Le Tote Founder Brett Northart on Building First Version of Your Product – Hustle Con 2016

About this video

Brett Northcutt, founder of Tote (a fashion rental subscription service), discusses the critical early stages of building a startup, from validating the initial idea through achieving product-market fit. He shares how he and his co-founders went from quitting finance jobs and working out of a kids’ playroom to raising over $30 million, emphasizing the importance of speed over perfection, talking to customers, charging money early, and iterating based on feedback.

Key takeaways

• Product-market fit is the only thing that matters when starting a business; it requires putting something out into the world that resonates with consumers, even if it’s not perfect
• Build your MVP (minimum viable product) with the tools and skills you already have rather than trying to learn new ones; Brett and his co-founder used Excel and PowerPoint extensively in the early days instead of hiring expensive engineers
• Talk to customers constantly, charge them money from the start, and iterate based on their feedback; Brett discovered his assumptions about target demographic, customer preferences, and revenue streams were wrong, but only learned this by actively engaging with users
• Surround yourself with a support system of co-founders, family, and friends who can help you execute; this support network is critical during the difficult early phase when you hear ’no’ frequently
• Use inexpensive tactics like referral programs and exclusivity to acquire early customers; Tote gathered 25,000 email addresses in the first few months through a simple referral incentive that required only printing tote bags

Episode details: published June 15, 2016 · 2.5K views · 15:23 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.

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