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

• Partnership mindset – I’m a big believer in the saying that there are no perfect people, only perfect teams. This week reminded me that partnership is important to doing something great. The partnership journey isn’t always easy, so alignment early on is important. You might disagree on how to get there, but you can compromise because you know you’re both trying to get to the same place.  
• Hustle – I meet with founders and investors every week. The ones who are hustlers consistently stand out. Hustle is a big part of their success. I noticed this again this week.    
• Common threads – Wrote about this a bit this week. Finding ways to relate to people has been helpful in getting to know them. I do this naturally, but I want to be more intentional about it.
• Giving back – I was able to give back and help somebody out this week, and it felt good. I’m rooting for him and expecting him to do amazing things in life and business.

Week eighty-five was a good one. I was in a groove and made progress on important things. I hope to repeat that next week.

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Today marks the end of my eighty-fourth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-four:

• Impact – I’m still thinking about this a lot (and having great conversations about it). I have some ideas for having an impact on founders and may start to test one pretty soon. Looking forward to learning.
• Directionally accurate – I’m naturally wired to have a destination in mind that I’m aiming for. Over time, I’ve learned that I can take action without a clear destination—I just need to lift my head periodically to confirm I’m still headed in the right direction. This week reinforced this.  
• World Series win – The Atlanta Braves won the World Series for the first time in over twenty years. This is a big win for the city and puts it on outsiders’ radar screens. Sports have a way of uniting people, and I’m excited to see how this win will affect Atlanta.  

Week eighty-four was positive. I was productive and reenergized. Looking forward to repeating this next week.

Today I toured a real estate project a buddy just completed. He’s easing his way into entrepreneurship and the industry. This project was the largest (and most complicated) he’s taken on to date. As usual with construction, it didn’t go as planned, but it’s a financial success. Not as much profit as he’d initially hoped, but a success nonetheless. As we chatted, he kept mentioning how he should have spent less but didn’t know any better when decisions were being made. I realized that his perspective was preventing him from realizing how this project was a win in other ways, too.

The project wasn’t easy. The price of lumbar surged in the middle of it. Labor rates increased, while the reliability of crews decreased. These and other factors led to higher costs and a longer timeline. As each obstacle presented itself, my buddy figured out how to overcome it. It was stressful, but he found a way to get it all done. Tough circumstances, I thought, but awesome learning experience.

We talked about his future projects and what he plans to do differently. I pointed out how much he’d learned and how valuable that knowledge will be. Lots of people pay tuition to go to school to learn what he got paid to learn. In the end, he reflected on where he was before and after this project and agreed. It was a huge success and is likely to be the turning point in his real estate career.

Knowledge acquired through experience (yours or others’) can be a big factor in entrepreneurial success. If a situation doesn’t end quite how you’d hoped, reflect on what you’ve learned from it. The knowledge you’ve gained will be invaluable next time and every time—it’s the gift that keeps on giving!

Today marks the end of my eighty-third week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-three:

• Impact – I had a conversation with a founder turned early-stage investor about impact. I’ve been thinking about it for over a year, but this conversation got me thinking about ways to maximize my impact.  
• Working on me – I spent time this week working on myself. It was good to take a step back from working on stuff for others. I learned a lot of great things and can’t wait to implement them. I need to get back to doing this regularly.
• One year – Had an enjoyable chat with a good friend this week. We discussed my theses today versus one year ago. He thinks I articulate my thoughts more clearly. I’ve also gotten more comfortable thinking through what the future will look like and why. It was nice to hear his feedback, and it forced me to think about how my thinking has evolved. What a difference a year makes.

Week eighty-three was great. I’ve gained a lot of clarity and learned some interesting new things. I’m reenergized and looking forward to next week.

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I listened to a friend’s seven-year-old share his views on a prominent technology company and its founder. I was shocked by how much he knew. I asked his father if he had discussed this company or the founder with his son. No, he said, and he wondered where he’d learned about them. Our assumption is, the internet. We think he heard about the company, liked it, and did some research to learn more.

The internet didn’t exist when I was his age, but I vividly remember finally getting online access at my parents’ home. I spent hours digging into subjects I was interested in and reading everything about them I could find. It was a game changer. Forums and chat rooms exposed me to new things—to a world I didn’t know existed. I ended up using some of this knowledge to start a company in high school. I’d say the internet was a big reason I became an entrepreneur.

Today I still spend lots of time online learning about things that interest me. I try to find a credible person (on Twitter, Medium, or Substack) and read about what they know or think about a topic or watch YouTube videos of them sharing their thoughts. I’ve gained a lot of extremely valuable knowledge this way.

