After I published yesterday’s post, I remembered another question from Friday’s Q&A session that stood out to me:

How do you push through when you’re having a bad day?

Someone who asks this in an open forum is probably seriously struggling with the issue. And there are probably ten more people experiencing something similar but suffering in silence. For this reason, I felt it was an important question to take seriously. I answered it Friday during the session, and I’m addressing it again in this post.

The most important thing for entrepreneurs to understand is that they’re human beings. They’re not superhuman or indestructible. They experience the same emotions as everyone else. And like everyone, they have bad days. It’s OK to have an off day. In fact, it’s normal. When entrepreneurs have an off day, they should be honest with themselves and acknowledge what they’re experiencing. Sounds simple and maybe even stupid, but it’s important. Being honest with yourself is the first step in dealing with a bad day.

Then you can be honest with others. I’ve written about this: support systems are critical to entrepreneurial success and mental wellness. Bad days are one reason that’s true. If there’s someone you trust to act as a sounding board, you can talk with them to work through what happened, and why. Such conversations often help you let go of the troubles of the day and move forward.

Even if you’re having a bad day, stuff still needs to get done. Retail stores don’t close because the staff is having a bad day. You won’t have sympathy for your HR department if your paycheck is late because someone had a bad day. What things do you have to get done, regardless? Create a system under which you’ll be held accountable. There are lots of easy ways to do this. Email updates are a simple approach with numerous benefits. Another effective tool is a daily team huddle or stand-up meeting. Any of these can unlock the power of accountability. I credit accountability for some of my more successful periods. Avoiding it is a huge mistake that many early entrepreneurs make (I know I did).

Everyone has bad days. The key is to recognize one and take steps to turn it around in time to prevent a bad day from turning into a bad couple of days or a bad week.

Yesterday I had the privilege of being on a virtual panel that spoke to about 50 early entrepreneurs. The session was full of entrepreneurs with great ideas. I found it energizing and insightful. At the end there was a Q&A session. We were peppered with tons of great questions, but one stood out to me:

How do I find early customers?

I’m sorry to have to tell people that there’s no secret group that will unlock the door to early customers. Entrepreneurs have to hustle to find them. In my opinion, the right strategy can make it easier (though not easy). I’ve noticed that finding early customers is many times harder when founders do things in the wrong order, which is VERY common. Bob thinks the world needs product X because he experienced a problem or noticed it would be helpful to others. He decides to build it. What has he done? Created a solution without understanding the problem from the perspective of potential customers. He’s done a ton of work based on what he thinks about the problem, which is worthless. Why? Because Bob isn’t the customer. He won’t pay for the solution. Bob may be right—what he built is missing and pretty cool. That doesn’t mean customers will pay for it.

Ideally, entrepreneurs should build rapport with potential customers before the solution is ready. Sounds hard, but it’s not if approached correctly. The key is to do customer discovery before you start building. Find people who are experiencing the problem you see. Ask them about it. Why is it such a problem for them? How are they working around it now? Have they looked for a solution? There’s a great book that explains how to go about doing this.

People love talking about themselves and their problems. By listening to understand (not to inject your opinions), you’ll develop rapport with them. These conversations should help you build a better solution to the problem. When it’s ready, people you’ve nurtured a relationship with will probably be open to trying it. If it solves the problem (it may take time to get there), they’re likely to refer you to people they know who have the same problem.

In other words, making the effort to deeply understand the problem early on will benefit you in two ways: you’ll have a better idea of how to solve it and you’ll have potential customers already waiting for it when it’s ready.  

Entrepreneurs see an opportunity where others see a problem and sometimes stubbornly cling to their vision of the opportunity. There’s nothing wrong with having conviction, but great entrepreneurs take the time to understand the “why” behind the opportunity they see.

When I worked at EY, I had a great group of friends. Over time, I found that my circle consisted mainly of people at public accounting or similar firms. When I talked about entrepreneurial ideas, the response was often a blank stare. Most people in my network viewed life through the same lens. There wasn’t much diversity in thinking or interests.

When I started CCAW I didn’t know many entrepreneurs in Atlanta and struggled to gain traction. Eventually, though, I connected with some amazing founders. These people had different backgrounds and were solving all sorts of interesting problems. They were knowledgeable about finance, technology, the arts, advertising . . . To this day I’m amazed at how diverse this group was.

As I look back, I see that the diversity of my network played a huge role in my growth. These people introduced me to things I didn’t know existed. For instance, in 2009, I had no idea what a software developer did. Exposure to that knowledge led to CCAW building technology that would help power its growth.

