“the world we live in with all the rules, forms, clicks to confirm, lines, signs, queues, kyc, notary, lights, guardrail, soft floors in playgrounds, reports, checks, sign-offs, etc” are the long term affect of flowing from the “1000s of risk and compliance committees” around the world 🤮 I love the thought process of considering in the UK “all the rules, regulations and procedures to wade thru in protecting the heritage of a old property that is falling into decay that was built when there were no rules, regulations and procedures” 😂 clip board land 2025 ✅✅✅✅✅✅❌❌❌❌🥵
Talent notices if you’re cutting corners… built to sell companies are typically looking for a fast exit, not longevity. A person’s career won’t typically align with that (unless they have meaningful equity at play)
Quite possibly true and particularly true in the US where the examples of peers winning via epos sales/exits are abundant (less so in Europe). I think as you enter the exiting window (say 18mths out) there are some shifts in strategy ie leaner decisions & ROI becoming more focused but your comments holds very true I would say. Thanks for sharing your experience Cris ✨✅
As a founder of several companies, focusing on building a solid foundation is always a good idea. The world changes fast and what looked like a sure thing yesterday, might not happen today. Setting yourself up for choices, instead of being forced into making decisions, is the way to go in my opinion
Wise words 👏 congratulations on your success. I'm also a fan of being super plural with many many companies. I love the collaboration with others and the variety - particularly when the companies are synergistic 🤝
Me too. I'm known for saying that "I build companies that I don't want to work in" - because they're too scalable, repeatable and programmaticable ie boring to me. I like the chaotic wikdow at the beginning. So I hand them off to my collaborators or management because I'm creating others simultaneously 😬
This read like the moment you realise the ground has been slowly shifting under your feet, not because of one big shock, but because of many small, ignored signals.
By the time it’s obvious, it’s already been happening for a while.
Through the 5 Voices lens, this blind spot shows up differently:
Nurturers feel the emotional weight building first.
Guardians notice cracks in process and consistency.
Creatives sense misalignment but struggle to name it.
Connectors feel conversations thinning out.
Pioneers keep pushing forward, assuming momentum will carry things through.
When these signals aren’t shared early, the cost compounds quietly.
Working on the "why", the "who cares", the "what we optimising for" ie whats in (very little )and what's out (almost everything) and then crafting that into a clearly articulated story over a few horizons 🎆 Magic !
"off track" "back on track" "off track" "back on track" - repeat, repeat, repeat...like watching a todler going from crawling to walking to hopefully running wildly 📈
If you're not built to last... you won't last.
Those hockey stick growth curves are sweet! Substack did that too :-)
Totally - Substack has to convert the $100m Round into compounding cashflows 📈
“Governance has a reputation problem.
It conjures images of binders, committees, and consensus-driven paralysis”
so true Chris!
“the world we live in with all the rules, forms, clicks to confirm, lines, signs, queues, kyc, notary, lights, guardrail, soft floors in playgrounds, reports, checks, sign-offs, etc” are the long term affect of flowing from the “1000s of risk and compliance committees” around the world 🤮 I love the thought process of considering in the UK “all the rules, regulations and procedures to wade thru in protecting the heritage of a old property that is falling into decay that was built when there were no rules, regulations and procedures” 😂 clip board land 2025 ✅✅✅✅✅✅❌❌❌❌🥵
Chaotic structures are the bane of service companies, too!
Which are about to go through the Software AI wave 🌊huge disruption coming. Services is 100x bigger than software 🤯 massive opportunity
Talent notices if you’re cutting corners… built to sell companies are typically looking for a fast exit, not longevity. A person’s career won’t typically align with that (unless they have meaningful equity at play)
Quite possibly true and particularly true in the US where the examples of peers winning via epos sales/exits are abundant (less so in Europe). I think as you enter the exiting window (say 18mths out) there are some shifts in strategy ie leaner decisions & ROI becoming more focused but your comments holds very true I would say. Thanks for sharing your experience Cris ✨✅
The best companies don’t choose between scaling and selling. They’re engineered to do both without flinching.
Love that framing Nazanin 🌟
As a founder of several companies, focusing on building a solid foundation is always a good idea. The world changes fast and what looked like a sure thing yesterday, might not happen today. Setting yourself up for choices, instead of being forced into making decisions, is the way to go in my opinion
Wise words 👏 congratulations on your success. I'm also a fan of being super plural with many many companies. I love the collaboration with others and the variety - particularly when the companies are synergistic 🤝
Thanks. I'm too curious to stay in just the one lane. I might not master anything, but I love to many topics 😆
Me too. I'm known for saying that "I build companies that I don't want to work in" - because they're too scalable, repeatable and programmaticable ie boring to me. I like the chaotic wikdow at the beginning. So I hand them off to my collaborators or management because I'm creating others simultaneously 😬
You nailed me to. I love the early “anything is possible"-phase
Brilliant
This read like the moment you realise the ground has been slowly shifting under your feet, not because of one big shock, but because of many small, ignored signals.
By the time it’s obvious, it’s already been happening for a while.
Through the 5 Voices lens, this blind spot shows up differently:
Nurturers feel the emotional weight building first.
Guardians notice cracks in process and consistency.
Creatives sense misalignment but struggle to name it.
Connectors feel conversations thinning out.
Pioneers keep pushing forward, assuming momentum will carry things through.
When these signals aren’t shared early, the cost compounds quietly.
Thanks James. As a creative I hear you !
I remember the first time I felt that smoothness of the business. It was still chaotic but certain things were clicking.
I love it when the "flow state" kicks in for the company. 💙 Congratulations on your success 👏
best to have a clearly articulated story and idea from the beginning
Working on the "why", the "who cares", the "what we optimising for" ie whats in (very little )and what's out (almost everything) and then crafting that into a clearly articulated story over a few horizons 🎆 Magic !
you have to start this early and often, easy to get off track when you're building
"off track" "back on track" "off track" "back on track" - repeat, repeat, repeat...like watching a todler going from crawling to walking to hopefully running wildly 📈
Companies that can explain themselves cleanly tend to have more choices later.
They have more gravity as " those who they're for find them more easily " - thanks for the wisdom John ! ✨