Should I quit my job. Do I need a cofounder or stay solo. Keep consulting or build the product. Take the offer or bet on myself. You're carrying questions like these right now. Probably alone. The answers matter. How you get to them matters more. I hosted a full house …
More than ever, I think we're all working to learn how to truly connect in this hybrid world we've been tossed into. Our instincts are to chase those connections in the biggest room we can find. The thousand-person conference, the podcast with the huge audience, the event where you collect …
You don't feel the lack of community until it's a little late. And by then it can feel like a mountain to climb back. Build it early, before you think you need it. That's the idea behind the pop-up coworking days I host here in City Of Guelph. Come, have …
Being first feels a lot like being wrong. You can see the whole thing. It's finished, working, real. The issue is you can't get it into anyone else's head. So you start to wonder if the problem is you. I've driven myself half crazy on this. Pitching the same concept …
Sharing what you’re struggling with is difficult. It takes vulnerability, and some days I catch myself feeling like the squeaky wheel. That thought alone makes me share less, or not at all. Then I read a line from Brené Brown that recalibrated it for me. “Hope is a function …
This week’s Founders’ Club has people joining us from Ontario, Vancouver, Calgary, and LA. That’s three time zones in a Founders’ Club meeting at the same time. I’m only a few weeks into redesigning this to be virtual…because I realized we were restricted to only people …
When you start a business, you have to believe you’ll win. Not hope you will, you must truly believe it. You don’t build from nothing to something while holding two endings in your head, so you pick one, and you win. That certainty is what gets you up …
McDonald's can feed my kids in five minutes for ten dollars. Yet I still spent thirty dollars and two hours cooking instead. Nobody would call that irrational once we're at the dinner table. We understand that the point was never just getting food into them. Putting our hands to the …
What are you choosing to NOT give to your AI? The answer to that question tells me more about your business than what you're building with AI. I'm more interested in that than in what you're powering with it. Every company is, or will be soon, issuing the "use AI …
You can hand AI the work. You can't hand it the judgment. Knowing the difference is today's work. That's where the conversation went at yesterday's pop-up coworking day, when we broke at lunch to talk with our guest, Mike Kirkup, about building companies. Everyone building right now is deciding what …
Sixteen years of Startupfest and I've learned the fest doesn't stay inside the venue. Montreal absorbs it, entirely! In the Old Port I found an iron door stamped NEW BRIGHT IDEA. Somebody's breakthrough, cast in metal, bolted to a wall, a century of rust on it. Every bright idea ends …
I don't have my highlights from this book but I'll circle back and include some notes here soon. I reference this book in my longer post FREE...It May Cost You Your Startup
Ok, I heard Brene's name for years and for some reason have resisted actually picking up any of her books. I'm not sure what that resistance was about, honestly it was likely attraction in hindsight. While the heart of this book is certainly interesting, it's the introduction that really blew …
After dipping my toes into Brene-land with atlas , I had to read some of her regular, bizinessy books so I grabbed her latest and it hasn't let me down. I may have entered a Brene rabbit-hole here...
Ingredients Dry 600g almond flour 150g vanilla protein powder 3 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt Wet 9 large eggs (450g) 180ml heavy cream 150g pure maple syrup 90g unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted 3 tsp vanilla extract Mix-ins 300g frozen mixed berries 150-225g chocolate chips 75g sliced …
The modern knowledge worker spends 8+ hours daily in some form of deep mental focus. While we all know breaks are essential, most break activities (scrolling phones, quick walks) don't truly allow our minds to reset. There's growing evidence that engaging in physical crafts, especially ones requiring focus and skill …
Ingredients Dry Ingredients 600g old-fashioned oats 150g almonds, roughly chopped 150g walnuts, roughly chopped 150g mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin) 225g coconut oil, melted 200ml maple syrup (220g) 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt Add After Cooling 300g chopped prunes 250g dark chocolate chips Method Preheat …
Having brewed kombucha for years, I've seen firsthand how the craft brewing industry follows a predictable pattern: build, scale, get acquired by a giant brewery, watch loyal customers hope "they don't change" (they always do). The business model inevitably pushes them toward mass distribution and standardization, regardless of their original …
Reusable Floss Holder The Problem: Disposable floss picks have taken over as the go-to solution for easy flossing, but they come at a significant environmental cost. Instead of a small piece of biodegradable string, we’re now sending a combination of plastic and string to landfills, contributing to plastic waste …
I read this book back in 2010 when it was published so...I don't have notes. If you're a developer or work in technology and considering building your own business, I'd recommend this. It's written from the perspective of a technologists walking down that business creation path.
This book is currently changing my life....like for real. I've written more in the days since I turned the first page of this book than in the previous year or two combined. For me, one core aspect of this book was calling out the flawed model of writing our …
This is the content for my first post. Hey, baby steps...I said I was thinking about writing new stuff.......
This one is fresh and very close to home for me. I came within a few inches of lauching a version of this at the start of this summer. The Problem: Traditional coworking spaces are fundamentally tied to expensive real estate, which forces them into a business model centered around …
I really need to finally build my 'Please Steal My Ideas' public list....coming soon... In the meantime....here's one, who wants it? Many parents enjoy a good coffee in the morning. Most children need a healthy lunch packed for them everyday. Many of those parents despise having to make …
This is an interesting read since it's tackling a hoo-hoo topic such as manifestation by an author who is a trained neurosurgeon. At points in the book, the author delves into the inner workings of the brain, as we understand it today, in relation to the topic at hand. Having …
I am not an escape room person. I've been to one or two, but it's not my personal deal, though I do think they're cool. I'll be honest, when my young daughter asked if she could go to an escape room for her birthday, I thought I was being punked …
Originally posted on LinkedIn Many parents enjoy a good coffee in the morning. Most children need a healthy lunch packed for them everyday. Many of those parents despise having to make lunches EVERY morning. Parent hate lunch making + Parent need morning coffee = ??? What if a parent could go to their …
I will summarize more about this book soon...
I'll summarize more soon...
I'll write more soon about this book. I read this in paperback format so gathering my highlights here is more challenging. I've lent my copy to many friends over the years. I read this book well over a decade ago and it was life changing in many ways for me …
I want you to make homemade, healthy snacks for you and your friends, family. My goal here is to inspire you to give it a shot if you haven't, that's all. Try it and let me know how it goes, what you modified and more. Background My family and I …
I read this book way back in the 2000's and I'd say it's in my top 10 list of business books ever. I read many Jeffrey Pfeffer books at that time and this is one I intend to read again at some point. This simplicity of this book can be …
I don't have notes and quotes for this one. I read it decades ago but it's likely one of my most referenced and referred books. I went on to read many of Alfie's books which I'll eventually add to the bookshelf here. If you're new to him, this book is …