Hey there!

I know it's been a while so just want to give you a heads up on what I'll be going over today:

1. Why I'm changing the name of this site/brand/newsletter
2. The Monthly Startup Plan
3. My plans for this newsletter going forward

🙊 The Name Change

So this is no longer the Learn Then Apply newsletter.

Let me explain...

I created the name Learn Then Apply because I was consuming a ton of content and I figured I could try to execute on some of that content and share some learnings of what came out of it.

But I recently watched this interview between Shane Parrish and Seth Godin that made me realize this name didn't make sense.

The most influential quote?

"The only way to learn is by doing things."

Reading, listening, and consuming can be important preparation, but learning is the act of failing on our way to mastery.

I tried to justify that well learn then apply is that prep work. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that applying after learning just lead to more of the same problem of overconsumption. Why?

Because I was often learning random things that had no practical application at the moment. Which isn't a bad thing. I love having an expansive knowledge base that allows me to look at problems from multiple angles.

But I've gone through another cycle around the sun (28 as of Monday) and I want to practice being more intentional. That means practing "just-in-time" learning. Doing things until I don't know what to do next and then seeking out the resource that will take me to the next step.

📅 The Monthly Startup Plan

Pieter Levels is a serial entrepreneur who is best known for nomadlist.com which was launched during his "12 Startups in 12 Months" challenge.

Basically he didn't know what he wanted to do so he decided to do micro experiments until something resonated. A bunch of people have tried to do something similar, including my buddy Jakob Greenfeld, but I've heard that it's most effective when your startup ideas are all based around the same audience.

The good thing is I think I've found my audience in the Indian Christian Wedding space.

So starting in November, I will be focusing on one project each month as, micro-experiments, until I find an idea that finds product-market-fit.

Through my conversations with brides and vendors, I've come up with a list of possibilities like:

1. A Slack community where vendors and couples can interact
2. RSVP software that works with Whatsapp
3. A seat generator based on RSVPs
4. Wedding loans
5. Wedding savings accounts or financial planning

For November, I've decided to start with something that three separate people have asked me to do: a niche dating website. I've started to build an MVP in Airtable and Softr and will share my progress starting next week.

📧 Newsletter Plans

I've been more conscious of what newsletters I find joy in reading vs. ones that I sometimes grudge through.

Two things I feel are helpful:

1. Getting a quick overview of what is included so you can skip to sections that are relevant.
2. Keeping things short and skimmable

I'll try to do a bit of both. I'm going to start with a "Show & Tell" type of format where I share what I did in the past week, my learnings, my plans for next week, and any helpful resources I've found.

Have a great week!

I'll catch you early next week! If you don't receive my newsletter by 12AM on Wednesday next week, venmo request @monitormonkey for $10.

Cheers,

Aswin