When I’ve needed help in an area in which I’m not strong, my network has been a valuable resource. I once renovated a property and was terrified the project would go awry. Someone I knew helped me by giving me information that was critical and led to the project being successful.

Having a diverse network has also helped in recruiting. When I needed a great creative, artists I knew introduced me to credible candidates.

The diversity of my network has helped shape me. It’s broadened my perspective, made me more empathetic, and given me confidence to do things outside my areas of expertise.

If you’re building a company, doing something else great, or simply want to continually grow, seek friends and acquaintances who are different from each other—and different from you. The exposure could change your life!

I used to enjoy reading box office rankings every week. Movies were ranked by total gross sales that were reported by theatres nationwide to a central organization, which published the data. It was my way of staying in tune with popular culture. It also helped me understand just how massive the movie business is. Yes, I know this is super nerdy, but hey, it worked for me. I haven’t followed these in a few years and hadn’t thought much about why until yesterday.

A sharp founder connected the dots for me. Box office sales are no longer an accurate reflection of consumer movie-viewing habits. This has been the case for the last few years, and the pandemic accelerated this trend and at the same time completely halted the collection of this data. Content creation has historically been dominated by large studios, with movies being distributed through theatres. Box office receipts helped creators understand how their content performed with audiences and estimate its future value. Equally high-quality content is now distributed (and sometimes created) by platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. As I understand it, these platforms don’t share their viewership data. So how do creators know how their content is performing on a platform or across multiple platforms? They don’t. Without viewership data, it’s difficult for creators to understand the value of their content. This is a big problem that creators are trying to solve. There are companies actively working on it, but I don’t believe anyone has solved it in a way that all stakeholders will readily adopt.

Distribution varies by industry, but at a high level it’s how a product or service reaches customers. Distribution methods have been evolving over the last decade, with the pace of change constantly accelerating. Especially now, with COVID-19 looming over everything. After entrepreneurs achieve product–market fit (i.e., customers readily pay for their solution), they should be thinking about how their product or service will reach their customers.

Early in my journey building CCAW, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to develop relationships with a handful of amazing technical founders in Atlanta. Over the years, some of them went on to create businesses valued at tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars. I was sometimes privy to the behind-the-scenes story. I heard the thought processes that led to some incredible accomplishments. I knew about early traction and success before they were made public. I saw firsthand how successful technology companies were built—Atlanta-style, at least. I was super excited for these founders. To this day, I still root for them.

As a nontechnical founder listening to these stories, I was motivated to keep pushing. I had a vision and I was trying to turn it into a reality. Often my efforts failed. Naturally, it was frustrating. I wanted to reach the level of success my peers were experiencing.

I shouldn’t have been frustrated. I was trying to build a company that relied on technology. Except . . . I wasn’t technical. Where technological knowledge resided in the brains of those other founders, I had a massive gap. No wonder some of my ideas didn’t work out. I learned from each failure, though, and my decision making improved. It took time, but I eventually made a good decision that led to success. Looking back, I see that my situation was different from my peers’, so it makes sense that my journey was different too.

You can’t do things the way other people do. People have divergent backgrounds, educations, work experiences, resources, and personal circumstances. If you want to build a company or accomplish anything else big, comparing yourself to others is futile. Work hard. Educate yourself. Learn (from others, and on your own). Try, and try again. Whatever time it takes, it takes. Find your own way to success.

Years ago, I needed help overcoming a challenge at CCAW. I hadn’t allocated enough resources to our customer acquisition strategy. I knew this and wanted to make a change, but I wasn’t sure how I should go about it. So, I sought advice from seasoned entrepreneurs. I walked away from the first few conversations disappointed by their high-level, superficial feedback. At first, I concluded that they didn’t understand my market well enough to provide useful feedback.

Upon reflection, though, I realized that I was the problem. I had relationships with these entrepreneurs, so I approached the meetings like friendly “what’s new with you?” conversations. I shared my thoughts on my situation as they came to me. In my head it all seemed logical, but as it came out I was jumping all over the place. This left the people I was talking to somewhat confused and trying to fill in the gaps. It wasn’t that they weren’t capable of helping me work through the problem and find a solution. Quite the opposite. These people had built massive companies and solved complex problems doing so. I was communicating poorly. Because I didn’t explain the situation clearly, they weren’t able to provide the feedback I hoped for. And I’m sure they didn’t want to hurt my feelings by telling me how bad my communication was.

