I Spent a Month Teaching Myself How to Launch a Startup with Raposa Technologies
Hi, my name is Sydnye Hubbs and this is the landing page for all the work I did this month to help Raposa Technologies launch! If you want to know what I did, how I did it, and who Raposa Technologies is, read on!
Raposa Technologies is a platform to help with quantitative investing. All the code and analysis are done for you, so all you need to do is plug your objectives into the algorithm, and we notify you of what you should do next! Quantitative investing is a complicated process that can garner great results for your investment portfolio. Raposa Technologies is making the process easier and more available for a wider array of people.
My goals were simple:
- Raise awareness of Raposa Tech for a larger demographic
- Produce an API to connect the app to the email system
- Refine their current marketing system and create an automatic email system
- Create a LOT of Copywrite content
Well, maybe it isn’t that simple. I had to do days (and nights) of research and self-guided lessons throughout the project. All my time and research paid off though. I have gained a lot of skills during the process.
Since this is a month-long project, I broke down each week’s updates below:
Week One: Planning and Preparation
Week Two: Emails and API
Week Three: Copywriting
Week Four: The Hustle
This month has been a challenge. I don’t think I have ever produced so much content nor have I ever learned so much in-depth information in such a short time span; which, for the record, was very exhausting. But the improvement I see in myself from beginning to end is undeniable- even the guys at Raposa commented on my growth two weeks in!
My proudest accomplishments:
- I remotely worked with a startup company run by two people who have jobs other than Raposa. This made communication very difficult and created a lot of unexpected changes throughout the process.
My initial meeting lead to a detailed outline of my goals as you can see here. Halfway through the project, it was decided to change nearly everything. I had to be incredibly flexible with my work and learn to modify what I had already made to fit the new, ever-changing mold.
- I realized how important a writing skill is. But not just any kind of writing. I always thought I was a good writer. (I mean, my mom always liked what I wrote, she told me I was talented.)
So when Raposa told me copywriting was what they needed the most, I was jived. That is, until I started doing it. My first four articles took hours and hours to research and write. So when the edits came back practically asking me to rewrite them completely, I felt defeated. I made corrections then started the research. I bought books, read articles, and listened to podcasts to help me understand copywriting and what went wrong. Although I’m still improving this skill, it really went from nothing to something within just a matter of days.
- I taught myself everything I needed. I had very little direction with my project and none of the experience to know how to fill in the gaps. Luckily I am a fast learner and skilled at finding information.
For instance, when Raposa first asked for me to build an API integrated email system; I thought they were speaking Mandarin. Half a dozen websites, articles, and tutorials later and I can confidently say it is not Mandarin.
- I learned how to be valuable to a company, particularly a startup. I’m naturally innovative and love to see growth and transformation. So I had some good ideas to grow the company that I was very excited to try.
Unfortunately, Raposa wasn’t ready. How can you grow and expand something without a foundation first? I learned how to change my mindset and work in a different fashion to create the most necessary value for the company at the moment.
Here’s where I documented everything I learned
1. Why Are Calendars So Important?
2. The 11-Step Method To Easy Copywriting
3. How To Use Mailchimp Automatic Emails
4. How To Write Copy That People Want To Read
5. Why I Use ClickUp After Trying Every Other Platform On The Market
6. Are Headlines Really That Important?
7. Email Marketing- The New Door To Door Salesman : My finished emails
What I learned:
Copywriting. I learned so much more about writing, writing styles, and how to engage people as much as possible. I learned to produce quality copy, not just by a writer’s skill, but through a reader’s psychological tendencies as well.
JSON and basic Java Script. There’s still a lot I wish to learn when it comes to JavaScript, and more to finalize with JSON, but I learned a great deal of what it is and how to use it.
Time Management. I gave myself far too many tasks this month with exceedingly high expectations for myself to top it off. Being an ambitious young entrepreneur with a full-time job, I had to be at the top of my game to stay on track. I learned what works well for me and what doesn’t in terms of accountability. I kept myself organized with personal deadlines, calendars, and disciplined work times.
