Morning, builders.
Welcome to Business Juice - where we skip the startup theatre and show you what actually works.
We're here for the founders, side hustlers, and anyone tired of watching from the sidelines whilst others grab the bag.
We dig into the unsexy truths, highlight what moves the needle, and hand you the tools to escape the daily grind.
No BS. Just juice.
Let's build.
Here’s what’s in today’s issue of Business Juice:
Building in public: ego boost or growth hack?
Your only real competition? Yesterday's you.
AI gold rush playbook is backwards.
Your comfort zone is startup kryptonite.
Club300 (for just $1)
Microgreens, macro profits.
But first… mind hitting one of the buttons below to let us know what you reaaallly wanted to read about?
What do you want from Business Juice
The signal
Should I share the MRR numbers for my new startup ?
I can't tell if sharing your startup's MRR numbers is helpful or hurtful to the business (long term)
Do you have a strong opinion?
— #GREG ISENBERG (#@gregisenberg)
7:49 PM • Jul 16, 2025
Building in public works when it serves your audience
MRR sharing depends entirely on why you're doing it.
The good reasons:
Teaching others what's working in your market
Showing proof of concept for similar builders
Accountability to keep shipping when growth is hard 🎯
The questionable reasons:
Flexing for social media clout
Building personal brand at startup's expense
Feeding the growth porn machine 🎭
Real transparency is sharing the messy middle – the failed experiments, customer feedback that stung, pivots that saved you.
Numbers without context are just noise.
Share the work, the lessons, the process.
The revenue will follow the value you create.
If posting MRR helps other builders or keeps you accountable – share away.
If it's just for the dopamine hit, maybe keep building instead.
Compete externally and you compare.
Compete internally and you improve.
— #James Clear (#@JamesClear)
5:00 PM • Jul 16, 2025
The comparison trap is real
Most builders burn out watching everyone else's highlight reel instead of focusing on their own daily 1% improvements.
External competition = reactive decision making based on what competitors ship
Internal competition = proactive growth based on what your users actually need
The founders obsessing over Product Hunt launches miss the customers asking for basic features 📢
Your biggest breakthroughs come from solving yesterday's problems better, not copying today's trends
The builders who compound long-term? They measure against their own metrics, not someone else's vanity dashboard.
Your only real competition is who you were yesterday. 💪
Clearest path to a $10M ARR b2b AI agent startup
— #GREG ISENBERG (#@gregisenberg)
8:58 PM • Jul 16, 2025
Everyone's chasing the $10M AI dream whilst ignoring basic customer validation
Building agents for problems that don't exist = burning runway on shiny tech.
Real B2B wins come from automating existing workflows, not creating new ones.
Find manual processes people already pay for
Make them 10x faster
Target specialty industries drowning in Excel – insurance, equipment leasing, commodities trading 📊
Chain small agents together to automate entire workflows
The same system that abstracts leases handles insurance policies with minor tweaks.
Build for one industry's pain, end up with a playbook for any business process.
Automate existing value, don't create imaginary demand. ⚡
The key is to enjoy hanging out on the edge. That is, you find it interesting to attempt things one step beyond where you are right now. It could be the edge of your ability or the edge of your knowledge or the edge of your network.
If you reach — but just a little — and you
— #James Clear (#@JamesClear)
5:42 PM • Jul 16, 2025
The comfort zone myths are killing builders
Most founders think they need to leap into the unknown when real growth happens one uncomfortable step at a time.
Massive pivots = death by a thousand course corrections
Small edge pushes = compound learning that actually sticks
🤝 Your next customer is probably one connection away from your current network
The features that move the needle are usually just beyond your current skill level
The builders who scale sustainably?
They stretch just enough to feel slightly uncomfortable, but not enough to break their momentum.
Growth happens at the edge of capability, not over the cliff. 📈
🔒 Exclusive Juice: Club300 is Open — And We’re Building With You
We just opened the gates to Club300 — our most no-fluff, builder-first move yet.
It’s a closed group of 300 early supporters who’ll help shape what Business Juice becomes — from experiments to equity. If you’re reading this, you’re early. If you’re in the club, you’re part of the build.
🛠️ Here’s what’s on the bench:
Idea Validation-as-a-Service → live now, testing every weird business idea we can throw at it
The Juice Lab → our private R&D garage for tested blueprints and live builds
Community-driven sprints → we’ll ship new tools, templates, and startups with Club300 before anyone else sees them
This isn’t some "early access" thing. It’s a co-build. You’ll get:
Direct say in what gets built
First looks at drops, decks, data
Invitations to build, invest, or clone the good stuff
🎯 If you're in Club300 — you're not just watching. You're on the factory floor.
