Hey friend,

I'm writing on a Saturday which feels weird, because for once I'm early. This past week was historic for the US, did you watch the inauguration? I've got to be honest with you, I cried a bit when Lady Gaga sang and got chills when a young Amanda Gorman was reciting her poem "The Hill We Climb".

🔥 Highlights

I made this website in 29 minutes, it's called workspeed.run. I recorded myself launching it because it's the sort of content I'd like to watch. Pro users doing certain workflows extremely fast, kind of like the subculture around speed-running games. Incidentally, I also created this no-code version after speaking with my mastermind about the initial launch. I'll update you next week on how the validation phase goes for this.
It was my brother's 39th birthday which gave me a chance to catch up with him. He is planning on creating a home decor private-label using FBA. Apparently he has been using a market research suite called Helium 10.
Spoke with Saad Selim who organized an in-person meetup last year called Seed Up. He has been grinding it through the pandemic with his delivery startup One Vim.

💔 Lowlights

I didn't make On Deck Founder Fellowship, but they invited me to First 50. This reminds me of that time in film school when I didn't get a director spot and was expected to just join a crew (I would go on to get a director spot eventually after appealing my case). To be honest I shouldn't have expected much because I could've put more effort into the application. But for any readers, I'd encourage you to apply as it is a fascinating network.
I got a $100 speeding ticket for going 41 in a 30mph! Those cameras in Washington D.C. are no joke.

🎯 Goals

Validate the workspeed.run idea by cold-emailing certain content creators on the idea. It may just be a twitch channel or subgenre of content, rather than a full blown SaaS.
Write a long form blog post on hackathons and what I've learned from them. You can check out my pre launch page for the leanpub book here.

🔗 Links

The "Growthmeter" youtube channel is highly underrated. It's mainly founder/VC interviews.
8 questions for "how to know if my startup idea is worthwhile" by Kevon Cheung
A search forum tool by Tom Zaragoza. Perfect for finding complaints and user pain points with incumbent software.

🎵 Song
Gianni Brezzo - Flower Rain

🎙️ Podcast
This crossover interview between Courtland Allen, Daniel Gross, on the TWIST podcast with Jason Calacanis. They go around sharing startups that are interesting to them and representative of their respective communities.

What sort of content diet do you personally have? Is what you're consuming related to what you want to create? What sort of balance do you think there should be between what you consume for entertainment versus information?