Why I'm writing

... and what might make you interested in reading.

Lessons learned shouldn’t be wasted.

More information is at our fingertips than at any other time in history. Despite that, so many aspects of starting or running a business, navigating some technical challenge, or solving a problem in some “niche” industry feel like novel problems.

Sharing lessons learned - in ways that help others achieve their goals more efficiently - is a way to squeeze more out of the hard work that created the original insight.

So, in part, I want to write the sort of stuff that I wish I could’ve read from someone else to help accelerate my own journey.

I think my “unique” niche can be helpful to others.

For the last twenty-some years, I’ve been learning lessons in this intersection:

On one hand, that combination feels weird. On the other hand, I am surprised at how often some seemingly “unique” problem that arose from that niche is applicable elsewhere.

What should I expect?

I aim to publish at least once a week on a topic aligned with one or more of the circles above, usually informed by my own experiences. I’d love for that to be a conversation starter, at least between us, and maybe with others with similar interests or questions.

Some specific topics I’ve got queued up to explore:

• Avoiding the #1 cause of startup death

• Choosing investors for businesses that aren’t “venture scale” but need outside capital

• Things I wish someone had told me about selling a business

• Lessons I learned running a professional services business, like how to be deliberate in choosing a sales model, how to create good sales commission plans, and the key reports leaders should use to run the business

• Lessons I learned in banking and financial services, like how different products resonate (or don’t) with different types of banks, why building payments is about 100x harder than most people think, and how banks vendors that sell to banks are sometimes misaligned

Why now?

Because I can, is - I guess - one answer. It’s been hard to find the time, mental space, or energy, until recently.

I hope the writing is a catalyst for starting conversations that help others achieve their goals more efficiently. And, candidly, the next chapter of my journey will emerge from all these experiences.

Shouldn’t there be a better name than “Chris’ Newsletter”?

💯. I sure hope to figure it out soon.

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