Idea: Hustler School

Non-technical people frequently approach me to build them an MVP. "Why should I work with you?", I ask. "Because I'm a great hustler", they respond. A lot of these people claim to have access to capital, connections, tons of domain expertise, or whatever. Basically, there are a lot of great hustlers in the making, but they don't have a track record and can't prove that they are good hustlers. I'd like to invert the typical "incubator" process. Applicants pay money, buy into a company, get an MVP, and hustle. First time hustlers, this is where I tell you to put your money where your mouth is. Stop saying "if only i had product, i'd be an awesome hustler" For $5,000, you get half of the company (an MVP), and operate as the CEO for 3 months. We will agree upon guidelines for success/failure metrics and if you are the hustler you claim to be, you'll win big. If you fail, you'll be forced to either recognize that you're not the hustler you thought you were or explain how/why you failed. New hustlers wildly underestimate the amount of effort it takes to get traction, how much unglamorous grunt work there is, and don't have a good idea of how to methodically test approaches to traction. Many new hustlers are also often attracted to the glamour of startups but are pretty lazy when it's not just sitting around and talking ideas. The hustler's job is to take a mutually agreed upon idea (probably an MVP of my choosing), and get traction. The hustler pays $5k, gets a functioning MVP (that he/she agrees to work on), options for 50% of the company, then hustles: * write blog posts * seo that sucker * create landing pages * cold call * pass out flyers * do logistics for our new food delivery service * do dishes * find an office space * learn about a/b testing * raise money or any number of hustlery things. The "fund" provides guidance on these things, points hustlers in the right direction, but the responsibility is mostly on the hustler to move the needle. The MVP is what you get, but obviously I'd like to protect my investment as well, so if it's clear that further development is helpful or required, we'll do that as well. The hustler, of course, will have to justify the development cost (You are the CEO after all). If you hit the agreed upon success metrics, then lets talk about building your idea. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is that if you're really half the hustler you claim to be: 1. you'll end up with a substantial equity stake in a business I think is profitable 2. you'll have a track record 3. I'll probably be pretty excited about building YOUR product too, so you'll get that MVP you wanted! Show me that you add value. It's not hard, but it's a lot of work. Regarding a 5k buy in -- A lot of people will be turned off by this. That's ok. Most of those "hustlers" will talk about ideas for the next year and get nothing done. Any hustler that can't raise $5000 isn't much of a hustler at all. I'll lose some great hustlers with that filter, but I'm willing to give that up for the better signal to noise ratio.