Today marks the end of my seventy-first week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week seventy-one:

• Rhythm – Lots of things were going on this week, but I was in a good rhythm and one top of it all. I felt organized and proactive instead of chaotic and reactive.
• Conviction – I watched some interesting interviews of successful people on YouTube. All of them mentioned gaining confidence in bold moves by having conviction. This stuck with me, and I’ve been thinking about it all week.
• Knowledge sharing – I want to be more proactive about learning things in areas I’m curious about. Digital communities are a great source of knowledge.

Week seventy-one was a busy one. Lots of good things happened. I felt like I was productive and ended the week on a high note.

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One of my biggest takeaways from my time in corporate America was that every company has issues. I was doing consulting work, which basically meant my team helped companies solve problems they couldn’t solve on their own. I was fortunate enough to count some of the biggest Fortune 500 companies as clients. I’m talking iconic brands in Super Bowl commercials. From the outside looking in, I thought these companies had it all figured out and were well-oiled machines (kudos to their marketing departments). In reality, I usually found a large and constantly evolving organization that had a serious problem in a core area —one that wasn’t materially impacting revenue yet but that could derail the company if left unaddressed.

When I talk with early founders now, I try to remind them that every company has weaknesses. It’s normal. The great founders I know are aware of the problems in their companies and working to address them. It’s a never-ending cycle. They communicate their issues to others and seek help to resolve them. (When people have a clear understanding of what you need help with, they’re more likely to help you.)

If you’re a founder and feel you must present your company as perfect, I suggest you think again. Perfection doesn’t exist in business. Being open with others about your issues could be the key to resolving them!

When I was working in corporate America, I knew I wanted to become an entrepreneur full-time. And I knew I needed flexibility and capital to make that dream a reality. I avoided long-term obligations and saved as much of my salary as possible. Then all my friends started buying houses, and I began suffering a bit from FOMO. So, I went out and bought a home too. It required me to put down a large sum of capital and locked me into a long-term financial obligation.

I didn’t know anything about raising money from investors, so I funded my company with customer revenue and my savings. My entrepreneurial journey was full of ups and downs, and often I regretted not having the capital I’d put into a home to invest in the company. I enjoyed having a place I could call my own, but I owed the bank a lot of money. And it made sure to remind me of that every month. Seeing that loan balance on my monthly statement definitely affected how I made decisions.

In the end it all worked out, and I was able to grow the company to over eight figures in revenue. Looking back, though, I realize that I didn’t act in alignment with my goal. The decision to buy a home didn’t better position me for entrepreneurship. It did the opposite. I had less capital to put toward my company and a long-term obligation that reduced my risk tolerance.

My goal was different than my friends’ goals. So, my actions should have been different too. I’m very thankful for the journey I had and wouldn’t change a thing. But I did learn from it and begin thinking about my actions and goals differently. I now look at any major action I’m contemplating and ask myself if it will get me closer to or further away from my goal. If it doesn’t move me closer, I don’t proceed.

If you’re a founder considering a material action, ask yourself: Does this align with my goals? That question can prevent you from doing things you’ll regret and give you the confidence to take high-risk actions.

Earlier this week, I shared my thoughts on consumer lending heating up. It’s a large and growing market that’s big enough for multiple winners and hasn’t kept up with changing consumer behavior. The market opportunity could move the needle for any company, even a juggernaut like Apple.

Today it was reported that Apple is partnering with Affirm to offer a buy-now-pay-later option for Apple devices purchase in Canada. This is yet another big announcement in the consumer lending space within a short time. Apple and Square are making big bets on it. (Affirm was already in the space.)

I figured consumer lending would be strategically important and change quickly, and it appears to be changing even faster than I thought. Change is generally good—I’m a fan of it. Especially when it helps solve pain points for consumers in a better way. I can’t wait to see how this space is revolutionized by these new entrants.

Speaking with a founder today reminded me of my days as a founder. He and his team have a great product and they’re focused on producing as many of them as possible to get them in the hands of customers. It’s early days for them, and naturally they don’t know everything. They’re still trying to find product–market fit.

