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Langpreneur Podcast – Episode #50
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Justin Murray of Real Life English is focused on a mission to bring innovation, adventure, and fun into every language lesson his company produces. 

That innovative vision was always in the background, but RealLife English has indeed travelled a long and winding road to success. Justin and his co-founders Chad (who left the project in 2017) and Ethan failed, succeeded and failed again before they finally learned to focus on the unique products and channels that resonate with their 3-million strong audience.

 What you’ll learn in this interview:

• Nothing ventured, nothing gained
• Lessons learned from building a startup
• Creating a community
• What you need for a successful product launch
• The need for a great team
• Hire team members using the WHO method 
• Justin’s best tips for Langpreneurs

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Nothing ventured, nothing gained

The trio couldn’t have been more naive when they started their language business, but they made up for that with bucket-loads of enthusiasm.

Chad and Justin lived in Brazil, but Ethan joined from Barcelona so right from the start they had to learn about remote working. The men threw everything at their business, running a blog and podcast as well as two YouTube channels, an app and even meetup events — which were a fantastic excuse for partying while you practice English conversation.

These were heady days, but eventually, they found it impossible to keep so many wheels turning all at the same time. To make money, the team needed a clear vision, a plan and a product that consistently captivated their audience.

Eventually, all the learning came together in today’s focused and coherent business, RealLife English and the wildly-successful Learn English With TV Series on YouTube which Ethan is now the main presenter.

Lessons learned from building a startup

Early on, the boys moved to Chile to join a government-funded startup accelerator programme. Although that particular project ultimately folded, they learned some vital lessons, and are close to relaunching a similar idea in a new app with a similar idea.

1. You need to have a vision and a plan to achieve it.
2. Your business must solve a problem.
3. All successful businesses understand their customers.
4. Talk to people through personal interviews, emails, surveys and more.
5. Build a prototype and keep developing it.
6. Understand what your customers are willing to pay for.
7. Build a network and stay in touch with your fellow entrepreneurs. 

“It’s a mistake to have just a vision that you’re going to build it. Actually, verify  that you’re solving a real problem and that your solution is something that people want.” 

Create a community

Startups begin with a problem and product, but bloggers, YouTube and podcasts take the opposite approach by gathering a community first. 

They build an audience by creating content, offering value and getting to know their fans’ hopes, dreams and pain points before making a product.

So, while RLE had too many initiatives going at first, it was their YouTube community that eventually pointed the way to their first successful product, the 48-week course, “Fluent With Friends.”
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In 2014 I had the chance to join some of Real Life English’s meetup’s in Brazil.
Co-founder Chad (left) and Justin Murray (right).
Missing: Co-founder, Ethan Wanger

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Successful product launches

Even the best of audiences need an incentive to buy, so it’s essential to know the right strategies of a successful launch.

Real Life English now uses an evergreen funnel — one they can use over and over again — based on Jeff Walker’s “Product Launch Formula.”

The principles are:

• Build anticipation with a story and an event
• Create three high-value classes and embed sales triggers in each.
• Include social proof
• Build scarcity
• Deliver value
• Sell your course or product.

“The business is thriving because we built a sales funnel that would work and repeat the same results. Before, it took a month to create a course, create the 3-part masterclass, launch it, and then it’s done.  That’s a lot of work to put in for a month. So, create something that you can repeat.” 

Have a great team

You may begin as a solo entrepreneur but to grow a business, you must gather a good team, with a mix of members who complement each others’ skills. 

Justin describes one startup team archetype as the Hacker, Hipster and Hustler. The Hacker is the technical whiz, the Hipster makes your product beautiful, and the Hustler sells it. 

Having co-founders right from the start has enabled the Real Life English team to continually bounce ideas, share, learn from and question each other. Chad eventually left the business, but Ethan and Justin have developed complementary roles within the company.  

Hire team members using the WHO method 

Many businesses struggle to hire the right team members. To find the best people, Justin recommends the process he learned from “Who: A Method For Hiring” by Randy Street. 

You need to:

• Clarify your vision and mission for the role.
• Attract applications from many qualified people.
• Briefly interview the top 20%
• Intensively interview the top few. 

“Since we started that (hiring process), we’ve hired great people. All our hires have been awesome — on the money. Before that, we struggled.  People weren’t performing and we had to let them go. It was not optimal (because) it’s really painful when you have someone who’s not working out.”

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Their YouTube channel ”Learn English with TV series” had over 3M subscribers when we did this interview.

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Justin’s Tips for Langpreneurs

• In the beginning treat your business like a sandbox, experiment and learn from your successes and your mistakes.
  
• Create synergy between projects and phases.

Justin says lots of their initiatives may have failed at first, but over time the team has managed to resurrect the best ideas because they all centred around their mission.

• Stop working IN your business and start working ON your business. 

Step outside the everyday work to consider your vision and your mission.

• You need something compelling to build a successful team.
• Know yourself and what you want to do. 

Don’t copy other people, have your own authentic purpose and solution. Copying isn’t sustainable.  

• Keep learning and growing. Read books, network with others, listen to podcasts.

“It’s really important to hear people who’ve gone on the same journey, even if a lot of things become common sense you’re always getting gems and tips that make you think about things differently, which ultimately might become a big key to success.”

Contact Justin

Website: Real Life English 

YouTube: Learn English With TV Series

Mentioned on the podcast

Product Launch Formula – Jeff Walker

Who: The A Method for Hiring – Randy Street

The Lean Startup – Eric Ries

1000 True Fans – Kevin Kelly (see video below)
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Here’s a video clip in which the concept of the ”1000 true fans” is explained by Kevin Kelly.

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