So - Frameworks like Lean Canvas and Business Model Canvas - are useful shortcuts for thinking about different aspects of projects and businesses They each fit different situations and company stages, but are simple enough to be helpful without any MBA or biz school indoctrination 😉 This overview is from last week ... and it's a necessary primer for this week's article about my Web3 Lean Canvas adaptation, which I'll share in a moment 😇 https://paragraph.com/@buildbetter/the-most-underrated-frameworks-in-startup-building-bmc-and-lc

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In case you needed a reminder that distribution always wins over product and technology 👇 https://x.com/mohapatrahemant/status/2006156419557728477?s=46&t=vGdL6gMJv0qcvymUV8209g

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My BuildBetter 2025 Wrap is here. It's a retrospective on ideas you have heard me banging about all year. Why not to check it out 😉 https://paragraph.com/@buildbetter/buildbetter-2025-wrapped?referrer=0xa2746b2A56F9886925C03AF1d1E10B8b3DfBBE29

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There’s this tricky part when people try to build relationships for business purposes; They’re often trying too hard, and they’re often aiming for a purely transactional relationship. I smile -> you pay. I shake your hand -> you pay my invoice, etc. This is really only a problem when you’re a mercenary. When you’re building something just for the money or win, not because you believe in it. You see, building something authentic tends to remove the “trying too hard” energy that usually sabotages the connection. It’s because you believe what you’re doing is the best thing for you and them as well. YOU BELIEVE! and it makes all the difference! 🤝

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I discovered my 5AM factor: I get up early when: - people rely on me - there’s a community waiting for me - stakes are real - the work feels pioneering/meaningful - the problem is unsolved - I sense asymmetry in effort vs reward Check all these boxes, and I am your 5AM person 😄 WABY?

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How to Think About Legacy - as many of you do Teaser: Legacy isn’t what you leave behind — it’s what you leave alive. Summary: Legacy isn’t built at the end; it’s built in the small decisions no one sees. It comes from contribution, transmission, and principles — the work you did, the people you grew, and the values you upheld. Legacy is the compounding effect of meaning. When your work continues teaching others without your presence, you’ve built something that outlives metrics. It makes sense to strive for something like this, right! 🤝

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How to Think About Energy - sooo critical! Teaser: You don’t run out of time — you often run out of energy. Summary: Energy is the foundation of clarity, creativity, and leadership. It’s not just physical — it’s cognitive, emotional, and environmental. Energy grows where alignment shows. When you design your life and work around what fuels you rather than drains you, you build momentum that is sustainable, not fragile. A calm founder creates a calm company. A steady one wins the race! Your energy as a founder is critical to everything - your product, your team, your clients, your family. Treat it as such! 🙏 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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How to Think About Leverage - not trading leverage but business one Teaser: Leverage lets you bend time. Summary: Leverage multiplies effort: code, content, capital, and people all act as force multipliers. But the rarest form is judgment — knowing which actions create outsized impact. When you rely more on systems than hours, more on clarity than brute force, you escape linear progress. Leverage is not speed — it’s amplified direction. 🔥 (Find my BuildBetter essay about RPM - it might help - and MERRY CHRISTMAS!)

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How to Think About Luck in Business Teaser: Luck rewards motion, awareness, generosity, and reputation. Summary: Luck isn’t random — it has four forms. Some is blind, but most comes from movement, pattern recognition, and the reputation you build over time. When you share your ideas, stretch your curiosity, and help others, you increase your surface area for serendipity. Eventually, opportunities seem to “find you,” but really, you built the system that invites them. So invite your luck by building a reputation that welcomes it in 🙏

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If your product is anything -- but protocol or exchange -- your pricing should continuously evolve. Changes in pricing often bring more churning customers back in than scaring new customers off. You will see it in numbers when people start to feel that your product, albeit superior, is "too expensive" compared to other things on the market. Smart thing then is to adapt pricing by creating new tier that will catch those falling off because of the price. Yeah, you're not lowering prices, you're restructuring your offer. 🫡 That's exactly what OpenAI did for ChatGPT recently with "Go" pricing.

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How to Think About Timing - tough one! Teaser: The future whispers before it shouts. Summary: Timing isn’t luck — it’s awareness. Success occurs when cultural desire meets technological feasibility. Great founders sense rising waves by watching behavior, technology, and subculture shifts. Being early is as fatal as being late, but when you position yourself close to emerging patterns, the wave eventually arrives beneath you. Timing is pattern recognition made practical, and it can be learned. And it should always be on your mind when you’re building! ⏳

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How to Measure Growth - big question! Teaser: Meaningful growth is not a number — it’s a system getting stronger. Summary: Vanity metrics lie; meaningful growth reveals itself through behavior, emotion, and structure. - Are users returning? - Do they care? - Is the system becoming easier to scale? Growth is always multi-dimensional, often non-linear, and seasonal. The founders who succeed aren’t the ones who chase bigger graphs, but the ones who interpret the right signals at the right time. 🙏

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How to Think About Niching Down Teaser: The fastest way to go big is to start small. And that’s true not for just product but for a feature or community too! Summary: Founders avoid niching down because it feels limiting, but it’s how every breakout company starts, and how many breakout features start too. Niches provide signal, momentum, and cultural clarity. They give you early believers, not passive browsers. Dominate a tiny, emotionally charged corner of the world first — then let that niche carry your story outward. Depth precedes scale. 😇

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How to Use Problem Statements and Hypotheses Teaser: Build clarity before you build product. It’s always a good idea! Summary: Strong problem statements and hypotheses turn chaos into discovery. They prevent guesswork, accelerate learning, and make every feature a testable bet. Problem statements describe real user pain without prescribing solutions; hypotheses predict what will change — and why. This simple discipline transforms product development into a scientific loop, not a cycle of hopeful shipping. Surprising how many teams never write down meaningful hypotheses 🙄

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How to Think About Competition Teaser: Don’t outcompete — outposition. Summary: Most founders fight competitors on the wrong battlefield: features, pricing, speed. But real competition happens at the level of perception and culture! You win not by being marginally better, but by reframing the game altogether. Compete on worldview, not checklists. When you align with an under-served belief or desire, competitors become irrelevant because you own the meaning behind the market. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? 😉

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