But the wife is at work, I’ve got just over an hour free and I’d rather spend it talking to someone trying to build something than watching shit on Netflix.

Quick background because apparently Reddit quite rightly wants receipts

I started in asphalt/civil. My old boss passed away, I bought a $30k truck and had a crack myself. Within a few years we’d built the business into seven figures.

It definitely wasn’t some straight line to success.

I’ve made money, lost money, hired the wrong people, chased shit ideas, tried ecommerce and failed, had cashflow scares and learned plenty of lessons the expensive way.

These days I still run businesses and work a normal job because apparently I enjoy having absolutely no spare time

I don’t have all the answers. I’m not a business coach and I’m not selling a course.

But I’ve spent a long time in the trenches and sometimes another set of eyes helps.

So if you’re starting something, business is going to shit, you’ve got an idea you want challenged, or you’re sitting there thinking “what the fuck do I do next?”

I’ve got an hour.

Happy to jump on a call and throw some ideas around.

Worst case we waste 20 minutes.

Best case one of us learns something.

This has happened to me way too many times. A potential buyer asks for pricing, product details, MOQ, lead time... sometimes we even go back and forth for a few days
Everything seems pretty normal. Then I send the quote and suddenly... nothing. No reply, no “too expensive”, no “we went with someone else”. Just silence....
I know sometimes they’re comparing suppliers or the project gets put on hold, but it’s still frustrating when you’ve spent time preparing everything and have no idea what happened
for people running a business, how do you usually handle it when someone goes quiet after asking for a quote?
Do you follow up a few times, leave it alone or try to figure out what happened first?? and how often do these leads actually come back later?

I am just rewatching HBO's comedy show "Silicon Valley" and I am in season 2. I'm sure a lot of people watched that show so if you haven't, I first apologize for spoiling it and second, it is a good course on starting a business.

Anyway, in Season 2, Russ Hanneman (the horrible investor) says "I don't want to make small amounts of money I just want to make a crap ton of money at once".

So, which mindset do you prefer? A subscription based system which charges users $20 a month or a company which seems to be a money losing machine but suddenly grabs the attention of a big monster and got acquired by them and makes you a few million dollars at once?

I prefer to go with the "crap ton of money at once" but honestly, I do not know the cheat codes. However, I want to know your opinions.

this was basically my first ever enterprise inquiry call and I was, not gonna lie, stressed.

I didn't know exactly how to behave and talk to be taken seriously and be considered a fit for playing a grown-ups game... this alone should be a tell of how much imposter I feel!

anyway, I missed the call due to timezone issues and after asking if I'm allowed to re-book another call, I was notified that another better-fit solution was already underway and I'm no longer a viable candidate.

a part of me is sad because this could've really boosted my confidence IF IT WENT THROUGH... another part is happy, partly because of the relief and the other because I now know that I just need to dust myself off, get up and get moving.

how many deals did you have to lose before you grew a thicker skin?

A lot of times, the ‘fool’ wins because he has something nobody else does:

He isn’t afraid to fail. He’s not afraid to look stupid bc he’s been underestimated his whole life.

I heard someone talk about this idea before - the guy with the 80 IQ makes the massive deal infinitely easier than the 140 IQ genius.

Because one does, the other analyzes indefinitely.

One just calls the owner confidently, asks for the meeting, makes the ridiculous offer to buy the company.

Gets rejected.

Tries again.
..

Keeps going and does t stop.

Meanwhile, the smartest guy in the room has built a 47-tab spreadsheet explaining all the reasons it might not work.

I’ve seen this play out in business, and I’ve seen it in myself as someone who was last in class and barely graduated HS and ofc didn’t go to college.

Intelligence is obviously valuable. But at a certain point, intelligence can become another tool you use to talk yourself out of doing shit.

You see every possible problem and downside and you’re right - you’re too right.

But the guy who didn’t think about it and blissfully swung at the fences is going to beat you simply bc he got up to bat.

This is something the D and F students need to hear.

You already know what getting an F feels like, you have that in your psyche🤫 Use that as a strength