Most Launches Stall
Welcome to the Dojo!
Global Entrepreneurship… They definitely didn’t teach this stuff when I was in college. 🙂
This week, I was delighted to speak to two of Professor Iris Quan’s classes at San Jose State University on the topic. I pulled back the curtain on the real side of entrepreneurship and had a lively discussion about the unique advantages today’s students already have for global entrepreneurship.
Huge thanks to everyone at SJSU. I always leave these sessions energized and inspired by the next generation of entrepreneurs and professionals.
If you have a group that would enjoy this talk, feel free to reach out.
On the Mat
- Let’s Train: Most Launches Stall (and What You Can Do About It)
- Ask Feras: “Did I Blow it?”
- Sharpen The Blade: The No-Hype Way to Land Your First 3 Clients
Let's Train
Most Launches Stall (and What You Can Do About It)
In Aikido we say sho‑shin—beginner’s mind. It’s how you learn to take a hard fall without bracing or overthinking. Business is the same. Most launches stall because we try to out‑think the hard parts.
When I started, I obsessed over polish. The offer had to sing, the site had to sparkle. Meanwhile, zero buyers were hearing from me. A mentor told me, “Step on the mat.” I did—awkwardly at first—and everything changed.
Limbo isn’t neutral. It drains confidence, delays income, and confuses your circle. The longer you wait, the heavier the start feels.
Find Real Demand. Use my 10+5 business idea vetting rule: ten buyer conversations and five competitor scans. Capture exact phrases. Pain first, solutions later.
Publish One Asset. A white paper, case study, or explainer that answers objections before calls. Root it in your experience so it’s uncopiable.
Start the Warm Network Loop. Send 20 messages. No pitch—presence. Ask for intros.
Build a Simple Follow‑Up System. A spreadsheet is enough. Track names, notes, next actions, dates, and value ideas. Follow up until you get a clear yes/no or a checkpoint.
Once you do this for two weeks, uncertainty becomes feedback. You’ll know which promise lands, which buyers lean in, and which asset pulls weight. That confidence compounds.
- Download: 10+5 business idea vetting
- Download: DIY CRM
Ask Feras Recap
The Challenge
“I had a great discovery call… then nothing for three weeks. Did I blow it?”
🛠️ What I Told Them
Probably not.
B2B timing is messy. You can have everything right, but budgets and priorities suddenly move. Keep presence with value‑first touches: a 2‑minute loom with one fix, a relevant snippet from your white paper, or a small pilot proposal.
Log it in your CRM. Persistence is professional when it’s useful.
Sharpen Your Blade
Are you trying to start your consulting business — but still struggling to land your first few clients? In this video, I’ll walk you through a proven, step-by-step system that helped a beginner land his first 3 clients — without paid ads, followers, or sales experience. That same system later grew into an 8-figure consulting firm that I sold to global media giant dentsu.
You’ll learn:
- How to choose a service people will actually pay for
- The 10+5 validation method for testing your idea
- How to use content as a sales tool (not just for branding)
- Two free tactics to get in front of leads — without being spammy
- What to expect in your first sales cycles and how to survive them
Whether you’re still at your corporate job or going all in, this video gives you a practical framework to finally move from “thinking about it” to signing your first clients.
Bonus: Tell me your niche and I’ll suggest three buyer‑conversation questions.
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