I talked with an early founder with a promising business. He said he wants investors and team members who aren’t just along for the ride. He wants people who’ve bought into his vision and will roll up their sleeves and help turn it into reality. As he so eloquently put it, he doesn’t want dead weight.

I laughed at the dead weight comment, but he’s right. Founders should want people who’ll help them along the journey by making meaningful contributions. And they shouldn’t just pull along people who don’t contribute.

Entrepreneurship and start-ups have become very popular. Many people are aware of the potential rewards that await and want to reap them. What they don’t understand is what it takes to make it to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The journey isn’t pretty. It takes a lot of grit and sacrifice. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart or those who don’t believe in what they’re doing.

If you’re an early founder looking to build something great, try to surround yourself with people who believe in what you’re trying to do and genuinely want to help you do it.

I talked to a founder today who plans to work through the holidays. He’s not going to work on Christmas, but he intends to work most other days. He sees this time as an opportunity to work on strategic planning instead of being in the weeds of the business.

This reminded me of myself in the early days of my company. For years, I spent a lot of time during holidays working on things that required long periods of concentration. I made great progress on high-level planning, but I could never recharge and wasn’t as present with family and friends as I could have been.

Eventually I realized that more balance suited me better. I started taking a few days off—no looking at work. I’d spend time with others and recharge. And I’d work on a single initiative the rest of the holiday. If I completed that work, got downtime, and was able to connect with others, it was a win. I still use this approach, and it continues to suit me well.

I was talking to a family member today, and they shared memories from when I was a toddler. Apparently, I was very comfortable going against the grain. I didn’t worry about what everyone else was doing. I would often be in my own world, consumed for hours by whatever intrigued me at the time. If I was interrupted then, I made it very clear that I wanted to be left alone. Even if it meant missing out on what everyone was doing.

Not being concerned about what others thought helped me pursue entrepreneurship when others close to me were pursuing more traditional paths. It also allowed me to tune out feedback from people who questioned my taking such a risky path. It’s interesting to hear that it’s a trait I’ve had since I was a young child.

Today I was at a friend’s house. He canceled his cable years ago and has been using YouTube TV ever since. Today he turned on his TV to watch a game and was stunned to learn that ESPN has been removed from YouTube TV. Disney and YouTube couldn’t agree to terms, so ESPN and other Disney-owned channels are out. My friend is evaluating his options.

This is an interesting situation. Channel owners like Disney have always had an interesting relationship with distributors of their content. They created it but needed help distributing it to consumers. Historically they were able to find a compromise because they needed each other. That dynamic has changed, as evidenced by today’s events. Disney, Netflix, Amazon, etc. have created their own distribution platforms and amassed millions of monthly customers. They can now distribute their content directly to the end consumer.

I’ve been watching distribution change in movies, banking, and other fields. This YouTube TV and Disney situation is yet another example of the changing distribution landscape. Technology has removed hurdles, allowing companies to distribute their solutions directly to consumers digitally—no third parties needed. This trend will continue at an accelerated pace. Distribution, along with other factors, will force innovation in many industries that haven’t changed in decades.

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

• Crunch time – This week was packed full. It was crunch time. I got lots of stuff done in a short time, but I felt it. Feeling a bit tired.  
• New project – I was finally able to overcome the hurdle I’d run into and get this moving forward. I learned a lot, and I’m excited to get back to moving this toward the finish line.
• Christmas – After wrapping up this week, I’m able to think about Christmas now. I’m excited to connect with friends and family next week for the holiday.

Week ninety was long and tiring but productive. Looking forward to the holiday!

Today I listened to two separate founders share their views on technical talent. They have different approaches to empowering tech candidates and helping them find employment, but they made the same point: Smart technical talent is no longer coming exclusively from four-year universities with degrees in computer science. Many of these folks are self-taught and coming from bootcamps, community colleges, etc.

This observation didn’t surprise me, but I was surprised to hear that large employers aren’t adapting to this change quickly enough. They’re having a harder time assessing the quality of candidates absent the degree. I suspect smaller companies are having the same problem.

How we learn is changing. I’ve shared my views on how future generations will learn and on bespoke education. Today I realized that big opportunities exist to help employers evaluate candidates who have pursued nontraditional learning paths. Determining whether someone is the right person for a role was already difficult, and the evolution of education is intensifying the difficulty. It’s a challenge in hiring tech people now, and I foresee it spreading to every type of opening a company wants to fill in the not-so-distant future.

Today I listened to a founder pitch a solution to help small digital retailers execute order fulfillment logistics. The concept is that many small retailers don’t have enough business to justify the expense of warehouse space or fulfillment staff. And they could benefit from being in a workspace that’s a community of similar businesses. Aggregating all those retailers into a large space that includes warehouses and offices and providing the staffing to assist them could solve this pain point.

This solution resonated with me. At my start-up, we struggled in a gray area for years. We couldn’t justify a warehouse but needed something. We also didn’t have a community of other digital retailers, so we learned everything the hard way. We ultimately settled on a traditional office space and prayed nothing got shipped back to us. If this founder’s solution had existed when we were scaling, it would have been a savior.

I’ve shared my views on SMBs needing help navigating rapid change. I think this solution falls squarely within that idea. I think there is a large unmet need to help small and medium-sized digital retailers navigate order fulfillment. A solution like this would allow those founders to focus on the parts of their businesses that matter most, rather than fulfillment. I think this founder is on to something and that he will build a massive business!

The current labor market is a challenging one. It’s preventing many companies from meeting customer demand. I shared my views on this a few months back: I view it as an entrepreneurial opportunity.

The shortage of skilled workers is a problem now—and it’s projected to triple by 2030. Today I connected with a founder looking to address this problem. He has a background that uniquely qualifies him to understand and solve it in an innovative way. His solutions will include training, technology, and partnerships with governments and communities.

The labor shortage is a real problem that calls for innovative solutions. It’s a massive market that likely has room for more than one winner. I like this founder’s approach and hope he’ll be successful!

A few months ago, I wrote about a space ripe for disruption, specialty transport. Today I met with a founder who’s tackling this exact problem. As I complained about my experience (which I still haven’t resolved), he laughed because he’s heard it so many times. We continued to chat, and he shared his insights with me.

The space is antiquated, which I already knew, and it’s not sexy. Based on consumer trends, though, he sees this market exploding in the future. We discussed how big the opportunity could be, and he thinks it could reach $10 billion or more. Everyone’s going after an enormous adjacent market, so this market has minimal competition.

I think this founder is in a great position. If he and his team can execute, they could benefit from a convergence of factors and grab a good share of this market before others even realize it exists. I’ve agreed to be an early customer and can’t wait to be along for this journey.

I was watching a video today about decision-making. The presenter said that being asked good questions leads to making better decisions. I thought about this and reflected on my own experiences.

As a founder, I was part of a peer group of founders. One of the things I enjoyed was getting the perspective of the other founders on particular situations. Inevitably they would ask a series of questions to help them understand the situation better before they expressed any opinions or gave any advice. Their questions were sometimes invaluable. And they often forced me to think about things I hadn’t before or perspectives I hadn’t considered. I credit some questions from that group with leading to some of my better decisions.

I agree with today’s video, with a caveat: good questions from credible people lead to better decisions.