Hey Reader, Every founder is racing to build a product. Every team calls themselves innovative. Every startup claims to be disruptive. Everyone believes they’re running a growth playbook. Every pitch deck believes itself to be funding ready. Nope. Those are outcomes. You don’t get to say those words. You don’t do product. You don’t do growth. You don’t do innovation. You don’t do funding. You don’t do disruption. You don’t get to self-name these attributes. They are given to you. By the...
13 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, This one’s for all the founders heading into 2025 thinking your strategy will unfold naturally, as a sequence of inevitable events. It won’t. I'm just asking you to clearly articulate your objective and how you intend to hit it, it's a very reasonable question.... There are four types of founders on December 1st: Those winging it with random acts of execution believing they are following a plan. Those carrying a strategy in their head, trusting a brain notoriously bad at managing...
20 days ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Founders: If I teamed up with your local bookstore to host some meetups - where I buy you a coffee, we share stories, do some founder therapy, and spark new connections - would you come? If so, click here. For every founder building helpful, nice-to-have products that people like and might pay for. Are you essential? Without you, is the pain immediate and undeniable? With you, is the value obvious and compounding? Are you CORE? CORE decides how easy you are to ignore in a sales...
27 days ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader, Every founder is driven by the pursuit of advantage. The shortcuts, insights, frameworks, and sparks that, just maybe, ignite the one idea, the one insight, the unlock code that can be leveraged. One goal. Move faster, smarter, better. Last week's newsletter, on founders navigating the space between what was and what will be... resonated... <join in> The great thing about someone else's method is that one of two things will happen: Either you'll embrace it, find that it works for...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Change is the only constant. Whether it's politics, economy or tech, the forces around us are always evolving. The recent US election? One more example of how quickly the landscape can shift. Change is also the engine of progress. It forces you to adapt, innovate, and become a stronger founder. Ten minutes ago, none of us had “AI” in our pitch decks. Today, it’s transforming everything and likely front & center on your website. Tomorrow? Who knows. Exactly the point. So, if it's...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Startup culture is built on a lie: the myth that other founders are somehow better than you. That they know exactly what they’re doing and execute flawlessly. (𝕏) These hero stories paint a picture where every decision was inevitable, every move was calculated, and the outcomes obvious. Nope. For everyone, it was a whole lot of chaos, guessing, hoping, and praying. Stop holding yourself to impossible standards, stop comparing your behind-the-scenes reality to someone else’s...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, There’s a part of the startup journey that’s brutal and rarely mentioned. The Dip. The exact opposite of the adrenaline, excitement & energy of the beginning. The Dip feels like a deep, personal struggle, and yet, it's a universal founder experience. (𝕏) The Dip isn't burnout. That's different. It's also not procrastination. That's avoiding (the right) work. The Dip is the lag between momentum and traction. When your adrenaline has burned out but reality hasn't caught up - the...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Everyone talks about IQ & EQ, but what about how you instinctively take action and solve problems? Who you are at your core is not really trainable or changeable, but it’s often the hidden reason startups struggle to make progress in the early days. (𝕏) It’s the Conative Index and you care because founders often fight their natural tendencies, believing they need to act a certain “founder” way (move fast & break things). And when that isn't who you really are, you end up battling...
2 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Just like that, without realizing it, you go from founder to NPC. From having a clear vision, some moxie, and a bold idea, to being pushed into normalcy as the market never stops telling you that you're doing it wrong. (𝕏) NPC often happens in moments of desperation, where you stop (or are forced to stop) critically evaluating, questioning, investigating, and instead go with the flow, follow the popular, execute the so-called "right" advice. Just like the background characters in...
2 months ago • 3 min read