2x founder (1 exit). Building in public. I talk about the stuff other founders are too scared to. Failure is just pre-revenue success.
Joined August 2026
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before we built anything, i emailed 50 people to ask if they'd pay for it.
48 said yes. a few said they'd pay double.
we launched 3 months ago. none of them have paid.
every morning i forward them their replies.
this was my last year to make a 40 under 40 list.
i nominated myself. 1,200 words in the third person. i called myself "a quiet force."
i asked 6 friends to nominate me too. 2 said yes. 1 asked what i'd done this year.
the list came out today. i'm not on it.
i emailed to ask if they'd consider a 40 under 41.
i get up at 5:15 now, like the founders i follow.
cold shower. 10 minutes of journaling. a walk with no phone.
then 2 hours of deep work before anyone else is up.
my cofounder asked what the deep work is.
it's writing this post.
got invited on a podcast for the first time as a guest.
the host introduced me as the founder who sold his company for $40 million. wrong guy, same first name.
i didn't correct him. 50 minutes on the exit, what i'd do differently, what i'd tell my younger self. best interview i've ever given.
my cofounder listened to it and texted me "where's my half."
39 years ago today the stock market lost 22% in a single day. they called it black monday.
we lost 22% of our users this month.
my cofounder keeps calling it our black monday.
i keep calling it a dip.
went to my 20 year high school reunion. everyone asked what i do. i said i'm a founder.
the class president is a dentist now. owns 3 offices. asked how many employees i have. i said we're lean.
the quiet kid from chemistry sold his company last year. asked if we're making money yet. i said not yet. he said "still?"
my prom date asked if i'm the guy who posts on linkedin every day. i said yes. she said she muted me in 2023.
the guy who used to copy my homework invests in startups now. i asked if he'd take a look at us.
he said he already did. he said no in march.
my lease is up so i sat down with my landlord to negotiate.
i opened with our vision for the next 12 months. he asked about the rent.
i offered him 2% equity instead. he asked what the company does. i explained it for a while. he asked about the rent again.
i offered him a seat on our advisory board. he said he already has a job.
i offered him our product free for a year. he said he doesn't need software, he needs $2,400.
i said we're not in a position to talk numbers yet.
he said he is.
i signed at the same price, plus a $50 late fee from last month.
on the way out i asked if he'd be a reference for our investors. he's been with the company longer than anyone except my cofounder.
quarterly board meeting today. our board is 1 investor and me.
he joined from his car and stayed muted for my whole 40 minute presentation.
at the end i asked for questions. he unmuted and i heard a drive thru.
he ordered a number 4 and muted again.
best board meeting we've had, zero pushback.
opened up my calendar for free coffee chats with aspiring founders. 30 minutes, any questions, no gatekeeping.
3 people booked. the first wanted to know if we were hiring. the second wanted to know if we were still around.
the third was my cofounder. he said it's the only way to get time with me.
we talked about how much money we have left.
he doesn't know it but coffee's on him, his treat.
Big things coming. I'll let y'all know when Claude lets me know.
Jensen Huang on why founders don’t need to be right from day one, but they do need to be able to learn quickly:
“The technology that founded the company turns out to be exactly wrong.”
“I went down to Fry’s, and I bought three textbooks... I brought them back to the company. I gave them to the engineers.”
“Everybody would have thought that NVIDIA started out as world leaders in 3D graphics. We learned it from a textbook.”
“The big lesson for me is technology’s changing all the time. So long as you’re able to confront reality, so long as you are able to learn, the technology itself actually doesn’t matter. Since then, NVIDIA has been inventing all kinds of technology."
"We approach everything with the same attitude. If it’s important to do, we’re going to go learn it. How hard can it be? It always turns out to be much, much harder than we expect. But you go into it with the attitude, how hard can it be?”
we've had the same office plant since our first funding round. it's the only thing in the company that's grown.
i've started putting it in the investor update. "plant: up 30%."
my cofounder waters it on weekends. he says it's the only thing here that responds to effort.
it's national dessert day so i sent cupcakes to the 12 investors who said no to us.
handwritten note on each one. "no hard feelings. the door's still open."
9:00 they start landing.
9:40 first reply. "who is this?"
10:15 an assistant emailed to ask if the cupcakes were safe to eat.
11:30 one fund sent theirs back unopened with a note that said "please remove us from your list."
1:00 a partner posted a photo of his cupcake on linkedin. didn't tag us. 400 likes.
3:00 i commented "glad you enjoyed it." he hid my comment.
$340 on cupcakes. still no money.
most investor engagement we've had all year.
my therapist asked me to talk about my week without mentioning the company.
i thought about it. we sat there in silence for 50 minutes.
at the end she said the silence is what we're going to work on.
so i opened up and told her something i've never told anyone.
we only have 4 months of money left.
she said that was about the company again.
i said that's the most personal thing i have.
posted that we're hiring. we're not, but it looks good to investors.
412 people applied in 3 days, which is the most traction we've ever had.
my accountant asked how we're going to pay them. i said we're not hiring, we're posting about hiring.
she read a few of the applications and said 2 of them would be better at my job.
i've stopped reading them.
the biggest startup conference of the year started today. my badge says founder & ceo. so does everyone's, all 10,000 of them.
spent the morning looking for a badge that said investor and finally found one at noon by the coffee.
we talked for 25 minutes. i pitched him everything, and then he pitched me.
turns out he was a founder too. he'd printed his own investor badge to get meetings.
i've ordered mine.
did our first user interview in 6 months. 30 minutes on zoom.
he kept his camera off. i could hear dishes.
he signed up in march because he thought we were a different company. still doesn't know which one. just not us.
we email him every monday. he's never opened one.
twice he asked what we're called.
the only reason he's still paying is he forgot to cancel.
i took 4 pages of notes.
at the end i asked for a testimonial.
he said sure.
it's on the homepage now.
"forgot to cancel."
any review is a good review.