When I realized this, I put my thoughts on paper and created a diagram and one-page summary. I held another round of meetings and this time received the caliber of advice I was looking for. The one-pager was helpful, but most people didn’t read the entire document; they focused on the diagram and overview. It was the process of creating the document that added the most value. It forced me to mentally organize my thoughts so I could communicate them succinctly. Now people could see what I was talking about!

In my opinion, more problems are rooted in poor communication than we acknowledge. For founders, this can be the kiss of death. If your team or customers don’t understand what you’re saying, you’ll likely fail.

Next time you’re struggling to make progress, not seeing eye to eye with others, or feeling misunderstood, call a mental time out. Look at yourself. Are you communicating clearly?

Last week I listened to an entrepreneur describe her vision for her startup. It’s an online community tailored to a specific group of people with a common passion. She created it because broader communities like Reddit can make certain groups of people feel uncomfortable. I don’t know much about the interest these people share, so I was surprised to learn that she has tens of thousands of active monthly users after launching in early 2019. That’s impressive growth in a short time.

Thinking about this conversation, I remembered the role that niche online forums and communities played for me in high school and college. I used message boards and forums to feed my automotive curiosity. I learned about new products and the best sources for them, which positioned me well for my first company (more of a side hustle, really). I used an online blog to crowdsource my transition to corporate America. I was passionate about things and wasn’t able to find like-minded people or enough information in my local community. These online communities helped fill those voids.

Niche digital communities have exploded since I was in high school, and one could argue they’ve become too important in our society because they contribute to keeping us on computers and away from human beings we know—or could know—in “real life.” The pandemic, another force that minimizes face-to-face contact, is undoubtedly enhancing the popularity of niche digital communities.

Putting philosophical quibbles aside, this expanding market presents an amazing opportunity. Entrepreneurs who take the time to deeply understand specific groups who are looking for their peeps could build wildly successful companies.

I shared my transition to venture capital the other day. Since then, I’ve talked with several people about the details. (I’m happy to share, listen, and help however I can.) I’ve noticed a pattern. A lot of people are contemplating or already going through serious life transitions. Professionally, personally—you name it; big changes are happening or on the horizon for many folks. The pandemic surely plays a big role in this. The abrupt change forced us to experience something different. Many are now considering what parts of this change they want to make permanent. And I’m sure there are a host of other reasons too.

I personally think the key to navigating change is being adaptable. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying to go wherever the wind takes you. I personally try to evaluate and then embrace the change and make it work for me (if that’s possible). I’ve learned to not make the past my baseline. Instead, I try to accept my current reality, which, admittedly, is sometimes easier said than done. All this helps me to adapt in a way that works for me.

Regardless of how you go about navigating change, be adaptable and do it in an way that works for you. And remember there are lots of other people considering or going though something similar. You are not alone.

I’m happy to announce that I’ve joined Outlander Labs as a venture partner. Outlander is a new venture capital firm in Atlanta. We’re focusing on investing in early-stage entrepreneurs in the Southeast.

So, How Did I Get Here?

Nineteen months ago I began thinking about my next chapter. I was ready for something new but unsure what it would be. I wanted to work on something significant and figured it would be worthwhile to take my time figuring it out. I had no idea what this process would look like, where it would take me, or how long it would take. It’s been full of twists, turns, frustration, and uncertainty, but overall it was a great journey. Here’s how everything transpired:

Phase One: What Am I Great at and What Problem Do I Want to Solve?

Months 1–8 (Feb. ’19–Sept. ’19)

• Unique Ability – I read this book years ago and was intrigued. The premise is simple. Everyone is amazing at something that comes so naturally to them that they don’t realize how unusual their talent is. People close to them have to point it out. I followed the steps in the book and asked those close to me for their insights. This sparked once-in-a-lifetime conversations. So glad I did it! I heard lots of “I’ve always seen this in you, but never shared it because you never asked.” Just as the book predicted, I saw a pattern in this feedback.
• Problem hunting – I researched problems that I noticed and talked to venture capitalists about problems they saw in real estate, business communication, e-commerce, and a variety of other areas. The conversations with venture capitalists stuck with me and I began researching more about early-stage investing in my free time.
• Experience sharing – I reached out to entrepreneurs who had begun new chapters of their lives after building successful companies. Lots of lunch meetings and coffee chats over many months.
• StrengthsFinder – I participated in a retreat where I was introduced to this concept. What I learned about myself and how I operate was surprising. The approach was different from the one in Unique Ability, but I saw similarities in the results. I wanted to dig deeper into this.
• Giving back – I began connecting with rising entrepreneurs to help however I could. I usually made introductions and shared lessons I had learned over the years. Mainly this was in informal chats.

