A thing I’ve noticed about entrepreneurs is how busy most of them are. They usually have a ton of things in their head. New ideas, current projects, you name it. I’ve been asked a few times how I manage lots of moving pieces. I’m human like everyone else and admittedly struggle with this sometimes, but here are a few things that work for me:

• Park it – I put my ideas somewhere in writing—often, in the iPhone notes feature. Parking lots let me catch and release. They get things out of my head and I don’t have to fear forgetting them. This frees up mental bandwidth and reduces stress.
• Visualize – When I get really busy or take on projects that involve lots of tasks and connected pieces, it helps me to visualize everything. Tools like Airtable are great for tracking and visualizing things in a variety of ways. Looking at something organized in a certain way makes it seem more manageable.  
• Prioritize – I have only a finite amount of time and energy. I can’t accomplish an infinite number of things. I prioritize and try to work on the highest-priority tasks first.
• Slippage – Things will occasionally fall through the cracks and that’s OK. Everyone is human. The trick is to make sure the things that slip aren’t mission critical. I try to identify things that can and can’t slip.
• Think about it – I’ve been guilty of saying yes too often. Over time I would end up taking on way more than I could do. I now avoid giving an on-the-spot answer to big requests. I ask for time to think about it and then I figure out if it works with everything else on my plate. If it doesn’t, I politely decline.
• Strengths – When I have a task in an area where I’m weak, I try to find a specialist and ask them for help. Sometimes they’re paid. I’ve learned that completing something I’m weak at takes me five or ten times as long as it does a specialist. And the end result is only half as good most times. It’s efficient to leverage the strengths of others.

What are your tricks for managing lots of moving pieces?

Update emails are a great tool for founders. They’re just what the name suggests: emails that highlight important recent information about the company or founder. They’re an electronic way of answering the “What’s new?” question from investors and advisors. When I meet with founders, I usually request that they add me to their update email list.

Here are some ways update emails add value:

• Efficiency – One email communicates your updates to many people . You can’t beat that ROI. Imagine having to bring each person up to speed individually.
• The luck factor – Opportunities tend to be offered to people who are top-of-mind. Sending updates regularly puts you on people’s minds.
• Accountability – Nobody wants to disappoint people they hold in high regard. Knowing that you have to send an update will push you to complete things you’ve committed to in the last one.  
• Help – It’s hard for people to help if they don’t know what you need. Updates bring awareness of your needs to a broad audience. I’ve seen founders receive help from someone on their update email list who was the last person they anticipated would be helpful. You never know what or who someone knows.
• Reflection – Experiences—good or bad—are valuable, and reflecting on them will help you grow and gain wisdom. But it’s all too easy to succumb to the daily whirl and never stop moving long enough to think deeply. Writing an update email forces some degree of regular reflection.
• Team building – People like to know what’s going on outside their area of responsibility, and that can be difficult for founders to communicate. Especially while everyone works from home. And I’ve seen founders benefit from including their teams on their updates. Again, you never know what or who someone knows. Team members can be great resources.

So, what makes update emails successful? Here are a few of my thoughts:

• Consistent rhythm – Send them regularly to stay top of mind. Consistency also helps keep the length down. Cramming six months’ worth of updates into a single email will ensure that few people will read it.
• Consistent structure – Organize and format your update emails the same way every time. This will allow readers to quickly find the info that matters most to them. And they’ll be more likely to read them.  A progress report, future plans, and requests for help are good things to include.
• Conciseness – Get straight to the point. The more concise the update, the better. People will stop reading if you ramble.
• Transparency – Don’t sugarcoat bad news. Include the highs and the lows. Nobody expects perfection from founders. Revealing problems opens the door for others to share the wisdom they gained from similar experiences.

I love it when a good update email lands in my inbox. If you’re thinking about starting a company (or you’ve started one), sending regular update emails is a good practice.  

When I started CCAW, I told people I was an entrepreneur. I had quit my job and created a company that had customers, and I controlled my own destiny (kinda). One summer when I was in New York with friends I tagged along as one of them visited his uncle in Connecticut.

