Pat Walls

August 6th, 2020

Happiness happens after being present. Being present happens after taking action.

Taking action can be as simple as choosing to read a book for an hour, or meeting with a friend for coffee, or coding a new feature.

The key is that these actions are proactive, not passive.

Passive actions, like watching TV or scrolling Instagram, will not put you in the present, and therefore will not lead to feeling happy.

I try to follow this four-step process:

Take action
Be in the present
Experience happiness
Acknowledge this feeling and repeat Step 1

AB Test: Scrolling Table Of Contents

August 5th, 2020

Hypothesis

Showing the reader their progress in a table of contents on the right side of the article will increase time on site and decrease bounce rate.

Why do this? Because search engines care about dwell time. The more I can keep visitors on the page, the better.

Here's a GIF of what it looks like in action.

Since this table of contents only appears on desktop screens, I'll create a custom report in GA that cuts the data by the AB test, and also filters the results down to Device=Desktop:

Side note: Anybody have any idea how I can make a table of contents also work on mobile?

Once, I'm in the report, I'll put another dimension in called "Landing Page" because I want to look at the metrics at the page level and for users that landed on that page (usually from Google Search).

How to drill down to specific landing page.

Results

The table of contents performed significantly better than the control group in terms of time on site.

For this test I ran two control groups, control and control2, so only 33% of users saw the table of contents.

It's so obviously better that I don't even need to plug the data into an AB test calculator.

Here are the results for three popular pages on Starter Story:

2x time on site, more pages, lower bounce rate

1.5x time on site, no change in pages or bounce rate

4-5x increase in time on site, more pages, better bounce rate

As a whole, it also increased the likelihood to subscribe to the Starter Story email list, which was an unexpected benefit:

July 2020: Grow!

August 4th, 2020

July 2020 was an all-time record month for revenue and content published. It was also a record for organic traffic. It was our second-best month of all time in terms of traffic and new email subscribers.

While June focused more on experimentation and change in vision, July was all about putting our heads down and working on these new ideas.

Over the weekend, a couple of friends asked me “so what’s the plan for Starter Story?”. It’s an interesting question because it kind of implies that what we’re doing now is not sustainable. Although the business model is unique, Starter Story is very sustainable and actually prime for a lot more growth.

The “plan” for Starter Story is to keep building a media company. We will be Forbes meets Crunchbase, but niched down to small and online businesses.

We will be taking most of our profits and investing in this growth, mainly growth in content. There is still so much opportunity in growing our web traffic. We just had our best month of all time in organic traffic, and this was from some minimal SEO efforts. I believe we are just scratching the surface here.

Our advantage here is this custom CMS that we are building behind the scenes. It will allow us to scale content, and retain a very valuable database of case studies, businesses, business ideas, and thousands of more data points about starting a business. Think Crunchbase meets Forbes, for small and online businesses.

Gross bookings for the premium subscription hit $14K this month (not accrual), an all-time high and an 80% increase month over month!

We landed our first “enterprise” deal, an online school that was interested in a bulk subscription package for their students.

We are continuing to build out more diverse content types like business names posts, business ideas inspiration roundups, and more how-to guides.

Our new long-form style of the weekly newsletter is performing very well, driving 2-3x more clicks than the old ones, and also driving revenue for the business.

Last month, we tried some changes to the site to see if they would increase time on site and other metrics (one example). The results were not great. The learning here is that great, targeted content is the ultimate factor in user experience and retention.

Finally, we are lucky to have Klaviyo on as our sponsor for another year! This added investment will allow us to keep our focus on growth, just like we’ve done over the last 2 years.

