each day or maybe more.
12. Posting on reddit,forums, qoura etc.
13. reviews from fiverr.
14. backlinks.
15. update regularly.
We did this for 20 days.
The rest of the downloads were all organic(means they were due to people searching for a music player etc,rather than clicking somewhere)
13. Now the app is getting 2000+ downloads per day on average (for the last 20 days).All of them are organic.
As of now,(i.e 14th october,the app stands at 97,000 downloads
Currenlty when you search for a "music player" our app ranks at the number 20.
And it is the only app within the top 20 with a range of 50,000-100,000 range.
All other apps have atleast 1/2 million downloads.With the maximum at 500 million.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...sicplayer.free
Friday, January 16, 2015
What can I learn/know right now in 10 minutes that will be useful for the rest of my life?
It will take you 1 year of serious study to be in the top 60% of anything in life.
It will take you 2 years to be in the top 50% (the learning curve slope starts to flatten)
It will take you 3 years to be in the top 30% (where you will start making money at your passion)
It will take you 4 years to be in the top 10-20% (where you will start to make real wealth)
It will take you 5+ years to be in the top 10% where you will make real wealth. I've switched careers many times. Even if you have every lifehack in the book, this is what it takes to be GREAT at something you love doing. Great enough to make a living or even wealth at it.
- Waiter's pads. I have about 300 waiter's pads. I order them for about 10 cents a pad in bulk on restaurant supplies website.
How come?
a. I like to write ideas on pads. I write down at least 10 ideas a day. The idea muscle is a muscle like any other. If it's not exercised, it atrophies. If it's exercised then within six months you're an idea machine. Try it. It's amazing what happens. Don't keep track of the ideas. Just become an idea machine.
b. Why a pad? A screen messes with your dopamine levels. I like the visceral experience of putting pen to pad.
c. Why ten ideas? Four or five ideas on any theme is easy. It's the final five or six that makes the brain sweat. This is how you exercise the idea muscle.
- Watch standup comedy before every meeting, date, dinner, media appearance, conversation, public talk.
I watch Louis CK, Daniel Tosh, Anthony Jeselnik, Jim Norton, Andy Samberg, Seth Rogen, Marina Franklin, Ellen, Bo Burnham, and maybe a dozen others.
It will take you 2 years to be in the top 50% (the learning curve slope starts to flatten)
It will take you 3 years to be in the top 30% (where you will start making money at your passion)
It will take you 4 years to be in the top 10-20% (where you will start to make real wealth)
It will take you 5+ years to be in the top 10% where you will make real wealth. I've switched careers many times. Even if you have every lifehack in the book, this is what it takes to be GREAT at something you love doing. Great enough to make a living or even wealth at it.
- Waiter's pads. I have about 300 waiter's pads. I order them for about 10 cents a pad in bulk on restaurant supplies website.
How come?
a. I like to write ideas on pads. I write down at least 10 ideas a day. The idea muscle is a muscle like any other. If it's not exercised, it atrophies. If it's exercised then within six months you're an idea machine. Try it. It's amazing what happens. Don't keep track of the ideas. Just become an idea machine.
b. Why a pad? A screen messes with your dopamine levels. I like the visceral experience of putting pen to pad.
c. Why ten ideas? Four or five ideas on any theme is easy. It's the final five or six that makes the brain sweat. This is how you exercise the idea muscle.
- Watch standup comedy before every meeting, date, dinner, media appearance, conversation, public talk.
I watch Louis CK, Daniel Tosh, Anthony Jeselnik, Jim Norton, Andy Samberg, Seth Rogen, Marina Franklin, Ellen, Bo Burnham, and maybe a dozen others.
Investment Advice: What is the best way to maximize profit using my 20K?
If you are resourceful and hard working, the very best investment you can make is to invest in yourself.
If you are under 50 and have less than $10 million in assets, you should spend less than a few hours a year on what people traditionally call “investing” in hard assets (on things like stocks, bonds, real estate, angel investing, etc.).
Even if the more time you spend is directly correlated with getting a better return on your hard assets, your assets likely will not grow fast enough to be worth your effort. This is especially true if your goal is build real wealth. If you have spare cash, I would advise investing it in the safest thing possible so you don't lose it and concentrating your time on investing in yourself (so you can grow your revenues long-term).
Growing your portfolio an extra 2-3% a year, while nice, likely does not compare with the exponential growth you can achieve by making investments in your soft assets. The younger you are, the better an investment in yourself is because it can grow over a longer time horizon.
You can also buy time. Since time is the scarcest resource for most people, spending at least some of your hard-earned dollars on getting you more time will go a long way. If you can avoid it, try not to drive to work. Also: try to stop doing the things you absolutely hate to do. If you invest the saved time in your career or your personal happiness, it will likely yield a better long-term return than the stock market.
And while What You Know is now more important thank Who You Know [http://www.quora.com/In-
And, of course, invest in your health and your emotional well being — so you can be around to enjoy the fruits of your investment.
