706 - Founder Market Fit, Starting With the Negative, and Figuring Out What You Really Want with Adam Clark

Live In The Feast

Today’s co-host is Adam Clark. Adam is a fellow podcaster and the founder of Podcast Royale, a company that helps business owners grow their businesses and save time through done-for-you podcast production and marketing.

Adam and I have been friends for years, and Podcast Royale produces this very podcast. We were talking recently about ideal clients and how that relates to “founder market fit”, and we decided to record our conversation and share it with you.

Adam is a self-described serial entrepreneur. Over the last 20 years, he’s started half-a-dozen businesses and gone through just as many different careers. He used to see this as a negative thing — a lack of discipline or self-control. But in recent years, he’s come to see it as a strength.

The most important thing is to figure out what you really want out of life (and business). You won’t make much progress until you’ve taken the time to deeply understand your ultimate goals and desires.

"Most people do what they do because it’s what they’ve always done, or because they’ve been told, or believe, it’s what they’re supposed to do. We rarely take the time to examine our lives and really ask what it is we actually want. Because it’s easier to just keep doing what we’re doing than it is to change — even if that change means a greater level of happiness and freedom in the future."

In this episode Adam talks about:

• The importance of finding founder market fit, and not just product market fit.
• How your values and ultimate desires should be the foundation of your business, and inform your ideal client.
• Giving yourself permission to pursue what truly matters you, even if it's risky.

Main Takeaways

• In order to understand your business and your ideal client, you have to know yourself, and what you truly value. And this knowledge only comes from time and experience. Try things, and be willing to fail.
• If you’re not sure what you want, or who your idea client should be, start with what you don’t want, or who you don’t want to work with. Sometimes it’s easier to know what you don’t want, than what you do want. And that’s ok.
• Give yourself permission to explore, and pursue what feels right to you, even if it goes against traditional business wisdom. It’s better to figure that out early, than to get really good at something you hate doing.

Important Mentions in this Episode

• Podcast Royale
• Adam’s Newsletter
• Adam on Twitter
• Adam on Instagram

For full show notes and resources

• Live In The Feast - Episode 6 of Season 7