Issue No. 4: Rigorous Thinking, Hiring for Head of Growth, Physical Pain and Needlessly Tolerating, and more.
Hey Everyone!
This week I'm thinking about "Founder Club," an unofficial term I use to refer to the camaraderie and mutual respect most founders somehow figure out how to bestow upon each other. For example, I met up with a founder in Boulder I have followed on Twitter for over seven years last Friday.
We walked and talked for almost two hours, and I kept thinking about what this quality is. When I see someone with experience as a founder, I feel like I instantly know a part of them. I know that they're tough shit, that they're willing to get in the ring and fight for something. I immediately respect it and know that there is undoubtedly something about this person I can fall in love with, a connection we can share.
Why is "Founder Club" relevant? I take it for granted now, after using the founder title/identity for ten years. And after coaching a lot of first-time founders, I realize that not everybody knows about "Founder Club." It's informal, but it has real benefits. If you're part of "Founder Club," founders will respond to your Twitter DMs (maybe not all the time, but often enough). Founders will hang out with you for coffee. They'll help you reference check investors, share strategies that are working, and more.
So, my message this week: take advantage of Founder Club. And have a great rest of the week.
Things I Found This Week (That You Might Find Interesting)
Wes Kao, co-founder at Maven, tweeted a great thread on building a culture of rigorous thinking.
Andrew Chen, partner at A16Z, shared a new essay on "what to look for when you're hiring a head of growth." On the same subject, Lenny Rachitsky shared a guest post in his newsletter by Elena Verna on 6 rules of hiring for growth.
John Danner, the only person to make it in every edition of this newsletter so far, tweeted another thread that's a must read, this time on how important it is your get out there and talk to customers.
Kate has been working on a few new screenplays and introduced me to a podcast called Scriptnotes. In Episode 99, Psychotherapy for Screenwriters, they talk with a former screenwriter turned psychotherapist on issues explicitly related to writers, but so much of it struck me as being "same thing but different" WRT a lot of issues I talk with founders about.
Things Coming Up a Lot
Physical Pain: As many of you know, I hurt my back again last week and was stuck in bed with a heating pad for days. As I've brought this up, many of you have shared stories of your own misadventures with either back pain, bad knees, and more. I was surprised how many folks feel like they deal with chronic pain as if it's something here to stay. Physical pain is a lot like difficult work situations: we either avoid it or try and fight through it, but the best approach can be to figure out where it came from and slowly build up a new strength capable of mitigating the pain. I've found The Anatomy of Movement to be one of the most helpful books when trying to figure out the source of my pain, especially when it's paired with working with a physical therapist. If you're skeptical about working with a PT, my recommendation is to try finding someone who has worked with professional sports teams. If you're in San Francisco, Nina Szemis at Diakadi is terrific.
Network Asks
For new folks, I use this section to feature a few asks from my clients and subscribers looking to use the power of the network to find a resource. If you feel like you can be helpful with an ask below, please reply!
This Week's Asks
No asks this week. Have one for next week? Email or text me one!
Last Week's Asks & Responses
In response to last week's ask for where to find a great VA, two sources came up: Double and Athena (note that they have a long waitlist). Additionally, Maven Recruiting and Premier Talent Partners are both well-known for helping find a great full-time assistant.
That’s it for this week. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
Andy.