Startup Newsletter

Startup life is a battle.

→ 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽
→ you're on a battleship

The battle is 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝘀.

→ a battle for your mindset (𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵)
→ along with the startup tactical battle (𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸)

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲.

→ will you 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (a decision followed by action)
→ are you wi...

Something all founders have in common

→ Freedom to
→ Freedom from

At some point

Every founder made the leap of faith

To pursue their version of the American Dream

Something that requires much courage

→ we're told
→ 70% of the global workforce
→ want to become entrepreneurs
→ to leave the 9-5

But ...

I treat every startup as a turnaround

→ it's how 90% of our ventures succeed 📈

→ it's how we go from flawed

→ to viable

→ everyone knows the rules 🚀

When you treat everything as flawed
The flaws get exposed
You pivot early — becoming viable
BEFORE you go-to-market

→ but if you don't believe your...

Giving-up isn't a pivot

→ It's quitting
→ It always follows
→ Failing to raise capital
→ Or failing to land customers

But there's a big difference

Between quitting

And starting over

I start over all the time

When one of my ideas doesn't work

→ I take courage
→ Go back to square one
→ Work through ...

Founders - Great brands

→ will attract and repel

Magnets always 𝗱𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵.

Every startup founder must 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱

And the brand must 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

And 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲

→ For instance

→ Though I'm not the only one on our team

→ I have become the brand at CanaGlobal

→ And our brand h...

We only trust & invest in founders with a slight limp

→ The ones who are battle-tested
→ And have the scars to prove it
→ When they got knocked down
→ They got back up

Why do we love them

First they tell great stories

These are the ones you invite over for steaks

To smoke cigars and share a bourbo...

I love founders who bet on themselves

→ Henry 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗱 $25𝗞 on his CC in 2007

→ ZoomInfo wasn't always the $8B giant it is today

→ At 23, he was his first investor

→ He invested $25k on his credit card

→ He invested in himself and his startup DiscoverOrg (Now ZoomInfo)

𝗛𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱

It took ...

Faith Driven VC have their own investment criteria

→ And 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 DEI or ESG

→ Instead 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗠𝗘𝗜 + (𝗦𝗜)

→ What's MEI

→ Merit, Excellence and Intelligence

→ What's SI

→ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲

I'm fascinated by AI, but I love SI more, because it's the wisdom from God

It's called discernment

Tr...

Founders - $hit happens 💩

→ Use the $hit to bounce back

Startup life is hard, no matter the stage

The deal you thought was going to happen, didn't

Many times you'll get to the end of your runway

→ Feels like MASSIVE failure

→ The $hit has hit the fan

→ Startup life becomes a complete $hit sho...