Codi’s Post

Want to know the secret ingredient to successfully start a company with co-founders scattered across different locations? 🌎 Let me share our #bontastic story ⬇️ Picture this, co-founders scattered across different locations. The challenge? Building a fortress of trust within our team. The solution? A meticulously detailed founders' agreement 📝 An agreement that addresses the core of our operation: ✅ No clock-watching or recording of absences ✅ Welcoming the future of work with 100% remote-friendly processes ✅ Equal pay for equal roles, no exceptions ✅ The driving founder takes the lead in operational decisions My personal pre-condition of starting a new company was, that I can work with a strong co-founder team, based on trust. Fast forward to today. ⏭️ Months of relentless efforts later, we are happy to get the official incorporation next month. The same timeline sees the MVP of our product bont, making its debut.✨ The founders' agreement plays in this a crucial role.🔑 Curious about what such an agreement entails? Drop a comment saying AGREEMENT for an anonymised version. 📩   ---------- #bontastic story no. 4 We're #buildinpublic Check us out at bont.ai and don't forget to hit that follow button on Linkedin: bont 👀

𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟑: 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐚𝐛'𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫! Starting a business is like trying to tame a wild unicorn: exhilarating, unpredictable, and sometimes downright terrifying. But fear not! We've learned a few things along the way that might just save your sanity. > Systems are your new BFF: Invest in tools that can handle the grunt work. Trust us, your future self will thank you. > Partnerships are like having a superhero sidekick: Find people you trust who can help you level up. > Hiring the right team is like winning the lottery: Choose wisely, because they'll be your ride-or-die. > Let the experts handle the logistics: Get an accountant! Seriously. You might think you can juggle everything, but let’s face it—numbers aren’t as fun as, well, anything else. You’ll thank us later when you’re not drowning in paperwork! > Take It All In: We could tell you to take breaks, but we know you won't. So at least take a minute to soak it all in. It’s a wild, anxiety-filled rollercoaster, but it’s absolutely marvelous. Enjoy the ride—it’s 10000% worth it! Remember, even heroes need a cape (or a good accountant). So buckle up, and enjoy the ride! Cheers to all the amazing small businesses out there! #HeroDigitalLabTurns1 #SmallBusiness #Tips #SmallBusinessTips #StartupLife #HeroDigitalLab

Every week I give away 5 hours for free to Founders. Why? Because I like giving v’s asking and not asking for anything in return. It's so powerful. It always catches people by surprise. This is time that I used to charge hundreds of pounds an hour for. Founders and VCs ask every week if they can pay for the advice. And the answer is always no. Because we are a recruitment business not a consulting company. But I believe that if you leave value on the table over long periods of time it will always pays off. They then want to help you back. It’s a win win as I LOVE talking about all things revenue and helping others that can benefit from my learnings and of course it does lead to business for Cosmic. The best part is getting the great feedback after (which I always ask for!) I’ve built a really structured way to give really actionable insights in a 60 min session and have created a 1 page PDF which I send after the session with tangible takeaways. So... For the Founders in my network that didn’t realise I did these, now you know!

Time flies friends! I’ve been back in the Netherlands for a year now and felt overdue for some reflections. Besides hoping it makes for a fun read, I would love for it to spark Google Calendar invites and coffee. Full disclosure. These reflections are Mungerisms as I’m hoping to sound more witty, insightful and/or thought provoking (“making my ChatGPT talk like Charlie Munger”). Reflections: 😍 I'm only working with people I enjoy. Not easy when you’re in a 10.000 people company but on the toughest days, the size of the company did not matter. It would feel like “whenever I think someone is ruining my life, it’s me”. Either way this past year has been a game changer for me as "handpicking my people" made it so much easier to deepen relationships. 🤗 I haven’t worked for anyone I don’t respect and admire (for a while). After a year of working for myself, I appreciate the great bosses of yesteryears even more. It's not easy! Working for and with strong leaders was an important part of wanting to join #Netflix but I was absolutely lucky enough to have great managers before reading about their importance in a culture deck. 🤑 I’m not selling anything I wouldn’t buy myself. This year I've been lucky enough to have helped re-imagine what a 6000 year old product called ceramic tiles and a 40 year old product called file transfers could look like. The investment thesis being, I’ll happily spend my savings on it. I'm still paying for my Netflix too! 🤓 I’m trying to go to sleep each night a little less stupid than I was when I woke up. This last year I did a Private Equity course and joined Angel Squad, all the whilst kicking off my journey as an operator for Palet. and Shuttle. The combination of operating my own business and investing in other businesses made income statement models a lot more interesting but more important than EBITDA taught me it’s good business to; work with people you respect and enjoy, prioritize meaningful work and learn continuously. I added a contextual brag as we just produced tiles for the #LinkedIn London HQ. Hope you like them LinkedIn. If you want to learn more about what I’m doing, check the links below or send me a message 💌 . Palet: https://palet.shop/ Shuttle: https://shuttle.zip/ Angel Squad: https://lnkd.in/eYWNzVDt

