1List the beliefsLunch break 1Done
2Find 5 buyersLunch break 2Done
3Hold the first callsLunch break 3Open
Most first offers get checked by friends, who are kind, and kindness tells you nothing about whether a buyer will pay. This workbook takes you through 5 short conversations with people who fit your buyer, then a successful solo business owner reviews your results by hand. You find out what to change before you put money or months behind it.
No written offer yet? Write one in the free 5‑day challenge →
There is no automated score and no AI summary. Your reviewer reads your 5 conversations and your revised offer, then writes back with the 3 changes that matter most, in order.
An offer nobody has tested is a set of beliefs: that your buyer exists, that the problem hurts enough to pay for, that your price is fair. Building on top of them is how months go into an offer no buyer asked for. Testing them first takes 7 lunch breaks and a few conversations.
Before Stella Guan launched her online design school, Path Unbound, she tested it with at least 15 to 20 people, in focus groups and in conversations with customers of competing schools. This workbook writes that habit out as steps.
A website, a course and months of evenings, all before a single buyer has seen the offer. When it doesn’t sell, there is no way to tell which part was wrong: the buyer, the problem, the offer or the price.
“Sounds great” takes no effort to say. A follow-up call, an introduction or a pre-order asks something of the person, so the workbook scores each of your 5 conversations by the most they gave you.
It is hard to judge your own notes, especially about an idea you care about. A founder who runs a profitable solo business reads your conversations and your revised offer, and tells you the 3 changes that matter most, in order.
Each lunch break is 1 sitting of about 30 minutes. With replies and the review, the whole test runs over 2 to 3 weeks.
Your offer goes into 4 lines a stranger could follow. Then you write down everything it assumes, and pick the 3 beliefs that matter most and have the least proof behind them.
Picking the right 5 matters more than finding more. You want people who had the problem recently and already spent time or money trying to fix it.
Each call spends 10 minutes on their life and 5 on your offer. The questions ask about things that already happened, because that is where people tell you the truth.
Calls 3 and 4 use the same script and the same page, so all 5 conversations can be compared side by side.
Kind words are free to give. Each person gets a score for the most they gave you, from a follow-up call to an introduction to a pre-order.
Something 3 or more people said is a pattern. Something 1 person said is a note. You sort your notes, decide on each belief and rewrite the offer before a founder reads it.
Your review comes back within 5 business days with the 3 changes that matter most, in order, and 1 of 3 verdicts.
The full conversation script sits in the workbook, with ready-to-copy messages for each step. You fill in the parts in brackets.
Everything you type saves to your account, so you can stop at the end of a lunch break and pick up where you left off.
It holds every step and every question for all 7 lunch breaks, and saves your answers as you type.
It stays on screen during each call, so all 5 people hear the same questions in the same order.
It gives you the invite, the reminder, the thank-you and the pre-order follow-up, each with a copy button.
It scores each person by the most they gave you, from a follow-up call to a pre-order.
It groups your notes, counts how many people said each thing and reads your price range.
A founder scores your offer, reads your conversations and writes your top 3 changes and a verdict.
It puts your revised offer, your results and your next step on 1 page.
You will have an offer tested with 5 people who fit your buyer, a score for how seriously each one meant it, and a founder’s written review with the 3 changes that matter most. And you will know your next step: sell it, change it and test again, or rethink.
Counts toward Plan A, our launch program, if you join within 60 days of buying.
Instant access, so the sale is final. Your workbook opens in your customer dashboard as soon as you pay.
It sits under Lunch Break Founder in your dashboard, with 1 chapter for each lunch break. Your answers save as you type, so you can stop and pick up where you left off.
Press Send for review at the end of lunch break 6. A founder scores your offer, reads your 5 conversations and writes the 3 changes that matter most, in order. You get an email when it is ready.
Every review ends with an invite to a free 30-minute mentorship trial call on Zoom, for when you’d like to talk it through with a mentor before you decide.
The conversation script and every message sit at the end of the workbook. Each message has a copy button, and you fill in the parts in brackets.
It does 1 job: checking 1 written offer with real buyers. If that is not the step in front of you, another one here will help you more.
Lunch Break Founder is a series of 3 workbooks, each sold on its own. Each one fills 1 gap on the way from idea to launch, next to the free tools, the 6 Uncommon Toolkits and Plan A.
Lunch Break Founder workbooksFind the Hidden TalentValidate Your OfferBrand with AI
The complete set · 6 toolkits + 3 workbooks
$849
for the complete set, $607 less than buying everything separately
All 3 Lunch Break Founder workbooks come free with the set. We are also throwing in a free live business mentoring session to use within 6 months of your purchase.
Plan A is our 8-week business launch program: 16 hours of live 1:1 time with a successful solo business owner to build and launch your own. Lunch Break Founder workbooks and Uncommon Toolkits share 1 credit. Join Plan A within 60 days of your first purchase, and everything you paid for either comes off the program fee, up to $849 in total.
Workbooks and toolkits count toward the same $849. This workbook plus 2 toolkits is $477, and all $477 comes off.
Buy this workbook, another workbook or any toolkit. Your 60 days start on your first purchase.
Apply to Plan A. Applying takes about 10 minutes.
Join within the 60 days. Your checkout link takes off what you paid, up to $849.
At 18, I moved from China, on a full scholarship, to the US with 3 suitcases, on my own. By my mid 20s, I was making over 6 figures at a Fortune 500 company in New York City and owned a home. I was winning in life, or so it seemed.
Deep down, I wanted to build my own dream, not someone else’s. So I self-petitioned my EB-1A green card, planned my business on my lunch breaks, and within months quit to start a profitable-from-Day-1 education tech company as a first-time solo founder. Today, I run several solo expertise businesses while traveling the world.
This Uncommon Life is how I help you start yours: build your Plan A on your lunch breaks, so you never have to ask anyone’s permission to take a vacation again.
Follow Stella
My session with Stella was exceptionally informative and truly inspiring. She offered plenty of go-to-market strategies and tactics.
Highly recommend if you’re looking for a no-bullshit, warm, and all-in mentor for your startup.
Working with Stella Guan was eye-opening for our up-skilling platform.
1 written offer in 4 lines: who it is for, the result they get, what is included and how long it takes, and the price. If you don’t have one yet, the free 5‑day challenge, Go From Business Idea to a Priced Offer, helps you write it.
7 lunch breaks of about 30 minutes each. The calendar time is longer, because you wait for people to reply and for your review, so the whole test runs over about 2 to 3 weeks.
Your review scores your offer on who it is for, the result, what is included and the price, reads your conversation results and your price range, and gives you the 3 changes that matter most, in order, with 1 of 3 verdicts. It works only from your own notes and answers, and shows you what to change without rewriting the offer for you.
Within 5 business days of pressing Send for review. You get an email when it is ready, and it appears in your workbook. Each purchase includes 1 review, sent within 60 days of buying.
We do not promise a customer. The workbook tests your offer with 5 people who fit your buyer and tells you what to change. A clear no after 5 conversations is a good result too, because you found out in 2 weeks instead of a year.
Lunch break 2 shows you where to look: former colleagues and their contacts, LinkedIn searches by job title, and the groups and forums your buyer already uses. If you still can’t find 5 people who have the problem, that is worth knowing before you build anything for that buyer.
How to Identify and Dominate an Untapped Niche runs the full market check, with 6 conversations over 2 to 3 weeks and a deeper read of the market. This workbook is a lighter test of 1 offer you have already written, with a founder’s review at the end.
Yes. If you join Plan A within 60 days of buying, the $79 you paid comes off the program fee.
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