"Revelation"
Busy busy busy. Always in motion.
But I'm at my best when things are fast moving. I need to keep reminding myself to stop complaining. And lean into the fact that fast is what I actually want!
I thought about that a lot when on mushrooms at a Khraugbin concert last Tuesday. My other take away -- don't let too much time go by without re-centering with a nice mushroom pep talk. Check check.
Let me know if I can assist you with that sir
Coffee
I've really enjoyed seeing all the Wefunder wins with coffee. Community and coffee go hand in hand. Coffee founders are generally super chill and on brand.
Aerial Resupply and Sepia Coffee Project both had very successful Revenue Share campaigns.
Teecino just had a monster equity campaign, raising $500k+ exclusively from flyers to their customers.
Had a long and inspired chat with Red Bay who raised Revenue Share back in 2016.
Having fun with this hybrid equity + revenue share contract with Cxffee Black.
I have a ton of cool roasteries, distributors, and coffee shops in the hopper. Most excited about Purity Coffee (impact!).
So if you know any cool founders doing good stuff with coffee -- send them my way!
Chill Charters
Nothing in my life is made easier with Chill Charters. This year is a big leveling up, and I'm experiencing a lot of firsts, despite being in year seven. The side hustle is transitioning to a side business. And a big investment of money and effort is being applied. Forward progress every day, and achieving balance at the same time. A tricky dance.
This puts me back in the "founders driver seat". There is no better way to build empathy than sitting in that seat. The challenge of being a founder is the complex web of obstacles that are not in your "zone of genius". Learn by doing. Rock and Roll.
Variety
So far the unlock in 2024 has been VARIETY.
Last year I went all in a project in Q1, then transitioned to revenue share Q2-Q4. I was all in on focused projects.
Going into this year, I wanted to shift gears and optimize around variety. A flex resource across Wefunder -- contributing in as many areas as I can. Pushing into content marketing, investor initiatives, impact investing, hiring + recruiting, team leadership, working with founders of all types -- but maintaining an eye for impact, continue building on revenue share, quality > quantity on both the founder and partnership side.
This variety has been very good! It makes me appreciate working at a startup. And also being an employee rather than a founder. Less pressure and more fun.
Fun is the stated goal.
Market Conditions
It does not bring me joy to share pessimistic feelings towards the fundraising markets.
To rip the band aid off: I think it's twice as hard for founders to raise half as much money.
"What terms do investors like on Wefunder?" "Does industry X perform well on Wefunder?" "How much money do you think we can raise on Wefunder?"
Wrong questions. The right answer -- how bad do you want it? You're going to have to hustle.
This podcast I did years ago rings even more true today -- or check out this blog from Jonny, or this conversation I had with the Painterland Sisters who raised $1.2M (spoiler -- they hustled hard). It's a grind.
Bootstrap
Sometimes I have mixed feelings about being in the fundraising world. I wish Wefunder was the champion of bootstrapping.
Do you really need to? Don't!!!
But upon a disc golf outing with my friend Alex this Tuesday -- Wefunder is very much a form of bootstrapping.
If fundraising is necessary, Wefunder is the least evil and most friendly. It is mission driven by design.
North Star
I continue to spend more and more time thinking about impact. Impact in the people I choose to spend time with.
Those granular moments when your able to root someone on.
To be the cheerleader for others (a nod to my grandma, who is my biggest cheerleader).
To play that role for as many people as possible, inside and outside of work.
To send that out of the blue email saying "you got this, let's go!"
It's these small things that stack up over time. And the things that bring me fulfillment in my life.
Music
Headed to Jazzfest this week. So I'm going to be STOCKED with good jazz, funk, blues, and jam.
You can always tune into what's fresh here.
The End - Justice (yew)