July Numbers

- Monthly revenue (accrual): $12,367 (+4%)

- Traffic: 101k unique users (+19%)

- Content published: +116 (+6%)

- New email subscribers (net): +1,940 (-21%)

- Email collection rate: 3.12% (-8%)

- Avg time on site: 98 seconds (+2%)

- Avg pages per session: 1.75 (-5%)

Plans for August

August will be all about producing, scaling, and outsourcing new great content:

Produce 200 pieces of content in August
Hire new writers and content managers to enable more content.
Continue building out features of custom CMS to enable faster content production.
Add and curate more data points on businesses, business ideas, etc. Improve data scraping and automation features.
Training/outsourcing of how-to guides posts.
Training/outsourcing of business names posts, including business name generator widget and features.
Training/outsourcing of business ideas/roundup posts.
Increase outreach for new interviews.
Roll out new location-based roundup posts (best business ideas in Nashville, TN)
Roll out new content around creating an LLC, business plan, etc

Obsession

August 3rd, 2020

In 2004, I got my first Apple product, a Mac Mini loaded with the industry-changing Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

When I turned on the computer, I fell in love.

I spent hours toggling every setting in System Preferences because I wanted to see and know EVERYTHING that I could do with it.

I became an Apple fanboy overnight. My Safari home page was set to apple.com. I watched all the product keynotes. I even worked at the Apple store.

Life was Apple, and Apple was life.

I was obsessed.

My obsession with Apple is not unique - my three decades on earth have been filled with hundreds of obsessions.

The word "obsession" may have a negative connotation, but I do not see it that way. For me, obsession is a very strong dose of curiosity and passion.

When I think back on these obsessions, I do not cringe. I'm actually nostalgic. I was living life to the fullest. I was learning, I was present, I was passionate, and I was doing exactly what the fuck I wanted to.

You might also be the type of person that obsesses over things. Maybe this doesn't sound all that crazy to you.

We are not crazy, but we're also not normal. Most people don't obsess over things to the level that we do.

Think hard about the people around you, your coworkers, friends, and your family. Sure, everybody has things that they enjoy, but are they crossing that line into obsession?

Many people say they love Kanye's music, but do they know every lyric from every song on every album? As well as the story and media behind how those songs came to be? I do.

You're not passionate about half the shit that you into.

- Earl Sweatshirt

Our affinity to obsess over things is not a learned skill. It is something we are born with. It is a gift (if you want to look at it that way).

The term "obsessed" has many negative connotations, for good reason. It can interfere with our mental health, as well as our relationships. Watch out for that.

But, how much would life suck if we didn't get obsessed? Life would be so dull.

Most great creatives, entrepreneurs, and leaders are obsessive.

As we get older, we can learn to channel these obsessions away from outside things (such as artists, brands & politics) and into becoming obsessed with our own creations.

Obsession is part of our default settings, we shouldn't ever fight it.

Righting A Wrong

July 28th, 2020

Two years ago, right after I quit my full-time job, I discovered that a popular podcast was using Starter Story for leads.

I wouldn't usually have a problem with this, but this podcast was not interviewing founders - it just had a narrator who would tell stories about businesses.

An employee of this podcast company was reaching out to people I interviewed and told them they would just take the content from their Starter Story interview and repurpose it.

When I heard this, I was livid.

I sent them a super nasty email, and I included the both the founder and that employee on the email.

Have you ever heard of a nastygram? This was a nastygram. I was rude, aggressive, and mean.

I think about this often, and the more time goes on, the more I realize how out of line I was.

While the employee of this company probably was not going about things in the best way, they definitely didn't have malicious intentions towards me or my business.

That mean note I sent may have caused that employee to have a really bad day, or a bad week - maybe they even feared losing their job or something. It is unacceptable to ever make anyone feel that way.

I really regret how I acted. Being angry at other people/businesses is not worth it - running a business is already hard enough.

Today, I'm apologizing.

I think it's important to right our wrongs. I have experienced the other side of this, where someone apologized to me years later. When they did this, all my hatred for them vanished, and I still think of them fondly.

You Are Interesting

July 27th, 2020

Do you have friends?

If the answer is yes, then you are an interesting person.

Your friends want to be around you because you add some sort of value to their lives.

The same goes for being a mentor at work, a teacher, a manager, a father, and an employee. You add value.

If you want, you can also add that same value to the rest of the world.

You can blog, make videos, write books, make music, write code, make art, and so much more.

You will become rich and famous simply by being interesting, at scale.

And more importantly, you will have an impact on the world and inspire others, all it takes is being yourself.

The hardest part is channeling your true interestingness.

