A Year of Building

Maybe this happens with age. Or maybe it’s just me. Whatever the case, somewhere along the way, the time in my life started flying by.

Take last week. I spent a few days at Venture Atlanta, where I was lucky to meet and hang out with some of the most remarkable entrepreneurs in the country.

But my days there felt like minutes. And I was bummed to think about all the innovators I didn’t get to meet because my time there just vanished.

After the conference, I raced to Hartsfield-Jackson in an Uber. I double checked my ticket to confirm the terminal (again), and was rattled to see the date on the ticket said, October 17th.

Why did that date matter? I had to pause and think. Then it hit me. Exactly one year ago was my first day at BuildGroup.

When I first started talking to the founders of BuildGroup, we talked extensively about how fast the world we live in is changing. And how the pace of innovation is struggling to keep up. This is bad for entrepreneurs. But especially bad for all of us that count on them to solve our problems and make life better.

And then there are the ramifications a stall like this could have on the global economy. The way I see it, if entrepreneurs remain hung up by outdated processes and sluggish capital, time won’t slow down, it’ll just stand still.

BuildGroup sees it this way, too. It’s one of the foundational beliefs fueling our mission. The one dimensional capital system absolutely has to evolve for entrepreneurs. And not so they can keep up with the world, but to keep it spinning.

This is no small task. And BuildGroup made it clear that anyone wanting to join the mission better leave everything they knew about maximum effort at the door.

Because maximum effort is just effort that’s already maxed out.

I think most people are wired to connect with others in order to create something great. Many of us have been on teams with the fire to do it. But also felt the fear and dread when things cooled down. And whatever finally put the flame out (fleeting capital or operational snafus — usually both) all that was usually left in the ashes was something that made Blekko look like Google.

What’s unsettling is the amount of companies that burned out before they had a more optimized opportunity to help them get moving. Some of the greatest entrepreneurs building companies today will struggle to grow if they’re continually forced to search for the kind of permanent capital and operator-led support BuildGroup is determined to provide.

For me, the best part about last year was all the time I got to spend with entrepreneurs from all over the world and hearing their stories. There’s so much excitement around what they’re building. But in many cases, there’s just as much anxiety around getting it built.

So when I talk about the things we’re focused on to increace the capacity of the tools and capital they need to set the world’s pace, I gotta say, their overwhelming approval makes me want to move much faster in year two.

Because, after all, time flies.

Stay tuned.