Don't be content building a model car.Build the real thing.
Most tools will happily build you a website for a business that shouldn't exist. I'll tell you whether yours should — before you spend a year finding out.
Who I am
I've spent twenty-seven years on one question: will this actually sell?
I grew Gateway's channel from $9M to $23M. Scaled NCR 227%. Built partner programs with Apple, Intel and Red Hat. At SRC Solutions I led business development and product direction from under $250K in annual sales to an eight-figure exit in five years. As President of Unusual Machines my mandate was to get the company ready for public markets — we reached them, and that was my exit.
Today I'm COO of InstaShow, on the board of Rellaire, a partner in two more ventures, and I build buildari from Puerto Rico.
“One of the least-flashy but most hard-working and results-producing biz dev people I have ever had the pleasure to work with.”
The mistake that built this
In 2009 I took a company from nine customers to more than five hundredin K-12 education. When I asked the CEO for a stake in what I'd built, he told me to go do the same thing in healthcare.
He wasn't wrong to say no. I was wrong to ask at the end.
Four years creating the value, none of it defining what my share looked like. No milestones, no trigger, nothing in writing. I assumed that if I delivered, the conversation would take care of itself. It doesn't — the leverage you have before you start is the most you will ever have.
I left, joined a company doing under $250K a year, and helped take it to an eight-figure exit. With terms agreed up front.
The first thing I ask any founder now is what they've agreed in writing, and when it triggers. Almost nobody has an answer.
What you get
- Every-other-week 1:1
- With me. Not a group call, not a replay.
- Unlimited async between sessions
- Stuck on Tuesday, answered Tuesday.
- AdvIsori and CAlIbrate included
- The tools that answer “is there a customer” and “what do I do Monday”.
- Ten places
- More than that and I'm not actually helping anyone.
Six stages, earned on evidence
You don't advance by attending. You advance by proving it.
- 1
Validated
A named budget holder — and five conversations with people who can authorize spend
- 2
Specified
A spec someone else could build from without asking you questions
- 3
Structured
Entity formed, terms signed with vesting, 83(b) handled
- 4
Live
A URL a stranger can use, unaided
- 5
Earning
First payment from someone who isn't a friend or family
- 6
Operating
Three consecutive months of revenue
Most people fail Stage 1. That's the point — it costs a week instead of a year.
Founding cohort — first ten members
$997/month
Rises to $1,497 after the founding ten. Cancel anytime.
Apply for a place →By application. I only take people I think I can actually help.