Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Building viral attention before having a targeted product fails to convert

Nicolas Cole · Status Games, Fame, and the Truth about FIRE · Aug 3, 2023 · at 46:24

Nicolas Cole, co-founder of Ship 30 for 30, argues against the conventional creator playbook of building broad viral attention before defining a specific product or audience.

0:00 / 0:26exact quote · 26.4s
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“It's not, you build attention and then you build a business because if you build a ton of attention, posting memes, and then you try and go launch a business, like it's it, people aren't brain dead. It's not like just because they followed you, they're just going to miraculously buy the thing that you sell. You know, and so it's not audience, and then, oh, now I have something to sell. It's like, who's the person that you want to help? Build the thing that you know helps them, and then go sell the mixtapes out of your car.”

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