(07) A 7 month delay + an apology to 2024
The bigger the year, the longer the reflection period?
I’m in Norway, listening to about 20 yelling birds [I wish I spoke Norwegian Kittiwake] with a few minutes to midnight [still bright outside thanks to an arctic circle summer 😍]. All the windows are open to properly lüften before bedtime [sprinkling a little German in here, why not] and I’m reflecting on the combined ~100 hours or so [spread across 7 months] that it took to tell 2024’s story in a way that felt good enough to share.
100 hours is a guess, but it’s my best one at how much time I squeezed in around my other life-demands to curate photos + videos, save + organize them, compare notes, revisit diaries, get lost on tangential memories and re-share moments with the people who made them with me, and mainly: making sense of 365 days of brain-stretching chaos. Most of the 100 hours were smashed into times when creativity felt like it would explode inside if I didn’t let it escape immediately, so I was actually “in flow” for anywhere from 1 to 5 hours at a time, at most. Maybe someday I’ll optimize a life that doesn’t require creativity to be a violent combustion from deep inside but I’m not there [yet].
2024 remains the most important year I’ve had in terms of growth, and I attribute the lion’s share of that to selling the company I’ve thrown most of my existence into since early 2018. In a world where being obsessed with work is really not that cool, I remain unwavering uncool here. I really should have been a middle-aged man on Wall Street in the 80’s but here I am, in a slightly different form… and, still obsessed with Business™️.
As a professional enthusiast who must maintain this obsession at all times for reasons I continue to unpack, most of my attention has been focused on Brainjolt for years… the company I didn’t start, but absolutely helped raise and send off to college (if we’re using Mom analogies). A very proud “business mom” I am, at that. The proudest.
There was a pivotal moment about 3 years ago when the company was about to go bust, leading to tearful talks with bankruptcy lawyers after being left in a lurch by bad business decisions by a group of people who [we would eventually learn] hated us in varying capacities, and stood faced with a decision: try to salvage this mess and take years to do it, or, walk away. The timeline to rebuild was 5-7 years out, selling was another 1-2 years after that, and it all genuinely was not fun anymore. My favorite part of this story is that I laughably had so much energy in the beginning. With an undying gumption I boldly asserted:
THERE IS NO QUESTION. THIS IS THE WAY. WE MUST REBUILD. LET’S.
This special blend of delusion + hype lasted for about 3 months before I, too, was ready to fold from the impossibility of it all. Thankfully, Josh had hibernated his energy in those 3 months and we were ultimately able to balance our energies out enough to kickstart 2023 and the long road ahead [along with our favorite creative genius, Abraham], while keeping this ebb and flow of mutual support through fruition of the exit.
Where the 2023 year-in-review chronicles the tumultuous come-back to profitability, our 2024 year-in-review showcases how truly INSANE the selling process is. Grueling. The purest of “absolutely brand new” territory. Just so much noob that being humbled daily became normal and expected.
“You’ve never put together 100 requests of diligence that have never existed before? You have a few days to do it. Also, no one is going to check it. You’re on your own, kid.”
“You’ve never forecasted a Balance Sheet before that could have serious monetary impact on all of this, months down the road? No one has ever forecasted a Balance Sheet in the history of the company ever? Didn’t you study finance? Aren’t you smart? Good luck, girl.”
“You’ve never read a contract like this before, with crazy language like this, and have never hired all of the 18 different arenas of trust-worthy + capable council (that you should have been nurturing relationships with for years before you even thought of selling) so you’d get the best random very specific tax + very specific legal advice? No? Find + hire them all in a couple weeks, figure it out.”
I genuinely don’t know that I could do it again [from the sell-side, anyway].
But none of that matters, now.
We did it.
And I got to have the closing call with Zizi on the Zoom, too. That was such a meaningful highlight of the year (to me… she was just excited to deliver balloons to Josh in a sparkly leotard over her pants and arrive to school a little later than usual that day).
But zooming further out – the entire outcome was a really sweet landing to a wild decade of business-building story [that continues to unravel, still].
And most triumphantly, life still happened in a way I’m happy and proud of. Raising my daughter + experiencing her brain develop, traveling more than ever, making sure to celebrate birthdays, spend time with friends + family… life.
To accomplish what we set out to while still having room for things like crying tears of happiness, meeting Haley for a short weekend in Vegas, missing flights, and eating gross McDonald’s on road-trips (among much, much more) is something that gives me lots of joy. Here’s a little sneak peek below – hope you enjoy the rest here. ❤️
