Day 30 Transcript
NOTE: Today’s transcript is followed by an AI prompt that can be used with your AI provider of choice. Just copy and paste it into ChatGPT or Perplexity and it will help you answer today’s questions for your specific side hustle… the way a human teaching assistant would help you in an Ivy League university. If you’re eager for more on today’s topic, I’ve included a Secret Dessert Course at the very end — a bonus section that isn’t directly covered in today’s video but has a lot of value practical, hands-on value. That dessert also comes with its own AI prompt.
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Part 1: Reframe Frustrations as Needs
Don't wait for the world to ask to kiss your baby. Because your baby is ugly.
Welcome to bonus week– week 5– Day 30 of starting your side hustle! We finished our month-long journey last week, and this week is all about all the lessons I wish we’d had time for. Today’s focus is Synthetic Demand Creation—jargon for how to engineer needs instead of chasing trends. Today’s a variation on a theme we touched on last week when we were talking partnership… and how instead of chasing, you make “them” come to you. We’re going to try to broaden that practice beyond partnerships and explore how to make the whole market come to you.
Ok. Our real life example today is Howard Schultz. It took us 30 days of standing in line but we finally got to Starbucks. There’s nothing that I can tell you about them that you don’t already know. Schultz’s idea– which he got back in the 80s– was to put freshly-ground coffee into a spoon, add a pinch of sugar and a tiny bit of water, then heat the spoon over a flame until the mixture bubbled and separated into an oily layer, which was then cooled and hardened into… no wait, that’s crack. What he really introduced was a sense of community– the kind where everyone has white, milk-foamy lips and is all jittery… no wait, that’s crack again.
Take 2. Take 3. Starbucks is now a lifestyle brand– a global phenomenon– that says “”Hey, I’m looking for any reason to leave my office for 20 minutes” or “Hey, I’d rather have this coffee than a savings account or an original thought.”
Come to think of it, we should probably stop using Howard Escobar– Pablo Shultz– whatever as an example of business leadership.
Ok. Let’s apply synthetic demand creation to your hustle. The two most important questions to answer:
1. What latent customer frustration could you reframe as a must-have priority? A latent frustration is that nagging annoyance your audience tolerates or ignores—until you show them it’s actually a big deal.
2. How could you create FOMO mechanics that bypass traditional marketing?
Why do these questions matter?
Because most people chase the product version of pumpkin lattes. You shouldn’t. Not at first at least. The first thing you should do is dig for hidden frustrations—those “meh, I’ll live with it” pain points—and then artfully reframe them as urgent, “must-solve” problems. In other words, you should turn “nice-to-haves” into “can’t-live-withouts.” Do that and you’re inventing a whole new category in your industry. That’s how you get people lining up for something they didn’t even know they needed yesterday.
And on the topic of FOMO (fear of missing out): how cool would it be to engineer everything we just talked about right into your customer experience. If you can create mechanics that make people need to be in the club—waitlists, exclusives, social proof—the bouncer will let you in. Plus, it’ll let your customers do your marketing for you. Mass delegation– superskill #3 on crack.
Ok. Take a moment and try to answer the Day 30 questions for your hustle without AI and before you listen to the next section-- the 28-Day Ivy League MBA. I personally think it's useful to try to answer questions without AI first, but if you'd rather do that: The AI teaching assistant prompt will drop with today's case study... in a couple of hours. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out Lunch Break Millionaire Day Zero... or go over to superserious.com where I’m posting daily transcripts. The AI prompts are there too. That's it. Hustle smarter.
Part 2: 💼 Engineer Demand with Narrative and FOMO: Today's Ivy League MBA Skill
Day 30, Part 2 of Lunch Break Millionaire– where we turn whatever you're eating for lunch into an Ivy League MBA degree. Normally, because it’s Tuesday, we’d do Taco Tuesday. But today, we’re going to order off the secret menu. And I mean any restaurant’s secret menu because that’s what all secret menus are: they’re demand engineering… they’re an exclusive secret that everyone knows… that breaks up the tedium of your normal Taco or Burger or salad with FOMO. In MBA speak, that’s called synthetic demand creation. In plain English, it’s how to engineer blue meth.
Ok. Creating synthetic demand is all about reframing overlooked frustrations and then architecting a kind of “aha moment” that makes people want what you’re selling, even if they didn’t know they needed it yesterday. Starbucks never sold coffee; they sold a new sugar ritual, a status symbol, a wifi spot that smells of coffee and gives you a “third place” between home and work where you can just tune out. That’s synthetic demand creation: you make the market come to you by changing what people value. You replace nicotine with sugar.
How? That’s the real MBA question. Start with latent demand mapping– that’s jargon for all the needs and desires customers have that exist below the surface, where people either don’t realize what they want, can’t articulate it, or they’re unable to satisfy it because the product or service isn’t available, because they lack information about it, or because they don’t have the means to access it. The AI prompt in the post description later today can help you find and use research but you need to supplement that with real interviews, and observation that can help you spot those nagging annoyances your real world audience tolerates—stuff they’ve accepted as “just the way it is.”