The uncle was entering the later years of a wildly lucrative career. He’d worked in corporate America and then started a successful company with his wife. That company changed the family’s life. When I said I was an entrepreneur, he became more interested in me. He asked lots of questions about my company. Then came the most important question of the conversation: “How many employees do you have?” I remember thinking, Why does that matter? Little did I know that the answer would tell him more about my company and my mindset than anything else we discussed.

At the time it was me and a part-time contractor or two (I was bootstrapping so funds were tight). I proudly told him about my contractors, and he replied, “OK. Keep going; you’re not quite there yet.” What does that mean? I wondered.

In hindsight, I think he was telling me (politely) that I wasn’t an entrepreneur yet. I was on my way, but I hadn’t arrived yet. I had succeeded in creating a job for myself, not a company. I was a solopreneur, not an entrepreneur. At the time I didn’t know there was such a thing as a solopreneur.

Solopreneurs are workers. They’re usually the one and only full-time employee. They handle all aspects of a business and execute most tasks. With no full-time team, everything falls on this one person. If the solopreneur doesn’t work, the work doesn’t get done. They are the business. This setup limits how big the company can get because there’s only so much one person can do. Freelancers of all kinds, barbers, and massage therapists, for example, are often solopreneurs.

Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are managers. A team conquers by dividing the work. The entrepreneur delegates so he can focus on growing the business. He usually has a larger vision for the company and realizes early he can’t do it all alone. The business has its own identity independent of the founder. If the entrepreneur doesn’t execute, the work still gets done. I like to think of an entrepreneur as the driver of a machine that does the work. Businesses from which you purchase a product or service without interacting with the owner are likely run or were started by entrepreneurs.

Over time I realized that I didn’t want to be a solopreneur because I wanted to grow. I had a bigger vision for CCAW. I eventually hired a great team and focused on building CCAW into a machine that didn’t need me. We went on to accomplish some great things. Looking back, there’s no way I could have done it alone. It was a team effort.

I’m thankful for the conversation I had with my friend’s uncle. Although we met only once, he left a lasting impression on me. His entrepreneurial wisdom was priceless.

If you’re thinking about starting a company (or you have one already), have you decided whether you intend to be a solopreneur or an entrepreneur?

When I meet with entrepreneurs, sometimes I’m asked for feedback on their pricing strategy. Pricing is always challenging, especially at the idea or MVP stage. I typically share the following considerations:

• What’s the problem? – Can you articulate it clearly?
• How painful is the problem? – How does the customer view this problem? Is it slightly annoying or immensely painful? The more painful the problem, the more valuable the solution.
• How effective is your solution? – Is it a nice to have but they can get by without it? Or is it a painkiller they can’t live without? The more pain relieved, the more valuable the solution.
• Is there competition? – Are there competitors? How does their solution rank against yours? How do they price their solution? Understanding the market and where you rank in it is important.
• What does the solution cost? – How much does it cost you to provide this solution? You can’t charge less than your costs.

Deciding how to price your solution isn’t as simple as picking a number. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. There are lots of variables to consider. The reality is that the pricing process is iterative. Perfecting pricing takes years for some companies.

In the end, the goal is to quantify how much value your solution is providing to customers and capture as much of that value as possible in your pricing.

In my opinion, starting with a deep understanding of your customer’s problem is key. You’ll be more likely to create a pain-killing solution that customers will eagerly pay a premium price for!

I really enjoy talking with early entrepreneurs. Their combination of energy and optimism is unique. And it’s educational for me— the problems they’re solving are often new to me. When I chat with someone starting a company, I look for the answer to an important question. One that matters a lot to their chances of success. Is anyone holding them accountable?

I thought about the early days of building CCAW and realized something interesting. My most productive periods were when I was accountable to someone. Now, I’m not saying that accountability was the only reason I made progress or achieved success, but I am saying that it was a big factor.

In my opinion, volunteering to be held accountable doesn’t come naturally to most people. It’s human nature to do what you want when you want. We lean toward doing things we enjoy or are comfortable with. But building a company requires execution in all areas. You have to do a lot of things you hate or at least are unfamiliar with. You can create a great service or product, but if you can’t sell it to anyone, you fail. This is where accountability helps so much. It motivates you to do things you struggle with. When you give people permission to ask you for updates, you’re more likely to make progress because you don’t want to let them down (and embarrass yourself).

