Enough is Enough!

Hi, 

I have been thinking about 2 things today: 

1. There has been a lot of fuss lately about the founder’s mindset. The 9-9-6 schedule is all the rage, and the narrative that says you have to give everything to get the chance at everything is as loud as it has ever been. 

2. I was reading a thought from Steve Magness today, he talked about the human ability to raise expectations. The average house in 1950 was 950 sqft, today the average house is 2400 Sqft. Over the last 75 years, we have found a way to make what is good enough more than it was. It is an interesting concept. 

Let’s Dive in: 

As a former founder, I can completely understand the perspective of hiring people with the “founder’s mindset”, I can even say that I have made decisions for this exact reason. The desire when you are setting out on a new venture to have people in your corner who are willing to suffer just as much as you are, is a fantastic asset to have on your journey. 

On top of having people in your corner, the start-up scene is quantifiably more difficult than it was 20 years ago. In 2005, the app store didn’t even exist for reference. 

I don’t mean to discount how hard it has ever been to start a business, but in the age of AI, Playbooks for everything, and YouTube, the gap between what you can know and what the smartest founders in the world know isn’t actually that large. 

To pile another thing on top of that the world is getting more expensive. We can see all the videos of people in their $200,000 car, $3,000,000 homes, or flying exotic places. There is also a margin between where the internet tells you where you need to be and where you are. 

The cherry on top? There seems to be a race to whoever can carve out their niche in this new AI market. The reward you ask? Unimaginable wealth. 

Founders are essentially assembly crews of pirates and setting out to the end of the Grand Line in hopes of a trove of treasure. 

This is all put into perspective by the second item on today’s docket, as humans we will always be able to find a way to make the things we have or the things we do not sufficient. We will always look for more. 

9-5 5 days a week? You are only going to work 40 hours a week? That’s okay, what is your side hustle? You only make $2,000/month on the side? 

I think the beauty in this idea is that you don’t have to look for the “more” that you want… it will almost certainly find you. 

Okay, let’s tie all this up. 

Good enough will always exist in what you value. If you allow what you value to be subject to things outside of yourself, you will never have enough. 

As a founder you have a choice. You can expect all of your employees to approach your business the way that you do, or you can be thankful that another human gave even a minute of their life to your dream. 

Today was a little all over the place, but I will end with a story. 

Casey recently purchased a condo. First and foremost, I am extremely proud of her, she has been saving up since she was 16 to one day own a home. Super cool stuff. 

Second, there was a lot of work to be done on the condo, cleaning, remodeling, moving, etc. As we work on it, there have been a variety of people who have come to help: my mom, my dad, her mom, Casey’s best friends, her best friends’ boyfriends, different contractors. 

Whenever someone comes in to help, there is always a task to be done, but if that task gets done exactly in the way we thought it would, it is not important (okay maybe it is for the people we paid). But over this process, Casey and I have been blown away how hard people have worked, and how unbelievably helpful everyone has been. 

They do not own this condo, they do not directly benefit from it being a beautiful home, but nonetheless they have put that sweat equity in. 

We are thankful for every minute that they have given us for this project. 

They don’t need to think like an owner to help us. That is our job. 

At the end of the day, Casey and I may grow out of this condo, and we may want “more” someday, but whenever that day comes we will look back at this place and it won’t just be the place we slept, or worked, or ate, it will be the place where we saw people from our lives come in and help us make it something better. 

That will always be enough for us :) 

Kyle

We moved in today, and my brain hurts.