Then– step 2– you use narrative framing– a fancy way of saying “tell a good story”-- use narrative framing to turn that frustration into a must-have. For example, Howard Schultz didn’t say, “Here’s fancier coffee.” He said, “You deserve a daily escape, a place to belong.” Suddenly, a $4 latte isn’t a luxury—it’s self-care, it’s community, it’s identity.
Next– step 3– layer in FOMO mechanics. Fear of missing out. This is where you create urgency and social proof without feeling salesy. Think waitlists, limited-time drops, exclusive memberships, or influencer seeding. The trick is to make early adopters feel like insiders—people who get it before the crowd does. Use storytelling to make your offer contagious. Show—rather than tell—how life is better on your side of the fence. And always give your first fans something to brag about: a badge, a story, a “first to know” moment.
Ok. Let’s tie this back to today’s questions. When you ask, “What latent customer frustration could be reframed as a must-have priority?” you’re really looking for the emotional lever that, once pulled, makes people see the old way as unacceptable. And when you ask, “How could you create FOMO mechanics that bypass traditional marketing?” you’re thinking about engineered scarcity, exclusivity, and social momentum—tools that turn curiosity into action.
Quickest exercise ever. Take a sec and pick one frustration your audience tolerates. Write down three ways you could reframe it as urgent or aspirational. Then, brainstorm one FOMO mechanic—maybe a founder’s club, a private beta, or a “tell a friend, skip the line” kinda thing. Test it on a few real people. It’s like a good joke. If their eyes light up, you’re on the right track.
Keep telling yourself: the best hustlers manufacture demand. When you master the art and science of synthetic demand creation, you stop chasing trends and you start setting them. That’s how you hustle smarter.
Part 3: Turn Annoyances into Movements: The 28-Day Case Study
This is Day 30, Part 3 of Lunch Break Millionaire. This is the segment where we #BuildinPublic– where I answer the daily questions every hustle should– using the MBA skills we just learned– and showing my work– sharing how I’m building my hustle from scratch-no filters, just the real journey. You don't need to actually like or subscribe. I'm not doing this for the clicks. But if you’re leveling up from other creators you follow or know, introduce us. I want to learn from them and help them level up, too. We all deserve better than just making rich people richer.
Ok. Thirty years ago– when I was a younger hustler– I actually thought that the only way to win was to out-feature the competition. [LOL.] Never true. I’m only a tiny, tiny bit wiser now– and I’ve flipped my focus from features to the reason you build features: the frustration users feel. In my current hustle, that frustration is what creators all think but rarely talk about: being invisible to their own audience because of platform algorithms. Creators just shrug and accept it—“That’s just how it is.”
Buuuuut I can reframe it: “Why are you letting someone else– some *thing* else– decide who sees your work?” Suddenly, what was background noise– an annoyance you feel– that you know everyone feels– becomes a must-fix crisis.
If I do it right, that shift creates synthetic demand. Creators start to see algorithmic control… the way I do: as an existential threat.
As for creating FOMO, super simple. I’m building a waitlist. And I’m not even doing that on purpose. I just don’t have the time to help everyone one-on-one.
The folks I’m helping early on, well– they’re getting their own mobile apps. I’m giving them their secret menu. They’re getting their own browser plugins. I’m helping them give their audience their secret menu.
And if I can find the time down the road– when I have some cool working examples of real creators using my shit, I’ll showcase them. I’ll show how they took control and started “being the algo.”
The results? Hopefully? Creators will start DMing me to get access, just so they won’t be left out of the next wave of creator empowerment. A tiny wave of middle fingers to the algos of the world.
My takeaway from today’s exercise and I hope it’s your takeaway too. Don’t wait for demand. Don’t wait for the world to ask to kiss your baby. Because it’s fugly. Don’t wait for demand. Create it. Find the pain your audience is numb to– and get into the pain-relief business– the change the world business. Crank up the urgency around the pain and the solution. Make it a movement. And make joining that movement feel like you’re wearing bell bottoms and a big dude in a black suit just ok’d you to enter Studio 54.
Prompt #1 - Engineer Demand with Narrative and FOMO
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Prompt #1 - Engineer Demand with Narrative and FOMO ○
Today, you’ll learn how to create demand for your product or service-even if your audience doesn’t realize they need it yet. You’ll be guided by the writings and frameworks of Ivy League faculty whose research is foundational in behavioral economics, marketing psychology, and narrative strategy:
- **Professor Jonah Berger, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania:** Expert on contagious marketing and how ideas spread.
- **Professor Sheena Iyengar, Columbia Business School:** Authority on choice architecture and persuasive communication.
- **Professor Jill Avery, Harvard Business School:** Specialist in brand storytelling and customer perception.
**What Today’s Coaching Will Help You With:**
You’ll discover how to reframe everyday frustrations as urgent needs, use narrative to make your offer irresistible, and ethically deploy FOMO (fear of missing out) to spark action-so you can build momentum and buzz, even in a crowded or skeptical market.
