E is for Engage

Recently, on my social accounts I said that my new years resolution was something that began with E. That was a fun little game, and here are the “guesses” that I received.

Exhale. Emigrate to France. Eat crepes. Environment. E-sports hall of fame. E pluribus unum. Empathy. Electric Vehicle. Equanimity. Entertainment. Everest. E-Techstars. Exit. Enjoy. Education. Energy. Equality. Egypt. Equilibrium. Equity. Engage. Ecosystem. Endeavor. Exercise. E=MC^2. Exorcism. Etherium. Eggs. Estrogen. Eggroll. Eucalyptus. Enigma. Elon. Execute. Estonia. Enlightenment. Extrapolation. Evaluate new economic models. Equine Wrestling Federation. Eat more tacos. Etc! Wow, lots of guesses!

While I like most of these alot, Laura Kennedy and Sam Casey win! Engagement is what I had resolved to do.

There’s quite a lot wrong with the world right now. Social media is incredibly powerful, but it’s also incredibly dangerous as we’ve seen with recent events. The one to many “mind-shaping” potential is downright scary.

No, this is not another one of those posts where I’m taking a break from my Facebook or Instagram or YouTube or Twitter accounts. I get why people are leaving those services. But I’m still out there. I’m letting you know what’s going on that way, just like always.

But this year, unlike past years, I made a new years resolution. And mine is to engage more authentically and more directly with any entrepreneur who wants some help. I want to do this 1:1, instead of in social media marketing blasts.

After all, I’ve now been involved as an early first round investor in more than 2,300 companies, and that number is growing really fast. Those companies have a combined market cap of more than $185 billion today. I’ve seen the trials and tribulations of companies like Twilio, SendGrid, Uber, Remitly, PillPack, and so many more. I’ve personally taught every one of our accelerator companies how to raise money, and they’re about $11.7B into raising angel and VC money. And I’ve learned from what they’ve learned. So, it seems like I should share more of what I’ve learned even more often.

Today I created a channel where anyone can just reach out and ask me anything any time. How does it work? Just text me at +1 (303) 529-1541. Once you do text me, you’ll have an easy and private way to reach out to me about whatever is going on and let me know how I can help YOU. Unfortunately, for now, this is limited to only people with US or Canadian phone numbers, but I expect that will expand in the future.

Yes, once in a while I’ll send you some content by text that I think is relevant to you. It might be because I’m visiting the city where you are (if we can ever travel again!) or it might be because I have some new content related to something you asked me about. But it will never be general marketing blasts from me. Because, who needs more of that? Anything I text you back will be something I think is valuable to you. And, you can opt out easily any time.

I made a little video explaining more. Feel free to watch it or just shoot me a text any time. I’d love to hear from you.

Text me at +1 (303) 529-1541
file under: Startups