What exactly does the Tacklebox Membership include?

Am I right for the Tacklebox Membership?

Is the Tacklebox Membership right for me?

Why should I invest in Tacklebox? What do I get out of it?

What products/business types is Tacklebox for?

Do you have a Demo Day? Will I meet investors?

How much access will I have to the Tacklebox team?

Do I have to be located in NYC to join the Membership?

Should I build my product first?

Can you guarantee the success of my startup?

What’s the difference between Tacklebox and Y Combinator?

What paths have your alumni taken after Tacklebox?

Any questions we haven’t answered?

The Tacklebox Membership is designed around 3 core concepts: Structure, Strategy, and Network.

1. Structure = The Tacklebox Method. Your weeks are anchored by The Tacklebox Method. It’s a virtual product that guides you through starting a business. There are seven core blocks with metric-based thresholds that take you from idea → launch. Content is delivered through video, frameworks, and alumni examples. It took seven years and hundreds of founders to perfect. It’s our baby, and it works.

2. Strategy = 1x1 Strategy Sessions. Receive feedback and insight from us as you build. We run bi-weekly sessions where you can book a time to chat through your specific startup idea and hurdles you're running into. For anything the Tacklebox Method doesn't cover (trust us, it covers a lot) we'll be there to fill in the gaps.

3. Network = Entrepreneurs with Jobs getting Coffee. As you hit thresholds, we'll make intros to helpful people - strategic (alums, advisors, potential co-founders) and tactical (vetted freelancers, designers, developers, and investors). In addition, our bi-weekly NYC coffee networking will open your network to a talented bunch of fellow founders.

We’ve found these 3 core concepts create the best environment for founders to succeed. The structure to keep you moving forward (while avoiding the 100s of mistakes founders make every year), the strategy and sounding board of the Tacklebox team as well as the network of other talented individuals going through the same process. An entrepreneurial triple threat.

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The Tacklebox Membership makes sense for people with:

1. An idea (or two or several). You’ll get 10x the value with an active idea during the program. If you don’t have your idea just yet, we’d recommend listening to the Idea to Startup Podcast for inspiration and joining the Tacklebox Membership when you’ve found the right one.

2. More than an hour a week to spend on this. While we’ve refined the Tacklebox Method to be as efficient as possible we’d recommend joining the membership when you have at least a few hours a week to spend on your idea.

3. Hustle. Yes, corny, we know, but it does take some hustle and creativity to get your idea off the ground. We provide the structure, strategy, and network, you bring the idea, insight and the hustle.

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You’re facing a big decision. Starting a business/startup/side-hustle/whatever-you’d-like-to-call-it is a big deal. We love new businesses, it’s literally why we exist. We want more good ideas in the world and we want more talented people launching them. You have something that people want, we want to help you get in front of them effectively.

Too many good businesses fail due to early missteps. The Tacklebox Membership is right for you if you’re ready to take the leap on your idea and launch it right. While we can’t run your startup for you, we give you all the resources we can to launch it yourself.

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We think our Alumni say it best. You can read our Alumni’s testimonials here breaking down their experiences working with us.

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We’ve found Tacklebox works extremely well for most products/businesses types. The customer and strategic fundamentals don’t change (but we’ll also be very quick to tell you if it’s not a fit). We’ve seen alumni raise millions with VC-backed Saas products and others bootstrap their physical products, services and DTC brands. From B2B to B2C, the Method still works.

Likewise, we’ve worked with both idea-stage founders and founders who have launched their idea, built a product or are in the early stages but aren’t getting the customers or traction they expected. It may seem like you’re beyond the Tacklebox content, but this stuff is foundational. If you’re not growing like crazy or not acquiring the customers you deserve the program will help you strategize your next steps, find your customer and push your growth forward.

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Lots of accelerators and incubators have Demo Days. These are an opportunity for startups to show investors the progress they’ve made during the program.

Those enrolled in the Tacklebox Method can apply to pitch to our network if funding is their next step. Our goals however are a bit different. You may not be ready for funding. You may be more interested in getting a technical co-founder, making your first sale, or partnering with a university. We’ll pick a milestone for each startup and work towards it.

Buying into the program doesn’t give you immediate access to our investor network however following the Tacklebox Method will put you in the best possible position to pitch to investors. Once you work through the Tacklebox Method and hit our traction thresholds we’ll happily connect you to our investor network.

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We run our Entrepreneurs with Jobs getting Coffee Events bi-weekly in NYC, followed by our open hours for 20 min 1x1 sessions.

Every 2nd Wednesday you’ll be able to schedule a 1x1 meeting with the Tacklebox team and if you’re based in NYC attend our in-person coffee events.

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Absolutely not! The only part of the membership that’s NYC-based is the Entrepreneurs with Jobs getting Coffee Events but we’re actively working on bringing this online for our non-NYC Entrepreneurs. For our entrepreneurs who can’t make it to NYC in-person, we’ll be able to make introductions to other founders and the Tacklebox network virtually.

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Ok, we’ll get right to the point. A huge part of the Tacklebox Membership is our Tacklebox Method.

The Tacklebox Method is structured into blocks of video, content, and downloadable templates.

1. Video Workshops: Will teach you the foundations, tell stories and get you thinking creatively

2. Written Content: Support the concepts taught in the workshops providing tactical steps and strategies

3. Downloadable Templates: Allow you to act on what you’ve learned and implement the frameworks

The Tacklebox Method is action-driven, you’ll learn through practice. You’ll start with the content and then dive right into implementation simultaneously validating and launching your idea.

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We have hundreds of podcasts and articles going into further detail on this but high level, here’s how we look at startups and launch strategy:

1. Obsess over customer: Customer and Purpose > Product always.

2. Validate first: You can build a meaningful waitlist before even touching a product. Your time is valuable, see if this idea is worth your time first.

