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I'm sitting with two things after watching the Oscars on Sunday.
After I finished jumping on the couch and screaming for Michael B. Jordan’s Best Actor win, my first thought was about the twenty years before it.
This man has been grinding since he was a kid with cornrows on the set of The Wire. TWENTY FOUR years ago.
The commentary online and people pulling up those old photos, all I could think was: keep f*cking going!
In entrepreneurship circles, we talk about the overnight success that was actually two decades in the making, but seeing it play out in real time, on one of the biggest stages, was beautiful to witness.
My second thought was about Ludwig Göransson, who won Best Score for Sinners. He and Ryan Coogler have been friends since college.
They’ve been working together, and they keep showing up for each other. It was such a reminder that the right people in your corner don’t just cheer for you. They work with you. They push you to be your greatest self.
A lot of founders I know have the first part. The years of work. The visibility. People who are proud of them. What's harder to find is the second part, the people who actually get what you're building and can help you move it forward.
Your friends love you. Your family is proud. But proud of you and useful to you are two different things. And when you're the only one in your circle doing this, at this level, with so much on the line, that gap is treacherous.
I've seen this dynamic for years. Running accelerator programs before COVID, there was something that happened when founders got in the same room together. Someone would ask a question and another founder, one who had just been through that exact thing, would answer it in a way no curriculum ever could. Leapfrog moments. The serendipity. It’s always been in Guava's DNA.
This past year I built a container around it.
A 90-day sprint for Black and Brown entrepreneurs, focused on revenue and real milestones. I brought everything to it, five years of building Guava, my network of experts and coaches, everything I've learned running programs and building companies.
A win for this network means founders have a road to $1M ARR. I've done it before. There are two Black-owned wines on American Airlines flights right now because of the rooms I put their names in!
Now lemme be honest, I hate selling things I believe in.
When something feels this close to my heart, pitching it feels like opening myself up to rejection on something personal. I'm a Brooklyn girl, and baby, the ego is real.
But I'm getting out of my own way.
The Guava Founder Circle. 90 days. Starting April 6th. A few spots left.
If this is speaking to you — HMU (hit me up). I'll share the details.
If you know a founder who's building toward their next milestone, fwd this to them, or send them to me.
If you're part of a founder network or community, share the opportunity.
For my corporate friends, if you're an expert, come through for an office hour.
Keep f*cking going. Just don't do it alone.
Talk soon
Kelly
Here’s how I use Attio to run my day.
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Answers questions about deals, accounts, and customer signals that used to take hours to find
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