Best Business Books:
Million Dollar Weekend Review

Million Dollar Weekend: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Launch a 7-Figure Business in 48 Hours by Noah Kagan

First off, Noah Kagan is the creator of AppSumo. He was employee number 30 at Facebook and number 4 at Mint. He is not a professor teaching theory. The book is full of real-world examples, stories and anecdotes from Kagan’s personal experience building his own businesses.

So I stumbled onto Million Dollar Weekend: The Surprisingly Simple Way to Launch a 7-Figure Business in 48 Hours by Noah Kagan looking up something on google that I can’t seem to remember now. However, I ended up on Noah’s website reading about his just released book and I was immediately intrigued. I hopped over to Amazon, snapped it up and two days later I was deeply engrossed and could not put the book down until I got to the last page. 

Get Started Now

So here’s my take on Noah Kagan’s book Million Dollar Weekend. This book offers a straightforward, practical, how-to guide to starting a business right now by providing readers with clear actionable strategies. This is not your typical business book. His approach is refreshing, inspiring and highly motivating. He emphasizes getting started, finding an idea, validating the idea, launching, and getting paying customers.

One particular challenge of his that struck me is the “Now, Not How Habit”. Because it’s easy to get caught up in planning every detail, Kagan suggests just diving in, to just get started. Most people’s intuition is to take action only after overdosing on learning, reading and taking courses, which can lead many to not starting at all. I’m certainly guilty of overthinking things and being a perfectionist, so this was a very good reminder to move forward and take action, instead of getting bogged down in excessive research and planning.

Now, when it comes to business ideas, Kagan emphasizes solving real problems. The key here is to pay attention and keep track of your daily frustrations, annoyances or tasks you struggle with. Ask yourself how you can solve these problems or come up with a better solution for the problem. 

“If you believe your product or service can fulfill a true need, it’s your moral obligation to sell it.—Zig Ziglar”

Don’t Give Up 

Kagan talks about embracing rejection. Although a fear of rejection is quite human, it is also paralyzing. To desensitize yourself, Kagan suggests turning it into a bit of a game by aiming for a certain number of rejections. Regular rejection takes the sting away and Kagan proffers that every rejection is actually an opportunity you can use to take a deep dive into your customer problems. 

“There’s no such thing as self-made. Everyone is team-made.” —Noah Kagan

Get Your Mind Right

One thing I really appreciate is Kagan’s focus on mindset. He talks a lot about overcoming fear and self-doubt. These are big hurdles for many aspiring entrepreneurs, myself included. He actually states to “Never Entrepreneur Alone.” One way to accomplish this is to connect with like-minded people, others who are working on similar goals. Join an entrepreneurial community for support, learning and accountability. Kagan also recommends having an accountability buddy. This should be a trusted person who you can have regular check-ins with and they help you stay focused on your goals, can offer emotional support, be a sounding board and give constructive feedback.  

There you have it. I highly, highly recommend this book for anyone feeling stuck, wanting to start a business or side hustle and need help breaking out of analysis paralysis. It’s a good, quick read with no fluff and a great reference book. You’ll definitely want to refer back to it again and again. Intrigued? Get your copy of Noah Kagan’s Million Dollar Weekend HERE.