Founder School

Bullseye Step One: Brainstorm the Outer Ring

The Bullseye framework is three concentric rings. The outer ring is everything possible: go through all 19 channels and write down at least one plausible way each could work for your business, even the ones that seem ridiculous.

The discipline matters more than the ideas. Forcing a real answer for offline ads or speaking engagements counters your bias toward the familiar. Look at what has worked in your industry, and what your competitors do and don't do (their neglected channels are your openings).

Then rank into the middle ring: the three channels that seem most promising for you right now. Not one, because you don't actually know which will work. Not ten, because you can't test ten properly.

Key idea

Brainstorm a plausible use of all 19 channels before ranking. The forced exercise is what defeats your default bias.

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