Coming up I’m going to share the lazy way to get started on any project. It’s the same strategy that I used to host my very first live event.
Transcript:
What is up App Nation? It is Steve P Young, founder of appmasters.com. Wow, I’m recording this the Monday after we did our very first live event called App Masters Connect. And I’m super, super excited. So we limited the event to just 50 people, and we got close to 40 – we got – actually probably over 40 people to show up.
Amazing. The feedback has been awesome. And I’m so excited to do the very next one. So if you want to be there for the next one, go check out appmastersconnect.com. Sign up for that email list, and we’ll let you know when we’ve got the date set up. Alex and I are already planning the next one. Because we just are so energized by this very first event.
And I’m going to tell you exactly how I got started. So give you a little background. I attended Pat Flynn and Chris Duckers 1-Day Business Breakthrough event in 2015. It was an awesome event, and it was something that I really liked the format of. There was mastermind hot seats, there’s speakers – and there was a lot of networking, an it was a very intimate event. Which is something I really liked, right?
And so, my vision has always been to connect with the greatest minds of the app space through my podcast, through my own mastermind – and now through live events. And so when I saw Pat’s format, I said, “I have to go. 1, because I think it’s going to be really useful. And 2, I kind of want to see how they did it, so that I can sort of iterate and bring it into my own App Space event.
So, I knew going into 2016, that this was an event that I wanted to do and host. And I kept hearing – I think it was a podcast that I heard the strategy on. They said, “Hey, if you really want to do something, tell everyone you know that you’re going to do this event – or you’re going to do it, right?” And so this is my lazy way to start – get started on any project. I just kept telling everyone that I knew that I was going to do a live event. This was something that I wanted to do.
So you know how people, you see some people, maybe their business associates. You usually say, “Hey, what’s going on? What’s new?” Things like that. Well I would just insert in there, “Hey, I really want to do an event this year. I really want to do an event this year.” So, earlier in the year, I hired a business coach to help me write for Huffington Post and other major publications. And he’s done a great job of that, thanks Kamanzee (2:49?).
So I told him, I said, “Hey, Kamanzee (2:52?), I really want to do an event.” And he put me in touch with somebody – his other coaching client who was great at putting on events. Nothing really came of it. So I didn’t stop there. It’s okay, cool. And I had – couple of months, or some time went by, and I met with Andrew Warner of Mixergy for Scotch, and I told Andrew. And I knew Andrew had put on an event last year. Said, “Andrew, I really want to put on an event.” He said, “You know what? Jeremy Weisz, who is one of the producers of Mixergy, he put on a live event. Let me get you in touch with him.”
I said, “Awesome, that would be great.” And I got in touch with Jeremy, and we exchanged some emails back and forth. Said, “Jeremy, I really want to pick your brain.” And he sent me to this blog post that he and his partner wrote about the event that they just put on, and it was phenomenal. So I got a lot of great insight on it. And nothing really came of it. Sort of fizzled.
And I started noticing that I really was looking for a blueprint, right? I was like, “Hey, if I can get some step by step guide on how to do this event, that’d be cool.” And my mind kept telling me that nobody’s going to show up for this event. So I was really afraid of doing it too. But I just kept telling people.
And wouldn’t you know it, one day my friend, Alex Dantas, he says, “Hey Steve, let’s catch up, let’s grab some lunch.” I said, “Great Alex, if you can come out to Danville, I’ll buy lunch.” That’s my strategy. I don’t want to drive anywhere. So I say, “Hey, if you can come out to Danville, I’ll always buy lunch.” So if you want to go have lunch with me, come out to Danville – and I’m more than willing to pay.”
So we do, and we get to talking. I tell Alex, “Hey Alex, I want to do an event.” Told them a story. I said, “Went to Pat Flynn’s 1-Day Business Breakthrough, it was a great format. I want to bring it into the App Space.” And we got to talking about what we really like about events, and what we really don’t like about them. And our visions aligned. We love – we’re very much extroverted people, and so we really get along that way. And 2, we really love connecting with people. Alex puts on his own events just for entrepreneurs and friends and he’s used to doing that. So he does that twice a year.
And he told me, “Steve,” Looking at me – very passionate. So our vision was aligned. We love connecting. We wanted to put on an event that connects people. ‘Cause that’s what we really love about events, right? And he said to – he said to me – he said, “Steve, you know what makes a really good event is the food and the music and the environment. That’s what a really great event is.”
And I was like, “Do you want to do this event together?” Because it really went off in my head that this guy cares about stuff that I do not care about. You could put me in a box, in a tent – with 5 other, 10 other – with just some amazing people, and feed me dog crap – right? And I’d be like, “Wow, that was a great event.” Right? You can give me Costco pizza and Natty Ice Beer – and as long as I’m around really awesome people, I like – that’s what makes a really good event, right?
And so I cared a lot about format. I cared a lot about people. Making sure the right people were there. And that’s all I cared about primarily. But he cared a lot about music, and environment and food primarily. He said, “That’s what people are going to remember.” I said, “This is perfect. You’re the perfect partner.” And we had – we both had no experience putting on an event. But because I had this partner, and this was the – sort of the blueprint that I was looking for, right? We both figured out how to do it, and we scrambled.
