That\u2019s what Jon Nastor<\/a>, ex-punk rocker turned entrepreneur and founder of Velocitypage.com, wanted to know.<\/p>\n And for the past 12 years, Jon has been actively answering this question.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a direct quote from Jon\u2019s Clarity.fm consulting page<\/a>:<\/p>\n I have been an entrepreneur for 12 years and full-time online for 3. I have built, from the ground up, 6 different SaaS products --- all with zero technical ability. I have built multiple businesses from zero to $45k\/month+ recurring revenues, with no debt and no financing.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n How is this possible, though?<\/p>\n Conventional wisdom tells us we need to master the skill or trade we want to make a profession out of, or that we need lots of money or financing to build something profitably.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s Jon, a person who self admits to having \u201czero\u201d technical ability, yet he\u2019s started multiple businesses with no debt or financing.<\/p>\n What is Jon doing differently that allows him to succeed where so many others fail?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the question I wanted to know, so I hopped on a call with him last week to interview him about his most recent business: VelocityPage.com.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The story behind Jon Nastor\u2019s most recent startup, VelocityPage.com<\/a>, is eye-opening.<\/p>\n As I mentioned previously, Jon has no programming \/ engineering \/ technical skills to speak of, yet he bootstrapped a profitable tech company from scratch in less than two years (with close to 500 customers at the time of this writing).<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the exact process he used:<\/p>\n Jon started with his own problem: creating pages on Wordpess is a pain.<\/p>\n WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that millions of bloggers, writers, and companies use to publish their content online (I\u2019m using it right now).<\/p>\n The problem with WordPress: it\u2019s a difficult, time-consuming process to edit and publish pages because you have to do everything from the backend of WordPress.<\/p>\n But what if it didn\u2019t have to be this way?<\/p>\n What if there were a simple \u201cWhat You See Is What You Get\u201d (WYSIWYG) interface that allowed you to edit directly from the front end of a WordPress site?<\/p>\n So the idea for VelocityPage.com was born\u2026<\/p>\n Really, Jon didn\u2019t even bother with a business plan.<\/p>\n Instead, he opened up a notepad and wrote down 8 sentences about the product, how it would work, who needs it, and why it matters.<\/p>\n Just to reiterate, because this is important:<\/p>\n 8 sentences.<\/i><\/p>\n That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n Jon did NOT spend weeks or months researching whether this was technically possible, or what he should price the product at, or what he should call the business, or setting up legal entities, or trademarking whatever...<\/p>\n He simply wrote out the general idea on a piece of paper and that was enough to proceed.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Because according to Jon: \u201cthe best products die a slow death.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words: the moment you have an idea for something that might work is the time to act on it. Now, not later.<\/p>\n At this point, Jon had an idea, he knew where he would fit into the equation (sales and product development), but he was still missing an essential element of the business:<\/p>\n A developer to bring his idea to life.<\/p>\n There are a multitude of strategies out there for getting someone on board to build your idea, but I\u2019ll highlight the best options for bootstrappers here:<\/p>\n The simplest solution: hire a programmer.<\/p>\n Jon was looking for a programmer, which means he would probably have to scour through odesk.com or elance.com to find the right freelancer for the job.<\/p>\n Pros: <\/b><\/p>\n Cons:<\/b><\/p>\n Jon didn\u2019t want to spend a lot of time or money developing this idea before he could validate it, so this option was out.<\/p>\n Because Jon didn\u2019t possess the technical skills to build VelecityPage.com from scratch, nor did he want to pump a lot of money into the project to get it started, his best option was to find a collaborative partner.<\/p>\n One of the ways to find a collaborator is to go through networks that you\u2019re already a part of to source someone with the abilities that you need and that compliment your skillset (and personality).<\/p>\n Pros:<\/b><\/p>\n Cons:<\/b><\/p>\n Sadly, the people who are closest to us are rarely the best fit for an idea. Further, someone you are close to is more likely to be motivated by the idea because you\u2019re motivated by it, which means there\u2019s no real opportunity to indifferently judge the merits of the idea (which is a dangerous road to go down).<\/p>\n In either case, if it\u2019s not a good fit, this can delay the launch of the product or kill it slowly over months.<\/p>\n Jon couldn\u2019t afford either situation, so he chose the only option that was left:<\/p>\n Instead of putting time or money into the idea, Jon cut straight to the point.<\/p>\n He was already familiar with the WordPress platform and in particular the brains behind it. So Jon reached out to a lead developer of WordPress, Mark Jacquith<\/a>, to pitch his idea.<\/p>\n The first email Jon sent received no response.<\/i><\/p>\n So Jon sent another email.<\/p>\n No response.<\/i><\/p>\n Jon reached out through Twitter to let Mark know he had emailed him an idea. Mark responded and said he\u2019d take a look.<\/p>\n Jon didn\u2019t expect a quick response - Mark is a busy guy.<\/p>\n To Jon\u2019s surprise, Mark reached out to him to set up a call almost immediately.<\/p>\n The VelocityPage.com team was born.<\/p>\n There are a few reasons teaming up with the best in the world is a powerful (and oftentimes - best) business solution.