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Welcome back to the Launch Key 🚀

Avoiding crowds to hike in the mountains during summer season is a timing issue. If you want clear trail parking lots and the mountain to yourself, you need to get out there early. There is nothing like solo mountain top views. But that comes with eating a few spiderwebs.

As I gotten older I’m ok with not being first up the mountain. Second or third - hopefully behind a taller hiker - is fine.

Fast following in business is much the same.

Let's get into it.

• Gmail users may wish to read online since some parts may be clipped.

• Comment below and let me know if we’re on the right track.

Table of Contents

• Pull to Eject

  • Older Founders of Red Bull

• Modern Tools

• Old School Wisdom

• Recommendations

• Visual Crapshoot

Pull to Eject

True pioneers attract literal arrows.

The first American folk hero, Daniel Boone, had to fight to settle Kentucky, when that "Dark and Bloody Ground" was still undeveloped.

Today’s entrepreneur doesn’t need to risk nearly as much to get started.

My career has fast-followed a number of technology trends. It was easy to start a web design business in 1995. I wasn’t first, but I was early.

It was harder to keep ahead of the ever changing technology. Over the years I edited my thinking. We were early to leverage usability. My developers taught me the value of adopting open source tools. I wasn’t first, but later utilized blockchain. I realized the SEO algo’s are hard to beat so built a newsletter audience.

I’ve learned on the job and found that the entrepreneurial thing that helps the most is a little seasoning. As I’ve written about since Launch Key’s founding, age and experience might also be your secret sauce for success.

• Better after 50

• Age is Just a Number

• Better with Age

And research backs up my claim.

Older Founders of Red Bull

Chaleo Yoovidhya was 53 and Dietrich Mateschitz 40 when they co-founded Red Bull.

Their professional experiences gave them unique insight into product development (Yoovidhya) and marketing (Mateschitz) that turned a local Thai energy drink into today’s third most valuable soft drink ‘brand’ behind only Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Yoovidhya had created Krating Daeng in 1975 as a refreshment for rural Thai laborers. Mateschitz tasted it on a trip to Hong Kong and realized it cleared his jet lag. Sensing the commercial opportunities of this drink in Europe, Mateschitz struck a partnership deal with Yoovidhya. It was 1984 when Red Bull officially took flight.

Together they created a juggernaut and Mateschitz built one of the most unique brands in the world.

Mateschitz earned his marketing insight working for Unilever and German Blendax promoting toothpaste. He exploded his success once he had a product of his own.

This Founders pod is a fantastic look at Mateschitz and his vision fulfilled.

Red Bull wasn’t first to the energy drink dance. Gatorade had been around since the 60’s. Mateschitz insisted that Red Bull stood apart from everything else. Premium pricing. Creating consumer demand where none existed.

The Red Bull marketing story remains legendary. They went through 50 different failed slogans before they reached “Red Bull gives your wings.” Extreme athletes, F1 sponsorship, soccer teams ownership, high altitude sky-diving - unique positioning. The company still thinks of itself as a marketing conglomerate and not an energy drink business.

Late-career entreprenuers.

Learning from their corporate experience. Firm conviction in their new idea. Not being first but still creating something unique. Marketing extremely well. And keeping the spoils for their respective families via private company ownership.

Do I think you can build the next Red Bull and leave a multi-billionaire lifestyle to your kids?

You’ll never know unless you start.

Now go launch something 🚀 

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Modern Tools

One of the biggest sticking points for would-be entrepreneurs is health care. Small businesses have traditionally not had great benefits.

Enter CrowdHealth. Only pay for the health care you need.

After years of paying premiums for health care that I never used - plus a very high deductible - I changed to CrowdHealth 2 years ago. Your mileage may vary, but it’s worth your research.

Old School Wisdom

This classic book should be on every business shelf. No matter if you think you’ve pioneered some entire new category, you still need to follow the Immutable Laws.

In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Ries and Trout offer a compendium of twenty-two innovative rules for understanding and succeeding in the international marketplace.

From the Law of Leadership, to The Law of the Category, to The Law of the Mind, these valuable insights stand the test of time and present a clear path to successful products. Violate them at your own risk.

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Recommendations

🗃️ Dealroom Business Success Uncovered : Learn directly from billionaire entrepreneurs on how to grow a business. Join a community of 2,000+ innovators.

💼 Thriving Freelance - Gigs and Growth : Hundreds of job opportunities sent directly to your inbox each week, plus timely resources to support you as you grow and evolve.

🟢 Scalable : Helping early-stage founders launch products and grow startups, fast.

📕 MGMT Playbook : Practical management insights straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

📰 Newsletter Operator : Learn how to grow and monetize your newsletter. Trusted by 30,000+ media founders, CEOs, creators.

🤖 AI Report : Learn AI in 5 minutes a day. We'll teach you how to save time and earn more with AI. Join 400,000+ free daily readers from Tesla, Apple, A16z, Meta, & more.

Visual Crapshoot