I felt scattered during this phase. I wasn’t able to clearly articulate what I wanted to do, which was frustrating. I’m sure people I spoke with thought I was all over the place, but they listened and I appreciate that. It felt like things were moving really slowly. In hindsight, I think that was just a function of the stage I was in. Things were coming together, but that was hard to recognize. My activities helped narrow my focus. I ended phase one clearly understanding what I’m great at and the problem I’m most passionate about solving (and qualified to solve).

Unique ability: Identifying and analyzing improvement opportunities so potential can become reality

Problem: Some early entrepreneurs in Atlanta fail unnecessarily. They’re capable and have good ideas. But they’re hindered by big knowledge, relationship, and capital gaps (I call them the big three). It takes them significantly longer than people with comparable skills but smaller gaps to achieve meaningful traction. They often run out of runway (money and/or time) before they find a solution customers will readily pay for (product–market fit).

Now I needed to figure out how to use my unique ability to solve this problem.

Phase Two: How Can I Solve This Problem?

Months 9–10 (Oct. ’19–Nov. ’19)

• Coaching – Because I wanted to dive deeper into StrengthsFinder, I engaged a coach who specializes in this area. I’ve never had a coach before, and the experience far exceeded my expectations. My coach is a great sounding board and accountability partner. And she’s pointed out seemingly small things that I should dig into. I’m still working with her.
• Giving back – After identifying the big three, I wanted to focus on helping early entrepreneurs overcome them, but I wasn’t sure how. I continued sharing my experiences and making introductions. I started working more closely with founders and I gained valuable insights into specific hurdles and how they’d tried to overcome them. This ended up being customer discovery, in a sense.
• Capital – I looked for ways to fill this gap for early founders. I researched angel investing, venture capital, crowdfunding platforms, etc. I connected with local investors and attended investor group meetings.
• Community – I attended community events aligned with early-stage entrepreneurship and investing. The biggest events in Atlanta happen around the same time, so this was a whirlwind. The ability to connect with many people at one large event proved clutch.
• Relationships – I continued meeting with other entrepreneurs and began meeting with angel investors and venture capitalists as well. I shared what I was learning and the big-three problem I saw. My thoughts were still rough, so their insightful feedback gave me lots to mull over.

I ended phase two with a few key learnings. I enjoyed working with early-stage entrepreneurs and helping them think through ways to overcome roadblocks. But while I found this fulfilling, I questioned the impact I could have on my own. I wanted to help entrepreneurs in a more scalable way and recognized that I would need to include others.

Investors are uniquely positioned to help founders fill the big three. They have capital, vast networks, and knowledge amassed from evaluating and advising numerous companies every day.

Angel investing is interesting but would be difficult for me to optimize in Atlanta as an individual. I wanted to fill the capital gap through a team approach.

Helping entrepreneurs by providing capital sounds easy, but it isn’t. A lot happens between meeting a founder and writing a check. Even more happens to support the founder after the check is cut. I was able to quantify how much I didn’t know in these areas.

Working alongside investors to help entrepreneurs felt like a good fit. We could collectively solve the big-three problem and I’d get to use my unique ability. I needed to fill my investing-knowledge gap, though.

Phase Three: Learning about Investing

Months 11–13 (Dec ’19­–Feb ’20)

• Relationships – I shared my views on the big three and asked for perspective from other entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone who would listen. Some agreed with me and some didn’t. These conversations were helpful. I learned that I needed to do a better job of communicating the big-three problem with conviction.
• Venture capital – I needed to begin filling my knowledge gap. I reasoned that working closely with a fund or investing in a fund were the two best approaches. As I met with funds, I realized that I probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to work alongside an established fund because I lacked venture experience (my knowledge gap was too high a hurdle). I became a fund LP instead (that is, I invested in a fund).
• Giving back – I continued to mentor and advise. At the urging of others, I decided I would begin sharing my experiences in a more structured way via daily posts.

I ended phase three with an enhanced understanding of venture capital. Venture capitalists can invest in any one of many different stages of a company’s life cycle. I concluded that venture capitalists focused on pre-seed-stage investments are best positioned to help entrepreneurs overcome the big three.

Investing in funds ended up working out well. I got an education on fund performance metrics, investment thesis, investment team experience, etc. It was eye-opening and a great relationship-building exercise. But there was still a ton I needed to learn. I also lacked wide-ranging relationships in the industry. I determined that filling both gaps would likely require a multi-year commitment.

