This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Greetings and welcome. This is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School and today I've got something new and not by design, okay? Something new and not by design. We're gonna call it the story that wasn't, all right? It began when we received a story submission that used a word that I always find strange.
I'm not sure when I first heard this word, but whenever I did, I was like, no, that's an unusual word. And that word was pre-revenue, pre-revenue. So, as you know, we expect the case studies that we feature on the show to be very candid with us in terms of financial details. That's been the case from episode number one. And I do it because of the purpose of what we're trying to accomplish here.
It's not just to feature business profiles. It's not just to say like, hey, look at this nice business, but rather to kind of dive into the details and do something that is truly helpful to listeners. And everything I do is for individuals, not companies, right? So, if you're an individual who is new to this world and you're trying to figure out which project should I pursue? Can I really have a second income?
Can I do something apart from my day job? When I'm really busy, got a lot of pressure and responsibilities, what can I make happen? Well, if that's your situation, then you want to know the ins and outs of every story. So, anyway, that word, again, pre-revenue, what does that even mean? I thought about it and I was like, well, when I was in college, I was pre-revenue, you know?
Like another word for broke, essentially. Can you go to your landlord when your rent is due and say, oh, you know what? I know that rent is due, I owe you some money, but I'm pre-revenue right now. It doesn't usually work like that, at least in most parts of the world, which by that I mean everywhere. So, for today's story, let's say in place of today's story, I'm gonna tell you the story that wasn't.
And we'll talk about what we're really trying to do here as we prepare for a big new year. So, here's a word from our sponsor and then we'll dive into this in a bit more detail. [Music]
Okay, let's talk about the story that wasn't. Now, first and foremost, I just wanna say like, I'm not gonna name and shame, you know, it's not so much like, hey, look at this person, you know, what a bad idea. I mean, it is kind of a bad idea, let's just be honest, but I'm not gonna say like who the person is and where they're from and all that.
Because the point is to highlight why the side hustle world is so different from what a lot of people think about when they think about starting a business. And it's not necessarily an individual's fault for thinking this way because there are so many models and stories and, you know, they watch a TV show and they think, oh, this is how it has to be. So, I get it. But, you know, just to jump into the story itself, basically what came to us and we actually went through the whole process of like going through the interview and writing things up. Normally, we would catch something like this on the front end, but in this case, we didn't.
So it came to me at the end and I was like, wait a second, what is this thing here? Because basically, like the short version of the pitch was, you know, we've got this idea, we think it's gonna be really great. And, you know, all we need to make it happen is $170,000, you know, and also it'll probably take us two years. So $170,000 in, you know, two years, you know, that's all we need, basically. And all of that, of course, is problematic enough on its own.
But then when I looked a little bit more at the service, it was like, well, there's no clear revenue model here. Like why are people going to pay for this? Or at least it was very fuzzy. It was very much a deferred revenue model in the sense of not just was the revenue itself deferred, but the idea of like what the revenue would be was deferred. And I probably shouldn't have to say this, but, you know, I'm not surprised necessarily again, that on the outside world, the non-Sydosle school listing world, people think this is normal.
But it's really not, or at least it shouldn't be, or it doesn't have to be, let's say. So as I looked at this, I was like, well, basically they're seeking investors, you know, for an unproven idea. And when it comes to proof, like let's just look at that for a second. You know, I often say like you don't need proof, you know, to move forward with the Sydosle idea. Well, that's true for many of the projects that we talk about, but maybe you should have some proof, some real validation before you spend two years and $170,000 of somebody else's money, or of your own money, right?
That the whole point of the Sydosle model is it's low risk. So you don't have to go through an extensive validation process. You can just kind of experiment. And the cost of failure is low. Yes, not everything is going to work out, but that's okay.
Not everything in the startup world works out. You know, and they often will spend hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars, you know, hiring people, going through all kinds of stuff, only to find out that they didn't actually have a, you know, a viable idea in the first place. So here's the thing, you know, does it ever make sense to raise investor funds, you know, to go down that route? I'm sure that it does. And so this is not a blanket criticism of every company that raises money.
I mean, companies tend to do that. But as I said in the beginning, like all of my work is not for companies, it's for individuals. And every one that I'm trying to speak to is just somebody out there and they're just a person, they've got a job. And they're trying to do something for themselves. They're trying to do something for their family.
They're trying to have security. They're trying to have, you know, as I say, every single day, pretty much more than one source of income, because that is critical. That brings you more options. That brings you possibilities. It's just a positive virtuous cycle.
So those are the people that I'm trying to reach. And I can only speak from my experience, okay? So when I say, does it ever make sense to do it another way? Of course it does. But I can only speak from my experience.
I don't advise traditional startups or companies. My experience is one of 20 years now of starting entrepreneurial projects that are typically in the low to mid six figure range. And so money is relative, but like I like to be specific about money here on the program. And I mentioned that just so you know my background. And that's why I'm so attracted to this model.
Like I am an evangelist for it because I do believe that there is something everyone can do. I don't guarantee that everyone can make six figures of course, but I think it is possible with a relatively brief period of time by truly looking at your existing skills, maybe learning some very basic business skills, nothing too complicated, just the stuff I talk about every day, it is possible to be making some extra money in a short period of time that may in fact go on to be a lot more as you hear in story after story. And so when it comes to this whole thing about like startup versus side hustle model, like I have really come to believe more and more that it's not just different. Like it's obviously different. Like here's a perspective, here's another perspective.
I honestly believe that for a lot of people it's better. I mean, that's why I am an evangelist for this model. And again, I'm probably biased from my own experience, but somebody asked me recently, I wrote a book called "The $100 Startup" also about a decade ago, it's been a while. Somebody asked me what I would do differently about that book. That's the book of mine that has sold the most number of copies, is known the most around the world.
And it was a good question. Like what I would do differently now. And I said that I wish I had more aggressively critiqued the traditional startup model. Because in that book I provided an alternative, but I actually wish now that I was even more explicit in saying it's not just different, it's better, at least for most people. And again, this isn't a blanket denunciation of another way of doing things.
It's just a perspective based on seeing a lot of different individuals now because you can learn a lot from a failure. And if your costs of failure are low, then what's the big deal? Okay, I tried something. Maybe I spent a little bit of money on it. Maybe I spent a few weeks, a few months, whatever it is.
That's a lot better than losing $170,000 in two years of your life. So my suggestion to anyone out there who is trying to find their way, there's lots of stuff you could do in life. When it comes to your side hustle, why not do something that gives you the best possible odds of success with the lowest risk in the event of failure? And that's what we're trying to do here every single day. So that story just came to me all nice and wrapped up in a bow, but it didn't work.
So I wanted to be honest with you and tell you here's what I think is a better way forward. [Music]
Well, that was of course unusual. I'll let me know what you think about it. Like I said, I just wanna be fully transparent with you. When I saw that story, I was like, nope, that's not gonna work and I wanna tell people why.
Okay, so this has been a special production of the story that wasn't. Remember most of all to always think for yourself, right? Always think for yourself if you hear something, whether it's from me or any other source, you gotta filter it through your experience. You gotta filter it and say, does that make sense for me? Is that wisdom that I can apply to myself or is it something that I should just discard?
Because you are ultimately the one that's gonna do the work. So you gotta find something that works for you. All right, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. I'm not sure what kind of show notes we're gonna have for this episode, but we'll figure something out and they will be at sidehustleschool.com/1085, 1085. Okay, final week of holidays coming up and then we're going into a big new year.
Do come back and join me, do send your friends, it's all completely free. I can't wait to share it with you. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
