TMBA 661: The Rewards Of Challenging Assumptions

A picture of the Wat Lok Molee Temple in Chiang Mai

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‘Rip, pivot and jam’ is a recurring theme on this show. It’s a way of overcoming the pressure of needing ‘the best business idea ever’ by taking a model that’s working elsewhere and applying it in another field. And that’s exactly what today’s guest Justin Tan did when he founded his productised video editing service Video Husky.

Through his previous freelance career in Facebook advertizing, Justin had seen the growing importance of video creation as a marketing tool. And Russ Perry’s unlimited graphic design model at ‘Design Pickle’ inspired him to try that approach for clients who need regular video editing.

Justin talks to Dan about the challenges and rewards of building, and recently ‘retiring’ from Video Husky over a four year period:

“The key thing is being able to accept when your assumptions are wrong, ideally quickly, and moving on from them versus - I would hold on to certain key assumptions for the longest time, even though they weren't true. And so what I found was really helpful was getting in front of a lot of customers”.

Listen to this week's show and learn:

  • How running a Shopify store in his teens prepared Justin for finding talent in the Philippines

  • Letting go of trying to fill the knowledge gap and focusing on the efficiency gap

  • Lessons learnt from a staff rebellion

  • Thoughts on working with a General Manager

Mentioned in the episode:

Before the Exit – Our New Book
Partner With Us
The Dynamite Circle
Dynamite Jobs
Post a Remote Job
Dynamite Deals
Tropical MBA on YouTube
Dynamite Jobs – Remote Recruiting Sales Page
Justin Tan
Video Husky
Russ Perry
Design Pickle
Alex McClafferty
Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
The Pumpkin Plan
Traction by Gino Wickman
Who: The A Method for Hiring
Brian Balfour - Building a Growth Framework Towards a $100M Product

Enjoyed this podcast? Check out these:

TMBA337: The Power of the Pickle
TMBA438: The Knowledge Gap vs. The Efficiency Gap
TMBA544: Should You Hire a General Manager?

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Have comments about the show?

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Thanks for listening to our show! We'll be back next Thursday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Dan & Ian

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TMBA 662: Expanding Education Options For Nomadic Families

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TMBA 660: Five Easy Ways to Work Smarter (Not Harder)