If you are under 50 and have less than $10 million in assets, you should spend less than a few hours a year on what people traditionally call “investing” in hard assets (on things like stocks, bonds, real estate, angel investing, etc.).
Even if the more time you spend is directly correlated with getting a better return on your hard assets, your assets likely will not grow fast enough to be worth your effort. This is especially true if your goal is build real wealth. If you have spare cash, I would advise investing it in the safest thing possible so you don't lose it and concentrating your time on investing in yourself (so you can grow your revenues long-term).
Growing your portfolio an extra 2-3% a year, while nice, likely does not compare with the exponential growth you can achieve by making investments in your soft assets. The younger you are, the better an investment in yourself is because it can grow over a longer time horizon.
Investing in your education continually to get educated and investing your time (your rarest resource) in education, training, and growth. This can be done by reading (and yes, reading this counts) and putting yourself in situations where you learn. You need to prioritize learning and building skills as this will significantly increase your value over time.
You can also buy time. Since time is the scarcest resource for most people, spending at least some of your hard-earned dollars on getting you more time will go a long way. If you can avoid it, try not to drive to work. Also: try to stop doing the things you absolutely hate to do. If you invest the saved time in your career or your personal happiness, it will likely yield a better long-term return than the stock market.
And while What You Know is now more important thank Who You Know [http://www.quora.com/In-
And, of course, invest in your health and your emotional well being — so you can be around to enjoy the fruits of your investment.
What's it like to be a billionaire?
billionaires tend to be really good at understanding systems of value creation and placing themselves into those systems more effectively than anyone out there.
Billionaires tend in fact to view the world as a tangibly fungible place. They see the world and want to move the puzzle pieces entirely around. They look for the faults in the ecosystem and identify massive holes and what could be added to fully capture that value. Then they spend about 10 years maniacally attacking the gap, organizing people, recruiting and generally creating a “cult”. They create a bible so to speak of values and ideas that bundle together in such an appealing way to attract the smartest people around (aka the future millionaires).
It’s all one big chain that supports their vision of the future and tying up the value. This is a different internal programming than most people have out there.
Well, I see billionaires having 3 types of focus
1) Inner/self: a keen sense of where you want to go, and self discipline to get there.
2) Empathy and the ability to inspire others.
3) Awareness of where the greater world is going, and what can be done to shape it.
The young millionaires I know seem to spend a lot of time working on 1 and 2, talking about emotional self discipline & company culture.
The billionaires & ultra high net worth power players have on the other hand mastered all 3, particularly the 3rd. They are the “unreasonable” ones who adapt the world to their vision. They are absolutely fearless. Perfectly willing to move mountains, change cultures, lobby regulation to achieve their vision and kick real ass..
They are outcasts from regular society and most probably will always be.
A millionaire might have more sense about her-himself and scale back to preserve wealth and “quit while they are ahead” sort of speak.
The billionaire mindset defies logic and decisions are made against all outside reason. They really don’t give a rat’s ass about the money and frankly have a clean detachment to it, therefore with that clarity of thought mixed with pursuing their passion, make most of the money.
One common theme that I see all the time in my billionaire friends and that’s the theme of failure before success. Self-made billionaires NEVER give up if they fail. They just go on and on and on until they stop failing and become a success.
Now that you know the basics of the billionaires psyche, go use those priceless tips to make a killing and never turn back.
Billionaires tend in fact to view the world as a tangibly fungible place. They see the world and want to move the puzzle pieces entirely around. They look for the faults in the ecosystem and identify massive holes and what could be added to fully capture that value. Then they spend about 10 years maniacally attacking the gap, organizing people, recruiting and generally creating a “cult”. They create a bible so to speak of values and ideas that bundle together in such an appealing way to attract the smartest people around (aka the future millionaires).
It’s all one big chain that supports their vision of the future and tying up the value. This is a different internal programming than most people have out there.
Well, I see billionaires having 3 types of focus
1) Inner/self: a keen sense of where you want to go, and self discipline to get there.
2) Empathy and the ability to inspire others.
3) Awareness of where the greater world is going, and what can be done to shape it.
The young millionaires I know seem to spend a lot of time working on 1 and 2, talking about emotional self discipline & company culture.
The billionaires & ultra high net worth power players have on the other hand mastered all 3, particularly the 3rd. They are the “unreasonable” ones who adapt the world to their vision. They are absolutely fearless. Perfectly willing to move mountains, change cultures, lobby regulation to achieve their vision and kick real ass..
They are outcasts from regular society and most probably will always be.
A millionaire might have more sense about her-himself and scale back to preserve wealth and “quit while they are ahead” sort of speak.
The billionaire mindset defies logic and decisions are made against all outside reason. They really don’t give a rat’s ass about the money and frankly have a clean detachment to it, therefore with that clarity of thought mixed with pursuing their passion, make most of the money.
One common theme that I see all the time in my billionaire friends and that’s the theme of failure before success. Self-made billionaires NEVER give up if they fail. They just go on and on and on until they stop failing and become a success.
Now that you know the basics of the billionaires psyche, go use those priceless tips to make a killing and never turn back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)