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Published "Zero to Sold" - a 25.000-word Guide

I've just published a 25.000-word compendium called "Zero to Sold". I've written this guide over the last few months, in parallel to the articles and newsletters I have been publishing.

For many weeks, I put off releasing what was an almost finished guide. I told myself that I needed to "write just one more thing". Finally, I overcame my desire to postpone the release of the guide. It was surprisingly hard to set a date, but once I did, everything else fell into place.

Zero to Sold is a compendium of all the stages of a bootstrapped business and the challenges you will encounter along the way. It contains stories and experiences from my time at FeedbackPanda, from the humble beginnings to the details of our exit (and the unchartered wilds beyond).

Zero to Sold has the following chapters:

Every week, I will write at least one blog post on a specific subject that represents a section in Zero to Sold. Once the post is published, it will be linked directly from the compendium. That way, the guide will grow over time, adding in-depth articles to the concise and detailed sections of Zero to Sold every week.

Here is a screenshot of the Table of Contents as of today.

Every Friday, I publish the Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter. Every edition contains a link to a poll that allows my subscribers to vote for next week's article. So if my readers want to make sure I prioritize the articles you care about, they can subscribe to the newsletter and vote for what I should write first. That way, I get subscribers, and they get a real chance at affecting my priorities.

The long-term goal is to figure out a monetization strategy. Zero to Sold is a book in the making, and I am writing it in public. Once I feel it has enough detailed articles, it will be turned into a fully-fledged book. Until then, I assume I can turn finished parts of it into mini-eBooks, which I might use as a lead generator by offering it as a free download for newsletter signups.

My newsletter is a channel for me to explore new and current topics while delivering stories and insights from my time at FeedbackPanda (and all the failed startups I was in before). I expect to add more sections to Zero to Sold from interesting topics that I find in the bootstrapping community, either through the links that I collect every week or the incredibly insightful conversations I have on Twitter almost every day.

This is my first book. It's also my first info product, so I am learning a lot about all of this every single day. If you have any suggestions, please reach out to me here, on Twitter, or through the contact form on the blog.

  1. 3

    Wow, this looks really interesting! Bookmarked and looking forward to read it! Plus, I love the name 😂

    1. 2

      Thanks, Andrea! Yeah, that is a name with potential for sure :P

  2. 2

    Haven't read more than 15% but already love it :) Might be a bit too scientific at times. But definitely adds a lot of value to people who are or want to become a bootstrapped founder

    1. 1

      I can state with 78.96% confidence (pending peer review on the math) that it might potentially be too scientific sometimes :P

      Thanks for the kind words, Yannick!

  3. 2

    Currently reading the first chapter.
    This is exactly what I need right now ... looks like my journal for the last two years. 😀

    Thanks for publishing it! Great work @arvidkahl

    1. 1

      I hope you find a lot of useful stuff in there for your own journey :) Thanks for checking it out!

  4. 1

    Just ordered it from Amazon. Read the first couple of page, well written so far.

  5. 1

    Arvid, I can't can't wait to dive into your book. I've been listening to your podcast... REALLY GOOD STUFF! I especially loved your episode "Finding the Critical Problem".

    1. 1

      Thanks so much, Dan! That episode (and the writing that goes with it) has become central to most of the other things that I talk about. It really boils down to getting the first few steps (Well-defined Audience, Critical Problem, Workflow-compatible Solution) right to maximize your chances.

      I'm working on some extra material for that, a kind of pragmatic step-by-step exercise. Stay tuned!

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