"I want to run ads for my business."
If you are anything like me, the gap between the first time you think that and your first ad going live is far, far too long.
Let me help you close it.
I have spent the past week at Network School, a startup community of hundreds of founders on an island near Singapore. Some are here just to lock in. Many are beginners chasing their first dollar online.
So many of them are building in stealth. Always a few weeks out from launching.
Let me save you the weeks.
If you are a beginner, there is no benefit to stealth.
Your first product should not take weeks to build.
Your first ad should not take weeks to film.
There is an asymmetry in giving. Very few moments let one or two minutes of my time shave years of pain off someone's life. This is one of them.
(And yes, there is an unsubscribe button in real life.)
So question the requirements.
Why are you in stealth? What uncomfortable truth are you avoiding? People love to invent excuses. Stealth is usually just a nicer word for scared.
Two questions cut through all of it.
One is Elon's: make the requirement less dumb. Attach every rule to a person who will put their name on it. "The ad has to look professional." Says who? What does professional even mean?
The other is simpler still: says who? Most of what you believe about your limits comes from a voice that was never yours.
Here is what actually decides whether it works.
People buy when they believe they need the thing and trust you to deliver it.
People click when you spark curiosity by tapping a desire they already have.
That is the list. Lighting is not on it. The perfect script is not on it. Your 20th take is not on it.
Look at Cole Gordon. He reportedly does around $30M a year in sales coaching. His ad is a red box, white text, and one guarantee: we pack your calendar or you pay nothing.
No polish. No cleverness. A clear promise to the right person.
Because the offer is the business.
The font is not the business. The lighting is not the business. The offer is.
So make the ugly ad. Ship the simple product. Turn it on today, not in three weeks.