Accountability can be formal or informal. Co-founders, peer groups, advisors, spouses, family, friends—anyone you don’t want to disappoint—can hold your feet to the fire. Whatever the details, you must commit to what you want to accomplish, give regular updates, and be truthful no matter what.

Peer groups held me accountable. Every month, we all answered the same questions: Since we last met, what have you accomplished? Give us the highlights—positive and negative—of what you’ve been doing. What do you plan to accomplish before our next meeting?

Want to accomplish something significant? Arrange your life so you’re accountable to someone. You’ll be more productive and more likely to succeed.

I recently had a conversation with someone interested in starting a company. He’s smart, has an idea, and has an entrepreneurial spirit. He wanted my perspective on the idea and his chances of success. I thought the idea was a good fit for him and the chances of success were equal to those of any other startup. I sensed something else was holding him back, so I asked. He said he thinks he’s waited too late to start a company. He’s in his thirties, so this surprised me.

I thought about this a bit and a diagram from Funders and Founders came to mind. From the headlines in the last decade, you’d think that twentysomethings have been creating billion-dollar companies right and left. In my opinion, that’s more the exception than the norm.

I started CCAW in my twenties, so I can speak to the experience. There are pros and cons. Youth is on your side physically, for sure. You have more energy and can work insane hours for long periods of time. I pulled more than my fair share of all-nighters. On the other hand, the younger you are the more deficient you are in experience. Translation: you work harder but not smarter. There was so much I didn’t know when I was building CCAW. Looking back, I wasted tons of time on things that were useless. Why? I didn’t know any better. In the end, thankfully, my decision to quit my job to build a company worked out pretty well. With the help of a great team, I scaled CCAW to over $10 million in annual revenue.

I’ve come to realize there’s no optimal age at which to start a company. Everyone’s circumstances are different. Some people grew up around entrepreneurs or have financial safety nets. Their risk of ruin is lower than average, so they’re comfortable taking the plunge early. For others, the risk of ruin is very real. They take longer to get comfortable with the uncertainty of entrepreneurship.

The decision whether to start a company shouldn’t be based on your age. Other things are much more important. Your risk tolerance. Your motivation level. And your unfair advantage—that is, why are you better positioned to succeed with your idea than other people would be? Make a decision that fits your personal situation, and if entrepreneurship is right for you, don’t give up that dream because of an abstraction like age.

Today marked the end of my twentieth week of working from home. Here are my takeaways from week twenty:

• Month five – I’ve officially hit five months of working from home. This experience has taught me a lot about myself and my working style. A change of environment is important to my ability to mentally switch gears from home to work. I’ll be thinking more about how I can accomplish this safely going forward.
• Pace – This was a busy week. I’ve heard my fellow entrepreneurs talking about how busy they are too. I’m curious about whether activity will continue to pick up in August.
• Sharing thoughts – I shared an early thesis about a business topic with some other people. I wanted to find out if I was missing anything. I’m glad I did. They told me how they saw it and pointed out some things I’d overlooked. I’ll continue to refine my thesis.

Week twenty was a busy week that passed quickly. No major takeaways this week. I’m just glad I had a productive week.

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

In the early days of CCAW I knew what I wanted to build, but I didn’t know how to get there. I was determined to figure it out, and I thirsted for helpful knowledge. I read all the articles and books I could get my hands on and attended all the learning events I could. Eventually I found the right books and events, the ones that provided targeted knowledge about building a company. Accounting . . . finance . . . sales . . . marketing . . . strategy—all those great things.

I found the knowledge I was looking for. I felt like gaps were being filled and dots were connecting. I became excited, but I was still unsure. I understood fundamental topics better; the nuances in my market, not so much. I didn’t know how to apply my new knowledge in a way that moved CCAW forward. It was daunting. I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I spoke with other entrepreneurs at a similar stage and they did too.

