Do hard things. And stick with them.

What’s up! This is Sheldon from The Zero to One. A newsletter to help you grow your startup by giving you the actionable insights into the growth tactics, strategic playbooks, and GTM motions behind your favorite startups.

Today I want to tell you a personal story.

When I was 9 years old, I loved football (soccer for all the Americans here). And just like every 9 year old, I wanted the trading cards of all my heroes. Thierry Henry. Cesc Fabregas. Michael Owen. Most of you probably have no idea who these people even are.

But for me they were everything.

So I did all I could to make money to buy packs of cards. These ones to be exact:

I asked my mom to front my a bit of money to get me going. And after some tough negotiations she gave me enough money to buy some sodas, chips, and sweets to sell at school - you know that behind the corner don’t let Mrs Shields see type of shit.

The business took off. I was buying cards every week with my profits.

I even started reselling the duplicates I had - I would repackage them, give them odds for some of the good cards like that Fernando Torres 100 Club, and sell them at the playground to other kids.

I ended up collecting the whole league. Every single card. So I sold it.

Did I need the money? No.

Was I being forced? No.

I just feel in love with the process. I wanted to do it again.

This desire has stayed with me my whole life. I just want to do the process again and again. That’s what I love.

But as you grow up more and more distractions appear. You realize just how much you can do.

I fell into this trap.

I wanted to do everything. It paralyzed me. Choice is a paradox.

It was all so simple when I was 9. Sell cokes, sell sweets, and buy some cards.

That’s why this year I set myself a statement after watching the Casey Neistat video. Do hard things.

I changed how I perceived myself. I am someone who choses to do hard things. And continues them.

It’s that “continues them” part I’ve struggled with in my life again and again. My only regrets are stopping too soon.

The Real Estate Media businesses I grew to over 100k followers and 3 clients. The F1 YouTube channel I started and got millions of views. I stopped all too soon.

The problem is you don’t see the momentum in what you’re building. It more often than not lags.

You don’t know if what you’re doing is working. You don’t know if what you’re doing is even directionally right.

Well I want to help you stick it out. I want you to keep going. So I put together a group of three people who’ve been where you are and have come out on the other side - they’ve had their exits, they’ve hired their CEOs, they’ve hit 8 figures of revenue - they stuck it out.

And this Thursday (13 March), 4pm-5pm EST I am hosting a live virtual event with the three of them (a bit on them below) and 25 founders and early-stage growth pros:

1. Stan and Drippi’s ex-head of growth, RJ Gan.

2. Founder and CEO of YT Jobs (the biggest creator economy job marketplace used by YC, Shaan Puri, Mr Beast, Mark Manson, Ali Abdaal, The Hormozis), Sina Sahami.

3. Founder and CEO of Wefluens and GLUU, an almost 8-figure influencer and events agency that has worked with brands like Coca-Cola and Miniso, Yang Li.

They will give you everything they know on how to take your startup from zero to one. They will be answering your questions. And afterwards we will set up a community so that you’re not doing this alone - but with 24 people all on the same mission:

To stick it out and build something awesome. 24 other people who are choosing to not only do hard things, but stick to them.

The first 25 of you to click the button below will get the secret invite link.

For The Zero to One, it’s been your host, Sheldon.

In case you missed it ⏮️

Last week I did something exciting.

Something I had never done before but that I know is the direction this newsletter needs to go in.

I did one of my normal deep-dives, but with one key difference. I spoke to the Founder directly to ask him questions.

Meaning you save the 20+ hours it usually takes me to research the deep-dives, plus you get a bts view into the brains and decision making process of a business that has scaled to $15M ARR in just 3 years.

If you missed it, I highly recommend you give it a read here.

And while you’re at it, check out Oceans and its founder, Ian - he’s an awesome founder who has a lot of insights to share when it comes to building a robust and scaleable business.

Stay awesome and speak soon!

Interested in starting your own newsletter?

Here’s 30 days free with Beehiiv: