Last updated: 27 December, 2023
LAUNCH PROGRESS
LAUNCH 1: The Tech Rooport
Launch 2: Kidcasso
Launch 3: The Noble Sage Liquor Company
Launch 4: Opsize
Launch 5: The Noble Sage Liquor Co.’s Elusive Bass
Launch 6: The Noble Sage Liquor Co.’s Raven’s Espresso
Launch 7: WordBounty (on hold)
Launch 8: Launch Your Business Course (CANNED)
Launch 9: Re-Launch of Opsize
The Numbers
PROGRESS Timeline
Launch Date: Wednesday, July 26 2023
🍔 ReLaunched Opsize
Opsize
My first announcement of Opsize was really a result of requests for my time. People wanted me to consult or advise them so I spun up the business without a specific offering in the Operations space.
After spending some time assessing what makes Opsize special, I decided to re-launch the business and brand, making our offerings clear and tantalising. So tantalising, I get messages all the time from people telling me they saw our site and now they're hungry.
Got cravings? Check it out at: www.Opsize.co
Date: Tuesday, May 2 2023
🏆 Hit over $100,000
Bootstrap Sabbatical Revenue Goal
Excited to have hit my revenue goal of generating over $100,000 across the businesses. The goal was to do it in less than year, it took over 100 weeks. It took 75 weeks to hit $50,000, and 87 weeks (another 12 weeks) to hit $75,000. “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” - Bill Gates.
Date: Monday, November 28 2022
🎉 Hit over $75,0000
Bootstrap Sabbatical
Excited to have hit over $75,000 in revenue across the businesses. It took 75 weeks to hit $50,000, and 87 weeks (another 12 weeks) to hit $75,000. It shows that consistency certainly compounds!
Date: Wednesday, August 31 2022
🎉 Hit over $50,0000
Bootstrap Sabbatical
After more than a year building businesses, it was awesome to see the numbers tick over $50k. Especially exciting seeing the dollars come from a variety of revenue streams.
Soft Launch Date: Friday, March 25 2022
🏆 Completed a full year on Bootstrap Sabbatical
Bootstrap Sabbatical
I'm incredibly excited to celebrate a full year on Bootstrap Sabbatical! The goal was always a year but I have decided to continue.
Below you can see what my year looked like, but more importantly, I took some time to review the year and present an "Investor Update" publicly on YouTube.
In the video I go through each of my goals and recap some of the lessons learnt, as well as detail what I'll be working on next. Find the update here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuUxUYL-vqQ
Soft Launch Date: Friday, March 25 2022
🚀 Soft Launched Seventh Business or Product: WordBounty ✒️
WordBounty
WordBounty pays you to fix the internet. It is still a work in progress but I've soft launched the concept while I work on the Alpha version with select companies and editors.
To find out more visit: www.wordbounty.com
Launched Date: Monday, January 17 2022
🚀 Launched Sixth Business or Product: Raven’s Espresso ☕
The Noble Sage Liquor Company
This release sees us partner with Timely Coffees to create two tantalising editions of the espresso-martini with a twist, Raven's Espresso.
Described as subtly herbaceous with robust coffee aromas; a Caribbean feel and dark caramelized sweetness, Raven's Espresso is made with aged rum, masterfully spiced by the Sage. It's a recipe so spellbinding it’s been compared to culinary witchcraft.
The launch centres around a gamified waitlist where coffee-lovers can battle their way to the top release spot and win over $450 worth of prizes, including prized first release bottles.
🎯 This release also signs off on my goal to work with someone I've never worked with before and it's been a pleasure liaising cross-country with the good people from Timely Coffees, based out of Perth, WA. To find out more about the release see: https://www.noblesageliquor.com/pages/the-launch-of-ravens-espresso
DEADLINE: Friday, December 31 2021 - COMPLETED
🤼 Partner with someone I’ve never worked with before
As one of my collaboration goals, I wanted to partner on several projects for knowledge sharing and synergy, with the goal of finding an array of talented people I can team up with during the journey and in the future. I ticked this goal off a few times, but working with Timely Coffees (see above), was a strong certification of this goal. I've always met some incredibly talented people during the journey that I hope to collab with in the future.