It’s so hard to not focus on how everyone else is more interesting than you - but that's all in your head.

That is one of my own biggest challenges - to kill the stupid voice in my head worrying that I’m not interesting enough.

I Hate Being A _____

July 26th, 2020

If you want to become an accountant, you need to go to university for at least 5 years.

This is wrong because the classroom doesn’t give students an accurate picture of what it’s like to really be an accountant.

Once these students get into the real world, they might actually hate everything about being an accountant.

This is actually the case for me - I majored in accounting. It was one of the most sought-after majors at my school, and I bought into all of the hype on campus. I worked my ass off to get good grades. Once I got a job offer from a top firm, I had visions of working there for 12+ years and becoming partner.

But that all changed on my first day on the job in 2013. It was blatantly obvious that accounting wasn’t the right career for me - I knew it right away.

I felt like I had been bait-and-switched. My professors and the recruiters painted a much different picture of what it was like to be an accountant...

At that point, I had to dig myself out. I had to move quickly. I didn’t know what my next career would be, but I knew I needed to move in a new direction.

After that fateful day in 2013, I started a series of pivots. Not startup pivots, but career pivots.

It took me 11 months just to get out of that first crappy job, and I found a job at a startup. At that startup, I learned how databases are structured and how to build apps with that startup’s no-code solution.

After 1.5 years there, I enrolled in a coding boot camp. After that, I became a software engineer. After 2 years of writing code at multiple companies, I finally started my own business.

During these 5+ years of pivoting, I wasn’t concerned with my title, my pay, or working at a name-brand company. I was focused on finding work that I truly enjoyed.

In 2017, I finally find something that I truly loved, building products and online businesses.

I think we should treat our careers as a series of pivots.

For your career, what you study in college is the equivalent of spending 4 years building a product, never talking to customers, and never launching. Until you get into the real world, you'll have no idea if it actually works.

My dad studied marine biology in college. He runs hotels now.

My mom studied journalism. She is now a therapist.

Advice

If you’re currently enrolled in school, try to get real-world experience as soon as possible.

Think hard about what you really want to do in life, not what your parents or your professors want you to do.

Get advice and feedback from people outside the field, and avoid advice from people that are trying to hire you - they will always lie about what the job is actually like.

For anyone who hates their current career: do something. Don’t quit your job just because you hate it. Find a way to take your knowledge and apply it to something else, start a side project, or find a company that is a better culture fit for you.

The Unknown

July 25th, 2020

I’ve changed my mindset about COVID.

I’m no longer concerned about when it will end.

There will be no “end” to coronavirus. There will be a vaccine and things will get better, but much of our world will change going forward.

I’m not here to argue what will change specifically, but I am here to argue that change is and has always been inevitable.

Everything changes everywhere all the time, before and after COVID.

I was chatting with someone last night, and they said something along the lines of:

“It’s been really hard here lately for me. I can’t do X and I really miss doing Y. I’m so excited for coronavirus to be over so I can get back to my normal life”.

How long are you willing to wait for things to be like they used to be? 6 months? 2 years? Your whole life?

You might be waiting for your whole life.

In hip hop culture, there is a stereotypical character called the “old head”.

The old head reminisces on the days of 2Pac. When they hear the new music that’s popular, they will always compare it to the “good old days”, and they usually hate all new music for that reason.

These people live in the past.

What if we could accept that new and old music are the product of the change in our world, and that’s a good thing?

We put off accepting change because we are all very reactive. We say: “I’ll start my diet on Monday”.

I’m trying to be more proactive instead of reactive. Changing my life and my business today, instead of sitting around and waiting for it all to become “normal” again.

I don't wait for the world. The world waits for me.

Make Art, Not Opinions

July 24th, 2020

95% of people create nothing and have tons of opinions.

5% of people create everything and have very few opinions.

Why?

As a creator, I believe my impact comes from what I create, not from what I say.

I only believe this because I’ve been conditioned to - my creations have brought me money, status, respect, and personal fulfillment. What I create has an impact.

My opinions have brought me nothing more than agreement or argument.

Want to be really persuasive? Make cool shit.