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### Step 1: Reflection Questions
Please answer these questions in a few sentences each:
1. **What is one frustration or inconvenience your audience has learned to “just live with”-but shouldn’t have to?**
- Think about pain points people tolerate, dismiss, or joke about, but that your product could solve.
2. **How could you reframe this frustration as an urgent need or opportunity?**
- What story, analogy, or emotional trigger could make people see it as a problem worth solving now?
3. **What’s one way you could use FOMO or social proof to nudge people to act sooner?**
- Consider limited spots, early adopter perks, testimonials, or “don’t miss out” messaging.
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### Step 2: MBA Skill – Narrative Engineering & FOMO
Today’s MBA lesson is about creating synthetic demand:
- **Reframe Frustration:** Use storytelling to turn a mild annoyance into a must-solve problem. Show how life is better on the other side.
- **Engineer FOMO:** Leverage urgency, exclusivity, or social proof (“Join the first 100 beta users!” or “See why 1,000 people switched last week”) to drive early action.
- **Build a Movement:** Position your offer as the start of a new trend, not just another product-invite your audience to be part of something bigger.
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### Step 3: Coaching & Demand Creation Blueprint
After you reply, I will use the writings of Professors Berger, Iyengar, and Avery to:
- Help you craft a compelling narrative that makes your solution feel necessary, not optional.
- Guide you in designing FOMO or social proof elements that fit your brand and audience.
- Suggest ways to test your messaging for resonance and urgency-so people feel excited to join, not just curious.
- Offer examples of brands that built demand from scratch by reframing problems and engineering buzz.
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**How to use this prompt:**
- Respond with your answers to the reflection questions and your first draft of a demand-creation story or FOMO tactic.
Secret Dessert Course
There’s a book called Blue Ocean Strategy– by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne– and in this book they coin the term “red ocean." In their framework, the "red ocean" describes existing markets crowded with competition, where businesses fight over shrinking profit margins— like sharks in bloody water- while "blue ocean" refers to creating new, uncontested market spaces.
If your new hustle doesn’t quite fit into any existing box, you should try using the AI prompt below to do a “Category Creation Audit.” That’s a fancy way of saying that you should figure out if your product or service isn’t just another player in a crowded field, but actually defines a whole new category-one that you get to own from day one. Instead of fighting for scraps in that “red ocean” of look alike brands, the prompt will help you think through how to position yourself as the go-to solution for a problem people didn’t even realize could be solved your way.
Just copy and paste the following prompt into your favorite AI assistant to enjoy Day 30’s dessert.
Prompt #2 - Audit Your Category Creation
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Prompt #2 - Audit Your Category Creation ○
**Today’s Focus:**
Determine whether your hustle is competing in a crowded market or defining a new category you can own. You’ll be coached by Ivy League faculty with expertise in disruptive innovation and market creation:
- **Professor Rita McGrath, Columbia Business School:** Authority on inflection points and escaping competitive traps.
- **Professor Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School:** Pioneer of disruptive innovation theory.
- **Professor Karim R. Lakhani, Harvard Business School:** Specialist in digital platforms and category-defining business models.
**What Today’s Coaching Will Help You With:**
You’ll learn to pressure-test whether your idea is a “better mousetrap” (competing in an existing category) or a “new species” (creating an uncontested market). This MBA skill helps you avoid bloody “red ocean” battles and position your hustle as the category king.
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### Step 1: Reflection Questions
**Answer these in a few sentences each:**
1. What existing industry or category do people *mistakenly* put your hustle in? Why is that label inadequate?
2. What customer need does your hustle address that no current solution fully satisfies?
3. What industry norms or assumptions (e.g., pricing, delivery, user experience) does your hustle deliberately violate?
4. What new behaviors or habits would your target audience need to adopt to embrace your category?
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### Step 2: Category Creation Audit
After you reply, I will use the writings of Professors McGrath, Christensen, and Lakhani to:
1. **Map Your Blue Ocean:**
- Use Kim & Mauborgne’s **Value Innovation Framework** to identify non-customers and underserved needs.
- Compare your hustle’s **Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create (ERRC) Grid** against industry norms.
2. **Stress-Test Category Potential:**
- Analyze if your idea meets Christensen’s **Disruption Criteria** (simplicity, convenience, affordability, accessibility).
- Apply McGrath’s **Transient Advantage Model** to assess if the category can evolve defensibly.
3. **Craft Your Category Narrative:**
- Help you design a **Category-Promise Statement** (e.g., “We help [X] achieve [Y] by [Z], unlike [old category]”).
- Recommend **behavioral triggers** to accelerate adoption (e.g., “Stop [old behavior], start [new behavior]”).
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**How to use this prompt:**
- Respond with your answers to the questions above.
- Your Ivy League panel will return a tailored audit assessing your category-creation potential.
*(This exercise combines Blue Ocean Strategy frameworks, Christensen’s disruption theory, and Lakhani’s digital category design principles.)*