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Hey, I'm Ben!

I build, buy, and invest in businesses.

I've had 2 successful exits. Way more failures.

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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Ben's 1x1x1 - How the hell did I get here? - February 19, 2026 🚀

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 👇

Thought from the week


Have you ever started a business…

and then woken up 2 years later like: How the hell did I get here?”

Like you blinked…

and somehow you’re running a company you don’t even remember consciously choosing.

If so congratulations. You’re normal.

This was me 2 years ago.

I had just come off selling a company.

Big milestone.

Instead of taking a breath and asking, “What do I actually want to build next?”

I did what I do best:

I started solving problems.

“I can fix that.”

“Oh that’s broken? I’ll build something.”

“That’s inefficient? I’ve got an idea.”

Two years later…

On paper?

The growth consulting + agency practice looked great.

Revenue solid.

Clients solid.

Team solid.

Soul?

Getting slowly vacuumed out of my body like a dementor hovering over my gmail.

Here’s what made it tricky:

It didn’t start as a mistake.

It actually started very intentionally.

The trap wasn’t laziness.

The trap was signal.

The market was talking.

Clients were asking.

Money was flowing.

And I followed the signal.

Now, following signal is how you find product-market fit.

It’s smart. It’s disciplined. It’s responsible.

Until it isn’t.

Until you wake up realizing you’ve followed the market so closely…

that you built a prison of your own making.

You optimized for demand.

You forgot to optimize for desire and longterm goals.

And then the hardest part isn’t starting something new.

It’s unwinding.

Clients you care about.

Team members who rely on you.

Revenue you’re used to seeing.

Cashflow that's been helpful for your family.

That’s a much heavier lift than launching.

I was reminiscing about this with my business partner recently and it hit me:

Speed is dangerous without direction.

So if you’re building right now, here’s the question I wish I had asked earlier:

  • Is this what I want to be doing for the next 5–10 years?
  • If this doubles… will I be excited or trapped?
  • Is this actually what I set out to build?

Seasons of “yes” are powerful.

Following signal is powerful.

Just make sure you’re not accidentally signing a 10-year lease on a life you didn’t mean to rent.

Interesting Tool/Find

I've talked about it before and I'll talk about it again (why not).

I've done 250 sessions (1,988 minutes) of meditation on The Way app.

I've never stuck with a daily meditation practice for this long.

And I'll just say it... damn I feel good.

I feel like a Jedi floating on a cloud 60% of the time which is a big improvement.

If you're feel tight, down and stressed regularly, I recommend giving it a go.

The first 10-20 sessions are really hard.

But like going to the gym, it's get's easier with time and reps.

Image from my life

No caption. Just a few of my favorite things in one photo.

See you all next week!