The Not-so-annual Letter (2024)

Dear friends, OGs, lovers, haters, and interest rate survivors,

It seems it has been almost 3 years since I sent an update to this very old newsletter list. So I've added a few new connections to help bring some life back into the place. And that's the purpose of today's email, a small proof of life, and Sean life update coming at you. 

The quick version for those who don't want to scroll is I'm still living in Norway, recently left my job as CMO at Iterate, have become a shopkeeper(?), and have started to build DTC brands. Life is really great these days.

I'm also interested in new opportunities for 2024. Please let me know if there is interesting work to be done this year. Especially interested in e-commerce, marketplaces, direct-to-consumer, retail, and urban city things.

Now on to the larger updates and pretty pictures...
 

Norway

I mention living in Norway because I still get asked if I plan to stay. The answer is yes. Norway is my forever home. Why someone wouldn't want to stay in a super expensive, very cold, high-taxed, everything is closed on Sunday, no one smiles, way too homogenous country... I have no idea. 

I still spend some time in America of course and am actually writing this from a farmhouse in Colorado.

Candlemaking

Last year I was sitting in the park with my lovely lady and we were brainstorming what could we easily sell in Norway. Candles came to mind because Norwegians, well, they do love their candles. We thought about how could we make them more fun and even customizable.

From there Byvoks was born and now has 1000s of happy customers and over 1,200,000kr in first-year sales. This is the first brand experiment from our affectionately called Banana for Scale DTC idea generator thing. A few new ideas will (hopefully) launch in 2024 here. 

Shopkeeper?

Long story short, in 2023 our office building burned down (not related to the candles) and Byvoks needed a new home. We took an evening stroll and came across a long-vacant retail space. For the last 10 years, it was used as storage, and 100 years ago it was a milk store. 

We spent the summer renovating the space and I must say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Mainly because we have no idea how to renovate.

Regardless, it's fun to have a little retail space like this and we plan to do pop-ups and other (very small) events there. If you live in Oslo come visit the shop sometime in Bislett. I also feel like I'm doing my immigrant duty here by opening this random ass shop. 
 

Closing thoughts

Well, firstly I wish you all a great 2024.

This year is probably still going to be tough, especially for those startup folks on this newsletter. Encourage you to stay lean and focus only on increasing revenue to reduce the need for venture funding as much as you can. Maybe do something random like sell 1000s of candles. What do I know?

Well, hold on I do know a few things. One of those things is that sometimes we are too quick to overcomplicate the work we do. This is very much true in startupland. Or just any new business. If these are more lean times then you should only be starting at the fastest path to revenue on any new idea. You just aren't going to have the luxury of easy capital and you'll also have to fight harder for each new customer. In other words, it's a great time to start a new business as long as you don't mind getting very scrappy and a little pushy on the marketing.

Perhaps this is why I reverted to trying my hand at e-commerce again. It is certainly not the sexiest business but you know right away if customers will pay you for the thing. Furthermore, building up the business from cash flow and not investors is certainly more rewarding. Although at times, a total pain in the ass. 

Anyway, I guess I had another learning this year to not forget what you already know. Sometimes it's a good idea to return to previous work many years later. You come at it from a whole new angle and avoid the mistakes you made last time. I remembered I can write funny texts and know how to make people buy things online. Why fight it?

For those still trying to manage your investors or get new ones I have something that may help. I have been ghostwriting some investor updates behind the scenes and now offering this as a bit of a service. You can get a monthly meeting with me and I'll craft your update to keep your investors warm and informed. Learn more at ghosted.boo. Or send that link to founders in your portfolio who never send their damn updates.

See ya next year, or the year after.

You never know with these things.