Cali Harris 🐊

@jonnym1ller Congrats, & thank you for this important work you're leading folks into!

I'm taking a moment to feel rather chuffed that Nervous System Mastery just crossed $500k in total revenue 🙌 (it feels genuinely meaningful that so many folks are choosing to allocate their hard-earned $$ toward working on their nervous system literacy + regulation!)

@jonnym1ller This is sooooo super interesting 👀

Just over 1000 folks have taken the NSQ in the past 24hrs (needed to upgrade my account)... these are the cumulative results so far

@jonnym1ller yes, for sure! 🙋‍♀️

Today I'm launching a Shiny New Thing 🚀 It's called the 'Nervous System Quotient' (NSQ) Self-Assessment, which also includes personalized protocols for improving regulation. If you're curious to try it for yourself, reply below with a 🙋‍♂️and I'll DM you the link (totally free)

So I'm a: @techstars Boulder alumni, a Techstars LP, and I've "given first" to Techstars by doing 17 free speaking engagements for the programs since graduating in 2019. I have a few things to say about the announcement. Buckle in. 1. Any leader undergoing the experience of Change Management 101 understands that you don't ask the people impacted by the change to do the communication and be the main point of contact for that change. The fact that senior leadership didn't communicate with alumni, but sent an army of MD's to go out and communicate this massive change is just a literal abdication of leadership. 2. If you are leaving the city that built you - you do that with care. And you take it seriously. If Ford was exiting Detroit, they wouldn't send the factory manager to do the announcement. 3. I've exited a market before (sorry, Seattle) and I know that it's not easy to make those calls. But the thing you don't do is call it "bittersweet." It's just bitter for those that are most closely impacted in the community. 4. If you are closing locations, be explicit what is closing and be explicit what is staying open. 5. Great leaders own their decisions with ALL stakeholders. Not just investors. It's shocking to me that alumni haven't heard from leadership directly, but investors did. (I got both comms.) 6. There is literally nothing dorkier on earth than calling something "2.0" in 2024. The fact that this was the best they could do and then they expect to compete in the largest markets in the world is fucking ridiculous. Am I disappointed, sure. But am I mostly surprised by how poorly this was handled? That's the one.

@yoavlurie Hi

Now that Techstars is leaving Boulder (and Boston, Seattle, Austin, and Chicago)... who wants to create a new startup accelerator that is focussed on local startup communities first.

@johnfein 😆

A lot of people with a lot of opinions about the Techstars stuff who were never near, much less in, the belly of the beast. 🥴 Anyway, I suppose this is a reminder of why sticking to cores values -- and your customer -- matters.

if you're currently stunned about the techstars news, this (by the og who buit ts seattle, @crashdev) is the best read you will find on what went wrong: founderscoop.com/2024/what-went…

@IanSanders Ahhh this looks so great, Ian! That space is cozy.

We had a great bunch of people who came along to this evening’s Redesign Your Work Day workshop at Leigh-on-Sea’s Workshop club

@heyalexfriedman I am so grateful that you share about her, and about your friendship. 💕

A year ago today my best friend Erika died after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. What a crazy f*cking statement that still feels to write out. I talk a lot about her on here. It’s really hard not to. Erika was a huge part of my life, a reason why I’ve been able to accomplish pretty much everything I have today. The first business I started was after I invented and patented this wearable nail polish holder ring. It was like 8 years ago but you can still Google it and find it on Ali Express for 2 for $1 but that’s a different story for a different day. Erika and I lived together during college and for a couple of years after college when I started the business. Right before I launched I ordered 2,000 of my first units of product to come to our house. When they arrived, each one was wrapped in this super ugly, thick cling wrap. I called my manufacturer who said “well we didn’t want them to get scratched” to which I said “so the best alternative was to wrap them in cling wrap????” I had no idea what to do until Erika looked at me and said “okay, so we will unwrap each one by ourselves.” And I said “um… what?” And she said “we will order pizza, and put on a show, and unwrap each one ourselves.” And that’s what we did. Erika, myself and our other best friend Rachel. A whole weekend spent on the couch, eating pizza, unwrapping each one of these little nail polish holders one by one just so we could repack them and ship them out to customers and retailers. That’s what kind of friend Erika was. The kind of friend who would not only believe in you but sit there with you all weekend to make it sure it happened. I’ve probably thought about her more than 365 times over the last year. Wished I could text her. Call her. Asked for her encouragement on some crazy idea I have. But man, am I so grateful I even had an ‘Erika’ once in my lifetime. I hope everyone finds theirs one day. (ya know… minus the whole cancer thing) (She would’ve laughed at that last line) 🤍

@erifilii Yes please!

Shooting your shot without overthinking truly is a superpower. As a founder you receive so many cold messages that it eventually makes you great at sending cold messages yourself bc you understand what you’d respond to and what you’d disregard and consider spammy. I’ve been mastering the art of the ✨cold DM✨ ever since I started my company, and it’s led to things like: - Free press features on publications like @BusinessInsider and @Digiday that led to a lot of new clients and opportunities 💻 - Public speaking opportunities at conferences around the world 🌎 - New clients and dream creative projects 🌟 - Cool brand partnerships and collaborations with other Gen Z-led brands 🤝 And so much more! Doing this for the past 3+ years has taught me a lot about how to reach out to people and actually get a response. Lmk if you'd like me to forward you some successful examples that worked for me and I’ll dm you!

@IanSanders Thank you for sharing this, Ian!

What happens when we shift our mindset from thinking about 'our career' to 'our life's work?' This was a question my friend @caligater posed recently. And it really struck me.

@davidstehle Howdy! And yes to F those gnarly impostor thoughts.

@caligater Hey, stranger. Nice seeing your face pop up! Also, F imposter syndrome.

I feel goofy posting here b/c I've posted so irregularly... but, I have something: The Founder's Field Guide to Impostor Syndrome is a free & actionable guide for overcoming self-doubt & building resilience. 🗺️ Free, no sales, just the goods: northstarrising.co/impostor

#AnuragMaloo, an Indian mountain climber, went missing while descending from Mt. Annapoorna on 17th April. @DrSJaishankar please direct immediate action to search for and rescue Anurag. #BringAnuragBack at the earliest.

@savvysarahjane SJ 🥺🥺🥺 I appreciate you ♾️ I literally wouldn’t be who and where I am today with out your friendship and sisterhood. Thank you, sweet friend. (Also being in the same breath as the amazing @RebootHQ folks is dizzying ⚡️(

@pennerj @Christina_Lynn +1000000000♾