Today marks the end of my one-hundred-eleventh week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week one hundred eleven:

• Atlanta – Lots of people in various circles I’m part of who don’t live in Atlanta are noticing what the city has to offer. Not just in tech and start-ups, but in other aspects of life. I’m not surprised, but it still feels good.
• Seeds – Seeds I planted years ago began to bear fruit this week. This has happened many times before, but I’m still surprised, as it’s unexpected. It reinforces that doing good can lead to something good (even though that’s not the motive).  
• Attitude change – Last week I noticed a shift in people’s attitude toward investing. This week, the stock market continued to be a topic of conversation with investors and founders and in friend circles. I’m continuing to monitor this. Feels like sentiment is changing.  

Week one hundred eleven was another high-activity week. Next week will be a little slower.

Today marks the end of my one-hundred-tenth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week one hundred ten:

• Attitude change – I noticed a shift in people’s attitude toward investing this week. The stock market was a topic of conversation with a lot of people, which felt odd. When I talked to other investors it came up, and that wasn’t surprising, but it also came up during a few founder calls and in my friend group, which I didn’t expect. I’m curious to see what people’s attitude toward investing will look like going forward.
• Hustling – I spent this week doing a bit of strategic hustling. It’s always interesting to see how hustling can open doors that you’d never have expected.
• Labor – A friend broke down the current state of the labor market based on his hiring challenges. People think differently about how, when, and where to work. It feels like we’re in the midst of a seismic shift.

Week one hundred ten was a high-activity week. I expect next week to be more of the same.

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

• Focus – This week, I was intentional about carving out time to focus, and it served me well. I was able to move the needle on some important projects and have conversations about my progress with the right people.
• Multiples – I spent time working with some well-capitalized companies this week. They raised at high multiples (in historical terms) in the last year or so. Now they’re trying to figure out how to achieve the growth targets they agreed to when they raised those rounds. They’re facing some difficult decisions. I suspect more companies are in this situation. Should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Week one hundred nine was a week of focus and much activity. Looking forward to repeating that mix next week.

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.

Today marks the end of my one-hundred-seventh week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week one hundred seven:

• Circle – The people you surround yourself with have a big impact on your trajectory. I’ve got great people around me, and I’m excited about what’s in store.
• Vacation – Had some downtime this past week. It was great to unplug, unwind, and reflect. I’m looking forward to going into next week recharged.
• Intuition – This week was a reminder that intuition is helpful in decision-making.

Week one hundred seven was relaxed. I feel great, and I’m looking forward to next week.

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I shared a story with someone about facing a big decision. Each choice had pros and cons, but I felt confident about a particular direction. It took a number of years to play out, but the decision proved to be the correct one. When my friend asked why I made that decision, I said I trusted my gut. I couldn’t articulate my reasoning beyond that, which seemed odd to my friend.

There’s power in gut instinct. But like any skill, practice is needed to improve it and be confident of your ability to use it. I’m not saying everyone should make decisions using their gut, but I believe that more often than not, people have intuition about what they should do but ignore it. I’ve found that my gut instinct is accurate most of the time.

Nowadays, when I need to make a decision, I ask myself at the outset what my gut is telling me and make sure I’m clear on that before I start looking at data or analyzing the situation more. Once I’ve concluded what I should do based on the data, I compare that to what my intuition is telling me. It’s an interesting exercise that continues to help me lean more on intuitive decision-making in certain situations.

Today marks the end of my one-hundred-sixth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week one hundred six:

• Serendipitous interactions – I was introduced to some great people, unexpectedly, in the last few weeks. Just because I was in the right place at the right time. Serendipity is a powerful force that’s often underestimated.
• Vacation – Next week I have some downtime planned. Looking forward to resting and recharging.
• Atlanta – I’ve been spending time helping people close to me transition to Atlanta. Excited to see others excited about moving to the city I hold near and dear! Atlanta is a great place, and people are noticing that.

Week one hundred six was a fluid one. Looking forward to relaxing during my vacation

A few months back, I shared my thoughts on knowledge and how it’s like compound interest. This quote from Warren Buffett stuck with me:

Read 500 pages every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.

I don’t read 500 pages every day, but I’ve developed a way to build up knowledge. Here are a few things I do:

• YouTube – I’m a fan of the platform and pay for the premium membership (I hate ads). I subscribe to a handful of channels across a variety of my interests and check them a few times a week for new, interesting videos. If I’m trying to get up to speed on a new topic, I usually search for someone credible to learn from.
• Twitter – For many years, I underestimated the educational power of Twitter. It takes time to get your feed tuned to show things you care about. Once you have, it’s a great source of knowledge because many subject matter experts openly share their thinking and resources. (Lots of noise, too, but worth it.) A few times a week I check my feed and check the tweets of a handful of people I follow. This often leads to great articles, videos, or other sources of knowledge.
• Blogs – I send all blog subscriptions to a specific email inbox that I browse periodically. I read posts that catch my eye because I enjoy reading the thoughts of other people on things I’m interested in.
• Articles – A few times a week, I browse news sources, such as Bloomberg or The Information. I look for topics I’m interested in. This is probably my least favorite method, but it’s still helpful.
• Books – I keep a stack of books that I want to read. The topics vary—they’re not all about business. This is my favorite way to learn. Holidays, vacations, and other off times are when I’m able to read most.
• Podcasts – I subscribe to a few podcasts, mostly focused on business.

My goal is to learn for an hour each weekday. (On weekends my goal is similar, but I give myself more leeway.) How I do it varies from day to do. I’ve learned that the habit of learning consistently is what’s important; a rigid schedule isn’t necessary.

Today marks the end of my one-hundred-fifth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week one hundred five:

• Insular communities – I thought about this and had some good conversations about it this week. My thoughts are still evolving on this topic, and it’s something I want to figure out how to solve for.
• Quarter end – The first quarter went by quickly. Lots of good things happened last quarter, and I have more great things planned for the second quarter. This should be a good year.
• Positive momentum – Had a great chat with a buddy about responding to positive momentum. Some people pull back, but those who do great things build on positive momentum, and it has a compounding effect over time. The chat was a good reminder to not let up—to push, even when things are already going your way.

Week one hundred five was a week of catch-up. I’m all caught up now and looking forward to a busy April.

Today marks the end of my one-hundred-fourth week of working from home (mostly). Here are my takeaways from week one hundred four:

• New Orleans Entrepreneur Week – I spent part of the week at this event. It exceeded my expectations. I had no idea the city had $2 billion in exits last year. Those exits, along with other traction, have created massive momentum that will lead to great things.
• Common threads – This week reinforced how commonalities help us forge deeper connections with people. They’re powerful as we build relationships and work to understand who people really are (as opposed to how they want to be perceived).
• Proximity to success – Being around other people who are doing great things can have a powerful impact. You may become aware of a path you didn’t know about. Your beliefs about what’s possible expand. When you see that one person has done something, you will begin to believe it can be done, and that you can do it.

Week one hundred four was full of activity. I learned a lot and connected with many great people.

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