Did you know: Before becoming a successful tech entrepreneur, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky was a competitive bodybuilder.

What to expect: Paul Graham's essay "Do Things That Don't Scale" challenges the common startup mindset of always prioritizing scalability. Let's explore why sometimes, the unscalable approach is exactly what your startup needs.

The Value of Unscalable Actions

Today, let's talk about a counterintuitive piece of startup advice from Paul Graham: the importance of doing things that don't scale.

In the early days of a startup, it's tempting to focus on growth hacks and automation. But Graham argues that personal, hands-on approaches can be crucial for understanding your users and gaining initial traction.

Here are some key reasons why unscalable actions can be valuable:

• Deep User Understanding: By interacting directly with users, you gain insights that surveys or analytics can't provide.

• Product Refinement: Hands-on involvement allows you to quickly iterate and improve your product based on real feedback.

• Building Relationships: Personal interactions can create loyal customers and valuable word-of-mouth marketing.

• Learning What to Scale: By doing things manually, you learn which processes are most important to automate later.

Let's look at some real-world examples:

1. Airbnb: The founders went door-to-door to take photos of listings. This helped them improve the quality of listings and build relationships with hosts.

2. Stripe: The founders would personally visit users to install their payment system, gaining valuable insights into user needs and pain points.

3. Wufoo: The team sent handwritten thank-you notes to users, creating a personal connection that set them apart from competitors.

So, what could this look like for your business? Here are some ideas:

• Personally reach out to potential customers

• Provide one-on-one onboarding for your first 100 users

• Offer personalized customer support (even if you're the CEO)

• Manually perform a service that you plan to automate later

This week, consider choosing one aspect of your business to approach in a completely manual, personalized way. What might you learn from this hands-on approach?

Remember, at this stage, your goal isn't to reach millions overnight. It's to create something a small group of people absolutely love. Do that, and growth will follow.

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