Solo founders & Indie hustlers: Turning your skills into income
A faculty member at UC Berkeley, teaching as a solopreneur course creator. Also serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Alchemist.
Anyone can build a solo venture to turn their skills and interests into income. There's a million-dollar idea in you, waiting to be launched. The key is to activate your profitable niche by living in your zone of genius and monetizing your labor of love.
Today, we'll see real-world inspirations from top-tier business builders. These founders and side hustlers have built revenue lines based on their unique personas, creating cash cows for themselves.
You can do this too.
Launching a venture fund as a solo founder: Ravi Belani
No matter what idea you have, you can bet on yourself. Most people think of solopreneurs as individuals who build small gadgets or productized services, but this is a much bigger topic.
Ravi Belani is the CEO and solo founder of Alchemist Accelerator, an enterprise-facing venture capital firm established in 2012. He is also the teacher of the biggest entrepreneurship class at Stanford. As a venture capitalist, he was the first investor in five unicorns and the second investor in one decacorn (Twitch). When Ravi started out, he was a rookie investor with a big vision – to connect communities, ecosystems, and mentors from diverse industries in order to help business-to-business (B2B) startups win on the global stage.
Whether you're starting a small business or a venture fund, believe in your own potential.
Bootstrapping a $1 million solo venture: Haley McClain Hill
If you have many interests, you can pursue them all. Even if you're a generalist or you haven't found a lucrative specialty, there's a way to connect the dots and make yourself profitable.
Haley McClain Hill is the CEO and solo founder of TORCH Warriorwear (high-end military uniforms for females), which she bootstrapped to +$1 million in revenue, building a loyal fan base of 50,000+ members. She is a Shark Tank winner, a former NFL cheerleader (San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons), and a former Air Force officer. For her side hustles, she has two books and various consulting jobs that keep her actively involved in diverse areas of expertise.
If you manage your time and energy well, you can have your cake and eat it too.
Turning your passion into your profitable niche: Sam Hysell
Find an industry and a customer demographic you truly care about. If it's music, build a business around music. If it's something else, find a way to be of service.
Sam Hysell is the Founding Partner of NOX Media, a marketing agency for music and brands. Their clients include Drake, Avril Lavigne, Louis the Child, Black Coffee, Warner Music, Sony Music, Louis Vuitton, Universal Music, Logic, Edition Hotels, and Coca Cola. He is also a Co-founder of nft now and was previously at VaynerMedia.
Consider your founder-market-fit and founder-problem fit. Where can you make a difference with a genuine passion for the subject material?
Monetizing your founder-problem fit: Alisha Jiwani MD
Play to your strengths, commercialize your niche, and scale your ability to serve more people. Whether you're a full-time founder or a doctor with a day job, you can go solo.
Alisha Jiwani MD MPH CWSP is the CEO and solo founder of Nia Health, a resource for burn-related needs offering emergency services, care subscriptions, kits, and education. She is Harvard educated, a U.S. Army-trained Burn Surgeon, and her venture is 100% bootstrapped.
Revenue is the applause that you get from market success. If you have skills that help people in need, there's always another way to package and sell those skills.
From Solopreneur to global agency: Marti Sanchez
Solopreneur gigs can spin out into bigger ventures.
Marti Sanchez is the CEO and solo founder of Influence Podium, an agency for B2B content marketing and business development. He started as a freelancer and built a company with full-time team members around the world. Marti started as a digital nomad and ghost writer, achieving enough success to scale up into a thriving international business.
Many people are trying to evolve from freelancer to agency. Think about your differentiator and ways to demonstrate your competence to potential customers.
Soloprenuership to build cash flow: Michael Gasiorek
Michael Gasiorek is the CEO and solo founder of Truth Cartel, a Web3 marketing agency. He was the former Editor in Chief of Startup Grind, where he grew the publication to 1 million monthly readers.
Having been a venture-backed startup founder with SOSV, he realized the pros and cons of this path. Instead of building a deck, recruiting a team, and seeking investment, he simply built a book of business as a solopreneur. That's how he started a +$1 million/year global agency with a remote team and automation systems.
Marketing is a crowded space, but Web3 marketing is highly differentiated. As you commercialiez your main skill set, think about specialities where you have a big advantage.
Ready to go solo? Venture forth!
Going solo is not about being alone. It's about being empowered. Solopreneurs need mentors and compatriots to jam with and lean on. Most people die with more potential energy than kinetic. Make sure you go kinetic, so you leave no regrets behind at the end of your career.
If you want to learn how, check out the UC Berkeley Solopreneurship Online Course. A surprise for you: the business builders we featured are all Guest Teachers for this course, which is the first ever soloprenuer launchpad offered through the university. Want to begin with a free resource? Check out the Solopreneur Starter Kit which contains 10 self-paced exercises, 20+ books on the Solopreneur Reading List, and 35+ business models for you to try on.
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