July Update – [The Movement Athlete]

By Aga in Startups 0 Comment

 

What a week it has been. I just landed back home from a trip to Berlin – to attend selection days for a Lead – Sports Accelerator.

Needless to say it was intense which is one of the reasons I am just writing this update now.  The event started with pitches and then went on to a speed-dating style interview.

The event started with pitches and then went on to a speed-dating style interview. Over 30 tables, at each table different

the movement athlete company CEO Aga Nazaruk

The Movement Athlete – Founder Aga Nazaruk Pitching

mentors and investors and we had 20min per table. After 20 min we switch and go to the next table. 2 days of just that. My voice gave up at the end and I could hardly talk.

The format although intense has been great in terms of meeting as many folks as possible and getting a fireside-style feedback on what we are doing.

I made some great connections, both potential mentors, advisors, investors and partnerships, and of course friends for life in other startups.

After 2 days the jury out of 40 selected 19 startups that got into the accelerator and will be heading to Berlin from September. But only after 1 month there is a final decision whether you get awarded a small investment (25k for 8% of the company).

The Movement Athlete as top Sports Startups

The Movement Athlete getting into 19 top Startups to enter Lead Sports Accelerator

It is a small amount for where we are at but any money would be great to push the product development.

I will start with main takeaways and lessons learnt and then move onto how it will affect our strategy going forward.

Main takeaways:

  • We are in a great, vastly underserved & growing market and have an opportunity to emerge as an authority if we do it well.
  • Building a strong brand that stands for something, with a worldwide community is the KEY
  • Our brand & a company should be aiming to become a lifestyle brand – tech is just one product we offer and eventually, we will have offline events, clothing brand and maybe even a physical location
  • Part of the vision of building our community is collaborating with trainers and athletes from all over the world to promote the movement and bodyweight disciplines and promote them- these relationships are extremely important and we will be putting systems this month to start nurturing the current ones and developing new ones.
  • Our product needs to be great, easy to use and flow with optimisation for social aspect

On the tech side there was a lot of suggestions. Some of the things which come up over and over again was incorporating video analysis to give folks immediate feedback

FOCUS AREAS FOR NEXT 60 DAYS SPRINT.

Next 3 months our focus needs to be on building a brand, a worldwide movement and a community of folks – athletes, trainers, and average Joes – who believe in what we believe – that moving should not be a chore.

Among many projects planned we are putting a content marketing machine in place, regular email updates to our list and customers, affiliate program, presale, Instagram marketing, new version of the ebook coming out and building relationships with trainers and athletes – from which some of them will join our core team.

Along with that we will be perfecting the product and we want to start the app development mid August. From multiple conversations I had it become obvious that getting the product to the market should be our number 1 priority.

We have been pushing it forward as financially it will be really straining to make it happen.

Nevertheless, we made a decision to do whatever it takes to bring it to the market before Christmas.

The Movement Athlete App coming at the end of the year

The Movement Athlete App coming at the end of the year

To fund it we will do a presale promo to our community which will cover part of the cost. We are also considering equity crowdfunding or taking on a small loan to finish it – but it means that we will have very limited amount of cash to put towards marketing for next few months until the release. We are trying to address this issue but it’s literally the last, most important milestone for us to get through. I know that we can do this.

I am so excited for releasing the product- it still will be an MVP version so won’t include a lot of features we would love to see but one we have that out there – everything gets easier and we can keep on putting money into development. We will aim to have the product redy before Christmas and do a big product launch during that time.

I am extremely grateful for the support of each and every one of you as we are making headways on this journey.

I truly believe we can build something with a global impact and change lives of many people.

Stepping Into being more

By Aga in Uncategorized 0 Comment

Amazing email from Adrienne Dorison – is excatly how I am feeling right now

 

The most uncomfortable part of this entrepreneurial journey is stretching — not stretching what you’re doing — but stretching who you are being.

I know that’s what makes this program different.

It requires you to BE the leader your ideal business really needs.

The program will actually show you that the DOING is secondary…that you’ll actually be DOING LESS, but you’ll be BEING more.

