In years of consulting with large corporations, I learned a few things. Purchasing inventory requires a lot of capital, and companies sometimes struggle to unlock that capital. They often resort to selling inventory at a loss just to get their capital back. Warehousing inventory is another financial burden. Leasing space to house inventory and hiring people to manage the warehouse is a big expense.

When I started CCAW, I had all these things in mind. I knew I wanted to help consumers acquire the parts they need, but I didn’t have the capital to accomplish this in the traditional manner. Bootstrapping forced me to get creative. I found ways to leverage the existing warehouse infrastructure and inventory of suppliers and manufacturers. We did it manually at first, but once we figured out the winning formula, we built technology that allowed us to scale it. We were able to do this in a very capital-light way (relative to others in our industry). Most of our capital went to hiring people and building technology.

Entrepreneurs setting out to solve problems should think about the amount of capital required. Will you need trucks, machinery, inventory, or legal help to bring an MVP of your solution to market? What else?

Most businesses will fall into either a capital-light or capital-intensive bucket. Great businesses can be built either way, but knowing early on which bucket you’ll be in is important. The amount of capital required will have a big impact on things like company strategy, your ability to raise capital from investors, and barriers to your entry.

If you’re thinking about entrepreneurship and have a solution in mind, take the time to understand whether it’s capital-intensive or capital-light. This will have a big impact on your decision-making!

Recently I was sharing with a buddy best practices I used to manage CCAW. Technology systems. Team alignment frameworks. How I structured my day to juggle my multiple hats. And we talked about how my responsibilities expanded as the company grew. When I finished, he seemed dazed. “Sounds like a lot to deal with,” he said. “How do I get the point where I can handle all that at once?”

As I rattled off all the things I did, I realized it was a lot. The days were packed and the to-do list was never-ending. CCAW was a ship and I was the captain, responsible for it sailing smoothly. With so many moving pieces that kept increasing in complexity, it was no small task to manage it all.

I was always busy. There was never a time when I was like ”Hmmm . . . I don’t have enough stuff to do; I think I’ll go find more to add to my plate so I can keep busy.” As the company grew, we were confronted with new challenges that forced me to rise to the occasion. It was uncomfortable, and each hurdle forced me to take on a little more than I thought I could handle. After years of this, my capacity was many times larger. I was able to handle much more than I thought I was capable of when I started CCAW.

My journey as a founder was one of gradual growth—over years—that came about because I kept being put in uncomfortable situations that tested my limits.

If you’re looking to do something great but aren’t sure if you have what it takes, know this: most people who were once in your shoes didn’t have “it” in the beginning. They grew along the way, and you can too!

Today marked the end of my thirtieth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week thirty:

Email management – I’ve written about my struggles with email here and here. This week, I began using Superhuman. So far, I like it. I’ve even gotten to inbox zero, which is a big deal to me. I’m not familiar with most of its features yet and I’m looking forward to learning more about them in the coming weeks. I hated responding to email from my phone, but Superhuman has changed that. I’m now aiming to handle most email by phone.

Next chapter – I caught up with a few founder friends this week. The next chapter was on the minds of a few of them. It seems that this is the season for people to ponder what they’ll work on next. I shared my experience—as I’m happy to do anytime—and I hope it was helpful.

September reflection – September was a month of transition and lots of new things. It was a bit hectic and, at times, overwhelming, but energizing as well. I’m looking forward to settling into my new normal in October.

Week thirty was a good week. The pace felt right and I have a better handle on things. Next week will mark seven months of working from home, which is hard to wrap my head around.

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.

Earlier this year, Google’s CEO expressed the company’s commitment to racial equity. One of the initiatives it created was the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. The fund provides Black founders with a share of $5 million in non-dilutive cash awards (i.e., Google has no ownership interest in the recipient companies). The grants were for $50,000 to $100,000. Each founder will also receive hands-on support from Google to help grow their company. Here are a few Atlanta companies that received awards:

• Clubba – Virtual after-school clubs for kids ages 7 to 13 led by college-student counselors
• Countalytics – Computer vision and machine learning to help clients save money by managing inventory more efficiently
• Kommute – Video messaging platform that helps teams communicate, collaborate, and connect remotely using the power of instantly shareable video
• MantisEdu – Immersive high-tech learning activities for students
• Musicbuk – Virtual education marketplace that gives students access to trusted, vetted, professional musicians for one-on-one music lessons

The full list of companies, with founder contact info, can be found here.

