Aug. 16, 2016, midnight

Weightshifting: The Ways We Work

Weightshifting

Hello, gang —


This morning brought news that my friends at Cotton Bureau have taken on a bit of VC funding. You can read about it here.

Nate thoughtfully explains and outlines how they built up CB and why they’re taking on funding. In a nutshell:
 
Second, bootstrapping a business is like starting a fire by rubbing two sticks together. Through sheer effort, we coaxed an ember into existence. We laid it in the fluffiest nest of tinder and breathed on it gently until the tiniest of flames emerged. Even now, the kindling is barely lit. The success or failure of this fire requires our constant vigilance. We want to fuel this fire not nurse it. Locking in the value we’ve spent the last three years generating gives us the financial flexibility and resilience we need to do just that.

I’ve been paying even closer attention to venture capital in the past few years. Most of our clients are fueled by it, and some of our clients are the people that provide the fuel. I’ve spoken with a few partners at venture capital firms. It’s a fascinating business. If you don’t read Nate’s article above, you can count on Cameron Koczon to do the job for you (this is linked in Nate’s post too).

As a small business owner and design studio, knowing how the VC world works allows you to better understand your own business, given that it’s reliant on how VCs are investing. Where are they spending (i.e. what subsets of our industry)? Whom are they spending with (which founders and teams)? 

That’s your homework for you. If you’re interested.

—

Remember I mentioned I have an article about this whole new Weightshift redesign/realign? It’s now two. The scope started to get larger and I made the decision to split two of the ideas into more focused pieces. 

One will deal with design direction. I outline it generally on the new site but this will dig a little deeper.

The other is about working, collaborating, and serving the people you work with. It’s about being transparent, as much as one can be. 

People have applauded the Engage page of the site, which is the section I struggled with the most — I’ve been thinking about it for many, many months, and further thinking will be expanded on in the article above. It’s essentially the idea that you can product-ize service. I’m glad that people get it.

There’s another article I have in mind that I’ve been wanting to write for a while ever since I was fortunate enough to attend ORDCamp in Chicago in 2014. It’s about the way Nick Kokonas (business partner and co-owner with acclaimed chef Grant Achatz of Alinea, Next, The Aviary, etc.) thinks about variable pricing. He attended and spoke at ORDCamp, and I was lucky to be able to catch his talk which was a prelude and preview of what has become Tock, his ticket reservation system for restaurants. What started out as a homegrown need, has become a system that other restaurants have adopted. Good business sense that fella.

More soon.

Thanks for reading, tailwinds!
Naz.
 

You just read issue #13 of Weightshifting. You can also browse the full archives of this newsletter.

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