I concluded that working alongside pre-seed venture capitals would position me well to solve big-three problems. But I first needed to fill my own gaps and learn more about investing. There were more funds active at the pre-seed stage outside Atlanta, specifically in Silicon Valley, L.A., New York, and Boston. I set out building relationships with individual venture capitalists in those areas. I wanted to learn from them and also make them aware of investment opportunities in Atlanta.

I knew I wanted to work closely with pre-seed venture capitalists from the coasts and needed to build those relationships. I didn’t want to leave Atlanta, though, so it would be an uphill battle.

Phase 4: Finding the Right Partnership

Months 14–19 (March ’20–August ’20)

• Venture networking – I began sharing my views on Atlanta investment opportunities and how addressing the big three could accelerate success in Atlanta. I was surprised to learn that there’s a strong desire by venture capitalists on the coasts to invest in Atlanta.
• Giving back – I continued to work with founders and became an official advisor (unpaid) to a few founders. I made good on my promise and began sharing my experiences via daily posts.
• Founder networking – I shared my desire to help early founders by transitioning to venture capital. Some founders were supportive; others were skeptical. As builders, most of them wondered why I don’t just build another company. I enjoyed having these conversations with my peers at this stage of my exploration. Debating the merits of building versus investing in a company was enjoyable.

The first week of March, I shared the big-three problem and my desire to connect with experienced West Coast investors with a founder friend. He suggested that I meet with the Craigs. Leura and Paige Craig had recently moved to Atlanta from L.A. They’ve jointly made over a hundred early-stage investments in startups, most at the pre-seed level. A few of their early investments (Twitter, SpaceX, Lyft, Postmates, Bird, and Wish, among others) reached unicorn status (a value over $1 billion).

Over many conversations, we shared our views on Atlanta’s potential. It turned out that they overlap in many areas. There are many founders capable of building amazing companies in not just Atlanta but the entire Southeast. With the right support, the sky’s the limit for them. The right support at the pre-seed stage is the missing piece. We talked a lot about solving for that missing piece.

I enjoyed hearing their perspective because they’ve helped founders overcome the big three and go on to achieve large-scale success. During these conversations, I again realized how wide my gaps were.

Paige founded an L.A. venture capital firm and has intimate knowledge of launching L.A.-based accelerators as well. Leura and Paige see a venture capital fund with enhanced accelerator-like support as the missing piece in the Southeast. I liked their idea.

Over many months they executed on their vision to form Outlander and invited me to join their team.

And here we are today.

I’m excited to be part of a team focused on accelerating founders’ success. I’m hopeful that we will help usher in a new wave of successful entrepreneurs in the Southeast!

Disclaimer: This may look like a well-thought-out process, but it wasn’t. To write this, I reflected on the journey and broke it into phases to make it clearer. I wasn’t conscious of phases while I was living it; rather, I was figuring it out as I went along and adjusting as I learned. It was an extremely iterative (and sometimes disorganized) process until the very end. Continually speaking with others was critical to making the right adjustments, and it led to unexpected events (like meeting Leura and Paige).

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As an early-stage entrepreneur, I didn’t fully appreciate the value of nurturing relationships. I thought that if I worked hard and presented a logical case, others would want to work with me. Eventually I realized that I was missing an important part of the equation.  

I wanted CCAW to enter a new segment of the automotive parts industry. It was a massive market and where I saw our growth occurring. We invested in creating a better technological approach to selling these products, but I couldn’t get any vendors to listen. None of them wanted to give us a shot. The conversation would go something like this: “This is great, but we don’t know you” or “How do I know you can do what you say you can do?” I tried for months to get someone to give us a shot. No dice. Then I finally got a lucky break. Someone I had worked with moved to a new company that we’d been eyeing as one we’d like to work with. He vouched for us and described the fruitful relationship we had with his previous employer. An established relationship opened a door that had been closed for months. All of a sudden we got the green light to start doing business with them. We quickly grew the business to hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. The vendor was blown away.

There were tons of things I did wrong in this situation, and the biggest was not establishing relationships with these vendors ahead of time. I should have been telling them about my vision and how we were going to make it a reality through innovative technology. I should have been sharing the success we’d had in other product categories. As we built the technology, I should have been updating them. If I had done these things, I’ll bet the conversations would have been much smoother when we were ready to go live with the new category.

I learned that a great idea can be dismissed if it comes from a stranger. And that the same idea (or a worse one) from someone known and trusted can be welcomed on the basis of the strength of the relationship.

If you’re trying to do something that can’t be done without someone else’s buy-in, make a point of cultivating a relationship with them before you need them. They’ll be more likely to want to work with you.