Good or Bad, Never Met 'em

Newsletter #12

Author

Kyle Cole
January 17, 2025

Hi,

This week, I’ve been reflecting on a quote often attributed to Shakespeare:

“For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

This idea has countless applications, but the most common takeaway is: whatever happens, happens.

Lately, I’ve been pondering it through the lens of expectations. We often determine whether something is “good” or “bad” based solely on the outcomes it produces.

Let me share a case study to illustrate, and then we’ll dive into this week’s story.

La Marzocco and Starbucks: A Tale of Good and Bad

You might recall I mentioned this story a few weeks ago, but recent news has deepened the lore.

In Starbucks’ early days, they used semi-automatic espresso machines, which required skill and practice to operate. As the company scaled, they approached La Marzocco with a request: build a super-automatic machine that could make espresso at the push of a button.

La Marzocco declined. The vision of fully automated espresso contradicted their philosophy of coffee crafted with care.

At the time, many likely thought this was a terrible business decision. Losing Starbucks as a client—especially as a small company—seemed like a devastating blow.

But fast-forward a couple of decades, and Starbucks’ CEO, Brian Niccol, admitted:

“There’s a shared sense that we have drifted from our core. We have an opportunity to make the store experience better for our partners and, in turn, for our customers.”

In hindsight, La Marzocco’s decision has become a case study in sticking to your values. For coffee purists, it was the right call. For Starbucks, while the move to automation fueled massive growth, some argue it came at the cost of their brand’s essence.

Good? Bad? It depends on who you ask.

The Hero’s Journal: Good and Bad Are Relative

Our heroes are now settled in their swanky new kingdom, ready for the next adventure. Let’s talk about the first two big launches we tackled in our new space—and how expectations shaped our perception of success.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the Wildwood Green launch, which brought in $50,000 on launch day—our biggest yet. Naturally, we wanted to outdo ourselves.

For our next launch, the Royal Purple journal, we doubled down on every aspect: better video content, handmade wooden slipcases, and lessons learned from past releases. The result? A $72,000 launch day—a new record!

We were thrilled.

But then came the Kickstarter for Istoria Magic Academy in February 2021. We went all-in with “Magic Month”: free PDFs, live streams three times a week, weekly giveaways, a video series, and even a podcast. We were all hands on deck.

The first day of the Kickstarter brought in $61,000, compared to Royal Purple’s $72,000 launch day, it felt like a letdown.

Cue the panic. We started adding stretch goals, letting people buy products from our website in the Kickstarter, and giving away free goodies. We thought we had to keep the momentum alive—because we’d convinced ourselves that success could only be measured by one day’s number.

Looking back, the panic was fairly unnecessary. The Kickstarter ultimately raised $303,000 over a month—our most successful campaign ever.

Here’s the lesson: expectations can rob you of joy. By focusing on an arbitrary metric of “good,” we tainted what should’ve been a celebratory moment.

Now, I’m proud of both the Royal Purple launch and the Kickstarter campaign. Both taught us valuable lessons about how to define success—and to see the bigger picture.

Atypical: Growth Without Pressure

Trey and I recently did a post-mortem on his second merch launch. He asked, “Do you think it went well?” My honest answer: “I don’t know.”

Here’s the thing: sales were better than the first drop. The marketing was more polished, the organization was smoother, and the overall reception was great.

But the most significant takeaway? Trey isn’t chasing arbitrary metrics. He’s focused on growing impact, not just revenue.

It’s refreshing to work with someone who truly believes there’s no “good” or “bad”—just progress and lessons.

Reading

I’ve been diving into Steve Magness’s books and YouTube channel recently. One of his YouTube Shorts really stuck with me:

“The difference between suffering and performance is that performance seeks a specific outcome.”

Here’s my takeaway: doing hard things is essential for growth, but hardship alone doesn’t guarantee progress. Intent matters. If you’re pushing yourself without purpose, you’re just suffering—not performing.

It’s a reminder that the relationship between suffering and goals are important. You don’t have to achieve the goals necessarily, just having a reason for the hardship compounds the lessons you learn. 

Coffee

This week, my sister and her husband visited, and I got to give them my full spiel on coffee bean processing. I really enjoyed that. 

I also made a brown butter syrup for our lattes, and it was a hit. If I get even one email about it, I’ll make a YouTube video on how to do it.

Conclusion

There is no good or bad—there just is.

We often don’t control outcomes, but we can control our actions. Do the necessary work. Push through the hard things. Let the rest unfold as it will.

Sometimes it takes 20 years to see the gift in an outcome (La Marzocco), and sometimes it takes 4 years (The Hero’s Journal). Either way, the lesson remains: stop defining things by “good” or “bad.” Just let them be.

Bye for now,
Kyle

Some of the videos from the launches: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EQvMQUKLYo ← Kickstarter Live Stream launch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZhwjV3XzZ8 ← Istoria Magic Academy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtVzIud1Jqk ← Istoria Magic Academy Announcement