Million Dollar Weekend Chapter Summary, Notes, and Quotes

Million Dollar Weekend is an all-in-one book for someone who has thousands of ideas about business and yet finds it hard to implement them, having fear, doubts, and money problems. The book will set you free from everything and will guide you to start your first business.

It’s easy to read as well as filled with real-life experiences that Noah Kagan had in his life. 

The Book in Three Sentences

• Before you enter into the business, make sure you experiment with your business idea to see whether it works in real life or not.
• You don’t have to be perfect to start a business, just start now and learn as you go.
• Risk is everywhere but that doesn’t mean you should step back. Face your fear and don’t care about what people say, do what you want and take a little bit of risk.

Million Dollar Weekend Summary

I have read tons of books on business and almost every single book says to face your fears, start now, take risks, learn about the market, and follow the process but what Noah Kargan wrote in his book is something different as he has shared his journey as a businessman.

The book has how the author started his first business, how he failed, how he started again, and finally, how he made a Million Dollar business.

So if you’re someone who has seen failure and you’re now afraid to start again then the Million Dollar Weekend book will give you all the reasons to start again. 

Also, the book is beautifully written, it feels more like the author is talking to you as Noah has used the “I” word too often. 

By the way, for me, one of the key takeaways from the book is “Whatever idea you have already exists or is implemented as you’re reading this but that doesn’t mean, you shouldn’t start. Just do what others aren’t doing and do it with your take on it. ”

That being said, let’s take a look at all the chapters from the book and learn a few things that will help you start your first business or improve the one you’re running at the moment.

Chapter 1: Just Fu**ing Start

As Noah Kagan says “Focus above all else on being A Starter, an Experimenter, a Learner”

Starting a new business will require money, time, and resources. Now, after doing everything, if business doesn’t work then it will be one of the worst periods of your life.

So before you spend your real money, time, and energy in building a business. Start with an experiment.

It could be, 

• Starting a website featuring whatever products you want to sell by asking whether people will buy them or not.
• Running Facebook or Google ads featuring images or videos of products you want to sell.
• Ask people around you whether they’re interested in buying your products.

This is called, testing your business idea before you enter the field. This will give you some idea whether your idea has customers or not. 

Also, starting a WordPress website doesn’t cost Millions of dollars. So start a website, create the landing page, and run a few ads to see whether your idea is worth spending time on or not.

The next step that the author wants you to do once you start your business is to pick the magic number.

As the author says “Many struggle to make their first dollar because they are so focused on how to make their first million.”

For example, how much money you want to make from your business in the first year. It could be Rs 50,000. Once you set the magic number, you will focus on making Rs 50,000 then a million dollars.

This will be your goal and you will put your 100% energy into reaching there. 

The summary of the first chapter is “Before you start a business, do an experiment, and when you’re about to start a business, set a magic number which you want to make in the first year of your business”

Chapter 2: The Unlimited Upside of Asking

As  Noah Kagan’s father says “Love rejections! Collect them like treasure! Set rejection goals. I shoot for a hundred rejections each week, because if you work that hard to get so many noes, my little Noah’le, in them you will find a few yeses, too.”

Don’t be afraid of rejection. 

If you’re selling something then go to the people and sell the product, what could go wrong? People will say no but there will be one guy who will buy something which is a big win.

Also, if you need help with something email or DM the people who you think can help you. Do it as many times as you can and the day will come and you will receive a reply.

So asking is free, don’t be afraid or think about what people will say. Just do it, if you’re not asking for yourself then who will?

Chapter 3: Finding Million Dollar Ideas

As the author says “Your job, as a Customer First entrepreneur, is to listen to the problem your customers want solved, create a solution to it, and validate that they’ll pay for it. No one else’s”

Everyone has an idea that they think is worth a Million dollars. Now, this is a good start but that idea needs to be tested first before you declare it’s worth.

To do that, you first have to do what the author said in the first chapter which was “Run Experiment”

The next step before you run the Experiment is to see how much that idea is worth.

For example, if you have an idea about starting a website where you will write book summaries and eventually sell your book then go to Facebook ads or Google Trends and search for book summaries to see how many people are searching for what you’re about to build.

In this case, people are interested in reading book summaries. This means, your idea is worth spending time on, the next step is to see how much money you will make from the website.

The answer is, there is no answer. 

We’re starting with the website and then we will sell books, courses, and many other things within the category.

In the same way, if you have any other idea then do your research to see how much your idea is worth and whether your idea has enough customers or not.

Chapter 4: The One-Minute Business Model

As the author says “What I’m saying here is that your job is not to create demand for something that seems exciting, it’s to find existing demand and satisfy it.” 

As you may have heard before, everyone is copying everyone. No one has the original idea.

So if you don’t have to come up with new ideas, you can enter into the same field as everyone else. The only thing you have to do is to make it better.

