🍌 Joumana Elomar’s Post

There are no excuses to hold back on starting your startup today. The biggest fear holding aspiring founders back is the fear of failure, coupled with the worries of humiliation and shame. However, imagine a world where you're not afraid to fail. It begins with posting that first piece of content or uploading your first ad creative. Realising that failure won't end you is liberating. Survival comes with persistence. When you conquer the fear of failure, the world truly becomes your oyster. Don't let fear hold you back from starting something remarkable. #startupmotivation #unstoppable

Built 3 succesful businesses and invested in 8 startups. Did it all without: + Without waking up at 5 am + Without reading a book a week. + Without making my bed. + Without journaling. + Without a 2-hour morning routine. + Without giving up social life. + Without cancelling my Netflix. + Without following business gurus. + Without buying extragavant courses. The only thing you need to do is find the right problem that a lot of people want solved and willing to pay for it. Solve that problem by building the right product or service, by listening to the people who have that problem. Pivot, pivot, pivot until you find the right product market fit.

Brian Chesky has talked about imagining an "11 star experience" for Airbnb customers. As a customer, one example of an 11 star experience is being invited to invest in a startup you love. If you're a founder focused on delighting your growing customer base, and building community around your startup, there is no better way to do that, than by inviting them to become investors and owners. On Wefunder (Reg CF), you can raise up to $5M per year. From thousands of customers -- accredited and unaccredited. 1 SPV on your cap table. And flexible terms. Can be a stand-alone raise, or part of a larger VC-led round. Examples include Mercury, Replit, Substack, Levels, Beehiiv, Fathom, Arrived. If you're interested in exploring it as an option for early 2025, hit me up.

He turned his side hustle into a $20M exit. Ryan Hoover is the founder of Product Hunt, which started as a side project and turned into a multi-million dollar acquisition by AngelList. Stuck on your next startup idea? 7 ways to come up with a side project 👇 1. Reflect on your day-to-day. Often the best ideas come from one’s own experiences. Write a detailed diary of everything you do in a typical day and identify things that could be improved. It could be something important (e.g. what tasks to prioritize in your day) or relatively small (e.g. deciding whether to bike or take an Uber to work). 2. Ask your friends. Run through the same exercise above with your friends. Try to find frustrations or pain points that could be eliminated. 3. Monitor growing trends. Comb through Facebook’s API and developer docs to identify new, creative ways to build within their platform. As platforms emerge and evolve, new opportunities arise. 4. Great ideas are often built off each other. Get inspiration by browsing: - Kickstarter - Y Combinator - Product Hunt 5. Explore GitHub. Even if you’re not a programmer, GitHub can be a great source of inspiration. Browse trending repo’s for new ideas or projects to join. 6. Turn a feature into a standalone product. Look at some of your favorite apps, sites, or products. Can you repurpose and improve upon one of its features as a standalone product? 7. Read the internet. It’s difficult to manufacture a truly great idea in a whiteboarding session. Sometimes they’re serendipitous, triggered by stories and changes in the world. Read the news and blog posts to increase the chances of discovering new ideas. (Original list by Ryan Hoover from Product Hunt.) Want to get feedback on your startup idea? Book Ryan Hoover on Intro. -- Inspired? Repost and follow Intro to learn how the world's most successful entrepreneurs built $100M+ businesses.

I share my journey as a college student navigating through three failed startups and the invaluable lessons I learned along the way. From understanding the importance of execution to realizing that no one can succeed alone, each failure taught me something transformative. Now, I’m channeling those lessons into building my latest venture, Dualgro, a platform designed to connect businesses with top-tier freelance talent. If you’ve ever faced failure, this is your reminder that every setback is a setup for a stronger comeback. Watch till the end to hear my thoughts on why the first step toward success is simply deciding not to quit. I’d love to hear your thoughts—what’s the biggest lesson failure has taught you? Drop your story in the comments below! Watch this video - https://lnkd.in/gaeYt9nz

