Focus on Traction

We've just wrapped up an exciting three-month sprint at Siftbooks, one that I'm calling our "V2 MVP"—focused on automating our audiobook editing pipeline. This new automation is huge for us. With this in place, our small team can now efficiently process around five audiobooks every single day. It feels great to have this throughput; it's a foundational leap forward that lets us confidently serve more customers faster.

But getting here was no walk in the park. One of the most challenging and rewarding aspects has been wearing multiple hats simultaneously—serving as the technical expert to navigate implementation details, the strategic visionary to align the team, and the disciplined executor to prioritize tasks that genuinely move the needle. Doing all this part-time, alongside full-time roles, amplifies the importance of thoughtful, strategic alignment even more.

Looking ahead, we're shifting gears into our next six-month phase, "Focus on Traction." Our ambitious yet achievable goal is crystal clear: grow from our current base of 50 active paying customers to 150. That's a 3x increase in six months, and honestly, I see this as just our baseline. I believe we can surpass it.

To get there, we're embracing structured experimentation across several key marketing channels (Phase 2: Traction (6-Month Plan)):

SEO & Content Marketing: Led by my brother-in-law Josh, we're publishing focused, valuable content and forming strategic connections with influential blogs to drive organic growth.

Community & Strategic Partnerships: Adam is diving deep into communities where our ideal customers gather and nurturing partnerships that can consistently deliver referrals and growth.

Referral & Email Marketing: Ty and I are dialing in our referral system and fine-tuning our email sequences to maximize customer activation, retention, and virality.

This phase isn't just about growing numbers—it's about deepening our relationship with our customers. I'm especially energized to prioritize staying close to our users, listening intently to their feedback, and continuously building exactly what they need. Our customers are not just numbers—they're collaborators helping shape the future of Siftbooks.

Another big takeaway for me is the power of people. Getting more people involved—like Ty, Mitchell, and now Josh—has allowed us to multiply our impact, bringing fresh ideas and extra bandwidth. Leveraging people power is one of the smartest moves I've made.

Stepping into this traction phase, I'm putting on my marketing and distribution hat with excitement. I'm fired up for what's next, and confident we'll learn a ton through rapid experimentation and deep customer engagement.