Congratulations to all the founders who received awards. And kudos to Google for this initiative and the impact it will have on the community. I’m excited for these founders. The sky is the limit!

I previously shared my journey into venture capital. On that journey, I had an unexpected insight. As I was networking with venture capitalists on the coasts, I noticed a strong interest in Atlanta. Not just startups in Atlanta, but the city. I was peppered with questions about housing prices, social events, sports, schools, and the diversity of neighborhoods. I asked about their cities, too. Most of the people I chatted with were in coastal cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.

When I described Atlanta and the quality of life here, many people said something like “man, I wish.” I was surprised. Many of them (not all) didn’t necessarily see their current coastal city as their long-term home. The reasons varied, but the pattern was clear. My impression was that they’re where they are because these coastal cities provide the best professional opportunities in venture capital. Not because they feel like home.

Outlander Labs focuses on investing in founders who operate in the Southeast. We view the Southeast as a region with amazing talent and great founders. And something else, too: home. It’s a place where founders can have amazing entrepreneurial success and also the quality of life they want. It’s a place they see themselves being in for the long haul.

The Southeast has some great venture capitalists, but not nearly enough of them (as compared to the coasts). I hope that Outlander and other firms can lead by example and change this. Through our performance and our diverse team, I hope we can show that the Southeast offers not only amazing professional opportunities for all in venture capital, but also a place to call home!

Today I participated in an idea session with my Outlander Labs teammates. No agenda, just a topic and a conversation about ideas. It was a topic that I’m not knowledgeable about, so my goal was to listen and learn. And boy, did I! The team’s collective knowledge was vast and we ended up with great ideas. Today was an opportunity for me to fill a knowledge gap, and it highlighted something else for me too.

As I listened, I noticed a pattern. Idea compounding. Sounds weird, so let me explain. Our team is composed of highly intelligent people who, individually, have great ideas and unique perspectives. As one person shared a thought, you could see the wheels turning in everyone else’s head. Then someone else shared an idea inspired by the previous one. This went on for an hour and resulted in more great ideas than we can possibly execute. A high-class problem for sure.

Our idea-generating exercise was highly effective because we approached the topic as a team. Had we assigned it to one person, I have no doubt that their ideas would have been really good. But approaching it as a team resulted in ideas that are great (or so we think).

I wish I had had the benefit of idea compounding in my early days at CCAW. I chose the solo founder path, and it was difficult. I was forced to come up with all the ideas, which were far from great. Years later I hired high-level thinkers and our idea compounding led to some of CCAW’s greatest breakthroughs. We overcame enormous hurdles and made tons of traction in a relatively short time.

Idea compounding is one of the many benefits of working with a team. And great ideas can be the difference between success and failure for early-stage companies. For any founder wondering why you should consider recruiting a co-founder: idea compounding is one of the many reasons you shouldn’t go it alone!

One of the things I had trouble with for a long time was making a personnel change when someone wasn’t a good fit for their role. Once I hired someone, I’d invest time getting them up to speed and getting to know them as a person. When goals weren’t being met or performance wasn’t up to par, I struggled with what to do. The data and other facts were telling me one thing and my personal connection with the person was telling me something else. In most instances, the personal connection prevailed—often to the detriment of the team member.

Looking back, I was prolonging the inevitable. Most of these team members were great, smart people; they just weren’t good fits for the roles they were in. The more we tried to pound a square peg into a round hole, the more frustration swelled on both sides. When I recognized this and made a change, things started to go better for them and the business. Sure, there was short-term discomfort, but they transitioned to a position they were better suited to (with CCAW or another company).

I see now that my emotions have sometimes hindered me from making tough decisions. Subtracting feelings from the process is difficult. It requires taking a situation at face value, deliberately ignoring what you’re feeling, and reaching the appropriate decision. That’s no easy task, especially when the decision affects others and isn’t popular.

This is something I’ll probably never master, but I can aim to get better at it. I do a better job now of identifying when it’s happening—the first step. When I think it is, I get input from credible people (sometimes writing down my decision-making process and sharing it) before making a decision.

As I was talking with a friend about mental toughness, he mentioned “The Last Dance” documentary about Michael Jordan a few times. I hadn’t watched it, and my interest was piqued even though I usually read in my downtime. (Side note: I share a birthday with MJ, so I’ve been a fan since childhood.) Today I watched some of the documentary. I was impressed. As can be expected when someone is striving for greatness, he had many behind-the-scenes struggles that most people never saw.

