4 Game-Changing Lessons to Launch Your First Online Business (from the Creator of Small Bets)

06 Jul 2025 #misc

He turned a half-joking Tweet into a community of over 7,000 creators.

His name is Daniel Vassallo. He was a Software Engineer with a cushy job at Amazon. But one day, after being tired of daily meetings and the lack of freedom, he decided to start a solo business.

His journey went from building software to freelancing, selling info products, and eventually running the Small Bets community.

After binge-watching some of his interviews on YouTube, like this one with the Refactoring podcast, here are 4 lessons I’ve learned:

1. Find an easy way to make $1,000 dollars.

You don’t need a company or investors to begin.

Start with a low-hanging fruit, a small project that makes you a few hundred or thousand bucks to build momentum.

For Daniel’s first project, he tried to imitate the processes from his last coding job. Coming up with a yearly goal, splitting it into milestones, and working in sprints. That only made him burn through almost all of his savings.

Don’t replicate your last full-time job. Find an easy project first.

2. Be like an investor, but without being one.

You don’t need VC funding, but you need to think like an investor.

An investor places bets on lots of startups. They know some of them will fail, but the one that succeeds will pay off all other investments.

Think of your projects the same way. Don’t put all your effort into one basket. And like an investor, don’t get too attached to a particular project. They’re your cattle, not your pets.

Run a portfolio of small bets so income doesn’t have to come from a single place.

3. You don’t need a big master business plan.

You don’t need a mission, vision, or values to start an online business.

Your only goal might be to never return to a 9-5. That’s Daniel’s goal. That could be yours and mine too.

4. The ultimate goal is freedom.

The goal of starting a business is to have the freedom to work under your own terms.

For Daniel, that means having no rigid schedule or routine, but working on the tasks with the biggest ROI every day. Or simply scrolling through Twitter/X looking for project inspiration.

As a solopreneur or creator, you’re an investor, but of your own time.