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

• Proven wrong – I had a hypothesis that I hoped would be proven true. Today I connected with someone credible in the space. During that conversation I realized my hypothesis is wrong. I’m both disappointed and glad I realized this sooner rather than later. Back to the drawing board.
• Unexpected doors – This week was a reminder that you never know who could open a door for you and that there’s more to gain from sharing than from not sharing.
• Outsiders – I spent time thinking about and talking to others about founders and markets situated outside the traditional purview of VC. The more I dig into this concept, the more intrigued I am.

Week one hundred twenty-one was a good week. Looking forward to next week.

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

• Success – A friend shared an interesting perspective with me. Wildly succeeding in one part of life and failing miserably in others averages out to a failure in his book. The people who succeed in multiple areas of life are who he looks up to.
• Progress – I haven’t had the bandwidth to work on a personal project for a while, but I made significant progress this week. Felt good to start moving it forward and socializing it with friends.

Week one hundred twenty was a slower-paced one. Looking forward to next week.

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

• Vacation – This week felt like it was moving slowly. Lots of people were out on vacation or trying to get back into the swing of things.
• Half-day session – I spent half a day hunkered down in a conference room working on a project with someone. We got more done in that one day than we would have in two or three weeks’ worth of meetings. This was a good reminder of the value of focused in-person sessions.
• No meetings – Another week with no meetings for an entire day. Keeping this up through the end of the month to establish the habit.  

Week one hundred nineteen was a slower-paced week. Looking forward to next week.

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

• Conviction – This week was a reminder that understanding why you’re doing something is critical. It helps you build the confidence to make a decision and stick with it when others don’t understand it or when things look bleak.  
• Nonobvious markets – I spent some time thinking about this. Many markets are undercapitalized (for various reasons). Some have the potential for outsize returns. Finding these markets—or people who understand them—early is something I’m thinking about a lot.
• No meetings – I blocked off a day with no meetings again this week. The day was super productive. I want to keep this habit up. If I can do it for all of July, I think I’ll be able to keep it going.  

Week one hundred eighteen was a calm one. Looking forward to spending the holiday with family and friends.  

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

• Differing perspectives – This week was a reminder that there’s value in hearing differing perspectives. Hearing someone else’s perspective helped me think about something differently and slightly adjust a strongly held opinion.
• Contrarian viewpoints – I spent some time listening to successful people who’ve taken contrarian views that led to outsize success. It’s a very interesting approach. I’m curious about these folks and intend to study them more.
• No meetings – I blocked off a day with no meetings. It was great. I was able to go deep and be productive. I want to work in one of these days every week.
• Leveling up – I want to make sure I’m always learning and leveling myself up. I need to continue putting myself in uncomfortable situations so I can grow. This week was a reminder that discomfort leads to insights and growth.

Week one hundred seventeen was a steady and productive one. Next week will be busy. Looking forward to it.

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

• Growth – I was reminded this week that growth comes from being in uncomfortable situations. Going forward, instead of focusing on the discomfort I’ll remind myself that I’m growing. I think this mental reframing will help me lean into more situations that will help me grow.
• No meetings – Last week, I blocked off an entire day with no meetings. I was hoping to repeat that this week, but I gave in to meeting requests. What a difference! I want to work toward consistently have one meeting-free day every week.

Week one hundred sixteen was a good one. Looking forward to next week.

A founder friend of mine recently hired a coach. The coach had him do an interesting exercise: go around to people in his life and ask for feedback. I and others were asked to grade him in certain areas and provide written feedback on strengths, weaknesses, etc.

One of the most important things founders can do is develop self-awareness. Easy to say, but hard to do. People don’t want to hurt your feelings, so they avoid giving pointed feedback. When you’re the leader, it’s even worse because most people are uncomfortable critiquing their boss. And frankly, some founders don’t want to listen to what can feel like criticism.

I think this founder and his coach soliciting feedback is a great exercise. He’ll receive the feedback digitally, so he’ll be able to revisit it in the future. Going through this process with the guidance of a coach will help him reflect on the feedback, make connections, and develop actionable steps going forward. The coach can hold him accountable to the process and the changes he commits to.

Self-awareness is an attribute of many successful entrepreneurs. I’m excited to see what my friend learns about himself and how he uses it to improve as a person and entrepreneur.  

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

• Patience – I can get a little antsy at times. This week was a reminder that patience is my friend and I have to be patient to allow my decisions to play out (for better or worse).
• Markets – Spent time thinking about why some markets are overlooked by investors. I think there’s an opportunity here for founders to get funded and open-minded investors to generate outsize returns.  
• Giving back – I spent time with Endeavour entrepreneurs—some rising and some seasoned. It was great to see how impactful established founders’ words were on newer founders. I’m happy Endeavour is making these connections. I think we’ll see some huge companies built in Atlanta as the result of Endeavour’s efforts.
• No meetings – I blocked off an entire meeting-free day this week. I was amazed at how productive I was. I need to do this regularly.

Week one hundred fifteen was steady but still productive. It felt like a great pace that I was in control of. I’m looking forward to continuing this next week.

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

• Probabilities – I learned a valuable lesson in probabilities this week. I ignored the >50% probability of something happening, and I paid for it.  
• Serendipity – I met some great folks unexpectedly. One of them is a successful investor with roots in my hometown. I think there’s something to be said for increasing your odds of serendipity by hustling.
• Short week – I enjoyed my holiday on Monday, but it made for a short week. It made me a feel as though I was a bit unproductive, even though I know better.

Week one hundred fourteen was busy. I’m looking forward to a normal pace next week.

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

• Networks – I’ve been thinking about networks in VC. I shared some of my thoughts in yesterday’s post. Changing how we think about networks and incentivizing venture investors to build broader networks to meet founders where they already are could have a huge entrepreneurial impact. How exactly to do that is the question.
• High-velocity hustler- Velocity matters more than speed. Being a high-velocity hustler is a great founder attribute. These folks are shaking trees to see what falls but picking up only the things that align with the destination they have in mind. Hustlers are flexible and can adapt to what’s thrown at them, and the good ones don’t waste time on shiny things. They stay focused on the goal.
• Holiday – I always think of Memorial Day as the start of my summer. I’m looking forward to the holiday weekend and an uninhibited summer.

Week one hundred thirteen brought me several insights. I’m looking forward to the holiday downtime.