And even the Tuesday, last Tuesday before we actually went on – so we – our event was on Friday. I was emailing with him, and Gonzalo, another mutual friend. And Gonzalo was coming. And I said, “Dude, I’m nervous. I don’t think anybody’s going to show up.” Now we – there were about 20 tickets already taken. And so we knew at least 20 people are going to show up. I was still crazy scared that nobody would show up.
But it worked, and it – we did it, and we got a great reception from it. And Alex and I hugged after that event like really strongly and said, “This was so much fun.” And we were so excited to do this again. And that’s when you feel like you know – you know when you feel like you’re onto something, is when you can’t wait to get started again.
That’s what I feel like about my podcast episodes. As much nervous or as tired I might be going into a podcast episode, immediately after I record, I say, “Wow, that was amazing. I got so much good content from my guests.” Because really I treat these podcast interviews as like a therapy or consulting sessions. ‘Cause I just talk about things that I might be struggling with, or things I’m hearing from my listeners or my readers or just people in the audience that say, “I’m struggling with Z, Y, and Z.” And I just talk about it. So a lot of it’s just that.
And it felt that way too. Like we went through a lot of angst. We had a couple of arguments, Alex and I. But afterwards, we just said, “Wow, this was amazing.” And the feedback was really, really great. And so that’s my lazy way of getting started on any project. Just keep talking about it. And eventually you’re going to find that right person, who’s going to be the perfect match.
And I found like – doing this event with Alex – 1, was amazing. Because I loved working– I’ve been doing this business, and so much of it is working by myself, that it felt great to have a partner that we could bounce ideas off of. And we made the event so much better together than we could have done separately. So I really enjoyed that. And Alex is like the perfect fit. ‘Cause there’s things that he doesn’t care about. The things that I care about, and things that I’m good at – he’s probably not good at. And things that he’s good at, I suck at. We really, really balance each other.
And I told my wife, I said, “This is awesome. Alex is a perfect person for this.” And who’d have known, if I just kept talking about it. Just kept talking about it to everybody I knew, it ended up working out – and we seriously have now, so we’re excited about it – you know? So that’s the lazy way of getting started.
Now I want to shift into how do you stay committed to it? ‘Cause Alex and I agreed, because we’ve done a lot of different projects, with partners that just never – that ended up fizzling out. Said, “We’ll do one. We’ll see how it goes. If we like each other still, we’ll do another one.” And then as we started planning it, I said, “Alex, let’s do 4.” And this is one way – so once you get started, here’s how you stay committed to it for a little bit, right?
“So let’s do 4, let’s really commit ourselves to doing 4.’Cause 1, we’re going to make it a lot better, right?” If we had 4 in mind, we know that the next one’s going to get better. That vision is there. And we’re committing ourselves to 4, right? And so I said, “Let’s do 4 together. If we still like each other after 4, let’s continually do this. Let’s do 4. Let’s try and knock out 4.”
And so, I think doing that mindset, right? Like Tim Ferriss, when he launched his podcast. He said, “I’m going to do–” Forget what his number was. “I’m going to do 10 or 20. If I still like it, I’m going to continue doing it.” And I think for us as humans, we’re very non-committal, right? We don’t want to commit to anything. But if we know there’s an end date, that’ll commit us. And I think the power of having multiple things that you’re committing to, it forces you to make it better, right?
It forces you to kinda say, “Alright this next time’s going to be better.” It forces you to improve on the current situation, and you get really good at it. So after this many swings, if you still enjoy it, you’re going to be – 1, really good at it. And 2, it’s going to be a great product. And 3, in the beginning, you’re not going to be so scared. Because you’re going to think, “Hey, I’m only doing 4, if it doesn’t work out, perfect. I’ve got an end date in mind.”
So I think that’s the best way of doing it. That’s what I found really worked for App Masters Connect. When I started the podcast, I had no idea where it was going to lead to. I just did it. And my lazy way was – I was interviewing people. I didn’t really have to come up with the content. All I had to do was ask good questions, and really listen to the guest. And that was it. And so that’s my lazy way of getting started, and also staying committed to that project for a brief amount of time.
I’ve seen it work beautifully for Mastermind Sprint (10:41?). We usually have an end date in mind. Say, “Hey 6 weeks, we’re going to end after that. And then we’re going to readjust and see how it goes.” So I hope you found that valuable. And I don’t know what the best way to end this is, ’cause I don’t want to edit it.
But thank you so much. If you were there, I’m truly, truly humbled. And if you want to be at a future App Masters Connect event, we’re planning it already. We don’t know what the destination’s going to be. Probably going to be in the US still, but somewhere in a major city. I’m thinking maybe tropical or New York, maybe LA? We’re not quite sure yet. But if you want to be there, go check out appmastersconnect.com. And if you’re working on a project that’s been in your mind for a long time, just tell everybody you know what you want to do.
You don’t have to go into details, just say, “Look, I want to do X, Y, and Z.” Tell me, tell whoever you’re talking to. And hopefully by the end of this year, you’ll have accomplished this goal that I was able to accomplish as well. Thanks for tuning in, and I’ll see you on the next video. Bye.