More of who you really want to be.
…the visionary leader who wakes up each day knowing exactly what to focus on to leave a bigger impact on the world…{not just do more busy work…}

More of who your team needs.
…relaxing, releasing and trusting that your team member(s) are operating in their zone of genius…so that YOU don’t have to…

More of who the world needs to create the impact you desire.
…the giver who shows up in service with a full heart, not just to make more money themselves, but to show the world through embodiment and modeling how to create real change…

More of who you already know you are…
…the leader, the giver, the visionary, the CEO…

So, if you’re worried that this program will require you to DO too much work…I’d like for you to take a moment to think about what you’re really afraid of…and it’s not the doing.

Let’s be honest…you’ve never been afraid of the doing…

…you’re OVERdoing.

It’s the BEING you’re afraid of this time.

Maybe you’re more nervous about WHO this program is going to require you to finally become, not what it requires you to do.
But I know you’re ready.

And if not now, then when?

When will you ever be BOLD enough to become the leader you’ve always been meant to be?
When will you be READY enough to become the giver your heart desires you to become?
When will you be CLEAR enough to step into the bigger vision?
When will you be POWERFUL enough to fight for the people who can’t fight for themselves?
When will you be CONFIDENT enough to realize who you are being is defining what you are doing …not the other way around.

You’re waiting to BECOME the person your business needs until you have time to DO different things…but that’s not how this works.

Only when you change who you are BEING, what you are DOING will shift too.

TMA Update

By Aga in Uncategorized 0 Comment

 

From time to time I will be publishing the updates on the learnings and what is going on with the company and the progress we are making in a very short format. It’s mostly to document, reflect and learn.

 

Background

We currently have switched all our focus towards the marketing after a pretty intense time focusing on the product development. We are missing another around $25k to finish the new app development and I am confided that we can get 70% of it from doing a presale to our audience. That is planned for end of July, before that happens though we are doing a big marketing sprint to set up systems and processes on the marketing and support side.

We have set up goals for a 90 days sprint but actually decided to break it down to 30 days sprint and then just go week by week andadjustt our stratgies based on what we are learning.

The rough game plan is

STAGE 1. Establish Basic Marketing processes (Email Marketing, Content, SEO, Social Media, Support)

STAGE 2. Launch a number of campaigns (Influencers Engagement, Moves Library, Podcast, You Tube, Giveaways, Summit)

All that helping us get ready for the big product launch and have everything in place to make that happen.

STAGE 3. Product Launch

 

As this is the last week of July this is what we are focusing on

Marketing Processes in Place for

  • Content Marketing (1 piece of content a week )
  • Content Promotion
  • Instagram Marketing
  • Support

These processes are really important and they are the first ones to focus as they will make a difference long term.

To make these happen we created processes in Trello, SOPs describing each step, including the videos etc and we are in process of hiring, testing different writers and VA who will be executing on those.

So far we have

  • Writers – they are covering different type of written content for us – Guides, Articles, case studies – they take it all the way to WordPress
  • Editor / Copywriter – responsible for final checks and final write-ups of promo emails and social media blurbs
  • Marketing VA – Responsible for SEO optimisation, other social media and content promotion
  • Instagram Marketer – focused only ON Instagram
  • Project Manager – the girl who is helping me with processes and organising SOPs for everything. She will also be managing all these folks.

Other projects we are working on in next 30 days.

  • Launching an affiliate program to our customers
  • Launching a new version of the ebook (almost done)
  • Email marketing – we have  a new sequence coming, putting a calendar on sending new emails every week, adding to our sequence etc
  • Content Creation for the new app – both Becky and Artem are making pictures and videos for the new app – there is over 1000 different exercises so its a looooot of content that we not only need to create but also organise. This is the basic content and we will be collaborating with other trainers to create a more specialised content eg. for human flag
  • We are switching to a membership model – and Dani – our backed Rockstar has been working really hard to make that all happen. We are just missing a cancel button
  • Fixing our analytics
  • Setting up FB Ads

Goals for this week (in order of priority)

