Million Dollar Weekend_ the Surprisingly S - Noah Kagan

Metadata

Author: Noah Kagan
Full Title: Million Dollar Weekend_ the Surprisingly S - Noah Kagan
Category: #books

5 key takeaways

Turn “no” into a KPI. Make rejection a metric—e.g., aim for 25 noes—so every ask feels like forward progress. Follow-ups double your odds of a yes, so keep asking until you hit the count.
Validate fast and small. The only real proof is money: get three paying customers in 48 hours or earn the first dollar, then iterate. Zero-to-$1 momentum beats polished plans.
Mine your own pain for ideas. Track daily annoyances, stalled to-dos, and unmet purchases to uncover problems you understand. Choose the largest niche you belong to and confirm market size before building.
Craft a crisp offer and ask relentlessly. Boil any deal down to Price + Benefit + Time and test it with questions like “What would make this a no-brainer?” and “Who else needs this?”—each answer refines features, price, and referrals.
Build trust through reps and generosity. Publish 100 pieces, delight your first 100 customers, and share your real journey (wins and mistakes). A loyal community formed by giving value is the strongest long-term growth engine.

Highlights

if you work that hard to get so many noes, my little Noah’le, in them you will find a few yeses, too.” Maybe that’s why he named me NO-ah, to remind me of this daily to keep going. (Location 479)
My dad reframed rejection as something desirable—so you feel good when you get it. He was saying aim for rejection! It was (Location 482)
Asking isn’t so scary if it’s leading you toward where you want to go. The ultimate sales hack, (Location 486)
`Then I remind myself of Rejection Goals: “This is going to suck. Let me aim to get at least twenty-five rejections (Location 530)
PRO TIP: Follow Up! Follow Up! Follow Up! Studies show that if you initially get a no, your follow-up ask is TWICE as likely to get a yes. (Location 561)
PRO TIP: Focus on Zero to $1. Get that first dollar. That will create your momentum and build your belief in what you’re working on. (Location 773)
The crucial first step toward entrepreneurship is to study your own unhappiness and to think of solutions (aka business opportunities) for you to sell. (Location 863)
What’s the most painful (aka valuable) problem you can solve for people . . . That you also have passion for and/or unique expertise in . . . For the largest niche possible that you belong to and understand . (Location 894)
What is one thing this morning that irritated me? What is one thing on my to-do list that’s been there over a week? What is one thing that I regularly fail to do well? What is one thing I wanted to buy recently only to find out that no one made it? (Location 914)
The real goal here is less which idea is golden and more putting in the reps of checking market size before we validate later. (Location 1249)
Validation is finding three customers in forty-eight hours who will give you money for your idea. (Location 1330)
What’s the most frustrating thing about what’s currently going on? How would having X make your life better? What do you think that X should cost? (Location 1429)
Often you can distill your offer down to three parts: Price + Benefit + Time. Strung together, they form an offer sentence. (Location 1445)
“Sign up now while it’s still at a discounted price, x percent of y dollars [and you’ll be grandfathered in at that price forever]. This offer is only good today.” (Location 1462)
“Why not?” It’s really easy to get scared from attacking this one head-on, because what happens if their criticism is right? But that’s exactly what you want to know! (Location 1471)
“Who is one person you know who would really like this?” Always, always, always ask for a referral! Be specific about what kind of referral and use a number; this makes it highly effective. (Location 1474)
“What would make this a no-brainer for you?” If they don’t want your product, maybe they’d want something related to it. If they don’t want to pay for your dog care app, what about dog walking? A dog hotel? Dog dating? (Location 1476)
“What would you pay for that?” One of the hardest things in a startup is setting prices. Getting potential customers to say what they’d pay is pure gold! (Location 1479)
A community who already knows you, who follows you, who is rooting for you is one of the most powerful forces in business, and it’s created through generosity. (Location 1639)
People get hooked on CHARACTERS. People do business with REAL PEOPLE. Especially those who feel like a friend. (Location 1652)
Who are you? Why should people listen? What are you passionate about? What will you do for people? (Location 1687)
What is something everyone thinks is true—but you think is wrong? (Location 1789)
What is something nobody in your target market is talking about—but should be? (Location 1790)
What are the biggest mistakes people in your market are making—but are totally blind to? (Location 1791)
The goal here is to document what YOU do, not what you think everyone else should do. (Location 1807)
Neville, a copywriter, was convinced that AppSumo’s emails were being ignored because they were always “SELLING SELLING SELLING.” Entrepreneurs who expressed an attractive story made more sales, he said. (Location 1845)
The key is to set up a system that helps you get your 100 reps done without thinking about the results. (Location 2150)
If you want to start a YouTube channel, publish 100 videos. If you’re doing a newsletter, write 100 emails. (Location 2153)
What is your one goal for this year? Who exactly is your customer and where can you find them? What is one marketing activity you can double down on? How can you delight your first 100 customers? If you HAD to double your business with no money in thirty days, what would you do? (Location 2254)
Find what works and double down on it; find what doesn’t work and kill it. (Location 2496)
Ask your customers this: “What is one thing we can do today that will make you twice as happy with us?” (Location 2569)