Happy July 4th!

I hope everyone had a safe and healthy holiday!

This weekend, I’ve listened to friends discuss the macro environment. One of my big takeaways is that there’s an aversion to risk right now. Everyone is focused on the downside and avoiding losses. This happened fast. Eight months or so ago we were at all-time highs in public markets. Many were leaning into risk as valuations continued to rise. They were focused on the upside.

It's fascinating to watch risk tolerance change so quickly. For many, it took years to warm up to embracing risk and upside. But it was only a matter of months before the focus shifted to risk avoidance.

I can’t predict what’s going to happen with the macro market, but I’ll be watching closely. I’m curious to see when people will begin to lean into risk again. I suspect that those who take a contrarian position and embrace risk before the masses will set themselves up for outsize returns.

I’ve been doing all kinds of entrepreneurial things since I was a kid. Some of them were crazy. As long as they weren’t too far out there or unsafe, my dad supported my pursuing my ideas, even though he wasn’t an entrepreneur. He did whatever he could and even got his hands dirty to help me get some of them off the ground. His encouragement was pivotal and led to my embracing entrepreneurship. I’m thankful and appreciative that he’s always been so supportive.

Happy Father’s Day, Pops! I appreciate the love and support. Couldn’t have done it without you.

Today I visited Miami for some meetings. I hadn’t been there in a few years, so I made a point of paying attention to the start-up ecosystem—the parts of it I saw, anyway. A few quick thoughts:

• Energy –There’s a different energy in Miami. It’s hard to explain, but there’s a buzz in the air. Proximity to the ocean’s probably part of it.
• Diversity – The start-up ecosystem has more international diversity than other cities I’ve visited. Miami is more of an international city, so that makes sense.
• Density – The WeWork space I visited was full of people and activity. I spoke with the community manager, and she said all their Miami locations have 95% or greater occupancy. A few are at 100%. As of today, WeWork’s website lists seven locations.
• Passing through – I visited a few places to meet with founders and investors. I got the feeling that, like me, most people were just passing through. I assume this was more a function of where I visited than a representation of the entire ecosystem. I’d like to validate this with more visits.
• Serendipity – Lots of chance encounters are happening in Miami. Lots of people with connections to various start-up ecosystems are moving around the city. It looks like a great place to build relationships with people who have ties to other cities and countries.

I was in town for only a few hours, so these are just flyby observations. I’m looking forward to going back and learning more about the ecosystem.

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I hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day with friends and family!

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A few weeks back, a buddy shared his thoughts on my posts. He made a great point about being a conduit and how effective that’s been in helping connect different networks he’s a part of. That stuck with me, and I’ve been noodling on it since.

I have lots of interests that most would say aren’t related. Because of them, I’ve built relationships in circles that don’t overlap. I’ve developed great friendships with people in separate networks, which has helped me have a different perspective than many other people do.

Over the years, I’ve found myself being a conduit for people in these various groups. It wasn’t something I put much thought into. I just did it because I felt like good people should know other good people, even if they don’t run in the same circles.

As I’ve been thinking more about the conduit concept, I’ve realized the impact that being a conduit has had. It’s a small sample size, but the results are clear. Bridging different worlds has led to positive changes in the lives of people close to me that I’d never have predicted. They’ve seen things and met people who have, in some cases, had a material impact on the trajectory of their lives.

Being more strategic and intentional about serving as a conduit could help more people. I’m not sure what that would look like or how it would scale, but it’s definitely something I want to do.  

I had a conversation with an early founder who’s spent time in Atlanta’s and San Francisco’s start-up ecosystems. He’s trying to decide which will be his home base. I’m a huge advocate for Atlanta, so I was curious to hear his perspective on the two cities. He shared a variety of things, and the main thing he said stuck with me: San Francisco embraces dreamers; Atlanta embraces hustlers.

From his time in San Francisco, he learned it’s a city that respects big, outlandish visions. Even if it sounds crazy, people (investors and other founders) will support it. There’s a belief that the outlandish can become reality, have a big impact on society, and generate massive financial returns. Atlanta, he said, is a city that respects action and execution. Getting stuff done and moving things forward matter most. People prefer execution to big visions.