  • Redo our pitch deck and send it to a designer for Berlins presentation
  • Hire VAs to take care of SEO/ WordPress, Support, Instagram
  • Finalise SOPs for Support, Instagram, Content
  • Finalise pictures for Ebook – and pass it onto Inna for design
  • Pass on to Alex Project Management for the content we are creating and organising it.
  • Emails: Send an update to everyone re the app + schedule a small
  • Establish Email marketing schedule
  • Change the pricing to membership

Some good news:

We just got an email that we made it to a selection stage for LEAD Sports Accelerator – an incubator particularly sports startups that take place Sept – Dec in Berlin this year. We beat almost 500 other startups and made it to selected 30 that got invited to the next stage of the recruitment which takes place in around a week in Berlin.

I will be most probably flying to Berlin to pitch and meet investors next week.

 

That’s it – see you next week

 

 

“No one is a self made man” – how in person masterminds can change your life.

By Aga in Adventure 0 Comment

“Like everyone, to get to where I am, I stood on the shoulders of giants. My life was built on a foundation of parents, coaches, and teachers, friends; of kind souls who lent coaches or gym back rooms where I could sleep; of mentors who shared wisdom and advice; of idols who motivated me from the pages of magazines (and, as my life grew, from personal interaction).
I had a big vision, and I had a fire in my belly. But I would never have gotten anywhere without others supporting me” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Chasing your dreams, especially on the entrepreneurial journey can get really lonely, tough, confusing.

You get inside your head a lot, you often can’t see past your limiting beliefs, fears and struggles. You are good at some things and then you suck at everything else. The blind spots – the things we usually can’t see is what often is holding us back from taking action, growing and expanding.

Sometimes a single conversation or realisation makes everything fall in place.

For last few years, we have been so blessed to have a solid group of people, who just like us are going hard after their dreams and share this incredible journey with us. And I need to say, every single of these gatherings have been life changing.
This time we got together on beautiful Koh Panghan to spend a week in an amazing villa with a private beach for masterminds, hot seats, coworking and adventures.

And it has been mind blowing!

Every time we meet breakthroughs happen.
Every time we meet I feel so grateful for the depth of connection we share and the journey we are on.
Every time we meet I feel stronger, more confident and fired up to go faster, think bigger and excited to meet again in 6 months to show off my progress.
Every time we meet I gain clarity
Every time we meet I feel like we are in it together.

Imagine a group of people that sees you, your progress, your limiting beliefs and can tell you exactly where are you stuck, what needs to change, point the bottlenecks and suggest strategies going forward?

And when it all happens you start moving so much faster. The things that normally takes months would take weeks, the clarity you gain means that all is left is action.

Not just random masterminds, friendships and events but folks who are there long term, who are consistently committed to showing up, to supporting you, calling you out on your bullshit and giving tough love when needed. Folks who you open up to and go deep to break through any limiting beliefs that are holding you back.


So grateful for all of you guys and thank you for an incredible week. I have learnt so much from every single one of you and I am ready to really level up in next 6 months.

See you all really soon!

————————–—
If you are an entrepreneur / digital nomad looking for a tribe – check out http://stromboliretreat.com/
happening this summer on an Active Volcano in Italy.

 

How badly do you really want it

By Aga in Inspiration, Lessons Learnt, Startups 0 Comment

I hear so many EXCUSES. Everything from

  • [insert the country you live in] is not good enough
  • I don’t know enough
  • I don’t know how to get started
  • I don’t have money
  • I don’t have a support network.
  • I have a job

And honestly, I think these ones are ok. These are explicit excuses –  You can work with them.

The WORST are those silent ones. Those unconscious. Those not visible, those which DON’T seem like excuses or complaints at all.

I had this amazing conversation with a very smart woman who is telling me how she doesn’t like her job and really wants to quit, but it’s struggling. She loves to travel. For every excuse she has to not to do it ,I am offering a number of solutions.

After a while, there is no more “buts”. She runs out of excuses.

It feels like we hit the wall. Feels like she says she wants to change but doesn’t really. (???)

