1 startup. 1 month. $1K. The idea behind that is simple, but here’s what that actually looks like:
🔁 Week 1: Ideas, Signals, and “Should We Even Do This?”
This is about asking the big questions:
Who is this for? What’s the pain point? Can we test it without overcommitting? As a serial founder, this is the hardest part. It’s easy to try and do way too much. Finding the core of the idea is the most important part of this exercise.
We use ChatGPT Pro to brainstorm angles, validate assumptions, develop ideas. We run TAM/SAM/SOM analysis and ask ourselves how AI transforms the idea, or what AI Agents might do in the future that supercharge things.
By the end of Week 1, we make a decision: Is this the one? If not, we pivot early. No guilt.
🚧 Week 2: Build Something Real (Even If It’s Ugly)
This is MVP week. We use Webflow for the site. Google Docs for project management. ChatGPT for copy and images, Photoshop for any needed extra design on polish.
The goal: create something functional, clickable, and testable—not perfect, just real.
🧪 Week 3: Test. Share. Listen. Learn.
We launch small. Run $50–100 in ads. Post on social. Ask friends for feedback. Survey users. Then run it all through ChatGPT for insights. This is when we find out what people actually care about—and what can be improved.
📊 Week 4: Analyze + Decide (Scale, Pivot, or Kill)
At the end of each sprint, we evaluate:
What traction did we see? What surprised us? What’s the friction or the ‘oh crap’ moment when we realize there’s a fatal flaw in the idea?
Then we decide—should we scale, iterate, or kill the project? Sometimes, moving on is just the best option. But we’ve only spent a month and $1,000, which makes that decision a lot easier to accept. There have been times in past startups when I knew something was off, but we were too deep—time-wise and financially—to consider a pivot or walk away. This model takes that difficulty out of the equation. And who knows—maybe one of these ideas will scale… in a big way.
🎯 The Takeaway
The power of 1:1:1 is in the structure. 1 company. 1 month. $1k. It creates urgency without panic, direction without rigidity. If you’ve been sitting on an idea for too long, this model might be the nudge you need.
Follow the Journey
We’re building in public, multiple new startups that take one month.
You are welcome to watch the build process. Follow the chaos, successes and lessons learned.
Or contact us to submit an idea (we might build it) or just reach out to chat or have a cup of coffee to start startups and AI.
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