<\/p>\n Pareto\u2019s Principle - or the 80\/20 rule - is a concept that says 80% of our results come from 20% of effort.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s not always a direct ratio; oftentimes it can be even more extreme 1% of the work could yield 90% of the results or more.<\/p>\n In the case of building a company from scratch, joining forces with the best in the world in any particular industry slingshots you ahead of the competition.<\/p>\n For example, because Mark is so well known in the WordPress community, when VelocityPage.com did their first launch, the promotion of which consisted of a single tweet from Mark to his Twitter followers, they sold almost 50 licenses immediately.<\/p>\n That\u2019s several thousand $ from a single Tweet.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the power of Pareto\u2019s Principle and the power of teaming up with the best in the world<\/p>\n No, just because someone successful or famous likes your idea doesn\u2019t mean it will succeed.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s a better indicator than your mom, stylist, or bartender, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n And it\u2019s an even better indicator when they say \u201cyes, I\u2019ll work on this with you for equity.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: for Jon and Mark to officially validate VelocityPage.com, they had to build a working prototype and sell licenses (for money). This development process took 14 months from idea to launch - much longer than Jon would have liked, but this was a collaborative side-project for both of them (had this had been their primary focus, Jon says they could have had something ready in a few months).<\/p>\n As of the time of this writing, VelocityPage.com has close to 500 customers and they are actually looking to scale.<\/p>\n (and if you do the math, that means in less than one year after launch, the team has sold anywhere from $50,000 - $120,000 in licenses, based on their current pricing)<\/p>\n Not if you want to multiply your efforts and create a bigger impact.<\/p>\n As a solopreneur or solo-operator, you are the weakest link in your business. When you work solo, everything needs to go through you - you become the funnel for every decision, every action, and all progress made\u2026<\/p>\n Or lost.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s say you\u2019re capable of creating initial success, of getting the prototype functioning and operational; let\u2019s say you even get orders of your new software almost from the beginning\u2026<\/p>\n How can you possibly expand and grow if you\u2019re working alone? Handling the engineering, product development, and marketing and sales simultaneously?<\/p>\n It can work....<\/p>\n For a time.<\/p>\n But there will come a time when you burn out or hit a plateau you can\u2019t scale out of (no matter what technology you have at your disposal).<\/p>\n Virtual assistants are great if you just want to maintain what you\u2019re doing by optimizing and systematizing your processes, but they\u2019re a terrible solution if you want real growth (i.e. new customers, new clients, new sales - and the ability to scale).<\/p>\n Teaming up with someone - even if he or she is not the best in the world in that particular area - is the ONLY way to build a business that can grow, scale, and ultimately: operate without you.<\/b><\/p>\n Note: it doesn\u2019t have to start with an official partnership or by finding a co-founder...<\/p>\n Now to clarify a very important part of this post:<\/p>\n Jon wasn't a programmer, he wasn't a designer, and he had only been working online for a few years...<\/p>\n But what he lacked in technical skills (and financing and other resources), he made up for\u00a0by adding incredible value in another way:<\/p>\n Jon took the lead on sales.<\/strong> He told Mark if they can build it, he can sell it.<\/p>\n While Jon had prior experience in sales, it's important to realize\u00a0that you don't NEED experience in sales to start a venture if you're willing to LEARN\u00a0how to sell. And anyone in the world can learn to sell. If these two girls from Indonesia can't prove that to you, nothing can.<\/a><\/p>\n So if there's a major takeaway from this article, I hope its this:<\/p>\n You don't need money, or technical skills, or connections to build a business from scratch. But you must be a \"value-add.\"<\/p>\n And if you're not bringing money, connections or an audience to the table, you better bring hustle.<\/p>\n There are dozens of collaborative projects that start as basic ideas and grow into massively successful ventures.<\/p>\n Here are just a few examples:<\/p>\n There are many more, but these are just a few of the people I\u2019ve interviewed about their collaborative ventures in the past couple months.<\/p>\nHow to Start a Business - No Tech Skills Required<\/h1>\n
Step 1: Identify a Need in the Marketplace<\/h2>\n
![\"velocitypage\"](\"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/velocitypage.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nStep 2: Write Down Your \u201cBack of Napkin\u201d Business Plan<\/h2>\n
Step 3: Assemble the Team<\/h2>\n
1. Hire talent<\/h3>\n
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2. Find a collaborative partner through friends, forums, meetups, or other groups<\/h3>\n
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3. Find the best in the world - join forces<\/h3>\n
Why Teaming Up With the Best in the World Works<\/h1>\n
1. Teaming up with the best in the world leverages Pareto\u2019s Principle<\/h2>\n
2. Teaming up with the best in the world is (initial) validation<\/h2>\n
![\"velocitypage](\"https:\/\/tommorkes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/velocitypage-pricing.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n3. Because you can\u2019t go it alone<\/h2>\n
What You Need to Do to Replicate These Results<\/h1>\n
More Examples of Successful Collaboration<\/h1>\n
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