Like there is some unconscious, or now maybe more conscious, resistance running through her head and showing up right now when all the excuses were smashed.

Here is the thing.

  • Everyone like the idea of living the life they love.
  • Everyone like the idea of growing and being an entrepreneur.
  • Everyone like the idea of traveling and moving every 6 months to see our beautiful planet.
  • Everyone likes the idea of being a millionaire.

 

The problem is 99,99% just don’t want it bad enough

I promise you if you haven’t taken action yet – you don’t have strong enough reasons to pull you where you need to be. 

And there is a chance that you will stay that way, for years. Maybe even forever.

Never taking a chance, never living the live you wont, never taking any risk because the time was not right, and you weren’t ready and this and that….

And those REASONS that will pull you forward don’t magically appear. They don’t come in a form of some insight or a revolution. Sometimes you will need to hit a wall to change but there is an easier way….

IT’s A DECISION YOU NEED TO MAKE 

“Until you really want to change, you won’t, even if deep down you believe you should.

Yet, once your desire shifts, changing your behavior is instant and effortless. If you no longer desire bad food, it’s not hard to “resist” it. Willpower is for people who haven’t made up their minds. Willpower doesn’t work.

If you no longer desire mediocrity, you won’t be mediocre. Herein lies a subtle and disarming truth — everything you have in your life is what you want. If you wanted something different, you’d have something different. As James Allen wrote, your circumstances reveal you.

Own it.

Until you own it, you’ll continue to be delusional. Once you own it, you can begin the process of change.”

So how do you develop something that pulls you so strong that nothing else matters?

1.Extreme Ownership

Before anything, you need to develop an attitude of extreme ownership.

You need to take responsibility for EVERYTHING that is happening to you. No excuses.

2. Vision

Then you need to develop the pull.

And this its easier a strong enough vision for how you want your life to be OR

a strong enough vision for what you will never settle for, what you will never want in your life. It’s the feelings you never want to feel again its things you hate, its thing you refuse to happen.

They need to be vivid, details and solid so when you think about them they CAUSE EMOTION.

3. Repetition

Once you have both – you bring them in front of you EVERY SINGLE DAY. No, not once a month, not just once a year when you are reflecting.

EVERY SINGLE DAY

I am not joking. Consistency is a key here.

Believe me if you won’t – IT Won’t HAPPEN. GUARANTEE. You must KNOW what you know and what you dont WANT. And remind  yourself about it every single day!

Researchers in the USA looked at millionaires and billionaires, examining the differences between the two groups. One fascinating difference was that millionaires looked at their goals once a day and billionaires looked at their goals twice a day! They say ‘it costs nothing to look’, which is generally correct but the reverse is definitely true in this case. If you don’t look, it will cost you! Having a date for your dreams is like giving a student a deadline for an assignment. All the action is last minute,and if you didn’t set a deadline you’d never get it done!

4. Take Chances – Its fun!

Ready to stop being mediocre?

 

Quarterly Review Jan-March 2017

By Aga in Lessons Learnt, Startups, Uncategorized 0 Comment

So first 3 months of the year are gone. Time to reflect, refocus and re-strategize.

I set up some extremely aggressive goals at the beginning of the year. The goals were outcome goals mostly which depends on a lot of things to be in place. I like it that way. I like the challenge.

The game is thought to:

  • set them up in the way that won’t make you overwhelmed
  • If you miss them still managed your mindset around them.

I need to say that actually having delays and not meeting these goals at times brought my energy down, which going forward makes me examine hard how I am setting up my goals and put systems in place that enables me to predict that uncertainty.

One thing I have learnt though is to let go of things that are out of my control. More on that below.

