Welcome to Issue 7!
This week, I’m going to address two things: one; the new name and two; where the hell I’ve been since December.
When I started this newsletter, I wanted to avoid letting “coming up with a rad name” block me from shipping the first few editions of the damned thing. I named it “Andy’s Newsletter,” and it accomplished my intended goal.
When I began coaching, a friend taught me the etymology of the word “coaching.” Its roots come from the carriages people used to ride in when people wore giant dresses and everybody looked like they were doing serious business all the time—they called them “coaches.”
The purpose of a coach is the same, no matter whether in the sense of a person you hire or a carriage: it’s to get people from where they are to where they’d like to go.
After publishing six issues, I got tired of “Andy’s Newsletter.” I had an idea one day in the place wonderful ideas come from—the shower—to rename my newsletter to “Coach Class.” Coach Class will continue to have a goal to educate and equip leaders (class!) to help people identify and achieve their goals (like a coach)…all for the very economy…ahem “coach class” price of free.
Next, I’d like to make a brief apology for disappearing. I made a commitment to publish at least every two weeks, and then didn’t do what I said I would. Instead, I prioritized something else (more on that below). What I wish I had done was let everyone know then instead of now. But late is better than never, right?
So what was more important than this newsletter? Kate was (and still is). Who is Kate? Kate’s my partner, girlfriend, the person I’m committed to be paired up with. She got a life changing job offer in December that required her—us—to move back to San Francisco from Denver (where we had moved only in May of 2021). We had to make some quick and big decisions. We did.
The last three months have been a flurry of packing, moving, carrying empty boxes down three flights of stairs, taking our first real vacation since summer 2019, and generally getting our heads screwed back on straight.
Going forward, you can expect very-close-to-weekly newsletters filled with anecdotes, frameworks, and resources I come up with and come across as I work with 15-20 venture backed founders on how to manage, lead, and live.
That’s it for this week. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
Andy.