I want to share my experience on how I’m implementing the Million Dollar Weekend tips to improve my businesses and generate new ones. I'll also summarize the key points of the book so you can save time and skip reading the whole thing 😊.
I’ve been diving into some of the most popular books on personal finance and entrepreneurship, especially the ones that have gained traction in the 2020s. Naturally, Million Dollar Weekend made it onto my list—it’s highly recommended by several YouTubers, including Ali Abdaal.
What sets this book apart from other personal finance reads is that Noah Kagan, the author, cuts straight to the chase. He offers actionable challenges that you can follow if you’re serious about growing your business. The book’s emphasis is simple: take action now.
You can buy this book at Amazon using my referral link https://amzn.to/3A93kE5. The Audiobook just costs 0.99€ for the next months with Audible.
The main focus of the book is to take action immediately. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help—or money—while building your business. Paired with the insights from The Millionaire Fastlane (also summarized in this article), Million Dollar Weekend helped me:
Improve the marketing strategies of my current businesses and projects, like this website.
Come up with new ideas every time I see a new opportunity. Since reading these books, I’ve had at least three ideas per month!
Start implementing one of these ideas with my best friend.
Become bolder when asking for things I want.
Summary of Million Dollar Weekend with Real-Life Tips
Noah Kagan, one of Facebook’s early employees, was fired, which fueled his motivation to start multiple businesses. He’s a great example of being bold and unafraid to communicate with high-profile people or ask for business funding. The book emphasizes starting a project right away, offering several practical challenges that have helped him and can help you boost your chances of success.
One key takeaway: You don’t need a groundbreaking idea. It’s about improving an existing idea and, more importantly, selling it better.
Marketing is critical, and Kagan highlights several strategies. Not every tactic will work for all projects, so it’s essential to experiment and stick to what works. One standout strategy is building an email list. After all, 90% of people check their emails daily! A decent email list, combined with writing personal, engaging emails, can be a game-changer.
Setting goals is another crucial point in the book. Kagan stresses the importance of being specific with your goals—whether they are about health, personal hobbies, work, or travel. He also encourages you to define your desired income and freedom—maybe you don’t need a million dollars to feel free; perhaps more time with family is what matters most to you.
Though he advocates for starting now, he also recommends a quick reality check: Is your idea worth pursuing? You don’t need a fancy business plan—just answer two questions:
Is the overall market flat or growing? (You can check using Google Trends with your keywords.)
Is it a million-dollar opportunity?
Here’s an example from the book: For a beard oil business, Kagan used Facebook ads to estimate the market size and found a $125 million opportunity. After factoring in production costs, he calculated that he would need 80,000 sales to hit $1 million in revenue.
What I found most useful were the practical tips and challenges Kagan offers that push you to take action. He even shares his email so you can reach out—one of his key strategies is getting personal with his audience.
All the Challenges Mentioned in the Book
The Million Dollar Weekend Contract The first challenge is a contract (link available on Kagan’s website) that you can fill in to commit to your dream outcome after reading Million Dollar Weekend, as well as to the challenges the book presents.
For example, my dream outcome after reading the book is to get more subscribers to my website https://www.byobanking.com/ and to start working on one of the ideas I got after reading Millionaire Fastlane.
The Dollar Challenge This challenge encourages you to ask someone for a $1 investment in your future business. The point is to overcome the discomfort of asking and realize how simple starting a business can be—just ask and iterate!
I tried this with family and friends, and it was harder than I thought. But once you take that first step, it opens you up to more confidence in seeking support.
Challenge Now, Not How Ask someone you respect for a business idea. Successful people don’t get bogged down with the “how”—they just start. I asked a close friend what business they thought I’d be good at, and it sparked some great conversations!
Choose Your Freedom Number Pick a short-term monthly revenue goal that would allow you to live comfortably with your desired lifestyle. Write it down! My Freedom Number is: _______.
The Coffee Challenge (Being Bold) Go to a coffee shop and ask for a 10% discount—no explanation. The goal is to feel uncomfortable but still ask for what you want.
Funny story: I tried this in Morocco at a conference this week, where bargaining is part of the culture, so it wasn’t as awkward as I thought!