Tweet More

July 23rd, 2020

I’m going to start tweeting again.

I will try to care less about the performance of my tweets.

I won’t tweet euphemisms, hot takes, or the outrage du jour.

I will share the real things I’m learning in business and in life - just like I used to.

Go against the grain.

Everyone is unique and interesting and has important things to say - the hardest part is getting the confidence to actually say it (& keeping that confidence).

We are all learning so much every day. Share it with the world - stop keeping it all bottled up!!

(see you on Twitter)

AB Test: Testimonials At Checkout

July 23rd, 2020

Hypothesis:

Showing testimonials from users at checkout will increase conversion rate.

Here's the difference:

Results:

No testimonials: 0.875% conversion rate
With testimonials: 0.995% conversion rate

The test is not statistically significant, but it does perform better, and I think the testimonials are better anyways. The testimonials themselves need some work so that may improve things a bit.

AB Test: Scrolling Progress Indicator

July 22nd, 2020

Hypothesis:

Adding a dynamic progress bar in the header of my articles would increase time on site.

The scrolling progress bar looked like this:

Results:

The scrolling progress bar actually performed worse for session duration, bounce rate, and pages per session.

Average session duration:

Without progress bar: 1:48
With the progress bar: 1:38

Bounce rate:

Without progress bar: 64.5%
With the progress bar: 65.2%

Pages / session:

Without progress bar: 1.8
With the progress bar: 1.74

The test ran for about 3 weeks. It’s been removed from the site now.

I’m not sure why this performed worse, maybe it scared readers by showing them just how long some of the articles were, especially on mobile.

Katie

July 21st, 2020

I had two conversations with people about COVID today.

One was with a dentist in New York City. He said:

“We’re only seeing about 40% of the business that we used to. The PPP money is running out. I also had to fire our maid because I can’t trust where she’s been. Tomorrow, I’m driving to Texas to pick up my grandparents because I’m afraid they’ll be infected.”

The other conversation was with my new friend, Katie. She said:

“I think this is a great time to be in New York City. My business has been affected, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m spending more time doing outdoor activities and hanging out with my friends than ever before. I wake up early every day and do activities and I feel great.”

Katie went searching and identified something positive that came from this pandemic - and she chose to communicate that with me instead of defaulting to dread (like most people do).

This kind of positive attitude is infectious, and we talked for some time about the positive things that will come out of this pandemic.

I’m tired of hearing about the COVID dread - and it’s nice to find other people that feel the same way.

We should all be more like Katie, and also surround ourselves with more Katies.

Commiserate

July 20th, 2020

One of the hardest parts about owning a business is that I can't commiserate with anyone about my struggles.

Not with my employees, my customers, my investors (if I had any), and not with my co-founders.

Sometimes, I just want to complain! But that is a very dangerous thing to do.

Even if I'm just irritable and tired, like today, I cannot show it.

When messages and emails come in, it's my duty as a business owner and a leader to handle them as promptly and correctly as possible - and to show no complaints while doing so.

When I was an employee, I could complain all I wanted. I could take the onus off of myself in most situations, and wave my hands in the air in surrender when I didn't have an answer.

If I did this as a founder, my company wouldn't exist anymore, and nobody would want to work for me.

It is the leader's job to always have the solution - every question or unknown must have an answer, a plan, and a way to move forward.

It is an amazing experience in personal growth. I'd recommend it to everyone.

note: the only acceptable people to commiserate with are other founders, which is always nice. Or with friends and family, but often they can't relate.

Bias Towards Action

July 19th, 2020

There are two types of people in this world:

People that say they want to do things
People that do things

If you want to do something, then why haven’t you already gotten started?

Let me give an example: running a half marathon.

Here’s how these two people would approach this:

“I’ve always wanted to run a half marathon. I’d like to do it by the time I’m 40.”
“When’s the next half marathon in my city? Ok, I’m signing up for it right now.”

Logged out

July 18th, 2020

Why do we need to be constantly logged in to YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter?

These apps all work fine anonymously - we can still watch YouTube videos without being signed in. We can still browse Reddit without an account.

