Call a Customer.
“When guns are blazing, best to keep your head down.” - Advice from an LP
The last four days have been filled with speculation and communication. Heroes and villains.
When events like the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, which I would categorize as a “one off event,” happen, like a magnet, they attract all of the focus. They distract people from their chosen paths towards a “worst case” scenario. Which generally happens because enough people consider the possibility to be true.
In my 12 years as an early stage investor, I have been through roughly a dozen “One off” events like this. The most extreme of which was the Covid lock down, and the least extreme of which was Mt. Gox shutting down. They seem to happen every year, and they seem to happen around my birthday. The universe loves to surprise me with exciting presents.
When a house is burning down, it’s difficult to look away from the flames. I’m not perfect at it, because it’s an addiction of our entire generation of natively online humanoids to be in the know about everything, and to be an expert on every topic. However, if you do get a chance to look away, your brain tends to refocus on what the most important thing that you CAN control is.
Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures once wrote a post on his priorities that I always loved. Family, Friends, Fitness, Firm, Fires.
I think the problems with “one off events,” is that it puts “Fires” front and center. It forces you to think that the fire is all of your priorities.
What always reorients my focus is speaking with my family and then speaking with a customer. And for Boost VC, the startup is the customer.
Spend some time with a customer today.