I remember a time I had a bright idea at CCAW: let’s add a ton of new distribution centers all at once. We literally flipped a switch one day and added over a dozen massive warehouses to our distribution footprint. What could go wrong? Um . . . huge problems kept orders from being in customers’ hands when they expected them. Working through the various reasons this happened was painful and stressful for our team.

I later realized that we had trained our valuable energy on the wrong thing: growing our distribution footprint and revenue. We didn’t have product–market fit yet, so we should have been listening to our existing customers, not executing a land grab to get new ones. We missed out on valuable customer insight during a critical phase of our startup journey. The company still scaled and was successful, but I believe that missed insight was the difference between eight figures in revenue (which we achieved) and nine (which we did not).

Focusing on the right thing at the right time is critical for early-stage companies—there’s only so much bandwidth to go around. If I could do it all over again, I’d work on understanding my customer’s problems before adding operational complexity to acquire more customers.

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Last month I shared my thoughts on how I could see Apple as the go-to consumer bank in the future. Since then, it’s been reported that Apple has partnered with Goldman Sachs to offer a buy-now-pay-later option for products purchased via Apple Pay on Apple devices. Today it was reported that Square is acquiring an Australian pay-later company for $29 billion. This announcement caught me off guard and got me thinking.

Consumer lending is a large and growing market. It plays a key role in the overall economy, so it’s big enough to move the needle for a huge company like Apple. And the market is large enough for there to be multiple winners. It’s not on the cutting edge—it hasn’t kept up with other changes in consumer behavior. Considering these and other factors, the moves by Apple and Square make perfect sense. I suspect they won’t be alone—we’ll see more companies entering this space.

I think consumer lending is about to change rapidly. I’m excited to see new entrants in the space and can’t wait to see what direction this goes in.

With more companies working remotely, I’ve been hearing more founders searching for ways to keep their teams connected on a deeper level. Some of them are putting more thought into their retreat planning. Retreats are usually meetings outside the office where everyone gets together to bond and discuss the business. Some last one day; others are multiday. Many include team-building activities to allow team members to overcome a challenge together.

I’m a big fan of retreats and attended two a year before the pandemic. Most were for two to four days and attended by other entrepreneurs. Without a doubt, these have been some of the most transformative and enlightening experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve always left more focused and excited about what lies ahead.

Retreats were helpful before the pandemic, but I think they will be a critical tool for leaders going forward. Can’t wait to see all the creative ways people find to get teams to bond.

Today marks the end of my seventieth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week seventy:

• Origins – A close friend reminded me of how I began as an entrepreneur. It was unglamorous and at times dangerous (I was dealing with large cash payments from customers). It’s good to think about where I started and how far I’ve come. I believe I’ll share more of those origin-story details going forward.
• Top of mind – Staying top of mind with people can lead to amazing opportunities. I read a book about this years ago, and this week I experienced the power of staying top of mind.
• July – The month is over, and a little more than half the year is over. Time is flying by.

Week seventy was a great one. It was brisk and keep me on my toes. Looking forward to starting August off on a great note.

I’ve been having conversations with friends who’ve returned to the office. I was curious to understand what they’re experiencing and how they feel about it. One friend summed up what I’ve been hearing: “There’s no way I can go back to doing five days, but one or two feels good.” Going back to pre-pandemic office life isn’t resonating with friends, but neither is no in-person interaction. Face time for certain situations and just to stay connected in general has value.

I know the return-to-the-office situation is fluid, but I’m interested in seeing how this plays out. My gut tells me that decisions made during this period are likely to shape how we work for the foreseeable future. We’re in a period of change that will have a lasting impact.

As a founder, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in seeing things your way. You see an opportunity and a path to pursuing it. You’re locked in and focused. Founders often miss that their way isn’t the only way or always the best way. As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Founders should be locked in on a destination but not necessarily a path. They should be searching for the best path to get to the desired destination. Sometimes that path will be something they thought of, and sometimes it will come from others. That’s one reason I’m a big fan of founders sharing their ideas with other people. Sharing invites feedback, some of which will be valuable insights.

If you’re a founder going after a great opportunity, consider taking time to solicit feedback. You never know, you might just uncover the yellow brick road to your Emerald City.