The Ultimate Startup - Ben's 1x1x1 - July 4, 2025 🚀
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
Sometimes I think about how the founding of America was basically a startup.
A group of rebels with no roadmap, no funding, and a giant superpower breathing down their necks.
They were wildly outmatched, constantly underestimated, and plagued with early-stage problems such as infighting, resource shortages, logistics nightmares, and the not-so-minor detail of trying to build a functioning country while literally being at war.
And yet, like all the best startups, they saw something others didn’t.
An opportunity.
Freedom. Self-determination. A new market for ideas, enterprise, and exploration.
A geographic position that was hard to invade and easy to trade from.
Untapped resources, land, and a population of scrappy people willing to bet everything on a better future.
Was it messy? Absolutely. Chaotic? For sure.
But the big swing they took in 1776 became the seed of something that changed the world.
So to the founders of this still-young startup called America, thank you.
You knew what all great founders eventually learn: bold declarations and a determined team can create the future.
Happy 4th of July. 🇺🇸
Interesting find/tool of the week
Trello still slaps.
I’ve tried every project management tool under the sun (Asana, ClickUp, Notion, Monday, Tuesday, ThirstyThursday.ai).
At Pono Ventures we run hard on Asana.
But for my little newspaper side quest? I needed something lighter.
So I went full archaeologist and dug up Trello… a tool I hadn’t touched since Obama was in office.
And you know what?
It’s perfect.
Just boards, cards, and vibes.
Sometimes you don’t need a Ferrari.
You just need a damn bicycle with air in the tires.
Simple wins.
Image from my life
Parker just completed her first lap around the sun ☀️
But the real win?
Amelia and I kept a tiny snack-obsessed human alive for 365 days straight.
No user manual. No sleep. Just vibes and asking AI “is this normal??” at 2am.