Exploration is how you discover what works.Persistence is how you make the most of what already works.What does your situation require? More exploration or more persistence?

-James Clear

I’m a big believer in the “seasons” of your business, relationships and life.

A startup will require you, at times, to be every side of every coin - proactive and reactive, sales-y and empathetic, measured and opportunistic, data driven and instinctive.

You can’t be all at once, so, what season are you currently in? What does your startup need and what feels right?

Early on, you’ll likely be in the Season of Customer Exploration. You’ll speak with tons of customers, watch them as they try to solve problems and figure out which you can help with that'll make a dent in their life. Then, you’ll need a Season of Problem Solving - where you’re working with one or two customers, in the weeds trying to solve their specific problem. Then, you’ll expand back out again and have a Season of Customer Acquisition, where you look to find more perfect customers to work with and see if you can acquire folks.

Of course it’d be great to do all simultaneously, but with a team of 1 (or 2 or 3), especially part-time, it just isn’t realistic.

So, the seasons come into play.

I love embracing and leaning into seasons. I name them and I make them clear and obvious so that I’m not tempted to swim against the tide. I write them on a post-it and put them on my monitor.

During a Season of Writing, my free time is spent writing. It isn’t the time for new data-driven customer acquisition strategies or cold emails or whatever else. My subconscious is tasked with writing and writing only outside of the normal Tacklebox stuff.