Jordan was the best player in the NBA in the late ’80s and early ’90s. NBA Scoring Champion, Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star . . . he won pretty much every individual accolade. Yet his team had yet to make it to the NBA finals. The strategy was to get MJ the ball and he’d make something happen. It worked, but it wasn’t enough to win a title.

The Bulls changed coaches and the strategy started to change. The legendary Phil Jackson wanted to play a triangle offense, but Jordan wasn’t a fan of it. He was used to having the ball, and Jackson’s offense would take it away from him. The triangle offense involved moving the ball around to everyone in a strategic manner, giving everyone a variety of scoring opportunities. Jordan reluctantly embraced it and they made it to the NBA Finals the next year, 1991. In game five, instead of forcing shots, MJ repeatedly passed to his wide-open teammate, John Paxson. Paxson rose to the occasion each time and lifted the Bulls to a victory and their first NBA championship. This game was pivotal in many ways. Most importantly, Jordan finally learned to appreciate team ball.

After the title win, Jordan focused on becoming a better leader. He was determined to win another title. He realized the Bulls could be great with team ball—and they could be elite if they all consistently played at a high level and with a high level of confidence. Jordan focused on making his teammates better. He led by example, giving 100% in every practice and demanding the same from his team.

The Bulls went on to win six NBA championships in three-peats in ’91–’93 and ’96–’98. Many still consider Jordan the best player of all time.

Jordan was an incredible player for many years. But in my opinion, when he started focusing on leading by example and making his teammates better, that’s when he began to achieve greatness.

Teamwork is dream work!

When I was in the corporate world, the path was clear. You show up and do good work and you’ll be promoted. I didn’t have to put much thought into it. It was known. Chatting with a friend today reminded me that I had to unlearn this and take a different approach as an entrepreneur.

My first few years at CCAW, I worked hard. That hard work was rewarded with (in my eyes) marginal progress, and I was nowhere near where I wanted to be. I couldn’t see a path to get there, either. I’d applied what I’d learned in corporate America, but it wasn’t working very well. Our revenue was growing, but I was struggling in many areas. It felt like I was on a hamster wheel spending more time working in the business than on it. I was stressed and working a ridiculous number of hours.

I eventually decided to take a step back. I realized that I was hoping things would just fall into place. It wasn’t working out like that. I spent time crystalizing where I wanted to be and pinpointing what was preventing me from getting there. I realized that to reach my destination in a healthy way, I would have to be much more intentional. I would need to rebuild our operational foundation and change our pricing strategy. I estimated that it would take a few months and that our revenue would decline during that period.

The process ending up taking a year and reduced revenue almost 30%, from $688,000 to $485,000. It was extremely painful and I was scared. I wasn’t sure that we’d survive this self-inflicted pain. Vendors were asking why we weren’t buying as much and we faced a cash crunch. Ultimately, though, it proved to be the right call. We built a stronger operational foundation and were positioned for growth. The next year, annual revenue was $793,000 and the following year it surpassed $1 million. We were rolling. I was still stressed, but I felt like I could work on the business more and continue to grow.

My takeaway from this experience was that intentionality is powerful. If I want something, I need to articulate it clearly (to myself and others), put in time and effort, and align my decisions with what I want to make happen. That means that sometimes I’ll have to endure short-term pain to reach my ultimate destination, but that’s OK. I have to be intentional about what I do in the present to reach a particular destination. I won’t just miraculously end up there.

Today marked the end of my twenty-ninth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week twenty-nine:

• Time management – This week I focused on being proactive about what I spend my time on. I noticed a big difference. I didn’t get as much done in certain areas, but overall, I’m happy with my progress.
• Podcast – I was invited to participate in a podcast this week. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into (this was a first), but I accepted. The moderator made me feel comfortable, and the other participants were great. We talked about mentorship, which I’m passionate about. A terrific experience!
• Students – As I said in a recent post, I really want to help entrepreneurial students reach their full potential. My earlier post led to a great conversation with a student today. I’ll continue looking for ways to help students.  

Week twenty-nine was a busy one (this seems to be the norm). Looking forward to refining how I organize my work next week.

I’ll continue to learn from this unique situation, adjust as necessary, and share my experience.