Working long hours is part of the job description for founders. The to-do list is constantly growing but the end of the runway gets closer every day. Founders often work long hours because they want to—they’re passionate about what they’re doing—and because they must—it’s what’s required to turn their vision into reality. Most founders understand this going in, but they don’t always understand the corollary: when you’re working that hard, you need an outlet.

When I was a founder, I looked forward to exercising. I started because I wanted to stay active, but I got so much more out of it. The workouts gave me a great mental reset and a way to relieve the stress of the day. I never thought about anything related to work, which helped my mindset. I worked out with a close-knit  group of people who had no idea what I did for a living. We just saw each other for the people we were. Looking back, exercising with that group of people gave me the outlet I needed to survive the long work hours.

Exercising was my thing, but it won’t work for every founder. If you’re a founder or want to be one, figure out what your outlet will be and make it a priority from day one.

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I connected with a buddy who built an analytics platform for enterprise clients. (Think billions of dollars in annual revenue.) He mentioned that he’s about to roll out an update to the platform that has nothing to do with analytics. It’s to provide an administrative capability his enterprise clients are accustomed to seeing in other platforms they use. He wasn’t thrilled about using engineering resources for this versus enhancing analytics capabilities, but his enterprise clients have high standards.

When I was running my company, we were always on the lookout for tools that allowed us to do our jobs better. They weren’t always perfect and didn’t have all the bells and whistles, but they saved us time and helped us execute better. We focused on what the tools added to our productivity, not what they were missing. This approach meant that we became early customers of innovative companies building great tools. Over time, we saw some of them evolve into huge successes. As they grew, some of them went upmarket to enterprise customers. We benefited from being along for the ride. Our company was on the cutting edge of some things simply because we were loyal, patient early customers.

Founders who want to target enterprise customers straight out of the gate should be mindful that their product may have to be fully baked for these organizations to even consider trying it. They can be risk averse and less forgiving if the product still needs tweaking or has issues. Companies that plan to go after these large customers often need to spend more time developing the product before they begin selling it, which means they usually need more capital to survive longer without customer revenue. Enterprise customers can be great when you land them, but landing them can require a lot of upfront product development and capital.

Today marks the end of my fifty-sixth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week fifty-six:

• Jam session – I had a great conversation with a founder friend. We’re both passionate about helping very early-stage companies, and we came up with some really good ideas that I’m excited about working on. I enjoy jam sessions like this one where I can talk through problems and ideas with someone who’s interested in similar things.  
• Monthly goals – I set a few monthly goals in March and shared them with some other people. I didn’t write them down and actually lost track of what the specific goals were. An acquaintance asked me about them today (luckily, he had written them down). Surprisingly, I’ve achieved each of them or come very close. Achieving goals that I hadn’t recorded or revisited for a month was a sign: they originated from an authentic place. Authentic passion kept me moving in the right direction all month. Looking forward to setting more authentic goals (maybe I’ll write down the next set!).      
• Admin – I didn’t have as much admin time as I needed this week. It feels like some things have gotten away from me. I plan to address this next week.  

Week fifty-six was a busy and exciting week. Lots of things in the works and lots of activity overall. Hopefully next week will have a more normal pace.

Today I had the privilege of participating in a “speed-dating” event pairing founders and investors. I met eight founders one-on-one for 15 minutes each. Their companies ranged from $30,000 to $3 million in annual revenue. Most were seeking investment of up to $10 million.

This was a great event for both founders and investors. Founders were able to connect with a range of investors in a short time and get meaningful feedback. The sessions were short, which forced founders to pitch succinctly. From an investor’s perspective, I loved hearing about new markets and problems I didn’t know existed. I’m now curious about them and looking forward to researching them in my free time.

These founders have a bright future, and I’m excited about tracking their progress going forward.

I chatted with another investor who’s also a former founder. We shared our founder experiences and how the cities we lived in affected them. In doing so, we discovered another thing we have in common: though our journeys were different, they were both shaped by safe spaces with good people in them.

I was a nontechnical founder building a tech company who didn’t know what an API is. I needed help! And I found it. Through my relationships with technical founders, I began to understand technology and the possibilities it could unlock. Meeting those peers was great, but that alone wasn’t the game changer. Being able to interact with them in a safe environment was the real boon. Everyone could let their guards down because we knew we wouldn’t be judged for not understanding something. A deeper level of knowledge sharing than I’d ever experienced was possible. There were no dumb questions. People just shared all they knew in hopes that it would help someone else be successful.  