DEADLINE: Friday, December 31 2021 - MISSED GOAL
💸 Publicly show revenue and hit $100k or $10k MRR
Probably the most daunting of all goals, as a reminder that my Bootstrap Sabbatical is about launching businesses and products people want, this goal was to ensure I generate revenue from the businesses I create. To quote my Bootstrap Sabbatical thesis: "In order to measure value, one must capture it through charging".
I missed this goal. But, then again, I knew it was my BHADG. I am proud that by January 2022 it appears I'm generating over $5k MRR across the businesses. Half way there isn't half bad!
Launched Date: Wednesday, November 24 2021
🚀 Launched Fifth Business or Product: Elusive Bass 👣
The Noble Sage Liquor Company
Whilst our first Noble Sage release was our take on a known cocktail, the Negroni, this drink is completely new to the market.
Described as "Elusive by both name and palette, this is a daringly deceptive blend of barrel-aged spirits - where the Whisky Old-Fashioned unites with the amaro-qualities of a Negroni" - Elusive Bass is the perfect accompaniment to the Noble Negroni.
We released the product pre-sale before our public launch and have sold thousands of dollars worth of the bottle in the first couple of weeks. Discover the inspiration between the Elusive Bass here: https://www.noblesageliquor.com/products/elusive-bass
Wednesday, October 20 2021
🎧 Featured on the Buy & Build Podcast
Personal Brand Goal
I know Nic and Darryl, the hosts, as I am part of the All Access Pass 'Cartel', a group of entrepreneurs that took Shaan Puri's course where he gave a behind-the-scenes look into how he builds businesses. Aptly named, my episode is titled "Taking a year long Bootstrap Sabbatical and Launching a New Company Every 2 months while Building in Public with Kevin Jochelson". You can't argue with that!
We talk through my journey becoming an entrepreneur from mowing lawns, to running a DJ company to my learnings with the rise and fall of Fiestafy. It was a great chat and I had a tonne of fun. I'd love your listen! You can check out the podcast episode here: https://spoti.fi/3G0H4dP
Launched date: Friday, October 15 2021
🚀 Launched Fourth Business: Opsize
Agency
Sometimes the best business ideas are thrust upon you.
The Noble Sage Liquor Company eventuated from some fun cocktail experimentation between friends, and Opsize is a result of myself finally commercialising my requests for consulting.
See, I made an agreement to myself I would shy away from consulting for at least 6 months while on my sabbatical. I got offered some awesome gigs with great companies but I decided focus was the most important thing in the first few months while finding my groove.
However, it constantly irks me that there's so many "startup consultants" out there without any time in the trenches, and furthermore, few that specialise in scaling startup operations.
I'm fortunate to be part of a regular roundtable with some of Australia's top startup COOs and so Opsize is both my own consulting practice, but also an agency that allows me to tap into the knowledge of my elite ops network to provide, not advice, but real world experience and implementation to clients. Helping them take their operations to the next level.
I'm already contracted to a few engagements but if you're interested, find out more at: https://opsize.co/
Thursday, September 2 2021
💯 100DaysOfNoCode Demo Day: The Noble Sage Liquor Company Demo
Personal Brand Goal
It was 8pm and a last minute spot opened up for the 100DaysOfNoCode Demo Day, which would kick off at 3am with hundreds of live attendees. I jumped on the opportunity, created a demo deck, had a few hours of sleep and woke up at 3am to talk through some of the thinking and tools I used to launch The Noble Sage Liquor Company.
See how my presentation for demo day went down here: https://bit.ly/3yMLq3l
Monday, August 9 2021
🎧 Featured on the Open The Pod Bay Doors Podcast
Personal Brand Goal
Open the Pod Bay Doors is one of Australia's leading tech and startup podcasts and I was so excited to be featured as an Industry Leader as we spoke major tech news from Square's acquisition of Afterpay to new movements in the cryptocurrency space and coworking industry.