Caught Flat-Footed! Back in 2018, Jon McNeill, former COO at Lyft, shared a pivotal moment from their capital-raising roadshow. Their pitch deck was dialed in—loaded with impressive growth numbers, market share stats, and the kind of forward momentum that gets investors excited. But there was a hitch: when investors started asking about Lyft’s path to profitability, they found themselves flat-footed. The focus had been entirely on growth; they weren’t prepared to answer the hard questions about sustainability and profitability. Interestingly, Uber was facing the same scrutiny. This isn’t just a story about two ride-sharing giants; it’s a wake-up call for anyone trying to make a case. When you’re up in front of people, it’s not enough to be armed with just the positives. You need to anticipate objections and address concerns. Enter Red Teaming. Red teaming, though it has military roots, is the practice of rigorously challenging your own assumptions and strategies before stepping into any high-stakes situation. It’s about asking the tough questions yourself—or having a trusted group of friends, colleagues, or peers do it for you—before your audience does. What are the potential weaknesses in your argument? What concerns might someone raise? How would you respond if someone challenged your numbers or questioned your strategy? The idea isn’t just to find answers but to build a mindset that embraces resistance and leans into tough questions. Here’s how to start red teaming to prepare for your next big moment: 1. Create a “Red Team” Document: Write down the questions you fear the most or haven’t even considered. This should be a living document where you continually add and refine questions as you gain new insights or face new challenges. 2. Seek Outside Perspectives: Don’t do this alone. Ask your friends, colleagues, and industry peers to poke holes in your argument. The tougher the questions, the better prepared you’ll be. 3. Build the Muscle: Just like any skill, getting comfortable with challenging questions takes practice. Treat every resistance as a chance to sharpen your thinking and refine your response. The goal isn’t always to have the perfect answer but to show you’ve thought critically about potential concerns. 4. Be Present in the Moment: When you’re prepared for resistance, you’re not scrambling for answers. You can stay calm, listen to what’s being asked, and respond with confidence—even if that means admitting you don’t know something but demonstrating how you’ll find the answer. If a company like Lyft can get caught flat-footed, anyone can. The real takeaway is this: you don’t need to fear the hard questions. Instead, use them as a tool to build your resilience and readiness. Don’t just prepare for the pitch—prepare for the pushback. That’s where real confidence is built. Get ahead of the curve. Try red teaming and see how your preparation translates into powerful, poised responses when it matters most.

I’m excited to announce the launch of Propense.ai’s BD Different community. There’s so much focus on business development within professional services firms, yet many of the voices contributing to the conversation lack a unique perspective on HOW professionals can distinguish themselves and truly BD Different. That’s why we’ve created this community. BD Different is a carefully curated collection of thought leaders, advisors, executives, and accounting and legal professionals. They’re not all crazy ones, misfits, troublemakers, and round pegs in square holes, but they are all innovators, norm breakers, and entrepreneurs. They BD Different and their results speak for themselves. Over the coming months, Propense will be sharing original content from our community. Our hope is that this community provides a forum for collaboration and innovation that helps professionals tackle the industry’s ever growing complexities (private equity investment, labor shortages, capacity challenges, dwindling client loyalty, and mergers and acquisitions to name a few). There’s no need to go it alone. Come BD Different with us. DM me or Michael Couch or Dylan Smith to learn more and join our community. propense.ai/bd-different #BDDifferent #Accounting #Legal #AI

