Table of Contents
- Tell us about your product and what inspired you to start it?
- How long did it take you to acquire your first 50 customers, and what was your growth strategy?
- Which technology stack are you using and what challenges and limitations does it pose?
- What are some of the most essential tools that you use for your business?
- What have been some of the biggest insights you've gained since starting your entrepreneurial journey?
- Your recommended books/podcasts/newsletters etc.:
Ignacio Velásquez is the founder of The Veller - Notion Products and Consultancy
Tell us about your product and what inspired you to start it?
I'm a Notion creator with 25+ products launched, 2 brands, and a combined audience of about 50K+ in Spanish and English.
I started as a freelance Notioncreator and consultant back in 2020 during the pandemic and got started as a creator when I knew I was a great builder. Being a freelancer for a while gave me all the experience and skills I needed to create digital products. Also made me realize I could make a living out of Notion if I was good at it.
But I have always been interested in the idea of creating something, and also being able to do the graphics and marketing for it. So I decided to challenge myself and 5 months later of putting in the effort consistently I launched almost 30 products, landed the best clients for my consultancy business, propelled the 2nd brand in Spanish, and totally changed my life, the opportunities I have, my skills, and my mindset.
How long did it take you to acquire your first 50 customers, and what was your growth strategy?
I don't remember how much time it took right now but it probably was less than 1 month. I got my first 50 free users with the first template launch by sharing it with every community I knew about. The first 50 paying customers came in form of donations later that month too because I committed to launching something valuable, pretty, and useful every week.
My strategy consisted on a combination of different tactics. For product, I focused on high quality free products with great visuals and with an approach for differentiation and attention to detail. For marketing, I focused on content distribution, communities and socials and more for discovery. It was a "post everywhere because I know it's good" kinda mindset. Having a system for it was crucial.
Which technology stack are you using and what challenges and limitations does it pose?
Primarily Notion, a combination o Notion Web Clippers, Make, Bardeen, Workona, gCal, and Google Tasks.
I'm pretty happy with all the software stack I use nowadays, but know it will evolve in a future.
What are some of the most essential tools that you use for your business?
Notion custom systems, second brain and workspace tool.
Figma for design.
Postly for social media scheduling.
Gumroad for online store.
Paypal for payments.
Make for automation
What have been some of the biggest insights you've gained since starting your entrepreneurial journey?
Free products really pay off if you deliver 10x the value compared to the price. Free content will not only get you a solid number of downloads, but if it's valuable enough, it has the potential to go viral, get you a ton of download and a decent amount of revenue in donations.
There are many ways to exploit the system and win, be curious: Many systems are not perfectly balanced. And life isfull of endless possibilities and combinations. Get knowledgable, plan strategically and execute. Gotta go out there and look for the possibilities.
It's easy to start on a trending niche but will be hard to maintain: Got into 3D printing and crypto quite early on. One as a small business and the other as a sidehustle. I overestimate my capacity when I was able to make some quick cash and forgot to actually build something long term. In consequence, my crypto sidehustle basically died and my small 3D printing farm barely made it.
Creating systems and SOPs will pay high yield dividend in the future: Save your future self as much time as you can, it compounds and one day you and your business will be a completely different, for the best.
Your recommended books/podcasts/newsletters etc.:
Book: The Compound Effect
Podcast: My First Million
Newsletter: Trends & The Saturday Solopreneur
Blog: Hubspot
YouTube Channel: Jake Tran
