Neil Patel, Jonas Koffler and Patrick Vlaskovits
Authors of Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum
Discussion
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Neil Patel
@neilpatel
Hi Product Hunters. Neil, Jonas and Patrick here. We're co-authors of the book Hustle: The power to charge your life with money, meaning and momentum. Ask us anything.
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Andrew Bass
@andrewdbass · Startup junkie and improving hacker
What are some of the biggest lessons you have learned while building your audiences?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@andrewdbass Figure out what people really want and what they lie to themselves about.
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Neil Patel
@neilpatel
@andrewdbass biggest lesson I learned is that it's not about building an audience but a loyal one, which happens by helping people over time. It's not quick...
Tom Morkes
@tmorkes
@pv @andrewdbass can you expand on the "lie to themselves about" and specifically why that is important + how you can use it to build an audience?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@tmorkes @andrewdbass the lies that customers tell themselves are intrinisc to understanding a customer's needs and wants -- the ones they feel BUT cannot articulate often! Whenever I blow a sale, I know it is because I listened too carefully to what a customer was saying and didn't listen to the lie they were telling themselves about their product or business.
(btw self-deception is a human universal - we all do it)
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Jonas Koffler
@jonaskoffler · Author, Entrepreneur, Producer | Various
@andrewdbass Agree with my coauthors, it's surfacing knowns and unknowns, and diving deep into drivers like loyalty and belonging, aka, uniting the tribe.
Mikkel D. Bertelsen
@mikkel_db · CEO of Corro.io
What type of content do you guys think will dominate the marketing space in 5 years?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@mikkel_db The lines between content/product are blurring. The more your content is a product that solves actual problems, the better off you are.
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Neil Patel
@neilpatel
@mikkel_db personalized content. Anything that helps people personally. Such as if you are a startup person reading my blog, you should only see content that is startup marketing related versus random marketing content that isn't a good fit for you.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hi Neil, Jonas and Patrick. Thanks for being here today. What are some of the key takeaways we can look for from the new book?
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Jonas Koffler
@jonaskoffler · Author, Entrepreneur, Producer | Various
@ems_hodge Hi Emily, a pleasure to be here. Lots to unpack from Hustle.
One of the big ideas is the notion of owning our dreams, not renting dreams from others. AND surfacing our own success in our own idiosyncratic way. We achieve this by being ourselves AND following the three unseen laws of hustle:
1) Hustle in Your Heart: Do Something That Moves You.
This imbues you with energy, enthusiasm, and excitement. Don’t worry about so-called passion, just set
the wheels of possibility in motion.
2) Hustle in Your Head: Keep Your Head Up and Your Eyes Open.
Embrace risk and look for hidden opportunity and ways to manufacture luck. A little luck goes a
long way.
3) Hustle in Your Habits: Seal the Deal and Make It Real. Turn an opportunity into a valuable exchange.
Concrete transactions generate growth and upside optionality, and proof.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What are the backgrounds for the three of you and what brought you together and to this point?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@bentossell I am the bridge between Neil and Jonas. I've known Neil for years in the tech world and Jonas in the publishing world. I have a foot in both.
We wanted to do a book that captured a lot of what we see wrong in this world and how to solve it.
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@bentossell here is a screenshot from our intro -- describes why we wanted to do this book:
Anthony Stylianou
@anthony_stylianou · Social Media Manager, CatchApp
Hi Neil, Jonas and Patrick.
For many writers there is a specific journey that triggered their motivation to write a book and tell the story. What was exactly that brought you three together to do this project?
Also, when it came to the writing, what was the hardest part in getting the book completed?
Regards,
Anthony
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@anthony_stylianou Everything. If stuff is coming easy to you in writing and your name is not Stephen King or Malcolm Gladwell -- you're doing it wrong. :)
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@anthony_stylianou here is a screenshot from our intro -- describes why we wanted to do this book:
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Jonas Koffler
@jonaskoffler · Author, Entrepreneur, Producer | Various
@anthony_stylianou We did a lot of social listening and the word "Hustle" continuously emerged in conversations with others, online, overheard at the cafe, the office, the bathroom, the butchershop, everywhere, EVERYONE seems to be hustling in their own way...
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What advice would you tell your younger selves?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@bentossell Never stop hustling and don't believe your own bad press.
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Jonas Koffler
@jonaskoffler · Author, Entrepreneur, Producer | Various
@bentossell Don't be so hard on yourself. Enjoy the process, be open and flexible and learn how to actively listen to others. That, and to place more value on sleep and owning your calendar.
Jacqueline von Tesmar
@jacqvon · Community, Product Hunt ✌️😻
Do you think turning your passion into your career is actually the right move?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@jacqvon Nope! Passions don't make for good careers. Passions often make for good "prisons" though.
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@jacqvon Our take on "passions" --- see screenshot here: 
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Jonas Koffler
@jonaskoffler · Author, Entrepreneur, Producer | Various
@jacqvon In addition to what Patrick shared, we view careers as more of a project layer -- meaning the sum total of our professional endeavors (i.e., career) is a stacking, vertically and horizontally of projects rather than jobs or "careerist" leanings, which are passé for the dynamic, uncertain economy we live in today. It's a subtle way to recalibrate or make sense of what we pursue in life.
Dave Concannon
@dave_concannon · Co-founder, Hosted Graphite
@pv - You're also running a software business. What differences are there between cultivating an audience for software vs for a book?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@dave_concannon There are more similarities than differences I'd say.
Instead of a manifesto, we wrote a love letter to our software customers at Superpowered -- the same applies to Hustle book:
"It is the doers, the creators, the makers, the engineers, and yes, even the hustlers that motivate us, that inspire us to develop Superpowered tools that aren’t simply more, but paramount, actually extend the makers' creative and productive capabilities – allowing them to create and make things real – profoundly shaping them, the builders, to build things that weren’t possible without Superpowered technology.
If that sounds like you: you are our people, and we are yours."
http://superpowered.com/the-supe...
JASON CAVNESS
@jasoncavnesshr · CEO/Founder of cavnessHR
Neil - I am currently in your Advanced Marketing class and I am learning so much. Especially, as someone who had zero experience. I plan on providing HR services to Founders, new business owners and companies with less than 50 employees. What would be your recommendation as far as advertising once I reach that point?
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Patrick Vlaskovits
@pv · Founder, Superpowered
@jasoncavnesshr Before you start running ads -- you need to be able to identify your target clients better than they themselves. Many folks waste literally thousands of dollars running ads on poorly understood and vague audiences.