I really love these podcasts. I have a lot of thoughts. So I have just been using Sublime as a daily tool, and I am falling more and more in love with it. It is my inspiration hub. My workflow for everything I create starts in Sublime. I think it is an amazing app as it is, but there are, of course, things lacking, like you mentioned, dark mode, for example. And my guess is that you've got a lot of things on the roadmap and a lot of things. But I would still avoid VC money. I have seen and tested so many applications that have seen a downhill spiral after going the VC route. I still think that if you were to find the right people or the right small funds, it will work. But I think growing slowly is a really important thing in the PKM space. I think many of these apps are trying to grow too fast, adding too much at once, trying to do too many things at once. It never works out, and I feel like the apps just end up destroying themselves. I am a big believer in crowdfunding, allowing people who love the product to donate so that the app keeps developing. I have found that if people really enjoy the product or the thing you deliver, they are willing to donate. I also think it helps with Substack. When we get things like these podcasts, it feels like we are sort of part of the journey, which again makes it easier to donate a little bit. I don't know if that will solve all of the issues, but I think it is worth looking at. You also talked about reaching new customers. Like you said, it would be great to work with some of the creative people already in the community, but when that is not possible, I think there are some fun other ways of doing it. It, of course, requires some work, but not that much. For example, transcribing this podcast and posting it on different social media. You guys also have a lot of great long-form content on YouTube, and you have appeared on a few podcasts (including mine 😂), getting those videos, chopping them up, and posting them to different social media. There is this app called Ditto; it is a public list maker that is worth looking at. They are trying to reach a different audience, but I still think what they are doing is really cool.
It was refreshing to hear your open thinking in real time! Thank you!
As a founder, I've bootstrapped, raised, and now back to bootstrapping. I'd prefer never to raise money again--primarily because of the time it takes to both raise and keep investors happy, as well as the fact that you're bringing in investors driven solely by a maximum return on investment. Money creates fear in their minds, and their power position can push their fear unto you in countless ways.
My 2 cents of advice would be to ensure that your decisions remove as much Ego as possible. Some of the things I heard in your pod, like "wanting to work with the best and the brightest," could have a bit of ego shining through.
I made some mistakes where my Ego played too big a role, like hiring "the early engineering lead from Netflix." That hire--among many other mistakes--boosted my confidence and made investors feel good for a bit, but it ended up costing us incredible amounts of time, money, and suffering.
Love hearing your honest thought process in this casual way, it's fascinating! Could be interesting to look into fundraising based on profit sharing vs. the traditional vc/equity route (e.g. https://www.ryanhoover.me/post/profit-sharing-startups) - speaks to still retaining control, healthy growth, staying profitable
I got 0 answers for you. But I absolutely love hearing your voice and thoughts. Thank you for sharing - it is inspirational to hear what you are considering.
Hello Sari., I absolutely love these "In the Weeds" sessions. Sharing yourself as you do is so encouraging and motivating to me.
As an entrepreneur, it seems to me that I am always fundraising and out there "kissing the frogs to find my prince" as the saying goes. So of course always thinking if I am chasing the investor. But I feel a smaller VC or family office is not the best choice as in my segment I need a balance of financial acumen blended with a heavy dose of passion in my segment.
I actually don't recall how I stumbled upon Sublime originally, but when you gave me a personal on-boarding session by Zoom, I knew that Sublime was a work of passion, real, genuine and that I was lucky to be on board for the experience at an early stage. And that the more energy I put into Sublime, the greater the long term payback to mself and the community.
My suggestion is to leverage and harvest from the community that Sublime is building. Fundraise from that community and the extended community. I think in the podcast you talked your way out of the VC direction. For me I feel that would kill the spirit of the community. Let the community help spread the word of Sublime through their evangelism. It will grow exponentially. You are doing a wonderful thing, lets us (the community) help.
This is a perfect coaching conversation topic! There’s no right or wrong answer, only what’s right for you and sublime. I saw a card on sublime recently that was a nice reminder of scarcity being the birthplace of creative thinking. That’s not to say that having more money wouldn’t be good for sublime. If we were in a coaching session, a few questions I might ask to explore this topic more are:
1 - What underlies this impatience? (a genuine need, a fear, etc)
2 - How would you use extra money if you had it right now? You can pick the amount. How does that compare to what you would do if it was bootstrapped?
3 - Imagine sublime 10 years from now. What does the product look like? What does the team look like? What does your day to day look like?
4 - Lastly, I heard you talk about a common struggle for founders and leaders - it’s not easy to delegate crosscutting concerns. It’s not easy, but also not impossible. What are ways to free up your time for the things that are most impactful?
This one is so thought provoking. Imagine sublime 10 years from now. What does the product look like? What does the team look like? What does your day to day look like?
Thank you for doing this! Really interesting to hear your honest thoughts and considerations as you proceed into the (hopefully bigger and better) next phase.