You might be setting your company up to fail in 3-6 months. Here’s why: As Naval Ravikant observed, the most common characteristics of founders who set up businesses that last in their industry are those who actually plan for it to last long. What does he mean by this? A lot of founders today are only in for a quick buck. They look forward to selling their companies once they get the first offer or face the first huge roadblock. If this is what you had in mind, by all means, do what you need for your company. However, in most cases, planning to exit in the first few years typically leads to mismanaged funds, poor employee choices, and generally bad financial decisions. But if you’re in for the long term, these shouldn’t even be the first things you need to think of when building your business. One of the things you need to prioritize if you want to build lasting companies is finding people who share your dreams and mentors who will guide you to get there. Our exclusive community at Focused Founder helps tech founders and execs have a solid team of 7 to 9 figure founders who are willing to share what they learned in their journey and help others go beyond the 7-figure revenue mark, too. Check the link to our exclusive community's waitlist in the comments below to secure your spot.

Imagine breaking bread with the minds shaping tomorrow. Yesterday, at NOVA legal, we did just that. Our 'Lunch With The Founder' series welcomed André Azevedo from Wingdriver, and what an afternoon it was. Lunch isn't just about eating. It's about connecting. Understanding the heartbeat of the ventures we collaborate with. André brought more than just his presence to the table – he brought an infectious energy and a story of resilience that left us all inspired. His journey wasn't just impressive; it was a vivid reminder of why we do what we do. It's not about transactions. It's about building those deep, meaningful connections that light up our workdays and solidify our future vision. What a story, André. What a testament to believing in the process. Let's keep creating spaces for stories and connections to flourish. Who has inspired you recently in your professional journey? Share your stories; let's celebrate the power of connection and resilience together. #HumanConnection #StartUpToScaleUp #NovaLegal #ClientsAndFriends

When Chandu Thota and I first started The Dealmap, we used to argue…a lot. We worked in such a small, open office that we didn’t want the team to hear us arguing. So, we’d retreat to my car to hash it out—like parents trying to shield their kids from a fight. (It wasn’t quite Deadpool and Wolverine in the Honda Odyssey-level fighting, but sometimes it felt like it.) We would argue about core foundational issues, and one of our biggest points of contention was our vastly different management styles. Chandu came from Microsoft, where structure and hierarchy were the norm. I came from Yahoo, where ideas bubbled up from all corners, and gathering input before making a decision was a part of the culture. He’d often ask me, “Why don’t you just tell people what to do?” And I’d say, “I’m not going to assume I have all the answers—I want to hear from others before deciding.” We’d also go at it about the value of design when it came to our product. Chandu used to say, “Design is just icing on the cake.” I’d argue, “Design is the cake—it’s what makes our products easy and delightful to use!” Both of us were passionate about our company’s success, we just disagreed about how to ensure that success. Over time, though, we began to see each other’s perspectives, and our vision for the company became more and more aligned. We stayed curious and learned from each other. Our fights became debates, then our debates became thoughtful conversations, and our thoughtful conversations forged a deep trust and unbreakable bond. In the last year before we sold the company, we were in lockstep. Instead of arguing in the car, we’d go out to eat (Chandu always ordered coffee and fries) to work through our biggest decisions. I’m forever grateful to Chandu. He took a chance on me when he brought me in as CEO after his original co-founder departed. He was a great partner, especially as I learned the ropes of being a first time CEO, and he pushed me to be better every day. His tough questions made me think harder and gain more clarity about our path forward, and his brilliant product mind helped us build revolutionary products that were ahead of their time. (We trained our own AI models way back in 2010, and much of this work lives on inside Google now.) To this day, we are still close and he is one of my most trusted advisors. We continue to learn from each other, and we have both evolved our positions and beliefs over time. (He has long since agreed that design is cake, not just icing). Relationships with healthy conflict have ways of making us better. When we stay open-minded, we challenge and push each other to grow. Who is a person in your life who challenged you to look at your work differently? — This post is part of a Gratitude Series where I thank people who have made a difference in my life. Gratitude makes us happier and more resilient. Try out this fun team development exercise using our free Gratitude Kit: https://lnkd.in/gx4_iynN.