Check out the podcast episode here: https://bit.ly/3lQ3WEX
Launched date: Wednesday, July 28 2021
🚀 Launched Third Business: The Noble Sage Liquor Company
Physical Product / eCommerce
Incredibly excited to have launched The Noble Sage Liquour Company.
Guided by Spirits and Aged with Wisdom, The Noble Sage Liquor Company specialises in bespoke barrel-aged cocktails.
We launched and within 5 hours almost sold out our entire batch, with a 10%+ store conversion rate and average order value of ~$95.
Explore the fabled elixirs of the Sage at: @noblesageliquor or www.noblesageliquor.com
COMPLETED: Wednesday, July 7 2021 DEADLINE: Wednesday, June 30 2021 (7 days overdue due to length)
🧠 Complete No / Low Code Course
100 Days of No Code
As one of my learning goals I want to focus on quick execution by continuing my learning of No Code and Low Code tools.
I completed the 100 Days of No Code course / challenge, where I had to use No Code tools daily and tweet about my journey. It was a great way to learn so many great new tools, meet awesome people and become part of a supportive community.
If you're interested in finding out more about the course and awesome community behind the initiative, I wrote a Twitter thread on my whole journey and what I achieved by taking part: https://twitter.com/kevjochelson/status/1415217081130258440?s=20
LAUNCH DATE: Wednesday, April 28 2021
🚀 Launched Second Business or Product: Kidcasso.co
Physical Product / eCommerce
Parents always get overwhelmed with the sheer number of artworks their children bring home. So my sister, an Interior Designer, used to work through these with clients, choosing the best 6 - 8 and making them into incredible framed artworks. They could then clean up majority of that artwork pile knowing some were now beautiful framed memories on the wall.
When I saw one of the works she did, I was enamoured. I told her this should be a business.
Kidcasso is a collab project and we're currently testing the product in limited batches Sydney. Find out more at Kidcasso.co
Launch Date: Wednesday, April 7 2021
🚀 Launched First Business or Product: The Tech Rooport 🦘
Automated Newsletter
Ok. So this was really something I built for myself to get stuck into something fun and easy as part of my No-Code course. I shared it with some friends and they were HUGE fans. So I named it, knocked up a website and decided to share it with the world. It became my first (accidental) launch.
If you're based in Australia or NZ and want a daily digest of the best local and global news delivered to you daily. You'll want this. It's free: www.TechRooport.com
You can also find a step-by-step guide on how to build one yourself in my Essays section.
Saturday, March 27 2021
💯 Started #100DaysOfNoCode Course
I came out of the gates swinging after announcing the Sabbatical and decided to jump straight into a course. I've chosen to do the 100 Days of No-Code course, which is a habit setting course, encouraging me to build in No-Code daily for 100 days. The name kind of nails it, doesn't it? Well, this course will mean I will complete about 97 days by my deadline. The best part is it's all about #BuildInPublic, so I must Tweet my progress daily, so check my Twitter for where I'm up to or what I'm working on. If you're interested in the course, check it out here: https://www.100daysofnocode.com/?via=kj
Friday, March 26 2021
⏳ Announced my Bootstrap Sabbatical
Launch Personal Site
The launching of my Bootstrap Sabbatical marks the beginning of my dedicated year off trying to find my next big thing.
Future Goals Timeline
DEADLINE: Thursday, March 31 2022
🧠 Complete 25 Pieces of Writing As a Means of Education
WordPress, Webflow, Podcast?
As one of my learning goals and to grow my network and become a better advisor, mentor and teacher, I plan to proliferate my learnings. Besides from doing, they say the best way to learn is to teach, so I want to formally ensure I am writing and teaching.
DEADLINE: Thursday, March 31 2022
🔥 “F**K YEAH!” GOAL: Sell or Buy a Micro-SaaS Company
If I build something great, I either want to sell it (if I'm not totally passionate about it) or acquire a complimentary small business (to support it). This is to learn more about the acquisition process. This is a "F**k Yeah!" Goal. I use them over Stretch Goals. Same ethos, different wording. Wording matters. Meeting a Stretch Goal means you exerted extra effort, meeting a "F**K Yeah!" goal makes you want to pop a bottle, put your hands up and shout..