š Just Launched: Distribution Is Hard: Don't F*uck it Up
Jonathan Colton
1 min readĀ·
āDistribution Is Hard: Donāt F It Upā is for anyone trying to get their idea off the ground, whether you're building a startup, launching a new service, or creating content. It's a short, tactical guide to help you avoid the #1 mistake founders make: thinking distribution comes later.
Most people donāt fail because they built the wrong product. They fail because nobody ever saw it.
Iāve made that mistake. Iāve watched others make it.
This book is the result of years in the trenchesābuilding, launching, growing (and yes, sometimes failing). Itās not theory. Itās practice.
Why I wrote this
Over the years, Iāve built companies, led GTM teams, and helped startups go from 0 to $1M+ in revenue. The one pattern I saw again and again?
The winners werenāt just the best products.
They were the ones with the best distribution.
I wrote this for builders who want to move. For founders who donāt have time for fluff. For creators who want to get real tractionāwithout wasting months building in the dark.
Whatās inside
Why you must build distribution alongside your product
How to identify and talk to your first users
The role of innovators and early adopters (and why most people skip them)
How to validate your idea fast
Practical tools like the ICP Scorecard, JTBD interview guide, and more
If even one chapter helps you move faster, build smarter, or avoid a painful mistakeāIāll call it a win.
Read it now:
š Distribution Is Hard: Donāt F*ck It Up V1
And if it helps you, let me know. Iād love to hear how youāre using it.
Letās go.
Distribution is how you create customers. Itās about getting your product in front of the right people at the right timeāand making it matter to them. When you really understand what they need, you can build a community around that. And if you keep listening and adapting, you stay relevant. Read more below: E-Book https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7XQWcoSyQz6XflvmcDkZ_u4MIhYhjZn/view?usp=drive_link Paragraph Blog https://paragraph.com/@jonathancolton.eth/š-just-launched-distribution-is-hard-dont-fuck-it-up
I just completed a sprint read of the book, wowow! The signal to words ratio is šÆ with so much practical wisdom! Being able to mint version one somehow would be amazing, for those of us who are in that first 2.5% innovators or even earlier š Really appreciate the detail in subtle nuances, like writing down the specific words about customer pain. At the same time, also showing how everything connects, especially with distribution. To me, it's a masterpiece š š¼ļø āØ
Wowāthis means a lot, truly š The goal was to write something useful, especially for the 2.5% who are out there building in the dark, figuring things out before it's obvious. So hearing that it resonated with you makes it all worth it. Love the idea of minting Version One for the early tribe š Might have to explore thatā¦ And yesāthose little details (like writing down the exact words customers use) are where the real gold is. Thatās the stuff that powers product and distribution. Thanks again for reading and for the generous wordsāit really fires me up. Letās keep building š„
Letās keep building, distributing, and minting š„š„š„
This ebook of yours is so timely for me! Iāve been saying for a while that distribution needs to stop being an afterthought. It should be the bloodstream of product launches no matter the industry. I canāt tell you how frustrating it is for me to talk with founders who get a few million dollars in funding but have no rollout plan whatsoever. No matter how strong your concept or community is, if you donāt engineer rollout with intention, it evaporates. Iām gonna eat this up over the weekend. Thank you, Jonathan, for sharing your perspective in a way thatās generous and accessible. Youāre inspiring me to ship MVP over perfection with your Google Doc release style. Iām a recovering perfectionist so your delivery is GOALS for me šš½ Iām actually building distribution rails for immersive content + decentralized storytelling with my venture studio, so this hits even deeper. Excited to learn from your lens!
I love this response, Felice! I want to hear your feedback after you read it. Happy to chat. https://calendly.com/meet-withjonathan/30min
https://paragraph.com/@jonathancolton.eth/š-just-launched-distribution-is-hard-dont-fuck-it-up
300 $degen
appreciate you man!
š¢ I just launched š V1 of my book: Distribution Is Hard: Donāt F It Up If you're building something new, this is for you. Itās short, tactical, and based on real go-to-market wins (and mistakes). š TL;DR: Distribution isnāt optionalāitās everything Start talking to users before/while you build a product Innovators are your launchpad, not the crowd Practical tools, not startup fluff Learn fast while getting traction with you /distribution š Full post + book link here: [https://paragraph.com/@jonathancolton.eth/š-just-launched-distribution-is-hard-dont-fuck-it-up Letās f*ing go.
Boom. 1000 $degen
Boom! Much love to you man. Here's the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HCCktLrNbPKBxyS-D1ShcrKVhk_2LSFK/view?usp=drive_link
Fantastic, saved and look forward to reading it soon!
š«” š
Letās gooooooo! Canāt wait to read this
There's the link. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HCCktLrNbPKBxyS-D1ShcrKVhk_2LSFK/view?usp=drivesdk
Solid guide!
thank you Kazi!
very cool! look forward to reading it! 200 $degen 33š
thank you my man! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HCCktLrNbPKBxyS-D1ShcrKVhk_2LSFK/view?usp=drive_link
hyped to give it a read! š¤ 100 $degen
read it on the plane! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HCCktLrNbPKBxyS-D1ShcrKVhk_2LSFK/view?usp=drive_link
Instant collect!
Super dope pichi, appreciate you.
Bookmarking to read soon! Very cool my friend. 100 $degen
thank you š my friend!
Bomb! I loved reading this. I save it in favorites. Although I don't have in mind to create anything, it makes me reflect and will help me listen more to the people I lead in my work. Thank you š 50 $degen
Thank you! Appreciate the feedback. I'm glad you got value for the time you spent reading it. Time is money as they say.
ššš
Awesome - bookmarked and looking forward to it! Itās not TLDR for me! šš½ 1000 $DEGEN
thank you Jerry-d! Here's the direct link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HCCktLrNbPKBxyS-D1ShcrKVhk_2LSFK/view?usp=drive_link
Discover insights from @jonathancolton's latest blog post, "Distribution Is Hard: Donāt F It Up." This tactical guide emphasizes the importance of distribution alongside product development, aimed at preventing common pitfalls faced by founders. Perfect for anyone looking to turn their idea into reality!