6. Top Three Groups Challenge
Research and list the top three online or offline groups where your target customers hang out. The key is to figure out where your people are and then insert yourself into those communities.
Coming Up with Ideas Challenge Brainstorm 10 new business ideas in 10 minutes. Don’t overthink it, just write whatever comes to mind. This helps get you into the habit of thinking creatively about business opportunities. Identify personal pain points by answering these questions:
What irritated you this morning?
What task has been sitting on your to-do list for too long?
What do you consistently struggle to do well?
Is there something you wanted to buy, but it doesn't exist yet? These questions help you brainstorm solutions that could become business ideas.
Visit Marketplaces:
Explore platforms like Etsy or eBay. Look for existing products, then think of ways to improve them. Can you offer better design, functionality, or value?
Leverage Search Engines and Reddit:
Use search engines to explore frequently asked questions or browse Reddit discussions. You’ll find pain points or unmet needs that could inspire new business ideas.
See Whether the Idea Is a Million-Dollar Opportunity
Research whether your business idea is a potential million-dollar opportunity by calculating the size of the market and the price you’ll charge. Is there enough demand for your product or service to generate $1 million in revenue?
Validate Your Business by Getting Paid Get someone to pay for your product or service before it’s fully developed. This shows that there’s real demand for what you’re offering and helps you fund your business without relying on your savings.
Find 3 Paying Customers in 48 Hours:
To validate your idea, find three people willing to pay for your product or service within 48 hours.
Why This Step is Crucial:
Saves time and money by showing if there’s real demand.
Confirms customer interest before investing too much effort.
Generates upfront cash and pushes you to take action.
Leverage Your Network:
Reach out to your "dream ten" — the 10 people most likely to be interested. Call, message, or email them for real-time feedback and potential sales.
Find Your Unique Angle Figure out what makes your business different from competitors and how you can use that to your advantage. This could be a unique feature, a better price, or an innovative marketing strategy.
Identify Your Unique Angle:
Everyone has a unique perspective. The goal is to discover and clearly define yours, so people are drawn to your specific point of view.
Key Questions to Define Your Angle:
Who are you?
Why should people listen to you?
What are you passionate about?
What value will you provide to your audience?
Choose the Right Platform:
Select a platform to showcase your unique angle. For example, photographers may use Instagram, while others might prefer YouTube or LinkedIn. Although YouTube is harder to grow on, it often has less competition, so it’s worth considering.
The key is to start now — no matter the platform.
Update Your Bio Update your bio on your website, social media, and anywhere else you have a presence. Make sure it clearly reflects who you are and what you do.
Example: Helping people with my financial experience at www.byobanking.com. Research Scientist on Digital Twin of the Heart.
Create Your Content Circle Create a list of the top 5-10 content creators or influencers in your niche. Follow them, engage with their content, and learn from their strategies to improve your own marketing.
He mentions a Youtuber that I also like in the book, Ali Abdaal, as a master of having done that in YouTube. He started with a very specific niche (core niche) on how to help medical students start for the exams in London and then went every time to a more general niche
Post One Piece of Content a. Generate content publicly (like my articles in this website)
b. Use your unique angle, the platform you prefer, your content circle (narrow the audience who you’ll laser target) and post it today.
c. For example, in my case the audience would be people who want to invest with new tools (such as cryptocurrencies or online ETF brokers), while optimizing the costs to be as minimal as possible with as highest returns as possible without having to time the market and without having to depend on traditional banks.
Build Your Landing Page Create a simple landing page to collect email addresses from people who are interested in your business or product. You can use tools like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or even Google Forms to get started.
Getting Your First 100 Email Subscribers a. The easiest way to start building your list is to use your existing network (your dream ten). People who know you and care about you. These people will subscribe to and share your website and content. The most powerful tool for the inital domino. Family, friends, etc.
“Hey I’m going to start my business on giving financial tips that have been useful for me and I will publish on a weekly basis on how to save and invest by yourself without relying on banks and how to find financial instruments that are safe but give high returns. Here’s an easy way to sign up www.byobanking.com Or you can just write back with “Yes, I’d like to subscribe and I’ll do it for you” Hope things are great!”
