For those of you that are new here, every week I send what I call a 1x1x1.
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One learning, reminder, or interesting item from my week.
One interesting find/tool from my week.
One image from my life.

Let's dive in 👇

Learning/reminder of the week

This company is going to kill my business.

Many times this thought has plagued me. Discovering a new competitor in our industry always would make for some tossing and turning at 2:00 am with thoughts like "they have better tech" or "they have way more funding than we do".

It wasn't until later in my entrepreneurial journey that I realized how beneficial having a good competitor could be.

When we started WeHero, the market was pretty open until I came across Goodera.

Venture backed, tech enabled, I thought that this company could really sink us.

What happened though was quite the opposite. The hidden beauty of competition showed its face. The competition made us so much better.

We would not have grown as fast or have worked so diligently on improving our products and services if it wasn't for having a good competitor breathing down our back. Someone we were trying to keep up with and differentiate from.

I'd like to think in a lot of ways, we helped each other. The founder of Goodera would regularly jump on the phone with my co-founder Andy and I, sharing industry insights and having a laugh along the journey.

When WeHero was acquired, I thanked that founder. His business made us better.

As I launch new ventures, I don't sweat anymore when I come across a good competitor. It puts a fire in my belly. Gives me a target to focus on and pushes me to be better.

So remember to thank your competitors. They're likely making you better.

Interesting find/tool of the week

In the evening I love shacking up on the couch with the laptop. My wife watches Love is Blind and I can catchup on some emails. Life is good! Except for the fact that I had been roasting my groin with the heat from my computer 🔥.

I started using a cook book to put my laptop on. A nice temporary solution that made me hungry but I recently upgraded to a permanent solution. The cushion lap desk.

Image from my life

My wife and I celebrated 9 years of partnership. Invest in your relationships the way you invest in your businesses. I would not be where I am without her.

See you all next week!