Building my Mastermind in the open

Find Your Superpower newsletter 082

Read time: 5 minutes

Topics covered: Product launch, community, mastermind

It has been the most fulfilling week for me.

Immediately after my Mastermind’s US$100K launch week, my team and I executed our inaugural Find Your Superpower Summit on Thursday. 

I am still high on adrenaline from a day of lightbulb moments thanks to top speakers and expert coaches who led us on a powerful journey of self-discovery.

It was also a marathon networking session that lasted from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm (if you were a Summit survivor, say “Aye!” when you read this).

We will be sharing Summit highlights on our LinkedIn page over the next few months.  

Today, I wanted to share with you my ideas around the launch of my 12-month, virtual Brand Builder Mastermind launching in January 2025.

In particular, I want to share my strategy of building in the open, which I have found to be the most effective way to launch a new product or service.

1/ Announce your launch before you’re ready, not after you’re ready

Many of my clients tell me they would like to be “ready” before they post on LinkedIn or before they discuss their products and services.

My colleagues also gently suggested to me that I do not overstretch myself and only begin working on the Brand Builder Mastermind after our inaugural Find Your Superpower Summit had concluded.

I disagree. 

If you have an entrepreneurial mindset you will almost never do things linearly (A, then B, then C). There is nothing linear nor predictable about running a business, and the degree to which you can live with chaos and ambiguity determines how well you will succeed as an entrepreneur.

I suggested that we launch before we were ready, in early November.

I cobbled together a website and launched it via an email.

Within one week we had sold out all 100 of our early-bird tickets and recorded our best-ever launch week to date.

I also felt it was important to launch before the Summit to build upon the momentum of the Summit, and I was right.

Since the Summit concluded on Thursday, we have had a wave of Mastermind signups that I am working overtime to onboard.

(This is a good problem to have, by the way.)

2/ Keep improving your offer iteratively with real-time market feedback

The other reason to launch before you are ready is to get priceless market feedback as soon as possible.

As a scientist by training, I will tell you that you want to find out what is wrong with your product as early as possible.

I ran a small pre-launch phase with existing clients, and I also sent my launch page to trusted peers who always tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.

Early on, I received a mixed bag of responses and lots of questions. All of this suggested to me that my Mastermind offer was not clear nor compelling enough for them to immediately understand the incredible value I was creating.

This is why the curse of knowledge is so strong among industry experts and senior professionals. We think that everyone knows what we know, and we don’t bother to explain it clearly to them.

After some deliberation, I made the Mastermind offer much clearer: “One simple subscription to build a brand, speak & write better, and make money from it.”

When I sent it back to the same folks as before, they agreed that the revised offer made a lot more sense and the value proposition was now obvious.

At the end of the day, the best feedback is the market itself. When I sent out an email announcing the Mastermind launch, the signups came in fast and furious.

I have had many Mastermind cadets tell me that my offer is completely underpriced for what I am offering them. I agree with them. Again, this is priceless market feedback.

Therefore, I have decided to raise the Mastermind subscription by 20% starting from January 2025.

Please get in on a better offer while you still can.

3/ Get your community to build your product with you and for you

While I am still fitting out the Mastermind as you read this, I have made some important decisions that have turned out to be good ones.

One good decision was to create a book club within the Mastermind, given that I am a book lover and a book publisher myself. It was widely appreciated by my Mastermind cadets.

Another good decision was to open up our private chat community for Mastermind cadets that have already enrolled, despite the Mastermind launching only in January 2025.

There are already 60+ cadets of the 120+ enrolled cadets chatting daily in there.

They have introduced themselves, added each other on LinkedIn and Instagram, and may also be planning coffee meetups.

What this means is that when we finally launch in January 2025, everyone would feel super comfortable, relaxed and safe. 

So much better than a cold start.

I also have in place an affiliate bonus program for cadets to invite their friends into the Mastermind.

To be clear, I have no problems finding and enrolling new cadets, but I strongly prefer to grow organically from within my extended tribe. By enrolling friends of friends, I am building a stronger and more intimate community.

From January 2025 onwards, I will limit signups to ten (or fewer) members every 1-3 months, and I will prioritize signups from positive referrals and recommendations. So please join now while it is still pretty easy to sign up.

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In closing, here’s my thoughts about brand building in 2025:

Option #1: Do absolutely nothing and stay where you are. Who needs a brand anyway? Your work will speak for itself, right? But if you’d like to create some leverage for yourself or make some extra income on the side, that leaves you with two other options:

Option #2: Do it yourself. Find an all-rounded coach or enroll in an executive education module that costs thousands per day. And if life takes over, adulting takes over, business trips take over... That’s alright, you can just try again in 2026.

Option #3: Let me do the heavy lifting for you. I’ll invite branding, speaking and writing coaches to train you, all for a modest pre-launch price. Go enjoy your kids, your pets, your friends, your workouts... just show up virtually when we have classes. Let Juliana and her hardworking elves plan your learning & development for you.

Of the options I presented, ask yourself...

What is going to be better for you?

If you agree that a powerful brand, strong spoken communication and persuasive writing are key to monetizing your skills and knowledge, then join my Brand Builder Mastermind launching in January 2025 as a Founding Member.

Only you can decide.

Thanks for reading issue 082 of my weekly Find Your Superpower newsletter.

For those of you who are new to my newsletter, Find Your Superpower is subscribed to by 45,000+ people, and discusses the following three goals: (1) Making a career transition, (2) Professional branding on LinkedIn, and (3) Reinventing ourselves for the future of work.

PS: Follow my new Find Your Superpower LinkedIn page!

PPS: Join now before the Mastermind closes for enrollment!