Eventually, with mentoring by credible people, I figured application out. Entrepreneurs who’d successfully scaled their companies shared their experiences with me. In the end it all worked out. My team and I were able to scale CCAW to over $10 million in annual revenue. As I reflected on this, I realized how important application of knowledge was to CCAW’s early success. Knowing about and understanding key concepts is essential, but if you don’t apply them effectively, your company goes nowhere.

I’m always mulling over how we can provide more opportunities to Atlanta entrepreneurs to increase their chances of success. Application is an area where we can do better, I think. Much better. Our community has done a great job making information more readily available to entrepreneurs. However, we’re not focusing enough on helping entrepreneurs apply their knowledge to their situation. Entrepreneurs still have to make their own decisions and walk the journey. No one can do it for them. But if we accelerate that process, they’ll be more likely to get to the finish line.

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Whenever I meet a rising entrepreneur, I like to understand their journey to date. I especially want to know how they’ve attempted to fill their knowledge gaps. First-time entrepreneurs are constantly trying to figure out what they don’t know and what they should be doing. I regularly hear them mention various incubator and accelerator programs they’ve considered.

When I started CCAW, the financial crisis was going on and these types of programs weren’t abundant in Atlanta (as far as I know). The ecosystem wasn’t established, so knowledge about building startups wasn’t readily available. Whenever we found a resource, we jumped at it because we were desperate.  Today, though, entrepreneurs in Atlanta have a variety of options. Online programs catering to entrepreneurs nationwide also are available.

With so many options, how do entrepreneurs pick the right program? I’d start by thinking about the following things:

• Segment – Understand what segment of the journey the program focuses on. The idea stage? These programs help turn concepts into MVPs. Product–market fit? These programs will help you figure out how to validate your assumptions by continually adjusting and improving your MVP until customers will readily pay for it.  Most programs focus on one of these two early stages. It’s best to choose one that aligns with the segment you are in.  
• Length – How long is the program and how often will you be interacting with someone? It could be a day long. It could last several months. Of course, more frequent interactions and more time provide more opportunities to go deeper.
• Success – Consider how the program defines success for its participants. Does this work for you?
• Application – Does the program help you apply teachings to your specific situation? Or does it expect you to figure out how to do so on your own time?

This isn’t a comprehensive list, just a few things to consider.

I’m encouraged that there are so many options for entrepreneurs to choose from. I hope we’ll continue to help newbies fill their knowledge gaps so they’ll have a better chance of being successful!

The impact of the current recession is uneven. When I talk to fellow entrepreneurs, some are having the best year of their lives. (I know entrepreneurs who have more cash than ever.) Others are struggling to meet payroll.  I’ve thought about this, and I have a theory that drastic revenue redistribution is causing recession pain to be felt unevenly.

The pandemic has caused a sharp decrease in economic activity. I don’t think anyone can argue with that. Revenue is down for most businesses. However, I think something else is having an equal, if not greater, impact. Consumer habits changed almost overnight. The threat of contracting COVID-19 changed how we socialize, work, and do normal everyday things. In my opinion, this changed how consumers spend money, which is the true root cause of the unevenness.

Companies that were positioned to take advantage of changing habits are benefiting. Let’s take my eating habits, for example. Pre-pandemic, I ate out for lunch every day and had dinner out many times a week. I usually picked up groceries once every two weeks from a variety of grocery stores. The pandemic changed my comfort level with these old habits, but I still need to eat. So, I’ve changed how I go about doing it.

I no longer feel comfortable in confined spaces with people I’m not familiar with (no offense to anyone). Nor do I want to go to the grocery store. For the past few months, I’ve had groceries delivered exclusively from Whole Foods Market via Amazon Prime Now.

My overall spending on food has deceased, but only slightly. But the distribution of my spending has changed drastically. I spend $0 at restaurants. My spending at Whole Foods Market has increased 5X. My spending at other groceries is $0. Instead of many companies helping to feed me, I’m relying on just one. Whole Foods Market gets all my food dollars because it was positioned to meet my needs better than other companies were. There are lots of cons to this approach—reliance on a single source—but it’s my reality.

I think this scenario is playing out across our economy. It’s causing some industries (many of which were already struggling) to experience unprecedented pain, while others flourish.

What are your thoughts on why this recession is uneven?