How I mapped my course for 2024

This week's main topic is how I’m strategizing for 2024.

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What you’ll read this week

• How I strategize for a year
• The outcomes I'm optimizing for
• The products I'm building

Enjoy!

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Today starts week 7 of going full-time as a bootstrapper.

Starting from $0. 😳

I thought I'd share the 2024 strategy I've been developing.

So here comes a long post. Buckle up.

I've got a lot of irons in the fire. In fact, 4 different things!

1️⃣ Interweave is a tool for product management.

2️⃣ AskJack is a tool to help combat triable knowledge and for full company search.

3️⃣ ProductFoundry, a newsletter for SaaS founders.

4️⃣ The Infosec Monitor is a cybersecurity newsletter.

How I started my 2024 strategy planning

As always, I started with the end in mind, defining where I want to be EoY:

🟡 Financially (of course)

🟡 But also mentally and physically

🟡 As well as what type of lifestyle my wife and I are shooting for

🟡 And finally, it aligns with my personal mission, "To equip and build up others."

💪🫠 Then, I did a SWOT analysis for myself. I looked at my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Then, I did a SWOT analysis on the things that interest me and the problems I find joy in. I did more of these than I have projects/products for.

I'm only moving forward with ideas with a strong SWOT analysis. If the threats and weaknesses started piling up. Then, out it went.

📈 Then I looked at it all and optimized it for me.

At the end of 2024, what type of work could I do that would engage me, that I'd find I'd be excited to come to every day, and that also had market waves 🌊 in my favor?

I also did a spreadsheet for each, figuring out what I could accomplish in marketing, sales, and product building. To be sure I stay on target and to determine what has to happen operationally for each one.

Here's what I found.

I love to work. I like business, coding, marketing, sales, etc. But I love my family more

So, I'm building a calendar that lets me work but doesn't sacrifice what's more important: family and health.

Every day at 2pm, I now work out. Every morning, I start with the bible and prayer.

My wife works 12s, so I work late on those days; she knows I'm staring out, so I work after she goes to bed and half of Saturdays. But the other half and Sunday are for us.

Build towards a future that allows autonomy of time and location

Time is tough when doing a SaaS startup; they're demanding. I get that and love that. But having a co-founder helps offset, and Starlink does the rest.

My wife has her doctorate as a nurse practitioner and works in urgent care. Twice a year, we travel the world to serve the underserved. Communities without even basic health care. I use my abilities to sort chaos to assist her and other medical professionals in their calling to heal.

We're prioritizing our future to continue this. But also to be able to work from anywhere.

Stay true to who I am — I thrive on variety

So instead of saying focus, focus, focus, I'm using my love of variety as a success driver.

When I have variety, I'm my most creative and most driven. So, instead of embracing one thing, I'm allowing myself to embrace a few things. But one of them is my main goal.

This is why I appreciate @dvassallo's smallbets.co work. I have a feeling variety fuels him like it does me.

What does this mean for my products, and what will I build in 2024?

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