And if you're not in yet? There’s still time — but not much.
👀 businessjuice.beehiiv.com/upgrade
AI-proof businesses
Forget the tech hype. These are hands-on, human businesses that survive anything
Unsexy and unstoppable. All human.
Thursday is for real cashflow.
These businesses survive any tech wave.
Nothing replaces fixing, fitting, or cleaning.
Real work. Real profit. No hype.
Today’s spotlight is on Microgreens Urban Farming.
🧠 The Big Idea
Start a microgreens business growing ultra-fresh, nutritious greens for local health-conscious customers and chefs. Hyper-local, sustainable, and completely robot-proof. No algorithm is taking your spot at the farmers' market.
👥 Customers & Problem
Who: Health-focused eaters wanting better than supermarket salad bags, local restaurants and cafés hunting for fresher ingredients, boutique grocers needing produce that doesn't arrive half-dead.
Problem: Supermarket greens are bland, weeks old, and chemically treated. Chefs and families want nutrient-dense produce that actually tastes like something. Nobody trusts mass supply chains for "healthy" food anymore, and they're right not to.
Your answer: Vibrant, hyper-fresh microgreens, harvested the same day and delivered with a local handshake.
💰 Potential Revenue
Starting out: $500-$1,200 monthly selling at markets and to local restaurants
Scaling up: $2,000-$5,000 monthly with regular restaurant accounts, box subscriptions, and retail partnerships
Mature operation: $7,000+ monthly by expanding tray count, delivery radius, and stacking value-add products
Reality check: Microgreens can return 40-60% profit margins when sold direct. Global market growing 10-12% yearly. Fresh local produce is a perennial trend, not a fad.
🛠 Bootstrap Game Plan
Set Up Your Growing Space
Start in a spare room, shelf unit, or garage with basic trays and LED lights. Setup costs under $1,500 and your first crop is harvestable in 7–14 days.
Land First Customers
Drop samples at local restaurants – let the product do the talking. Offer weekly subscriptions to health-minded neighbours. Post harvest-day videos and connect with "foodie" Facebook groups.
Standardise Your Workflow
Use cheap timers for lights and watering, but always harvest by hand for quality. Track batch timing and yields for consistent production. Systems beat hustle every time.
Market Your Local Edge
Highlight freshness, pesticide-free growing, and sustainability credentials. Collect testimonials and post before/after shots of your greens in local dishes. Your story matters as much as your product.
Expand When Ready
Add varieties, stack subscriptions, and test related offers like microgreen salad kits. Reinvest profits in more trays and better systems. Scale smart, not fast.
The Reality: This is manual, boots-on-the-ground work. Reliable income, but you're trading sweat for cashflow. Markets can get crowded, so quality and storytelling become your moat. Tech can help with automation, but it won't replace your hands or your relationships.
If you want recession-resistant, AI-proof, and meaningful income, microgreens farming might be your unsexy, unstoppable business.
Want to build it?
The free version above gives you the basics. The Club300 version gives you the DEEPER DIVE. Ready to see what set-and-forget actually looks like? (it’s just $1 to find out).
👋 Until next squeeze…
Alright Juicers, that’s your shot for today.
But remember - this isn’t a newsletter. It’s a weapon.
A blueprint. A backroom pass to the wild world of AI-first start-ups.
We’re not here for theory. We’re here for reps. For wins. For freedom muscles so strong your boss asks how much you bench.
So go train your AI agent. Steal an idea. Hell, launch something in your lunch break.
And if you’re still reading… you’re exactly the type who belongs in Club300. Don’t just watch us build - get on the factory floor.
Let’s keep making noise. Let’s keep grabbing the bag.
✌️ Until next time,
Mr. Juice
P.S. Got something weird, broken, or brilliant?
Send it to [email protected] — or forward this to a friend who needs less fluff and more fuel.
P.p.s Here’s some awesome stuff you need to check out
Learn to Communicate Better
If you want to start doing something bite-sized towards your lunchtime start up, consider learning copywriting. This will help you sell, persuade and advertise whatever you end up building. Effective communication is the mother skill of great entrepreneurs, check out CopyThat to learn more. Click Here.