I send one action packed email a week called a 1x1x1 covering crazy cool businesses I spot, updates on what we're building and buying, and lessons from the journey of an entrepreneur.
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For those of you that are new here, every week I send what I call a 1x1x1.
One thought from my week.
One interesting find/tool from my week.
One image from my life.
Let's dive in 👇
This has been my 13in screen for the last few weeks. Just terminals. Just building.
But finally after almost a year of development, and 56 test editions of the app, the first version of Luna is getting pushed to the Google Play and Apple App stores.
And now I wait in silence as the gods at Apple and Google decide if it's ready for the wild.
And right before hitting publish, I had one of those moments where you stop and think:
“Wow Ben… way to pick a really hard problem to solve.” (said sarcastically, to myself, at least 14 times)
This has been the most challenging project I’ve ever worked on.
Not the longest.
Not the most expensive.
The hardest.
I’ve started calling Luna a black diamond business.
Why?
There are a lot of ways to make money.
And there are a lot of types of businesses.
As a skier, it’s fun (and oddly accurate) to think about them like ski runs:
🟢 Green circle businesses
Business models that have been around forever.
Agencies. Services. Consulting.
Clear paths. Known terrain. Lots of signs telling you where to go.
🔵 Blue square businesses
Trades. Blue-collar. Retail. E-commerce.
Still hard work, but the map exists. You can see where you’re headed.
⚫ Black diamond businesses
Venture-backed companies. Consumer tech. Food & beverage.
Anything where product-market fit is not guaranteed and the category might not even exist yet.
⚫⚫ Double black diamond businesses
Anything Elon starts.
No explanation needed.
None of these are better than the others.
This isn’t a hierarchy. It’s just… awareness.
Because sometimes it helps to pause and ask yourself:
What kind of run am I actually about to ski for the next few years of my life?
Black diamond runs are steep.
They’re icy.
You fall a lot.
And there are moments where you seriously question your decisions halfway down.
But… there’s a bright side.
There are way fewer skiers on black diamond runs.
My agency has tens of thousands of competitors.
Luna has… like five. 😂
Different risks.
Different rewards.
Different kind of suffering.
So I’ll ask you the same thing I asked myself right before hitting publish:
What run are you skiing down right now?
Nothing worthy of your attention!
We've been having a lot of fun in the snow!
