Going
Going started in 2013 with a simple but powerful concept: a newsletter focused on helping digital nomads find the cheapest flights and understand airline 'mistake fares.' The original incarnation was called 'Scott's Cheap Flights' and tapped into a specific niche audience hungry for actionable travel information and cost-saving strategies.
The newsletter format proved to be the right vehicle for the message. By focusing on a well-defined audience—digital nomads and travel enthusiasts—Going built a loyal subscriber base that valued the specialized knowledge and insider tips the newsletter provided. The emphasis on 'mistake fares' and other nuanced travel hacks gave the product a unique value proposition.
Over time, Going evolved from a single newsletter into a more comprehensive business. Today, the company has over 60 employees and offers a range of products and services to its subscriber base, moving well beyond the original newsletter format. Founder Brian Kidwell transitioned from solopreneur to CEO, facing the classic challenges of delegation, strategic thinking, and maintaining quality as the organization scaled. Kidwell emphasized the importance of 'deep work' and protecting time for the strategic thinking that becomes increasingly critical as a company grows.
- •By solving a specific pain point for a narrow audience (digital nomads seeking cheap flights) rather than attempting a broad market solution, Going built a loyal, engaged subscriber base that became the foundation for long-term growth.
- •The newsletter format aligned perfectly with the core value proposition of timely, actionable travel tips, making the distribution method inseparable from the product itself and enabling word-of-mouth growth within a cohesive community.
- •Starting from the founder's own need to find affordable flights created authentic product expertise and credibility that resonated deeply with the target audience and differentiated the offering from generic travel booking services.
- •Establishing content marketing as both the traction engine and the primary business channel meant customer acquisition and product delivery were the same activity, eliminating the need for expensive paid advertising to reach the right people.
- 1.Identify a specific, underserved niche audience within a large market (like budget-conscious travelers within the broader travel industry) and build your initial product exclusively for solving their most acute pain point.
- 2.Launch with a simple, focused distribution format that naturally suits your core offering—such as a newsletter for time-sensitive, actionable insights—rather than forcing your message into a generic platform.
- 3.Create your first product by solving a problem you personally face, which will give you authenticity, deep domain knowledge, and built-in credibility when communicating with similar users.
- 4.Reinvest early subscriber growth and engagement back into deepening content quality and specificity rather than immediately diversifying; let the focused audience pull you toward natural product extensions over time.
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