Crazy Buy In🏁

Happy Thursday.

This week I'm pumped about a slow-burning deal that turned into total organizational buy-in, learning to face stillness (thanks to a book that's basically slapping me in the face), and realizing just how intense it is to keep tabs on an angel investment portfolio (despite fancy tools out there).

Here are three things on my mind this week, plus some fascinating reads I think you'll enjoy.

🔖Bookmarks of the Week

1. Research on why abbreviations devalue your message✍️| Giacomo Falcone @ (link)

2. The case for why writing a long email is more effective than a meeting⏳| Wes Kao (link)

3. Your SO or your startup? Choose 1. Raw post from Steve Blank on the hard realities of startup life in a marriage.💔| (link)

🔍Three Things On My Mind

1. A Slow Close Can Create Crazy Buy In🏁

This week we finally closed a major service deal. Woohoo!

It took forever to get across the finish line. So much more work than I thought it would be.

And for that, I’m grateful. Here’s why:

We now have massive organizational buy in from top to bottom.

The customer could’ve just signed our initial proposal and been done with it. But they didn’t - they reviewed, considered, debated, and have now finalized a material investment in growth.

People are raising their hand all over the place to help us hit the major objectives for the year, and I’m totally energized.

2. Angel Portfolio Monitoring is Hard🧐

Wrangling quarterly updates from dozens of portfolio companies, parsing through paperwork to understand markups - it’s tedious, time consuming work that requires tremendous organization and consistency.

This week I got into the nuts and bolts of the process on behalf of an entire community, and let me tell you - it’s a lot of work. There are some great tools out there that make this job easier, one top-of-mind example being Seraf Investor, but even still, it’s a lot for anyone to handle.

3. Be Still.🧘‍♂️

Confession: I am terrified of being still.

There are only 24 hours in a day, and I’m hyper-aware of this limitation. Over the last couple years, I have started investing manaically in building leverage on my time. How can I maximize my impact? Delegate and elevate? Make the biggest mark?

Being still often feels like the antithesis of this. It forces me to waste time by not being productive, not contributing, not progressing, not creating, not doing anything. It’s kind of horrible.

It reminds me that I’m not the point.

That the world will carry on without me.

That my days are numbered.

That life is like kettle vapor - a mist that vanishes.

So, naturally, some friends and I decided to read “Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools” by Tyler Staton.

It’s been a glorious, convicting punch in the face, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Until Next Week👋

Thanks for reading - have a great week.

-Andrew

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How did I do this week?

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About Me

I cultivate flourishing.

I'm also the CEO of PitchFact, where our mission is to cultivate flourishing specifically through efficient and collaborative early-stage diligence. I'm a proud husband, grateful father, and honest friend. My love languages include brisket, bourbon, and a handwritten note.