3. Start focused: Focusing on a single customer to launch will give you the momentum, traction, and feedback to actually grow.

4. Make an impact: You have one shot - go big. Be anything but boring.

5. Fundraising is a strategy: We’re 50/50 on fundraising - it’s right for some and not for others. We push it hard on businesses that need it and encourage creative alternatives for those that don’t.

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At Tacklebox we’re shaking up the typical startup launch process. We believe, you don’t need a product or huge budget to validate your idea in its early stages.

We constantly hear from founders who have already invested heavily in their product or are hesitant to even start customer research until their product is fully functional. It’s incredibly painful to hear as this approach so often ends poorly. You could could create the coolest product on the planet but without a customer - you don’t actually have a sustainable business.

THE STARTUP MYTH

“Build it and they will come”. Unfortunately, humans don’t work that way.

Takeaway:

The build it first model can work! It however, costs more than the Tacklebox process and is higher risk. Why build a product that has no guarantee of attracting a customer when you can assess the market appeal first? Startups are risky but why not validate first and remove the first roadblock from your launch?

An estimated 90% of new startups fail. We don’t guarantee success but we do guarantee an objective method of assessing your customer appeal and market without building a product that no one cares about.

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We don’t guarantee you’ll build a successful startup. If anyone tells you they can, you should run away fast! We guarantee a startup education and process of validation that gives your idea a real chance.

We’ve had incredibly talented founders come through with compelling ideas but customers who remained indifferent despite all attempts. An amazing founder cannot beat the market if the idea doesn’t hold up. The success of a startup relies on the response from the market, not only the talent of the founder.

We don’t take equity in your startup for this exact reason. If we were to take equity, it would encourage us to continue to push on with your idea even if the market is rejecting it. Without equity, we can stay objective and look at the market for what it really is.

We believe in you, the founder. If your idea doesn’t stand up to the market or just doesn’t gain the traction we’d hoped, we fully believe in your ability to ditch it, pivot, and reapply the Tacklebox methodology to a new idea.

What we can guarantee:

1. A strong foundation

2. Deep understanding of customer

3. A time-tested approach to validating startups

4. Your best chance of getting this idea off the ground

30% of our founders pivot or abandon their original idea

We’re actually pretty proud of that number. Your opportunity cost is high, your time is limited - we don’t want founders wasting time on ideas that don’t have a market. We’re validating (or invalidating) ideas before you spend $20k+ on a product and marketing.

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We’re huge fans of Y Combinator and have had several Tacklebox graduates go through the program themselves. By all means, if you can get into Y Combinator - go for it! However, whether you’re aiming for a side income or a Unicorn, the foundational principles of building your startup remain the same. Without a customer and some traction, you don’t have a business.

We visualize YC, and most investment opportunities, as a see-saw. That see-saw has traction on one side and relationship with founder on the other. They de-risk each other. If you’ve got massive traction, that de-risks (in an investor’s eyes) the risk of not knowing the founder. Alternatively, if you’ve sold a company already, the “relationship” with that founder (even if there’s no personal relationship) is “they make money” and that’s good. You’ll get money with zero traction.

This isn’t rocket science. But, if you’ve got neither a relationship with YC nor eye-popping traction (most founders applying to YC), you’ve got no shot. So, you need a plan. And you’re far more likely to create a relationship than to get crazy traction. Relationships are hard, but eye-popping traction is harder.

Two thoughts on relationships:

• The way we form relationships is known. If someone says they’ll do something, and then they do that thing, over and over, there will be a strong relationship based on trust. It doesn’t matter how big the thing is, just that it’s done. Whatever we’re told a lot becomes the truth (for better or worse).

• If you want relationships to take some of the burden off traction, you need to create the scenario from the above bullet. You need gatekeepers to see you continually do what you’ll say you’ll do. That means they’ll need to care enough to watch.

For YC, or anything where you need someone to trust the package of “you + your traction” more than 1,000 other very qualified options, your best use of time is figuring out a plan to establish that trust over the next 3–6–9 months. You probably won’t be able to differentiate on traction alone. And a bi-weekly email that says “let’s grab a coffee and catch up” as a relationship Hail Mary won’t work either. As tempting as it is, don’t be the “toss in an app” person if you really want something.

THE Tacklebox PATH to AN EQUITY ACCELERATOR

If this is your path but you lack the early traction or experience of running/selling a startup, Tacklebox can help you get to that next stage.

Stage: Idea/Early Stage progress but without a strong customer, looking for aggressive growth/investment

Outcome:

1. A waitlist of customers OR grounds to pivot = Customer traction

2. Several tested acquisition channels = Customer traction

3. Knowledge of the product features your customer actually values = Strong, market-reflecting product

4. Path for investment if required = The framework to pitch yourself to Accelerators

Next Steps:

• Leverage the traction achieved during the program to apply to Accelerators

• Build on traction with continuous Customer Intent Testing

THE alternative

We actually have a good amount of founders who come through the program with the goal of getting into an Accelerator but instead build enough organic traction to sustain themselves, obtain Angel investment or jump to VC.

We provide you with a platform to seriously pursue your business. When you’re in the trenches, working with your customer and building something real you’ll be able to make better-informed decisions about your startup direction.

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We’ve had our Alumni leverage the Tacklebox Method to launch, grow and pivot their ideas into everything from bootstrapped DTC companies to VC-backed Saas. We’ve mapped out a few of the paths our founders have taken after Tacklebox here.

We’re outcome-focused. If you have a desired path/exit/outcome we’ll gear our interactions, strategy and timeline towards that goal.

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