🎙️🎶 Rick Rubin, the legendary music producer behind countless hit records, is known for his unique approach to stripping songs down to their essence. 🎧 He once famously said, "The best art divides the audience." But what does this have to do with startups? 🤔 Turns out, quite a lot. 💡 Just like a great song, the best startup ideas are often the ones that have been stripped down to their purest form. 🧩 They divide the audience by being bold, unconventional, and laser-focused on solving a specific problem. 🎯 In the early stages of a startup, it's tempting to want to be everything to everyone. 🌍 You have a grand vision, and you want to pack in as many features and benefits as possible. 📦 But just like a cluttered song with too many instruments and competing melodies, a startup that tries to do too much can quickly become muddled and unfocused. 🌪️ That's where the Rick Rubin approach comes in. 🎙️ As a startup founder, your job is to be ruthless in identifying the core of your idea – the one thing that makes it unique and valuable. 💎 Strip away anything that doesn't directly support that core. 🛠️ Be willing to make tough choices and say no to features or markets that don't align with your central mission. 🙅♂️ The result? A startup that is lean, agile, and impossible to ignore. 🚀 A startup that divides the audience by being unapologetically itself. 😎 Take Dropbox, for example. 📂 When the company first launched, it didn't try to be a full-suite productivity tool. It focused on one thing: making file syncing and sharing dead simple. 🗂️ By stripping their idea down to its essence, Dropbox was able to create a product that was instantly compelling and valuable to millions of users. 📈 So, my fellow entrepreneurs, how can you apply the Rick Rubin approach to your own startup? 🤔 What is the core of your idea, and how can you strip away anything that doesn't support it? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below! 👇 Let's create startups that are as bold and focused as a hit record! 🎉 #StartupEssence #RickRubinMindset #FocusedFounders

It's 2025. Time to level up. Things I no longer avoid 👇 Saying no Dreaming big Setting boundaries  Posting on LinkedIn Talking about money  Being effusive at work Firing misaligned clients Removing “takers” from my life Taking up space in conversations Disappointing others if it means honouring myself  Taking time off because my worth isn't defined by work Has it been easy? No. Has it been worth it? Hell yes. I can attribute ever single era of growth to confronting parts of myself I didn't want to face. ✨ So a question for the next level of you in 2025 ✨ What parts of yourself are you avoiding? And how is it holding you back? — 🍌 Hi! I'm Joumana (rhymes with banana). I run a design agency for growing startups and VCs. My goal is share what's worked for me and to help startups stand out from the competition. I keep it real. Enjoy!

Go big or go home is a lie. At least for startups, hear me out: When I was building my first company, I; - Contacted the biggest marketing agencies - Bought the biggest shipping setup - Found the best website provider - And got the most expensive brand identity You are gonna be the best, if you work with the best, right? That's what I thought. But I learned, that working with the biggest, best, and most expensive isn't optimal. At least not for an early-stage startup. In my experience, the best thing you can do as a startup founder is; to get the first sales as cheap and as fast as possible. Forget: go big or go home Instead: go small or go bankrupt

Ever feel like you’re shouldering the entire weight of your startup alone? 🏋️♂️ When I started my first startup at 18, I didn’t even know venture studios existed. I thought the only way to succeed was to do everything myself. So, I dove headfirst into learning everything—tech, coding, marketing, content, community, sales, fundraising... you name it, I was reading up on it. 📚 I believed that as a founder, I needed to be an expert in everything. But this mindset made my progress painfully slow. By the time I figured some things out, someone else had already launched and was gaining users. 📈 For my next venture, I found a co-founder and focused on the non-tech aspects. Yet, even then, the "business side" was overwhelming—so many things to figure out. A year later, we were burnt out. 😞 I remember one of my older co-founders warning me that startup life wasn’t what I imagined. Back then, I was full of energy, ready to work 16-hour days, feeling invincible... but the constant hustle and setbacks started to wear me down after a year. I began to wish there was an easier way. If only I had known about venture studios back then—things might have been different. Venture studios take a load off founders’ shoulders, offering the support and expertise I was desperately trying to build on my own. 🛠️ That’s why I’m happy to be in this space now and lighten the founders’ burden and help them succeed on their journey. 🚀 Have you felt the weight of your startup journey? Let’s connect and chat about how venture studios can make a difference. 🤝 #StartupLife #VentureStudios #Entrepreneurship #Founders

2010s: Writing great code = success. 2020s: Building side hustles = success. 2030s: Scaling your own business = success. The shift has already started. 🚀 ✅ Engineers launching products in their spare time. ✅ Small side hustles growing into thriving businesses. ✅ Developers transforming into founders. Starting your own business isn’t just a dream—it’s a roadmap to freedom, creativity, and impact. Take it from me. What started as an idea turned into Flywheel Founders, where I now help software engineers like you scale their businesses and transform side hustles into serious ventures. The best part? You already have the skills to start building. The question is: Will you take the leap? P.S. Are you trying to move forward with your own startup? I can help. DM me if you want to have a quick chat to see.