I’ve never heard anyone make this comparison before, and it got me thinking. I haven’t spent enough time out west to judge San Francisco, but I do know Atlanta well. I’m not sure that I agree with him. I think Atlanta embraces big-picture thinking but is also pragmatic. The pragmatism is rooted in the exits local start-ups have had. As those exits have increased in size, so have beliefs around what’s practical (for better or worse). As more founders have larger exits, I think we’ll continue to see bigger dreams embraced by the city.

I was catching up with friends yesterday. One of my buddies I haven’t seen in a few years was there. We’ve known each other since childhood, and we both migrated to Atlanta after graduation. We were catching up on life and how we navigated the pandemic when he casually mentioned that he reads my blog and finds its content helpful. There were other people around, and that remark sparked a great conversation about the power of knowledge, proximity to success, and the impact that mindset has on the ability to accomplish something great. Most of the people involved in the conversation aren’t entrepreneurs (yet), but they were engaged and had lots to offer from their perspectives.

I rarely talk about work and haven’t discussed my blog (for better or worse) with childhood friends, so yesterday was an anomaly. The conversation was enlightening for several reasons. One was that it reminded me that there’s a desire by non-entrepreneurs for the same information and experience sharing that entrepreneurs appreciate. Lots of learnings derived from the entrepreneurial journey are helpful for non-entrepreneurs too (e.g., the value of self-awareness).

I rarely hear from people outside tech or entrepreneurship about my posts. The conversation was motivation not only to keep writing but also to consider other ways to share my experiences with non-entrepreneurs.

I watched a fireside chat by a successful founder yesterday. He shared his thoughts on the importance of one’s network and the impact his has had on his career. Advice he got from mentors twenty years ago continues to be the foundation for his growing enterprise. He believes strongly that you’re an average of the five people you surround yourself with. He also believes your net worth is a result of your network.

The people in your network can have a big impact on your trajectory, for better or worse. I was a nontechnical founder who knew zero about software. Being friends with other founders who were building software was the impetus for me to pursue building software for my start-up. The software was the backbone of our ability to scale the company to over $10 million in annual revenue. And I could give you countless other examples of how my network led to big wins throughout my journey.

Founders should be mindful of the outsize impact their network can have. A strong network can’t replace execution. You still must do the work. But a network of credible people can be a great complement that accelerates your success.

Over the last eighteen months, Atlanta has seen an influx of new residents. I was able to chat with a local commercial real estate expert recently. He’s lived in other major metropolitan cities out west and has a unique perspective. I was curious to hear his thoughts on Atlanta as a city and from a commercial real estate perspective.

He’s bullish on Atlanta and believes the city has the ingredients for sustained growth. Here are a few takeaways:

• Expandable – The city has undeveloped and underdeveloped areas to support its growth. Other major cities, such as San Francisco and New York, have a limited ability to expand to support residential and commercial real estate growth. We specifically discussed the west side of Atlanta; for instance, West Midtown.
• Tech hub – Several large companies are establishing tech offices in Atlanta. Some of them have had small offices or small teams based in the city in the past. This time is different. Some are constructing entire buildings and hiring thousands of employees. See here, here, here, and here. These employers are bringing high-paying jobs that many believe are less susceptible to economic downturns. And all those employees are looking for housing and can afford more (especially if they’re coming from more expensive markets).
• Insufficient housing supply – Single-family homes are likely to be in short supply for the foreseeable future because of the city’s popularity as a place to live and other factors. Builders are playing catch-up, but it’s going to take a while.‍
• Warehouse demand – Warehousing space is in high demand like never before. Properties that were vacant for many years are being snapped up or leased at a record pace. Some industrial areas with lots of warehouses are experiencing a renaissance and being turned into trendy mixed-use space.

I found these insights interesting, especially since they’re from a seasoned real estate expert. All signs point to Atlanta growing for the foreseeable future. It’s a great city, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds!