How to do a "Micro-PE" style Brand acquisition... Not all founders want to chase VC/billion-dollar exits... But there is a way for Founders to bring on the right people, capital, and vision to break through a growth ceiling. (Case study in the post linked below)

The future of software, and likely hardware, is creative. I believe we're entering an Instagram-like moment for software where creators and artists become "engineers" Coding = Creativity = Artists in the world we're going to. Not that development wasn't previously creative, it's just now the arts will move into engineering.

Written about in the Sovereign Individual (written in 97')

Upcoming AI x Nervous system regulation workshop worth attending!

This was very fun and very valuable!

Great quote on the latest forward guidance @fejau_inc "The game right now is short globalism, long protectionism, and try to get your capital as close as possible to where the gov. is about to spend it"

Really love this concept/org: Dollar Donation Club: dollardonationclub.com/?r=M2…

Helpful Questions

Digital life feels different in 2025. The pace of change is much faster now. It’s harder to feel long-term focused, or have a solid view of the long term. You realize that the volatility is even more distracting from what you are wanting to consciously choose, but you’re not sure how to navigate it. It feels more like you need hard, forced breaks from online life vs. easy ebb and flow of a more natural digital relationship. This September I did a 30 day reset and my feelings towards of the things I care about improved. Now I find myself trying to re-integrate in a healthy way that’s balanced and it’s much harder than the clean break. Rules I’m setting are slipping. I love what I’m getting from AI in terms of its benefits. I’m finding AI journaling to be a core asset to me in my life. And yet I still really prefer writing this to you directly without any AI support or generation. If I use AI in the writing process I miss the flow state and the feeling of sharing something directly me to you without an intermediary. As our online lives get more mediated by AI, we lose some agency (to the agents) and that displaces certain experiences we also have or had. I’m craving smaller groups now. I have no desire to be Youtube famous or TikTok famous. I’m thinking about Dunbars number, i.e. who are the 100 people I can really impact and be connected to? I try and remember that when I face the choice: Do you try and grow your work by playing to an algorithm? Or do you publish what *you* want knowing it’s going to get less views? I’m recording more short form videos now and I thought about this question: How much should I script and format to the algorithm? I decided I am going to simply publish. I don’t need a huge amount of “followers” and I don’t think I could sustainably spend my time chasing algorithmic trends. It’s not why I do it. So I opt out from that. I use many different apps as a “wall” between me and feeds. I use Opal on my phone, and I have time-limiting chrome extensions for certain websites. I try to make the first few hours of my day distraction free. From 7-11 I am cocooned from feeds. I don’t have email on my phone. I don’t use Slack. I don’t watch TV and never any news. The hardest thing here is remembering that all of this is my choice. I get to choose what I put my attention on. Having choice means taking responsibility for my attention. If I’m feeling any type of way about my digital life, it’s reflective of hard choices that I have not yet made and that I am leaving ambiguous. Jerzy Gregorek said, “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.”

Possible that the Polymarket founder is the Zuckerberg of this tech cycle. Posting for my own future timestamp.

I'll be co-hosting an event with @will_mannon in Austin, TX on Dec. 2nd bringing together interesting creators for an in-person experience. You apply to join here (it's free) and these events have been really well attended with interesting people. luma.com/c080ttqw?tk=0x92LS

When my business passed $1M in revenue, I thought life would suddenly get easier. Surprise surprise… there was still work to do and new problems to solve. Many founders think, “If I can just hit this next goal, then I can finally relax.” A client of mine just raised over $5M for his company. The funding round was hard. Right after he closed the round, he saw a whole new list of problems that needed attention. Over time, I realized I have never “arrived” anywhere as a founder. Business and life are always changing. We should celebrate our milestones. Yet big goals usually don’t give us the deep, permanent relief we hope for. Learning to enjoy the change and watching things grow means celebrating small wins and finding a way to enjoy every stage, expanding that joy into the next one. That means letting go of the easy fantasy that “one day soon” everything will be easy and comfortable forever. Eckhart Tolle said: - “To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need to live through past and future.” I help founders with these harder, more personal questions, not just with growing their numbers. Something great happens when you choose your discomfort on purpose. @John_J_Brown posted: “Permanent comfort is not luxury. Luxury is to be able to alternate between comfort and discomfort at your will.” That’s what you can do to lean into this truth. You choose to grow and change. Instead of finding comfort in the plateau. This is the kind of conversation I wish someone had with me when I first started my business. Now I get to have these talks all the time. If this speaks to you, you might like joining my newsletter and community. substack.com/@davidsherry

Will is on the most fun path...