Today marks the end of my eighty-fourth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-four:

• Impact – I’m still thinking about this a lot (and having great conversations about it). I have some ideas for having an impact on founders and may start to test one pretty soon. Looking forward to learning.
• Directionally accurate – I’m naturally wired to have a destination in mind that I’m aiming for. Over time, I’ve learned that I can take action without a clear destination—I just need to lift my head periodically to confirm I’m still headed in the right direction. This week reinforced this.  
• World Series win – The Atlanta Braves won the World Series for the first time in over twenty years. This is a big win for the city and puts it on outsiders’ radar screens. Sports have a way of uniting people, and I’m excited to see how this win will affect Atlanta.  

Week eighty-four was positive. I was productive and reenergized. Looking forward to repeating this next week.

A few years back, I was asked to attend an event. I knew the organizer and he asked for my support. I was busy at the time and wasn’t sure I’d have the bandwidth to attend. I was on the fence until the last minute but ended up going. At the event, I met someone who’s now a good friend—and who introduced me to other people who’ve had a big impact on me.

That one event has had a lasting impact on me in ways I never would’ve imagined. It and other situations I encountered as a founder have shown me how powerful serendipity can be. Just being in the right place at the right time can make a world of difference.

The last eighteen months have made serendipitous interactions difficult. It’s hard to have random interactions when everything is scheduled via Zoom. I enjoy the efficiency of video calls, but I do miss those chance encounters.

I’m not sure what the future holds or what the future of work looks like, but I’m looking forward to a little more serendipity in 2022.

Today I met with two founders building impressive platforms. Both are workflow management solutions focused on patient care. (You can read what I’ve already written on workflow management.) I remain bullish on these types of companies. Today was a reminder of that, and it got me thinking about the future of workflow management.

Over the next decade, we’ll see an unprecedented rate of change and disruption. Technology will drive much of it. As it develops, consumers will receive and become accustomed to better service and higher quality. To satisfy their higher expectations (which will become the norm), businesses will be forced to adapt. Efficient, consistent delivery of products or services will go from nice-to-have to essential, especially as smaller businesses try to keep up with larger competitors.

These businesses will increasingly look for help from workflow management technology. They will seek software to empower them to do things they can’t do manually but that customers expect. They’ll be looking for consistency and efficiency to meet customers’ expectations while keeping labor costs reasonable.

I foresee a wave of demand for workflow management software. If you’re a founder or aspire to be one, consider looking for opportunities for technology to make companies’ output more consistent while saving time and minimizing manpower. If you find a space that sorely needs this, you might just have come across the next billion-dollar idea.

I spoke with a founder who recently sold his company. He shared the story leading up to the sale. But that wasn’t what he was most excited about. He wanted to talk about his new venture. He was approached by another founder who had built an early product and wanted feedback. As he listened, he got excited and decided he wanted to join the company as a cofounder. He’s now working hard to take his cofounder’s idea to the next level.

Founders are usually builders at heart. I’ve got a few friends who exited companies and now are building something else. They could easily sit back and relax, but that isn’t an option in their minds. They want to get back in the saddle.

Finding a cofounder is hard; it’s the biggest obstacle for many early-stage first-time founders. I’ve shared thoughts on ways to overcome this.

Today I realized that recently exited founders are a great pool of potential cofounders. They’ve got the experience and have had success. They empathize with where you are in the journey. They’re builders at heart. And most likely they have more free time than they’re used to.

If you’re an early-stage founder looking for a cofounder, consider reaching out to founders who’ve recently exited. Worst-case scenario, they don’t want to meet. Best-case scenario, you find a cofounder who’s got a track record of success!

Met with a friend today who runs his own company. Seven years ago, he told me he was thinking of making the leap. He’d had a stable job for many years, though, and wasn’t sure how he or his family would weather the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. But he was passionate about the industry. In the end he decided to jump. His wife was supportive (given that certain conditions were met beforehand), and they lived a modest lifestyle. He started the business on nights and weekends. After getting some traction, he went full-time with his wife’s blessing.  

Fast forward to today. He has a booming company that’s growing fast and a big vision. He plans to build a massive company. At the moment, he’s working through how to scale operations while maintaining the quality his customers have come to expect. We talked about how software could be what’s missing. I’m planning to connect him with some software founders who are building products for his industry.

I’m glad my friend bet on himself and that things are working out. I look forward to following his journey and have no doubt that his vision will become his reality!

Today I toured a real estate project a buddy just completed. He’s easing his way into entrepreneurship and the industry. This project was the largest (and most complicated) he’s taken on to date. As usual with construction, it didn’t go as planned, but it’s a financial success. Not as much profit as he’d initially hoped, but a success nonetheless. As we chatted, he kept mentioning how he should have spent less but didn’t know any better when decisions were being made. I realized that his perspective was preventing him from realizing how this project was a win in other ways, too.

