#26 The start-up phase. Chronicles of a Founder Dad.
Moving offices, speed-dating VCs, and a marathon cramp walk home.
Okokok… here’s what’s been happening.
Life-wise, in no particular order:
The kids are finally back to kinder, nursery, and school after a month off. Great news... until they started taking it in turns to get sick and stay home. It was always going to happen. Classic. 🫠
Allie’s back to uni. Her six-week “break” which included a mammoth hospital placement and full-time kid duty (arguably harder than uni) is over. The worst bit? Her new schedule means I’m now WFH and a glorified kid Uber driver every Wednesday. The same day I usually get free brekkie and pizza at the cowork space. Gutted. 😢
Speaking of which… with the next Antler cohort kicking off, we’re vacating our co-working desks in the city. So I’m now hunting for new digs. Preferably free. Ideal location = Richmond. Bonus points for free food, coffee… and a sauna. Hit me up if you know a spot.
And yep, the Melbourne Marathon is in 9 weeks. Time to start doing something. I reckon there are two ways to approach it - one is structured: training plans, discipline, steady progress, etc. The other is my current plan: stay kinda fit, don’t get injured, run when I can, trust I’ll get it done. I tried the structured approach for the Uganda marathon a few years ago… which got cancelled after three months of training. So yeah, doing it my way this time.
Managed a 15K on Sunday before my calf cramped and I had to walk the last 4K home. But it didn’t ping, so we’re good. Then squeezed in a 5K on Wednesday between indi drop-off and pick-up. Feeling lean. Feeling alright. Want to track my progress? If i remember to charge my Apple watch, you can get me on strava.
Here’s a completely un-related video of a beach walk with indi from the weekend
Work-wise, some real highlights this week:
We had our first big proof point. A mum in the emergency room used the app and it changed the care her son received. It gave her the power, confidence, and clarity and DATA to advocate for a second opinion. They ended up catching something they would’ve missed. That’s the whole point of what we’re building. That one moment was worth everything so far.
I jumped on a call with the Wonder Words clinic team to walk through the product and take questions. First - the questions were great. Allied health professionals really care about their patients. Second - the response landed hard. People were genuinely pumped about what we’re building. And third - it hit me how rare this is. In 20 years of pitching, working, selling, I’ve never consistently had this kind of audience. People who love what they do, who show up with energy, and who are genuinely excited to see ideas that help them do more. It’s been a massive unlock.
The investment process is almost done (touches a lot of pieces of wood). Honestly, it’s like the ultimate sales process - show up with belief, stay unattached to individual outcomes, and find the right people. Last night I went to a founder-investor speed dating event. Here’s how that went:
First meeting: a Series A investor. Not relevant for us yet, but great convo and hopefully someone who can follow the journey.
Second: Antler (lol), one of our existing investors.
Third: a fund that is perfect for us and very keen… but currently on a 2-month freeze. Of course.
All good though - free cheese board and vino at the end. No complaints.
I’m at the point where there are roughly 23,456 things I could be doing. When you’re building lean, the real superpower isn’t just execution, but choosing what to execute on - and when. So today’s job: get next weeks plan locked in and physically/ mentally prepped to smash it.
Hope you’re having a special week.
⚡ Storm are top of the ladder, 👹 United won a trophy (I’ll take anything after the last decade), and it’s looking like the Ashes will be aa bit spicy 🌶️ . Life’s good.
Peace and love 💛 Orrin
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