620: (Solo) The Secret to Making Bold Business Moves With Confidence
Episode
11 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Investing, Startups, Software Development
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Mentor Investment ROI: Chan paid one mentor $5,000 monthly for three years ($150,000 total) and generated millions in return by gaining certainty around product strategy and business model pivots.
- ✓Certainty Framework: Find someone who achieved your goal with documented systems, verify they want you to succeed, then copy their proven roadmap rather than experimenting blindly with unproven approaches.
- ✓Data-Driven Intuition: Combine gut instinct with evidence by running small tests first to validate assumptions, then scale what works rather than making large bets on untested hypotheses alone.
What It Covers
Nathan Chan explains how founders can manufacture certainty in business decisions by learning from mentors, analyzing data, and building conviction to execute bold moves confidently.
Key Questions Answered
- •Mentor Investment ROI: Chan paid one mentor $5,000 monthly for three years ($150,000 total) and generated millions in return by gaining certainty around product strategy and business model pivots.
- •Certainty Framework: Find someone who achieved your goal with documented systems, verify they want you to succeed, then copy their proven roadmap rather than experimenting blindly with unproven approaches.
- •Data-Driven Intuition: Combine gut instinct with evidence by running small tests first to validate assumptions, then scale what works rather than making large bets on untested hypotheses alone.
Notable Moment
Allison Ellsworth built Poppy prebiotic soda from kitchen experiments to a nearly $2 billion Pepsi acquisition in six years by committing fully without waiting for external validation.
Episode Transcript
Hey, founder fam. I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omnisend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for ecommerce founders. We've been recommending Omnisend to founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling to 7 figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results. Did you know on average, Omnisend customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return on investment? And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code founder 50. Just head to omnisend.com/founder without the e to get started. Alright? Now let's jump back into the show. Hey, guys. Nathan here. Today, I wanna talk about something I think every founder wrestles with, especially this time of year. You've got promotions going on. You're starting to plan out the year. And how do you know what the right moves are? It's the question of certainty. It's a really interesting one. And it's this question of, like, how does some people just know their product will work? How do they know their brand will grow? Their launch is going to crush. And how do you know what to go after and what not to? Because I think oftentimes what holds us back when it comes to making that phone call, you know, reaching out to that person, you know, working on that marketing activity even if you don't want to do it, if it's a level of fear and it's a lack of certainty that is holding you back. And I wanna get into how you can actually manufacture your certainty. Hear the stories. Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship. Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chen. Here's the thing. Right? I've been thinking and reflecting on some of the best business moves I've made in my career, in the history of building founder, and some of the best moves I've made, and the best execution have been when I'm operating from a true place of certainty and strength. As an example, I remember when I was trying to get an interview with Richard Branson, it was already done in my mind. And I just knew I was gonna get it. I I just I just knew, and I just keep chipping away because somebody else had done it. And, like, you know, I never forget there was a time when founder was having some challenges with Facebook ads and all these different things, and I reinvented the business model, and we launched our one on one coaching program. And I knew it was gonna work. I just knew, and it did. And it ended up becoming, you know, a massive, massive arm of our business. And it's got me really reflecting as I'm thinking on the year. Like, what are we planning …
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