Now, Google Trends example from the book, 

Setting up people’s home offices idea: Google Trends data

• Size of market: 50,000 people
• Cost of your product: $500
• Total Value: $25,000,000
• Million-dollar idea? YES!

In the same way, type your idea in Google Trends to see how many people are searching for the product you want to sell. If you have enough people then go run a few ads and finally, launch the business.

You may be asking why this chapter is named “The One-Minute Business Model”. It’s because we used Google Trends to see whether the idea is worth spending time on or not. This only took one minute as the chapter title says.

Chapter 5: The 48 Hour Money Challenge

This is where the author took the challenge to start a business within 48 hours and earned $1000 in profit without using his network. 

The first rule of the 48-Hour Money challenge is “Validation is finding three customers in forty-eight hours who will give you money for your idea.”

The author did it by posting a photo of himself wearing a shirt that he wanted to sell and somehow, people liked the shirt and he made a whopping $1000 in profit.

This may or may not happen when you take this challenge but remember, failure is not the end of the world, it is part of the process.

The author has also shared a few things that we learned from Chapter 3. Like, doing experiments, running ads, and starting a website featuring products.

The takeaway from this chapter is to validate your business idea by getting paid within 48 hours. If you can do that then it means, it’s worth spending time on.

Chapter 6: Social Media Is for Growth

“A community who already knows you, who follows you, who is rooting for you is one of the most powerful forces in business, and it’s created through generosity”

This is a very basic chapter where the author says to use social media to build an audience that trusts you no matter what. He also gives you an example of the “100 True Fans article by Kevin Kelly”

Now, how will you grow on social media? It’s kind of hard these days but it’s not impossible. Just be yourself, do what people want, and behave the way you behave in front of your real friends.

People get hooked on CHARACTERS. People do business with REAL PEOPLE. Especially those who feel like a friend.

One of the examples that comes to my mind is “Ur Indian Consumer (Aka prasad vid Pathak)”

I have been following him for a long time and he treats his audience as family members and it’s not like he’s faking it, he is genuine as he is in real life.

Even 100 people who trust you the most will do wonders if you even plan to sell something to them.

So use social media to create content that people want to see, don’t use social media to waste time.

Chapter 7: Email is For Profit

Talking about email, I too have a weekly newsletter. So if you’re interested then click/tap here to subscribe and I promise, you won’t regret it.

That being said, I’m also writing my third book called “Life’s Last Edit” which will go live on 1st November 2024 (this Diwali). So pre-order it now because I say so…

You know what I did, I asked you to do something as the author says in the book. So don’t be afraid to ask.

Now, the author says, the newsletter is the best thing you can have because you have 100% control over it. With social media, you don’t know whether you will be getting the same engagement all the time.

They will come and YouTube or Meta will decide to kill your profile. So build an author that you have control over and there is no better way than starting a newsletter.

Also, don’t sell things directly, build an audience and afterward, sell something that your audience needs.

You can’t just sell Smartphones and you have an audience who reads a book. It’s better if you sell your book or something related to books.

Talking about myself, I tend to make my newsletter as personal as I can. I love to share things that I have done during the week, a few learning, and books I read.

So start a newsletter and write every week, even if you don’t have any subscribers. The day will come and one guy or girl will open your newsletter and read all the posts.

Chapter 8: The Growth Machine 

Set a goal. When you have a goal, your brain will focus on that goal if it feels archivable. You can’t just set a goal that you want to build a home on the moon. 

Instant set goals like, I want 10,000 Subscribers on YouTube within a year. This is doable, so set a plan and start working on it.

Do what it takes and you will have 10,000 Subscribers on YouTube.

What you have done here is, you told yourself that I want 10,000 Subscribers on YouTube within a year. You have a deadline and goal which gives you clarity about what you have to do.

As the author says “Be specific. One of the most common mistakes I see from entrepreneurs when they set goals is they say they want “more.” More revenue, more traffic, more downloads. But how much and by when?”

Along with that, follow the process, and don’t think much about the result. Like, how much money you will be making or how much view you will get. Focus on creating videos that people want to watch and improve every day.

Chapter 9: 52 Chances This Year

Write down what you want from this year, write as many things as you want and then pick a few things that matter the most.

For me, it was writing a book called “Life’s Last Edit, making 100 videos, writing 100 blog posts, and being consistent with the newsletter”. I’m not thinking about how much money I will be making.

If I just follow the process then I will get the results but If I fu*kup the process then I will be only left with regrets.

One more thing, keep your health as the highest priority no matter what. Think like, if you die now, what is the meaning of the goals?

Million Dollar Weekend Quotes

Million Dollar Weekend Review

If you’re someone who has never read a single book about business or read a few books then go read the Million Dollar Weekend. It’s a wonderful book that will tell you everything that you need to know about starting a business for the first time.

It’s for everyone. Go read it.

Keep in mind, you will find a few things very basic but the stories of the author of the starting business are you won’t find anywhere else.

Buy Million Dollar Weekend:

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