What motivates you?

Greetings,

Recently, I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with a CEO of a startup, and this idea has come up at least three times. Since then, I can’t stop thinking about it.

The idea is simple:

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
—Henry Ford

This quote has become iconic for innovators, offering a license to go out and create something revolutionary—untethered by the constraints of the status quo.

But for me, I keep circling back to one question: Why do we measure cars by horsepower?

In a way, Henry Ford did make a faster horse.

To be honest, the analogy feels lazy, so let me dive a bit deeper.

Missionaries, Mercenaries, Innovators, and Caterers

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump recently, so I’ve turned to business podcasts for inspiration. One theme I keep hearing is this: you’re either a mercenary or a missionary.

Mercenaries create value to sell it. Missionaries create value because they believe in a vision or ideal for the world and use their business to push it forward.

Of course, all businesses need to make money to survive, but this concept applies more to the “why you get out of bed in the morning” question.

Now, let’s layer in another lens: how these value creators operate.

• Some are Innovators—creating what the market didn’t even know it wanted.

• Others are Caterers—taking something the market already knows and loves and making it better.

The Henry Ford quote sparked this thought: the intersection of why (missionary vs. mercenary) and how (innovator vs. caterer) might explain how entrepreneurs approach their work.

I’ve even drawn a coordinate plane to illustrate this idea because, apparently, businesspeople love charts (and so do I).

Finding Your Competitive Advantage

So, what’s the takeaway here?

A big part of entrepreneurship is understanding your competitive advantage. When you know why you’re motivated, you’re tapping into yours.

For me, my motivation is simple: helping people. I don’t need to be the smartest person in the room or the best compensated—I thrive on helping others achieve their potential.

I may not always be the most innovative person, but when it comes down to it, my competitive advantage is this: impact is what drives me.

The Hero’s Journal

Last week, we left the heroes quitting their jobs. This week, we reach a watershed moment: the global pandemic.

Everyone has their own “where were you when the world shut down” story. Mine might be one of the better ones—and yes, it’s a competition.

Some quick context:

• In 2019, we did about $92,000 in revenue. At the time, Nick and I felt like Kennedys.

• January 2020: $41,000 in revenue. Mind-blowing.

• February 2020: $75,000.

• March 2020: another $41,000.

We were riding high—until we ran out of inventory on March 10th.

By that point, we’d already done $155,000 in 2020, blowing 2019 out of the water.

Then, the global pandemic hit. Beyond the pain it caused the world, it completely halted our supply chain.

Enter Quarantine Quest

When the world shut down and people were confined to their homes, a new question emerged: What do I do all day?

Me, Nick, and the team saw an opportunity to help. Working with our artist, we created a free PDF with daily quests—small tasks to bring purpose and structure to people’s days.

We called it Quarantine Quest.

We thought it would be a fun, helpful resource, but what we didn’t expect was for it to go wild.

• Our email list grew from 2,000 to 40,000 in eight weeks.

• Our Facebook group grew from 37 to 11,000 members.

• Total ad spend? Around $7,500.

We started live-streaming to connect with these new faces, hearing their stories, taking their suggestions, and building relationships with our heroes (that’s what we call our customers).

Impact has always been my metric, and for the first time, it felt like our message was truly resonating.

Of course, businesses have to make money. On June 1st, 2020, we launched the new journal. Revenue growth was significant (Pictured below), but more importantly, it validated that our impact was translating into something sustainable.

Atypical Life

Last week, Trey and I had a call with a basketball app that wanted him as a minority investor.

On the call were the founder—a visionary professional basketball player—and the lead investor, another former pro. Their motivations couldn’t have been more different.

The founder was passionate about creating a better future for basketball. The investor, while supportive of the vision, was clearly focused on financial upside (as a VC should be).

So, I asked: If a genie could grant you 100x revenue or 100x impact, which would you choose?

They were split.

This conversation reminded me why Trey has been so dedicated to growing the Atypical brand. He’s never told me he’d trade more revenue for less impact. His focus is clear: the world needs his message more than he needs the world’s revenue.

That said, revenue is essential to making the business work.

Merch drop coming soon.

Podcasts

I’ve been really enjoying Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom. Recently, he had Greg McKeown on to talk about happiness. Their discussion on simplifying your life to focus on what truly matters really resonated with me. Highly recommend giving it a listen.

Coffee

The Coffee Advent Calendar has come to a close, and here are my final thoughts:

24 different coffees is a lot. Doing it alone might feel overwhelming, but my girlfriend and I turned it into a game, blind-tasting each coffee and guessing the origin and process. It made the experience fun, interactive, and something to look forward to each day.

Overall, it was an incredible experience—beautifully executed. I’d rate it 8.9/10.

Conclusion

As the year wraps up, I’ve been reflecting on The Hero’s Journal, my own journey, and life in general.

This year has challenged my confidence, routines, and outlook in ways I didn’t expect. But this newsletter has been a bright spot—a chance to connect, reflect, and share.

To everyone who’s read one, some, or all of these newsletters: thank you.

I hope this newsletter creates impact for others one day, but for now, it’s having a massive impact on me.

Happy Questing,
Kyle