Spade AI turns 2!

A couple of days late, but this week marks the 2nd anniversary of me starting Grandstage, which is now @Spade AI. I reflected on this experience thus far, and rather than boast about the progress we’ve made, I will share my top learnings and mistakes along the way.?

??Top Learnings:

1. Team really is everything at this stage.

I’ve always seen myself as an underdog, and have made it to this point in my career and life doing things the unconventional way. I’ve developed a tendency to buck conventional wisdom. I did that when told early on how important building a team is. I thought to myself “I’ll prove them wrong when I take this company to the next level as a solo founder with some contractors.”

I become present to how foolish I was when we made some major changes in the team in January, the primary one bringing on Cody Braun . Man, what a rapid shift in culture. Prior to that point, we got things done, but we weren’t a team. Now, we are a well oiled machine, and the results speak for themselves.?

2. Your main job as a founder is relationship building.?

I am a big introvert, so my natural tendency isn’t to want to meet and build relationships with new people. I’m friendly, but cautious with people. I avoid crowds. I stick to my circle of family and friends.

But, as a founder,? you have to consistently be out there. You are constantly building new, and nurturing existing, relationships with people. Those individuals are your supporters, future hires, connectors, advisors, and potential investors. And, while I always hated any form of nepotism, I now appreciate the fact that you need to know and trust the people who you bring into your business.

3. Pick people aligned with your vision and values.?

As someone new to venture-backed startups (my first was bootstrapped), I fell for the hype that pedigree matters. I over-indexed on finding people to join our team who were “former” FAANG employees, graduated from top-notch schools, etc.?

The reality is none of those things guarantee someone is a good fit for your company - either as a supporter, employee, advisor, investor, etc. The most valuable people we have had the pleasure of being a part of building this company did not have the backgrounds.

Be open minded to where you may receive value from. You will definitely be surprised.?

4. Maintaining mental health is just as, if not more, important than physical health.?

I will use an analogy to make this point. In weightlifting, or any form of physical activity, your mind gives up before your body does. If you have the mental fortitude in the gym to push past your mind telling you it can’t do anymore, then you will get a few more reps in.

Being a founder is the same game. Building a stronger mind enables you to perform better day-to-day. It’s all about letting go of those thoughts that make you feel defeated, to get those extra quality reps in.?

Throughout life, I have been able to brute force it through a lot of tough situations, and come out of the other end without ever coping with the stress of it. I would forget it or find enough of a distraction to not pay attention.

That doesn’t work as a founder. There is such a consistent bombardment of stressors that you can only escape for so long. I have reached a point of burnout twice in building this company because I wasn’t consistent in managing my stress levels, I tried to brute force it.??

The most helpful tool I have in my arsenal has been Angel Naranjo of Synergy Business Associates , who has been my coach this time around for 6 years. He has coached me through some really low points, and cheered me on in some really high points. Without the tools and guidance I received from Synergy, I likely would have hung up the towel at a couple of points.?

Lots more to learn. Lots more growth to be had. This has been the most fun ride of my life, and I wouldn’t want to do it with another team - Cody Braun , Paulo Roberto Cruz Fran?a , Patrick Ihejirika , and Eddie Farfan .

Thank you to all of the advisors, mentors, investors, and supporters we have had along the way. Apologies to anyone I didn’t mention, there are so many names to include.

Jonathan Sullivan

Pete Rubio

Wangui McKelvey

Debra Elias

Sean McBride

Elayne Safir

Ayori ‘Selfpreneur’ Selassie

Matt Toback

Matt Westgate

Andria Williams

Jeff Becker

Roslyn Jin

Annie Ripp

Neal Sales-Griffin

Lilliana Robinson

Naji B.

Aaliyah Barker

Brooke Bilyeu

@Ali Fern

Kate Lee

Ferrona Lie

Derek Skaletsky

Michael Moon

My Antler NYC Summer '22 cohort (especially Zayd Syed Ali , Chelsea James , Erno Tauriainen , Alexandra Bonnet , and Andy Rooks )

My Techstars Oakland and Ebay Future of Commerce comrades in arms (especially Alex Poe , Gabriela Constantinescu , Ben Ford , Marion Tessier Paula Menéndez Pausa , Indy Sanders , Arthur Sousa , Madison Long , Silvia de Denaro Vieira , Mariana Soledad Russo (she/her) and Jordan Giha )

Yacov Lewis

Sean Larkin

Ayomi Samaraweera

To the future. ??