So what did go well (HIGHS)

  • We moved to a beautiful Island of Koh Phangan and iI just absolutely loved it
  • I started off really well. Very focused, applying m morning and night routine, building momentum and discipline to tackle the most challenging parts of the project.
  • We have our first full-time intern coming in January from Europe
  • Had the most amazing mastermind event with a group of incredible people. Transformational as usual.
  • Felt (and feeling) really close with my partner in crime Amar and it has been great having both of us just extremely focused on business
  • Daily meditation and exercise at the beach
  • Keep the nightly reflection

What did not go well

  • Due to many reasons the intern we hired wasn’t a good fit for an ongoing basis
  • We are making quite a bit of regular revenue yet with the app coming I felt like I didn’t not put enough energy into marketing
  • Struggling with hiring the development team especially Angular/ Native Script developer and feeling out of  control in terms of development process and project management
  • Struggling with having tough conversation and making a division between friendship and business
  • Losing momentum for a couple of weeks
  • Recurring feeling of homesickness

IMPROVEMENTS GOING FORWARD

  • bi-weekly content creation
  • Weekly video check-in on the business
  • Weekly financial review ( i did plan them from the beginning of the year and never executed
  • Setting more process goals, aggressive goals with dates but not being attached to dates.

 

 

 

0 Comment

Just get out there and try it. With indecision you are sure to fail. If you try it there is at least the possibility of success.

CO-WORKING & ADVENTURE ON AN ACTIVE VOLCANO?

By Aga in Adventure 0 Comment

[GAIN THE TOOLS, CLARITY & SUPPORT TO ACCELERATE YOUR BUSINESS ALL WHILE HAVING ADVENTURE OF YOUR LIFE]

So excited to officially announce the applications for Stromboli Volcano Retreat are finally open!
Join 20 entrepreneurs for 9 days for adventure, business talks, and breakthroughs. All on the amazing Volcanic island of Stromboli in the heart of Italy. Sounds Awesome? APPLY HERE


Whole team including two amazing entrepreneurs Amar Ghose and Logan Elliott has been working really hard to put it together and we are just so excited to have an opportunity to invite others to join the adventure!

Over the last few years, we had a chance to be part of some incredible groups, events and retreats. Every time when we get together with other entrepreneurs something amazing happens.

We gain speed, clarity and confidence, we move faster and think bigger.

These gatherings is what enabled us to develop friendships for life, get the support we need, clear our minds, break through limiting beliefs and things that were holding us back – all while adventuring the world, living the life we love with people who just like us are going hard at what they want and building incredible businesses.
Hence, this summer we want to do it again and bring a hand-picked group of driven, ambitious entrepreneurs for 9 days of business and adventure, work and play, friendships and breakthroughs.
If you feel like you are missing a community that has your back, want to learn and accelerate your business, get clarity on your next steps -all while living the adventure – check it out.
We are doing it at the cost as we want to bring an amazing group that we go deep with, mastermind and have fun.
Please join, share it with your friends and help us spread the word!

See you in Italy!

ENERGY HACKING 101.

By Aga in Uncategorized 0 Comment

People are lousy.

I hear Aga you are so energetic.

I don’t have the energy to do that

Let me tell you something. YOU CREATE ENERGY – no one has been born with unlimited amounts of energy but if you want to create anything of value in this world you will need ENERGY.

And not just over 10 hours when you are awake. You will need energy which will get you through 12 h days, overnights because that is what it takes to build something.

There are a few tips and tricks I have learnt over the years to make sure my energy is HIGH.

Start with the foundation and get it right:  food + exercise

1.FOOD

Fasting and more fasting. Read this article I have been doing fasting for years now and it’s insane how much it skyrocketed my productivity, not even mentioning rewiring my brain, increasing longevity and helping my immune system.

2. EXERCISE

Lack of movement affects you more than you think and with our sedentary lifestyle it’s kinda insane how little we move. Even

3. ENVIRONMENT 

OPTIMIZING YOUR ENVIRONMENT FOR ENERGY AND PRODUCTIVITY

  • Check room temperature

We are most productive when it’s a little bit cold

  • Check lighting
  • Clean your desk.
  • Get the music right

4. YOUR MIND

  • Check in with your mind. Do you have a clarity on what you are doing?
  • Are You feeling lousy because….

5.  YOUR BODY

  • Change your physical position
  • 3 minutes high-intensity exercise to bring your heart rate up
  • smile or put the pen inside your mount

 

IF YOU REALLY WANT IT, YOU WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!

BUT HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT…..