I really love these podcasts. I have a lot of thoughts. So I have just been using Sublime as a daily tool, and I am falling more and more in love with it. It is my inspiration hub. My workflow for everything I create starts in Sublime. I think it is an amazing app as it is, but there are, of course, things lacking, like you mentioned, dark mode, for example. And my guess is that you've got a lot of things on the roadmap and a lot of things. But I would still avoid VC money. I have seen and tested so many applications that have seen a downhill spiral after going the VC route. I still think that if you were to find the right people or the right small funds, it will work. But I think growing slowly is a really important thing in the PKM space. I think many of these apps are trying to grow too fast, adding too much at once, trying to do too many things at once. It never works out, and I feel like the apps just end up destroying themselves. I am a big believer in crowdfunding, allowing people who love the product to donate so that the app keeps developing. I have found that if people really enjoy the product or the thing you deliver, they are willing to donate. I also think it helps with Substack. When we get things like these podcasts, it feels like we are sort of part of the journey, which again makes it easier to donate a little bit. I don't know if that will solve all of the issues, but I think it is worth looking at. You also talked about reaching new customers. Like you said, it would be great to work with some of the creative people already in the community, but when that is not possible, I think there are some fun other ways of doing it. It, of course, requires some work, but not that much. For example, transcribing this podcast and posting it on different social media. You guys also have a lot of great long-form content on YouTube, and you have appeared on a few podcasts (including mine 😂), getting those videos, chopping them up, and posting them to different social media. There is this app called Ditto; it is a public list maker that is worth looking at. They are trying to reach a different audience, but I still think what they are doing is really cool.
Thank you Daniel for your thoughtful response.
I am glad you are falling more and more in love with Sublime. All good things take time to understand <3
It was refreshing to hear your open thinking in real time! Thank you!
As a founder, I've bootstrapped, raised, and now back to bootstrapping. I'd prefer never to raise money again--primarily because of the time it takes to both raise and keep investors happy, as well as the fact that you're bringing in investors driven solely by a maximum return on investment. Money creates fear in their minds, and their power position can push their fear unto you in countless ways.
My 2 cents of advice would be to ensure that your decisions remove as much Ego as possible. Some of the things I heard in your pod, like "wanting to work with the best and the brightest," could have a bit of ego shining through.
I made some mistakes where my Ego played too big a role, like hiring "the early engineering lead from Netflix." That hire--among many other mistakes--boosted my confidence and made investors feel good for a bit, but it ended up costing us incredible amounts of time, money, and suffering.
Thank you Bob. The story of your hire is so relatable.
Love hearing your honest thought process in this casual way, it's fascinating! Could be interesting to look into fundraising based on profit sharing vs. the traditional vc/equity route (e.g. https://www.ryanhoover.me/post/profit-sharing-startups) - speaks to still retaining control, healthy growth, staying profitable
Thank you Brandy - great resource!
I love how you’re sharing real life with us. Sitting in the car waiting for your kids.
Thanks Greg for following along!
If you haven’t read this yet, check out the book Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath. All about making decisions with their WRAP method. https://www.amazon.com/Decisive-Make-Better-Choices-Life/dp/0307956393
"In between" can also be joyful... for a time (or maybe I’m just trying to convince myself of that)
not sure if the VC founding path can truly be "sublime"
yes, maybe some type of founding is worth to consider, but with "more soul" in it (whatever that means here, as I am not sure ;)
And most importantly, Sari please double-check if I’m on the podcast magic waiting list 🙏 (I really need to be there!! 😎 )
I got 0 answers for you. But I absolutely love hearing your voice and thoughts. Thank you for sharing - it is inspirational to hear what you are considering.
<3
Hello Sari., I absolutely love these "In the Weeds" sessions. Sharing yourself as you do is so encouraging and motivating to me.
As an entrepreneur, it seems to me that I am always fundraising and out there "kissing the frogs to find my prince" as the saying goes. So of course always thinking if I am chasing the investor. But I feel a smaller VC or family office is not the best choice as in my segment I need a balance of financial acumen blended with a heavy dose of passion in my segment.
I actually don't recall how I stumbled upon Sublime originally, but when you gave me a personal on-boarding session by Zoom, I knew that Sublime was a work of passion, real, genuine and that I was lucky to be on board for the experience at an early stage. And that the more energy I put into Sublime, the greater the long term payback to mself and the community.
My suggestion is to leverage and harvest from the community that Sublime is building. Fundraise from that community and the extended community. I think in the podcast you talked your way out of the VC direction. For me I feel that would kill the spirit of the community. Let the community help spread the word of Sublime through their evangelism. It will grow exponentially. You are doing a wonderful thing, lets us (the community) help.
This is a motivating response, Gary. Thank you!
This is a perfect coaching conversation topic! There’s no right or wrong answer, only what’s right for you and sublime. I saw a card on sublime recently that was a nice reminder of scarcity being the birthplace of creative thinking. That’s not to say that having more money wouldn’t be good for sublime. If we were in a coaching session, a few questions I might ask to explore this topic more are:
1 - What underlies this impatience? (a genuine need, a fear, etc)
2 - How would you use extra money if you had it right now? You can pick the amount. How does that compare to what you would do if it was bootstrapped?
3 - Imagine sublime 10 years from now. What does the product look like? What does the team look like? What does your day to day look like?
4 - Lastly, I heard you talk about a common struggle for founders and leaders - it’s not easy to delegate crosscutting concerns. It’s not easy, but also not impossible. What are ways to free up your time for the things that are most impactful?
Damn, I love these questions!
This one is so thought provoking. Imagine sublime 10 years from now. What does the product look like? What does the team look like? What does your day to day look like?
Thank you Maya!!
Thank you for doing this! Really interesting to hear your honest thoughts and considerations as you proceed into the (hopefully bigger and better) next phase.
100pc. Speed + stability are tablestakes.