Update Email Signature and Social Media Bios Update your email signature and social media bios to include a link to your landing page or website. This is a simple, passive way to drive more traffic to your site.
Post That You’re Starting a Weekly Newsletter Announce to your followers that you’re starting a weekly newsletter and share why they should subscribe. Make sure to emphasize the value they’ll get from being part of your email list.
Going Beyond Your Initial Subscribers Once you’ve got your first 100 subscribers, think about how you can grow that list. This could involve paid ads, collaborations with other creators, or hosting a giveaway. a. Write a very detailed blog post
b. Use social media and everything else to get that post in front of ideal customers
c. Put a call to action and the end of the post telling readers to sign up or receive a download of free growth hacks.
Create a Lead Magnet Create a lead magnet, like a free checklist or guide, to encourage more people to join your email list. The key is to offer something valuable that solves a problem your audience is facing.
a. A checklist that can be used to perform something that I explained in a post or a video (like the checklist of these challenges)
b. A template for determining a business profit margin
c. An advanced guide that goes further into details
d. A unique book (eBook) that gives substantial value but it is offered for free when subscribing.
Start small. Don’t spend more than two hours on the first iteration of the lead market. You can use your piece of content. Check MillionDollarWeekend.com for examples of lead market.
Set an Autoresponder Set up an autoresponder to send a welcome email to new subscribers. This email should introduce them to your business and let them know what they can expect from your newsletter.
The Law of 100 Commit to taking at least 100 actions (like sending cold emails or posting content) before you give up on an idea. Persistence is key to success, and this challenge helps you stay consistent. For now I have about 20 posts so I have 80 more to go. I did 100 in my travel blog www.twotravelling.com and this has still up to now been having more visits than the finance blog. So it seems as if 100 is quite a nice magical number to check whether something is working or not.
Who’s Your Customer? Get crystal clear on who your target customer is by creating a detailed customer avatar. This includes their age, location, interests, and pain points.
Double Down on What Works Once you’ve tested a few marketing strategies, focus on the ones that are generating the best results. Don’t waste time on tactics that aren’t working—double down on what is. a. Contact your network. People already know you. Easier to make a sale
b. Paid ads on bing or google
c. Social ads on facebook, twitter, etc.
d. Content marketing: blogs, podcasts, videos
e. Cold outreach: speak directly to potential customers. Pick up the phone and calling potential customers
f. Target market blogs: sponsor posts and content on popular blogs within your target market
g. Influencer marketing: identify and build relationships with individuals who have influence
h. PR: pitch the press and bloggers in your niche
i. SEO: this one takes more time. Search engine optimization. Use Answerthepublic or SpyFu to discover what keywords work in your niche
j. Giveaways: offer some prizes and promote packages
Collaborations: appear on other shows, YouTube, newsletters, etc.
Make Your Customers Happy
Go the extra mile to make sure your customers are satisfied. This could be as simple as sending a thank-you email or offering a discount on their next purchase.
Share Your Story with Noah Kagan
Noah encourages readers to share their stories with him via email, especially as they implement his strategies. You never know, he might even feature your success story!
Make a Checklist for Your Dream Year Write down the specific goals you want to achieve in the next 12 months and break them down into actionable steps. Having a clear roadmap will help you stay on track.
Find a Prefluencer A “prefluencer” is someone who isn’t famous yet but is gaining traction. Collaborate with them early to benefit from their rising influence.
Ask Your Friends for Referrals Don’t be shy about asking your friends for referrals. Word-of-mouth is one of the most effective ways to grow your business.
Final Thoughts
Million Dollar Weekend is a fantastic motivator to start now. The challenges are simple but powerful, and they can really help you build momentum. I’m currently working through them, and I’ll be sharing my progress here and on milliondollarweekend.com as I go.
You can subscribe to my email list at https://www.byobanking.com/ to receive weekly tips and free templates on budgeting and optimizing earnings programs!
You can buy this book at Amazon using my referral link https://amzn.to/3A93kE5. The Audiobook just costs 0.99€ for the next months with Audible.
Comments