The project wasn’t easy. The price of lumbar surged in the middle of it. Labor rates increased, while the reliability of crews decreased. These and other factors led to higher costs and a longer timeline. As each obstacle presented itself, my buddy figured out how to overcome it. It was stressful, but he found a way to get it all done. Tough circumstances, I thought, but awesome learning experience.

We talked about his future projects and what he plans to do differently. I pointed out how much he’d learned and how valuable that knowledge will be. Lots of people pay tuition to go to school to learn what he got paid to learn. In the end, he reflected on where he was before and after this project and agreed. It was a huge success and is likely to be the turning point in his real estate career.

Knowledge acquired through experience (yours or others’) can be a big factor in entrepreneurial success. If a situation doesn’t end quite how you’d hoped, reflect on what you’ve learned from it. The knowledge you’ve gained will be invaluable next time and every time—it’s the gift that keeps on giving!

A good friend said something today that stood out to me: “When water wants to flow downstream, you can’t push it uphill. It runs through rocks, concrete, or whatever is in its path and always finds a way. You can slow it down, but you can’t stop it. It’s a heck of a lot easier to go with the flow than against it.” We were discussing innovation and how we used to resist certain technologies we didn’t understand—only to later have to say “Yeah, that makes perfect sense” and feel like we were late to the party.

My friend is spot-on. Sometimes I have to remind myself to pay attention to a trend. It may not make sense to me, but clearly—it being a trend—it’s making sense to others, and I should spend time trying to understand and embrace it. That’s better than fighting it, only to end up having to play catch-up and buy into it later. I now try to be like water and go with the flow.

The world is going to change, with you or without you. Innovation is going to happen, whether we like it or not. It makes a lot of sense, I think, to stop fighting that and make an effort to understand and be part of the trends.

Next time you’re thinking that something that doesn’t make sense, consider asking yourself: am I going against the flow?

Today marks the end of my eighty-third week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-three:

• Impact – I had a conversation with a founder turned early-stage investor about impact. I’ve been thinking about it for over a year, but this conversation got me thinking about ways to maximize my impact.  
• Working on me – I spent time this week working on myself. It was good to take a step back from working on stuff for others. I learned a lot of great things and can’t wait to implement them. I need to get back to doing this regularly.
• One year – Had an enjoyable chat with a good friend this week. We discussed my theses today versus one year ago. He thinks I articulate my thoughts more clearly. I’ve also gotten more comfortable thinking through what the future will look like and why. It was nice to hear his feedback, and it forced me to think about how my thinking has evolved. What a difference a year makes.

Week eighty-three was great. I’ve gained a lot of clarity and learned some interesting new things. I’m reenergized and looking forward to next week.

‍

I recently read Atomic Habits at the suggestion of friends. The author has a different perspective on how to reach your desired destination. James Clear provides a framework for using small daily habits and systems, instead of setting goals, to increase the likelihood that you will arrive at your destination.

One thing that jumped out at me was his levels of change: the outcome layer (what you get), process layer (what you do), and identity layer (what you believe). Most people start with the outcome layer by setting a goal. This leads to outcome-based habits. James, however, suggests starting with the identity layer: belief-based habits that focus on the kind of person you want to be. Once you know who you want to be, it’s easier to back into what you need to do (process layer) to get the result you want (outcome layer).

He gives a great example. Two people are offered a cigarette. One says, “No thanks. I’m trying to quit.” The other says, “No thanks. I’m not a smoker.” The first person believes they’re still a smoker trying to be something else. Smoking is something they can still see themselves doing, but they’re trying not to. The second person believes they aren’t a smoker. Smoking was part of their former life but not their current life. These two have similar former lives, but what they believe about themselves is different. The second person doesn’t identify as someone who smokes. Actions are backed by beliefs. If you don’t believe something, you’re less likely to consistently take the actions necessary to support that belief.

I really like James’s approach of starting with the identity layer. It makes total sense to me. I can’t wait to spend some time digging into this and putting it into action.

One of the biggest opportunities I see founders miss is the chance to evaluate the people who are evaluating them—specifically, when an investor asks, “Do you have any questions for me?” the founder saying no or asking superficial ones. It’s a missed opportunity for the founder to gauge whether the investor is a good fit as a partner.

Evaluating a partner starts with knowing what you want. Investors usually have a clear idea of what they’re looking for. Unfortunately, some founders don’t, and they don’t evaluate their partners until after the deal is sealed.

Founders can do a few simple things to increase their chances of being in a good partnership:

• Write down your criteria for a good partner. Putting things down on paper usually leads to more clarity.
• Before meetings, don’t be shy about letting the investor know you want to allocate a certain amount of time for your questions.
• Skip the superficial questions; ask only questions that will help you understand whether the investor satisfies your criteria.

Partnerships are important. Founders should make sure they’re evaluating for fit, not just letting themselves be evaluated.