If you’re looking for a youth-friendly business model with vetted feasibility against something with proven track record, start here and look through companies highlighted for some inspiration:
Dorm Room Fund- a VC fund that invests in promising student (like you!) founded businesses.
NOW that you have a clear idea of what you’d like to build, you are going to need a working prototype. The good news is that you don’t need to know how to code to get started.
Softr.io is a pretty solid choice for building dynamic apps/websites, Wix is another one for simple no-frills websites. Canva is great for any graphic design needs. Consider using ready-made templates to get started.
What Version 1 of OCE looked like
STEP 3: Get The Word Out
This is where most people fail.
They keep building quietly in their room without letting others know about their work. The world is noisy, you have to get out there and be loud, be proud.
To start OCE, I used a lot of Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, Discord groups, Listservs, as well as social media (IG, TikTok) to grow. Reply to this email and let me know if you’d like a step-by-step guide on building a digital community like OCE.
Then direct them to my mailing list – built using Convertkit. This is called a "marketing funnel".
Simplified marketing funnel for OCE
There is no right way to spread the word except realizing you can’t be quiet.
See if anyone signs up. If no one does, ask for feedback on why not? Iterate and repeat the process until you’ve got at least 3 users.
3’s the magic number. Once 3 people buy it, you know your product is of value to people.
STEP 4: Operate
The game plan here is all about being organized, keeping productivity high and streamlining as much as possible. The best part is that most of these tools offer free plans.
Task Management- I use Monday.com, Airtable and Notion to keep track of signups, community engagement, and meetings but they can be used to build systems and processes for a variety of projects.
Slack- is the BEST for managing communications overall. We use it among OCE cohorts.
Google Drive- easiest and cheapest way to be paperless.
Zapier- is great if you are like me using a ton of tools, widgets and want to automate as much as possible.
In this digital age, tools are aplenty. You no longer have to run everything on an excel spreadsheet and send out 100s of emails individually by hand. (That's what I did lol)
And with this guide, you are 100% more equipped to get started.
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PS. This summer, build alongside of world-class founders and a community of ambitious youth.
We run a summer cohort for ambitious youth (high school and undergrads) to work directly with world-class founders while learning from Silicon Valley leaders.
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