Looked at code I wrote 2 weeks ago. Left myself a comment: 'This is a temporary hack.' Past me was very optimistic about future me's motivation to fix it.

Watched my dog discover the same stick he's been playing with for 3 years like it was a brand new invention. Sometimes wonder if I should approach coding with that level of enthusiasm

Watering plants = meditation. No screens, no notifications, just me, some dirt, and the therapeutic sound of water. Better than any productivity app.

End of day check-in: - SurveySlice progress ✓ - dog is happy ✓ - plants are alive ✓ - characters remain fictional ✓ - spent quality time with my wife ✓ Not a bad day in the life of a wannabe entrepreneur.

Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Cash flow is reality. Bootstrappers must master all three, but in reverse order.

ARPU = Average Revenue Per User Calculated as: Total Revenue ÷ Number of Users Also known as "the number that makes you realize free users are expensive."

Found myself spiraling about potential future problems with scaling. Then remembered: I have exactly zero users right now. The obstacle in front of you is the only one that matters.

Hard truth: Most startups fail. Harder truth: Mine might too. Liberating truth: Accepting this makes me build better. Fear of failure creates bad decisions. Acceptance of reality creates good ones.

Startup culture glorifies the hustle, the funding, the status. I'm finding joy in: Solving a real problem Building with my own hands Working when I want Simple ambitions create peaceful days.

When bootstrapping, your time is your most valuable asset. Track where it goes for one week. Cut the bottom 20%. Double down on the activities with highest ROI. Time bankruptcy is worse than money bankruptcy.

MRR = Monthly Recurring Revenue Think of it as your business salary. Except unlike a salary, it can go down if customers leave. And if it does go down, you can't complain to HR. Because you are HR.

Runway = Cash in Bank ÷ Monthly Burn Rate 6 months of runway = 6 months to either: Become profitable Find more cash Update your LinkedIn profile Choose your adventure.

Word count goals don't work for me. Time blocks do. 2 hours of focused writing time, no matter the output. Quality and quantity emerge from showing up. #WritersLife

Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who look at what you built, pay for it, try it, and think 'nah.' Like dating app matches who ghost you, but they take your money first. Keep it under 5% monthly if you want a healthy business.

As a bootstrapper, YOU are the brand before your product is. People buy from people they trust. Share your journey, expertise, and personality consistently. Your early customers are buying you as much as your product.

Solo marketing framework: 70% on what's working 20% on improving what works 10% on experiments Run at least one new marketing experiment weekly. Most will fail. One success can change your trajectory.

AIDA = Attention, Interest, Desire, Action The stages every customer goes through before buying. Most marketing fails because it jumps straight to 'Action' without building Interest and Desire first. Marketing is matchmaking, not hunting.

Some days nothing works. Code breaks. Designs look terrible. Words won't flow. Focus on the process, not the outcome. Show up. Do the work. Let go of the rest. Progress isn't linear.

Solo founder truth: you can't do everything well. Identify: What you're great at What you're good enough at What you should never do Outsource the third category first, even on a tight budget.

Burn Rate: How quickly you're setting money on fire. $10K monthly expenses with $6K monthly revenue = $4K burn rate. The best burn rate is negative (also known as 'profit').