These companies really want us to always be logged in, for obvious reasons.

But what’s our incentive? So we can be served the “best” content - so we can feel connected and up to date?

While logged in, my YouTube recommended feed is doing a great job of serving me interesting content - but is that a good thing? Do I need to watch another video on the Astros cheating scandal? Probably not.

Nowadays, I try to stay logged out as much as I can.

Sometimes I need to post things and respond to messages or comments. In these moments, I will log in temporarily, but be sure to log out right after.

Afraid of missing out on some great content? Don’t worry - you won’t miss much.

I’ll still come across the best content organically - such as a friend sending me a video or a tweet, or when I go searching for that content with intent.

And I can still enjoy it without logging in!

The Media

July 17th, 2020

The media is incentivized to exaggerate things to build a narrative.

The coverage of coronavirus reminds me of 9/11 when many people were driven by fear to fight terrorism and invade the Middle East.

It seems that the media benefits if COVID gets worse. They're incentivized to create fear.

What if COVID wasn't actually as bad as it seems? Would the media follow that lede? Of course not.

Conversation between regular people in LA & NYC

6AM

July 16th, 2020

I love playing tennis.

Although I'm a runner, I think I like tennis more right now.

I wake up at 6 AM every day to get to the courts early.

Here in New York City, the courts are crowded and sometimes I have to wait for up to two hours, just to play for one hour.

If you wake up at 6 AM to do anything voluntarily, it's a pretty good sign you love doing it.

I don't even own a racket. I've just borrowed my friend's racket who never plays.

It's funny how people own things and never use them.

Most people buy these things to feel good - like people who love the idea of tennis so they buy the rackets, the tennis bag, the shoes, the balls, the attire, but then play once a year.

True passion doesn't care about any of that.

It's the same for starting a business. Some people do it for the status, the LinkedIn bio, or so they can introduce themselves as a 'founder'.

But the real entrepreneurs just quietly wake up at 6 AM every day and work.

I don't care about my racket, how I look, what shoes I use. I just want to go out and play.

It's what gets me out of bed at 6 AM every day.

Perfect Moments

July 15th, 2020

Have you ever experienced that small moment in time when everything feels perfect?

When you feel completely content with your life. When you feel that you could die right then and it would be fine. When you don’t want anything more, or anything less. Where you don’t feel lonely or anxious or self-conscious, just bliss.

It usually only lasts for a few minutes, sometimes an hour or two. Maybe after a great workout. Or after a successful business day. Or with someone you love.

Right now I’m having one of those moments. Life is good. I finished up my work for the day and walked to a small city park and read my new book.

Then I walked to the Hudson River and I’m watching the sunset. I’m just by myself, typing out this note on my phone on the Apple notes app.

My phone's in airplane mode and I’m just chilling and thinking and by myself.

These moments are quite rare for me, so I felt compelled to get it on paper as the moment is happening.

Lately, I’ve been having more of these moments. Maybe it’s because I’m finally back in New York, or because business has been good lately.

I never know how many more moments of these you’ll have. When they happen, I’d like to record them by writing them down, recording a voice memo, or talking about them with our friends and family.

Talkers

July 14th, 2020

In every industry, there will always be “talkers”.

The people that are always talking a big game. They say things with a lot of conviction and sound really smart - and sometimes make you feel dumb.

If you ever get a chance to look under the hood, you’ll discover these people have nothing. They have no success, no money, and they’re really annoying to be around.

Their life is a constant cover-up. They can’t improve their business and/or life because all of their mental energy is spent on talking - and inflating their image.

It’s not their fault, though. When they grew up, they never got to learn the concept of hard work. They learned that they could use their words to get through most of life. They believe that how you’re perceived is more important than who you are, deep down.

For them, things “got done” because they lied and said they did, or “money was made” because they raised money from investors.

No, things only get done if you do them, and money only gets made if you sold your product to real customers with real money that is sitting in your real bank account.

If someone’s a talker, everyone around them already knows it, but they’re too scared to say it - or everyone gossips about them behind their back.

Regardless, nobody will ever trust them with their time/money/companionship - not even their closest "friends". It’s quite a sad life.