If you’re a current or aspiring founder, consider looking for a safe space where you can learn from other founders. You’re more likely to succeed if you can learn from others who’ve done something similar!

An early founder who’s thinking about scaling his company asked for my thoughts. As we chatted, I zeroed in on something. What he ultimately wanted and what he planned to do weren’t aligned. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to build a lifestyle business or a high-growth company, so I asked him.

Building a high-growth lifestyle company sounds ideal, but it isn’t likely to happen. The main goal of a lifestyle company is just that—to provide for the lifestyle the owners want to live. Owners take distributions from the company to cover their personal expenses. The goal of a high-growth company, on the other hand, is—wait for it—growth. Growth is expensive. You’re hiring and making investments ahead of anticipated growth. Cash often stays in the company and is funneled toward growing the business.

The founder asked whether building a high-growth lifestyle company is feasible. I told him it’s unlikely. The core challenge is the conflicting constraints on the company’s cash. You can’t take all the money out to fund a cushy lifestyle and fund rapid growth. You have to pick one or the other.

In the end, this founder said he wants to build a high-growth company. I’m excited for him and can’t wait to hear more about his journey to turn this into reality!

Spring is here. More’s going on in Atlanta. As I talk with friends, I’m hearing that most of them are planning to travel before August (if they haven’t already). They’re happy about the weather and plan to be outside as much as possible. Most don’t intend to return to the office until fall (at the earliest).

When the pandemic began last year, many companies moved to remote work. To their surprise, many teams were just as productive working from home as they had been in the office. This high productivity likely gave leaders comfort, and they embraced working from home in some form for the foreseeable future.

I’ve worked from home a few days a week for years, and I love the flexibility it gives me. I am curious about the productivity, though. Last year was unusual. Large parts of the country were limited for months. People couldn’t do much else—maybe that’s why they were so productive?

I’m curious about how work-from-home productivity this spring and summer will compare to the same periods last year. With so many people wanting (understandably) to be out and about, will productivity drop?

Regardless, I think working from home is here to stay, and I’m excited that more people will get to enjoy the flexibility it offers.

In the early days of my company, I had to figure everything out. I was often doing things in areas where I had zero experience. Some tasks were intimidating and complex. Other were simple but time consuming and tedious. All of it had to get done if I wanted my company to be a success, so I dug in. The tasks themselves weren’t always fun, but I enjoyed learning about new things. That’s true to this day.

I spoke with a former founder who’s now in corporate America. When he started his company, he too mastered learning new things. That skill has been invaluable over the years. It helped him take on new challenges in his own company and now in a large organization. Time and time again he’s been successful. When we spoke, he mentioned learning and executing new things as one factor that’s gotten him where he is today.    

I believe curiosity is a trait that helps founders succeed. It helps a lot to have a genuine desire to learn about new things and get things done by applying that learning.

If you’re considering entrepreneurship, ask yourself, “Am I naturally curious?” If the answer is yes, it might be a perfect match.

Not every founder wants to build a billion-dollar business. Truth be told, most businesses don’t have the potential to reach that size anyway. The vast majority of businesses (think more than 90%) never even make it to $1 million in annual revenue. If a founder has a goal that’s less than a billion, it’s still hard as hell and many people will never do it.

Building a company with seven (or eight) figures in revenue is no small task. The journey will be years long and full of learnings. If the company is successful, it can help to financially derisk founders too. Building and capitalizing this type of company probably won’t include venture capital and may not get your name in the headlines, but it’s still a great path to pursue. The key is knowing what you’re aiming for and why it’s the right goal for you.

If you’re considering being a founder but don’t want to build a billion-dollar company, go for it. The experience could be life changing and you’ll be in good company—plenty of other amazing founders have trod a similar path before you.

Today marks the end of my fifty-fifth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week fifty-five:

• Transferable skills – A friend asked me to help with something. I initially said I didn’t have the experience to do it (which was true). He pointed out that I have skills that are transferable and that qualify me to help him. I don’t often think in terms of transferable skills, but my friend was right, and I was able to add a lot of value to his project.
• Good enough – This week was a reminder that sometimes things just need to be good enough to check the box. Done is better than perfect. I have to continually remind myself of that.
• Journeys – Everyone has a story. It’s so interesting to learn about someone else’s. This week I was totally surprised by the journeys that some have taken.  

Week fifty-five was a rewarding one. I was able to move the needle on things that matter to me and help others too. The week was a win–win.