Efficiency and Organization. Organization brings me joy. This month threw multiple wrenches into that happiness. I learned to adapt my methods and mindset to stay organized through all the changes. After tripling my workload, I even learned to be more efficient in each process of the project.
Cognitive Fallacies and Psychological Biases. After spending the entire first week researching fallacies and biases, I felt like a pro. Unfortunately, teaching them through my copy was another story. I ended up spending hours learning about each one in-depth so I could convey exactly what they mean from an investing standpoint. This taught me so much about human psychology that will no doubt benefit me in everything I do.
Confidence. I am utterly amazed at what I was able to learn this month overall. I read multiple books, learned brand new skills and systems, and discovered many new content-delivering platforms to continue my journey. I also experienced some pretty frightening life events in the midst of it all. Although it was incredibly strenuous, through it I have learned how strong and capable I really am.
New Mindsets of Learning. I learned how to better open my mind to different perspectives and ideas as I learn and as I teach. This has helped me understand Raposa’s customers and better tailor my content to their specific avatar. Depending on the type of content I was consuming or creating, different approaches became easier to implement.
Not To Mention… Headline building and SEO, Funnel Building and Avatar Marketing Strategies, Understanding of tech tools such as Postman, Mailjet, Mailchimp, ClickUp, Notion, Loom, and more!
I wish…
I made more time for myself.
I work a full-time job on top of doing everything I needed to do for this project, so I did have to make the hard decision to give up side projects, hobbies, spending time with my friends, and a lot of self-care (like sleep). I’m a tenacious person, so I thought nothing of it. The repercussions unfortunately had me in the hospital and put me a week behind. On top of everything, I now had to redo the entire project, had a time reduction, and now had less time to destress myself. Luckily this taught me the importance of balance along with how to manage my time to an infinite degree. My planning and organization have never been better!
I asked for help.
Learning and relearning so much information as the project evolved was a lot more time-consuming than I thought it would be. It was stressful to not be able to produce what I had in my head right off the bat. I wish I asked more people for help to move the learning process along rather than doing everything myself. While my method “worked”, it was not the most efficient.
I didn’t value quantity over quality at the start of the project.
I gave myself way too much work to do and didn’t realize how much time it would actually take to complete. My goal was to produce a LOT of content, so to snub that just felt like giving up at the time. I’ve since realized that I would rather have good, quality copy than a bunch of rushed pieces to publish. In the last week, I ended up reducing my writing goal so I could focus on quality over quantity.
Did I reach my goals?
No. But only if you were to ask me based on my original outline. I did not create a podcast based on Raposa’s articles. I did not double their email list. I did not send cold emails to hundreds of people on LinkedIn Sales Navigator. I did not produce at least 10 Copywrite pieces.
BUT,
I did reach my goals once I made a new, more realistic, and valuable plan of action. Although I did not do any of the things listed above, I did all the things that should have been prioritized before them and focused on making it the best it could be. I gained far more skills and abilities through my final project than my original outline could have offered.
Here is the Copywrite I produced for Raposa Tech:
2. Do You Know What The Future Holds? Are You Afraid?
3. Your Affections Are Hurting Your Portfolio
4. How To Avoid Losing In The Stock Market
5. In Hindsight, You’re a Terrible Predictor
6. 3 Reasons Your Friends are Hindering Your Success
7. Why First Impressions Are Ruining Your Investments
So… What’s Next?
Using the skills and tools I have learned this month, I’m excited to see where I can go next! In the meantime, I plan to continue to help Raposa with its launch. It’s incredibly exciting to work with a startup company that has so many projects and ideas to do! Next, I’ll be working on their social media representation and hopefully take their Twitter out of the dust. I plan to continue developing the skills I’ve worked on with this project in the process!
Thank you for exploring my landing page! If you have any questions, ideas on how I can improve, or any billion-dollar ideas you’d like to share with me, add me on LinkedIn!
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