Life is all about prioritization. It’s hard to focus effectively on more than a few major tasks.
I got re-involved in Examine.com around the end of 2018. By early 2019 I was fully in the swing of things.
It was also a shite time for Examine.com. A few bad decisions, a few hiring mistakes, coupled with Google smacking us hurt. A lot.
It’s funny how you can be flying high, and the next moment you’re like “uhhh – how’d I get here?”
But it was also perfect timing for me. I was itching to do WORK. And I mean work in the sense of “leave me alone for 90 minutes, I need to focus on this one discrete task.” So many of the so-called ‘entrepreneurs’ are always rambling on and on about strategy, vision, etc. that I wonder if they’ve ever done real work.
We humans are wired to feel accomplished after actually doing things. And I missed that feeling.
So I got back in there and took it a lot more seriously.
And now, Examine.com is starting to roll. Revenue is more than 2x than the same period last year. Everyone is on the same page. Our Personalized Plus (coming out in ~May) could be massive. (And I am not one to engage in hyperbole).
But there’s more to it.
In the past 18 months, I’ve had four friends who have gotten 9-figure exits in the health space. All bootstrapped, all with companies 10+ years old.
Mind you – the point isn’t about the sale price. The point is about IMPACT. I always thought Examine.com would top out as a company worth 10-20 million (maybe?), but now I’m like – oh shit, we could impact WAY more than I had ever even dreamed (and I generally dream big).
And that has me incredibly motivated. Not for the $, but that we can make an actual dent in this world!
Without sounding like a pompous asshat, how many people can look at what they do and think “I can potentially HELP the live of millions of people… especially as a bulwark against other scammers and charlatans”?
I’d wager: not a lot.
So that brings me to SJO. SJO is… grinding. I enjoy it, but the process of writing is draining. The process of editing my verbal vomit is akin to getting down on your knees and scouring your toilet – it may look nice afterwards, and you may feel good about it, but you’d absolutely dread it.
And I have almost 20 unpublished articles, from 25 to 90% finished. On trusting the process (I made my first and last sports bet last year… and my $1000 became $3300). About subtle tweaks on your site for subscriptions. On getting my ass handed to me as a ‘manager.’ On the mythos of rags to riches. Hell, on how so many popular psych ‘best practices’ are either full bullshit or mostly bullshit:
- Stanford prison experiment
- 10,000 hours
- 92% of communication is non-verbal
- Power pose
- Taking notes by hands being far superior
- Willpower as a ‘tank’ that drains
But, everything has opportunity cost. And while I do enjoy SJO , what we can build with Examine (it turns 9 years old in 3 weeks) is something I must do.
So I’m still alive. Quick Thoughts will continue to be randomly updated. But with my singular focus on Examine.com, the likelyhood of me updating SJO will be quite low.
Finally: In order to keep myself accountable, we are doing monthly Investor Updates for Examine.com. Mind you, we have no investors or any kind of funding. But if you’ve invested and are interested in getting the once-a-month email, let me know.
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