Information is power. I love how the internet has made information more available to the masses. It’s empowered people to share their expertise and given others a way to consume it. With decentralization and other trends gaining momentum, I suspect my friend’s son and his generation will experience a completely new way of learning. They will be more knowledgeable than previous generations, and how they learn will likely be radically different.

Today marks the end of my eighty-second week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week eighty-two:

• Schedule – I’ve been doing a better job of managing my schedule a few weeks out. It’s more of a mix, now, of time open to others and protected time. This week and last, that helped me be more efficient and get things done.  
• Future thinking – I shared my thoughts on future thinking in a post this week. It’s especially important when you’re looking at a window of opportunity that’s about to close. I’ve been reflecting on this more. The people I’ve seen build amazing companies and have outsize successes (personally and professionally) are future thinkers. They see the world through a lens of what’s possible, not what is.
• Pace – Just like last week, this week was busy. Next week will be too. Lots to do before the holidays.  

Week eighty-two was another busy week. More of the same is coming for the rest of this month.

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I had a spirited chat with a friend this week about a house in Atlanta that just hit the market. We debated how long it will take to sell. I think it will sell within a week, and my friend thinks it will take a few months. Surprised, I dug into his why. He things it’s overpriced and that a price reduction will be needed to move it after it sits unsold for a few weeks. I think the price is fair. The true disconnect is what we think the house is worth.

After more back and forth, I got to the root of our disagreement. I’m bullish on Atlanta. I think the city offers qualities other major metros can’t that make it a place people see themselves settling down in and calling home for the long term. And pandemic dynamics contribute to it being a desirable destination. Home prices reflect this and are likely to continue increasing for the foreseeable future. I believe that prices are fair relative to where they’ll be in the future.

My friend has lived in Atlanta for a long time. He remembers a glut of houses on the market after the financial crisis and some now-trendy neighborhoods being seedy. He believes Atlanta is in a real estate bubble and prices will drop at some point. In other words, he believes current prices are inflated relative to historical prices.

As I reflected on our conversation, I realized that we had different perspectives: I was focused on the future, and he was focused on the past.

Looking at an opportunity, I’m a fan of future thinking. I wasn’t always like this. Flipping this mental switch transformed how I analyze opportunities. I’m able to see opportunity and capitalize on it because I can still see it as “cheap.” If things go as I predict, the asset will increase in value, and I will have gotten a deal at its current price. It’s irrelevant that I didn’t buy at the cheapest historical price, a consideration that I view as a mental trap.

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

• Leaning in – I’ve had pretty good gut instincts historically but don’t always listen to them. This week, I reminded myself to trust my gut more and be more intuitive.
• Closing window of opportunity – I’ve written about this. This week, I had a great chat with a friend about it, which reminded me that I need to treat opportunities with closing windows as top priorities.
• Pace – This week was busy. And full of lots of good things too. The rest of October will probably be supremely busy because of how much there is to get done before the holidays.

Week eighty-one was a hectic week, but a good one. I’m getting myself ready for this to continue for the next few weeks.

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

• Connecting – Had an opportunity to connect with folks in person this week. It was good, and it energized me. Zoom is time efficient, but face-to-face conversations can’t be replaced.
• New beginnings – I spoke with a few people this week who are starting new chapters. It feels like lots of people are starting or getting ready to start new things. I’m excited to support them and can’t wait to see where they end up.
• Feedback – I continued connecting with friends to get feedback on things I’m thinking about. I’m very thankful that I have people in my circle I can count on for great perspectives.  

Week eighty was an energizing week. The quarter is off to a good start. Looking forward to continuing the pace next week.

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I listened to an early-stage founder, John, describe how he wanted to emulate a successful founder, Bob. John excitedly recapped Bob’s journey. John was planning to follow a similar path to success with his young company. But I noticed that John’s recap began where things had begun to go well for Bob. I know Bob’s story well. He endured years of painful failure. As I listened to John, I realized he didn’t know the full story. He’d only heard the happy parts.

I told John about Bob’s failures. He was surprised. He’d thought that an entrepreneurial journey that was only up and to the right—a string of successes—was conceivable.

Most successful people have failed miserably, but they kept at it. Failure is usually an important part of accomplishing anything great. What you learn from failure often creates the foundation needed for success. Put another way, you often must lose to win.

If you’re looking to do something great, prepare yourself for failure. Instead of letting it get you down, look at it as an education that took you one step closer to success.