Be a novice
Happy Sunday!
I’ve been blessed this week by three sets of encouraging words, one from a new friend, one from a book that an old friend send me, and one from a podcast that a friend recommended to me. It’s good to have friends.
First … On Friday afternoon, I took a long walk through my neighborhood with Ken McCord, a local entrepreneur in San Francisco. We bounced around ideas about several things, including how nearby farms could be a bigger part of the everyday grocery-buying experience in our city. He left me with one encouragement - think bigger!
Second … My long-time friend Mark Letenzi sent me the book Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike.
I’m admittedly not very far into the book, but two quotes from the first section have my wheels spinning:
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” - Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
“History is one long processional of crazy ideas. Things that I loved most - books, sports, democracy, free enterprise - started as crazy ideas.” - Phil Knight, Shoe Dog
☝️ Before we get to the third … if you’re new here and find this stuff interesting, subscribe below! I send one email weekly, and you can unsubscribe if you don’t like it.
This week at Bullpen …
We “pushed the ball up the court” on many fronts … technology, growth, partnerships, future business models, and marketing. While we’ve made a lot of progress, I don’t have anything of substance to announce here … just another good week of building.
Our first webinar is Tuesday, March 7th! We’re hosting a fireside chat with 3 LIHTC experts - covering a host of topics that include:
How do decide if you should underwrite a project as affordable
Top LIHTC markets in the US
How to work with partner organizations on LIHTC deals
If that sounds interesting - sign up here!
Move faster …
The third piece of wisdom from this week came from an interview with Gustaf Alstromer on Lenny’s Podcast.
Gustaf was describing his experience with other founders during Y-Combinator’s office hours when he shared a question that put me on my heels … “What is preventing you from moving faster?”
It’s a great question and reminder to prioritize what matters.
That’s all for this week!
✌️📤
Tyler
Founder @ Bullpen