Now, it’s a reminder that the clock’s ticking. So, I thought it was an excellent time to review some of the frameworks and tools I’ve shared over the last few months.
I aim to help you optimize your time, impact, and earnings without sacrificing your sanity. By the time you finish reading this newsletter, you should be fired up for Q3 and beyond.
1. F.O.C.U.S Framework
Hot take: Most entrepreneurs and other brand leaders think distraction is killing their dreams. It’s not — take it from a neurodivergent thinker (🙋♂️), it can be a game-changer if you know how to separate consumption from creation.
That’s what my F.O.C.U.S. framework does. It’s a constrained system that gives you space to do work that demands curiosity and creativity — the two critical components of innovation — while keeping you disciplined and productive.
tl;dr
F = Find the problem you’re solving for O = Observe the Outcome C = Curiously Consume and Curate Content U = Useful Creation (or use what stands out to you) S = Start creating
Hot take: With apologies to Simon Sinek, marketing that captures attention and converts into sales and growth doesn’t start with why but with who. And you don’t need to spend $20K(+) and weeks on end developing marketing plans that are already outdated by the time you implement them.
My A.C.T. framework empowers you to take back the time, effort, and expense of developing complex marketing plans and brand strategies so you can act fast in today’s lightning-fast marketplace.
tl;dr
A = Audience segment C = Content and communication T = Triggers, tactics, and touchpoints
Give it a try: Here’s a free ChatGPT tool you can use to implement the A.C.T. framework. Access it here.
3. The Demand Audit
Hot take: We live in a time when technology is becoming increasingly expensive and complex, yet we’re expected to do more with less. I always advise my clients to start where they stand by assessing what’s working and what’s not in a rigorous, data-driven way.
Then, once you’re clear on what’s working, you double down on that.
The Demand Audit starts with an approach I love: the AARRRR Framework, aka Pirate Metrics. It was created by investor and entrepreneur Dave McClure, the founder of 500 Startups. It’s catchy, easy to measure, and simple to understand quickly. Plus, you sound like a pirate when you say the acronym out loud.
tl;dr
Acquisitions: How are you getting your customers?
Activations: What channels are you bringing people through to activate them?
Retention: How are you retaining your clients, both long-term and new acquisitions?
Recapture: How can you capture the attention/engagement of people who interact with your brand but don’t buy from you?
Referral: Where do your best referrals come from?
Revenue: How do you capture the sale? Continuously grow your income?
Most startups and scale-ups lead with what’s viable — the minimum possible — but in my mind, it’s not just about viability. What’s valuable to your customers makes all the difference. That’s why MVE is crucial.
These four frameworks are my go-to's, and they’ve enabled me to help raise over $100M for startup ventures and guide 20+ entrepreneurs to take their businesses from idea to IPO.
It doesn’t mean that I don’t ever make mistakes (I do — including the #1 mistake no founder should make). And occasionally, I waste time chasing unicorns (I have, but nowadays, I’d much rather chase hummingbirds).
But when I stay grounded in the frameworks that help me with divergent creativity, efficiency, and growth-focused processes, I’m all good.
PODCAST 🎙️: How Exiting Founders Stay Forward Obsessed
What I love about co-hosting the Forward Obsessed podcast is getting the inside scoop on not the successes and multi-million dollar exits but the truly hard shit. The twists and turns when you think there’s no way you’ll keep going… but you feel even stronger there’s no way you won’t.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to these episodes, I encourage you to not just passively take it in when you’re driving or on a treadmill but actively take notes.
Breaking Barriers for Women in Tech: Featuring Beverly Pareti, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-founder of The Last Mile, a nonprofit providing technology training to incarcerated individuals.
Betting on the Blockchain: The Future of Sports Betting: Featuring Alex Dubin, co-founder and CEO of BettorOff, a sports betting platform designed to bring transparency and integrity to bettors through blockchain technology.
Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone: Featuring Jess Lynch, current co-founder and Managing Partner at Raiz Capital and previously co-founder and CEO of Wishroute, a scalable behavior change platform acquired in 2022.
The Future of Venture Funding: Featuring Jason Kirby, founder of Thunder.VC, an AI-powered investment bank that helps startups navigate the fundraising process, and previous co-founder and president of Liquid Sky, a cloud gaming company acquired by Walmart in 2018, and the President and COO of Generation Esports, an esports platform for schools that raised $11 million in funding.
Changing the Game of Alcohol Delivery: Featuring Lindsey Andrews, founder of Minibar, an on-demand alcohol delivery service acquired by Reserve Bar in 2021; current founder of Revido.
Founding 21Seeds Tequila: Featuring Kat Hantas, founder of 21Seeds Tequila, who sold her business after just three years in business for $160 million — the largest exit ever achieved by a female-founded spirits company.
CREATIVE CAFFEINE ☕️🍵
Anyone who knows me knows I love tools and hacks that make my life easier. Lately, I’ve been using AI as my creative sparring partner, and my team and I have made some super helpful tools. If you haven’t already, try the following out:
Trendomatic
One of the biggest issues I hear from busy founders and brand leaders is how impossible it is to stay on top of trends, so my team and I built the AI-powered Trendomatic. It makes it simple to generate fresh ideas to share on social media to keep your brand current and click-worthy.
I partnered with AI influencer Ruben Hassid to build a LinkedIn tool that can do what he does — write high-performing content that converts to leads and sales:EasyGen.io.
That’s the short way of what Calvin Coolidge said so elegantly:
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Bottom line Persistence is key: again and again, until you gain — that goes for the growth frameworks I shared today and with everything in life. If I can help you implement these concepts, just hit reply, and I'm here for you!
Ways I can help you & your teams grow faster:
Generate business-building ideas and solutions to move your results needle
One-on-one private growth and BD consulting
Growth workshops to inspire and upskill your teams with AI-enabled creative toolkits
Thanks so much for reading this edition of The Forward Obsessed Founder — you can also check out this issue on the web [Link]. Spread the word and grow my mission together
Please take a second and hit the FWD button ▶️, to share this email with your favorite growth-obsessed peer. I want to inspire 1 million awesome minds like you.
ISSUE #65 Welcome to the Forward Obsessed Founder, my newsletter with insights, awesome tools, and real-world advice to grow your business and career. GO FORWARD THOUGHT OF THE WEEK ➡️ AI didn’t democratize creativity. It commoditized it. Now anyone can spin up a campaign, design a brand, or ship a prototype with a few prompts. But here's the truth no one's telling you: The danger isn’t bad code (though that is a risk). It’s boring products and AI slop. When everyone asks AI the same...
ISSUE #64 Welcome to the Forward Obsessed Founder, my newsletter with insights, awesome tools, and real-world advice to grow your business and career. GO FORWARD THOUGHT OF THE WEEK ➡️ Here’s the hard truth: AI won’t save your business. But your approach to using AI will. Most companies assume AI is a plug-and-play solution. Buy the tools, use the prompts, and productivity skyrockets, right? Wrong. The truth is, AI is only as effective as the systems you build around it. Without structure, it...
ISSUE #63 Welcome to the Forward Obsessed Founder, my newsletter with insights, awesome tools, and real-world advice to grow your business and career. GO FORWARD THOUGHT OF THE WEEK ➡️ Most people think using AI means copying and pasting text into ChatGPT, tweaking prompts, and sifting through outputs until you get something that works. That’s (still) the hard way. The easy way? Automate all of it. The other day, I was talking with a content entrepreneur about what most people call “AI...
