I know why you're reading this.
You're trying to build something new. To go from nothing to something. To go from zero to one.
Whether that's a business, a personal brand, or anything in between, building something of value from scratch is no easy task.
But you can't iterate from zero. There's nothing to iterate off of. You need to be at a number greater than zero to iterate.
At the same time, you can't just magically be at one. That requires building the thing first.
So it's a chicken-and-egg situation, right?
Not exactly.
You need to be at a number greater than zero to iterate.
Why not just iterate from 0.1?
Zero to 0.1
You hear the phrase "zero to one" a lot.
After all, there's a whole book named after the expression.
But you seldom hear about going from zero to 0.1.
And that shouldn't be overlooked. Because it's the most critical jump you can make when you're building something new.
Yes, doing zero to one is going from nothing to something. But so is doing zero to 0.1.
And the latter is a lot easier than the former.
Consider Facebook as an example.
Zero to one for Facebook was going from having a computer and an Internet connection to running the world's largest social media company.
Zero to 0.1 for Facebook was going from having a computer and an Internet connection to building a twist on "hot-or-not" for Harvard students.
In essence, doing zero to 0.1 is building the MVP, or the minimum viable product. Not the final version. Not the endgame solution for your customer. Not the globalized product that over one billion people log into every day.
Amazon started out only selling books. Airbnb started out renting out air mattresses to people who couldn't find a hotel room during a design conference. Twitch used to just be one guy streaming his life; it had nothing to do with video games in the beginning.
There's no pressure to make the final version of your product right out of the gate.
You just have to make a version.
Force yourself to 0.1
Getting to 0.1 is going to be the hardest part of your journey.
Because once you get to 0.1, you no longer have the mammoth task of "go from nothing to something" sitting in front of you.
Once you're at 0.1, you can just iterate. You can get feedback from whoever you're serving—customers, users, listeners—and continuously improve the thing you're building.
Okay, sure. Improving an existing thing is a lot easier than creating an entirely new thing. But how does one go about creating an entirely new thing?
Through a forcing function.
As its name implies, a forcing function is a system that forces you to do something.
For example, if you've been meaning to go to the gym more regularly, but you find yourself lounging on the couch watching KPop Demon Hunters instead, a forcing function might be your roommate pulling the cord to the TV before tearing you off the couch and dragging you to the gym.
Bit of an extreme example, but you get the idea.
I find myself reaching for forcing functions all the time when I need to start something, especially when it comes to writing.
Writing an essay, blog, or newsletter is like a mini zero to one task on its own. You're going from nothing (a blank page) to something (a finished piece).
Whenever I find it difficult to get a piece started, I end up using Squibler's Dangerous Writing App.
It's just a plain text editor that you can set a word count goal on: 150, 250, 500, 750, or 1667 words.
The game begins as soon as you start typing in the editor. If you stop typing for five seconds, your writing disappears. It's only when you reach your word count goal, that you're able to edit, copy, or download your work.
Sounds pretty dangerous, right?
And that's the whole point. By deleting your work if you stop typing—the main symptom of writer's block—this tool removes the friction of trying to create a perfect version right away.
It forces you to write, no matter how messy of a first draft you end up churning out.
But once I have that first draft, it becomes trivial to edit and refine it until I'm ready to hit publish.
And the same principle applies to whatever you're building.
Building a software startup? Talk to potential users, telling them you'll have the first version of the app ready in a week (even though you haven't written a single line of code). When they ask if they can try it out, you'll be forced to build the entire MVP in one week.
Thinking of starting a podcast with a friend? Book a guest before you've prepared anything. You'll be forced to figure out mics, editing, and format before that scheduled call because someone else's calendar is on the line.
Starting a newsletter? Tell 20 people that the first edition is going out next Saturday and collect their emails on the spot. Twenty expecting inboxes is a lot harder to ignore than a blank page.
If you want to build something, find a forcing function. Figure out some way to force yourself to 0.1.
The journey only gets easier once you reach 0.1.
The one thing all fools have in common is that they're always getting ready to start.
—Seneca