For those of you that are new here, every week I send what I call a 1x1x1.
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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

I chat with a lot of young people (18-24 years old) that want to start their first business (and judging by my inbox, a lot of you read this newsletter 👋).

The questions are almost always the same:

• “Is this a good idea?”
• “Should I raise money?”
• “How do I hire people?”
• “What business would you start if you were me?”

…and about 47 other variations of “How do I become the next million-dollar founder by Tuesday?”

Unfortunately, I usually disappoint them.

Because my number one recommendation is…

Go get a job.

I know.

Not exactly the motivational speech you were hoping for.

You wanted me to tell you to max out your credit cards, move into a garage, survive exclusively on ramen, and “just hustle.”

Instead I’m over here saying, “Have you considered… a W-2?”

Hear me out.

I was exactly where you are.

I wanted to start a company, raise venture capital, build something massive, and maybe end up on the cover of Inc. magazine looking dramatically out a window.

That didn’t happen.

Instead, like a lot of first businesses, mine crashed into the side of the mountain.

Don’t get me wrong. I learned a ton.

But I also stress-sweated through enough dress shirts to personally keep Dry Clean USA in business.

Then something happened that completely changed the trajectory of my career.

I got hired.

I packed my bags, moved to San Francisco, and joined a company called Outsell.

Looking back, it was one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made.

It felt like someone was paying me to get an MBA… except instead of sitting in a classroom talking about case studies, I was inside one.

I sat next to the CEO and watched how a real company actually worked.

How they hired.

How they fired.

How they raised money.

How they pitched enterprise clients.

How they built products.

How they made tough decisions.

How they handled days when everything was on fire.

It was like getting handed the playbook that nobody gives first-time founders.

Then I had a realization.

It would have taken me years of making expensive mistakes to learn what I picked up in four years there.

After that, I left and started building businesses again.

This time things looked… very different.

Not because I suddenly became smarter.

Not because I had some revolutionary idea.

Because I finally knew how good businesses actually operated.

I had the playbook.

Here’s the thing:

A great first job doesn’t delay entrepreneurship.

It can really accelerate it.

You get paid to learn.

You build a network.

You make mistakes with someone else’s money instead of your own.

You save some cash.

Then, nights and weekends, you build your own thing.

And when you’re finally ready…

Send it.

The goal isn’t to avoid entrepreneurship.

The goal is to show up with a much bigger toolbox than I did.

Your future founder self will thank you.

Find / tool

My wife sent me this Wednesday. I'm embarrassed to say I laughed my ass off for 2 minutes 😂

Image from my life

Happy belated fathers day to all the dads out there!

See you all next week!