Literally all I do is work in this chapter of life, raw update from the trenches building - Ep 107

Yo, so back with episode Fuck. Have I ever done a different intro to this YouTube? I actually don't think I have at this point. It's staying. Yo, so back with episode 107 of the Midnight Pod. I'm in a different location for once. As you will realize. I say for once. The past few have all been a pretty different location, but yeah, probably no prizes for guessing where I am. I'm in my new place, which I cannot confirm or deny the location for personal security reasons obviously. But I've just been locked the fuck in. To be honest that this is a really good setup for me. I'm living like 5 minute walk from like the sickest gym ever or like 90 seconds on my very sus electric scooter. Home office upstairs, obviously, bedrooms and shit. And then downstairs I was thinking, I was thinking I could actually like relaunch the actual pod here. Which is something I've thought about for a while. But just time. Pretty much my routine right now is, and this is just a general update because I just haven't thought of anything profound to say. And being me in the Midnight Pod, I just don't plan stuff. I've just been locked the in. I basically just like the past month since my birthday has gone four weeks, it's gone crazy crazy quick. I literally, I think I tweeted about this. I'm not even complaining. It's just like the reality of being in a certain season as a founder, right? Everyone, everyone watching can relate. I mean I literally get up, I switch around my routine now. So I train in the morning, try and like journal and get thoughts out of my head. Because I don't know if you're anything like me. Like you wake up, you go to bed with your head spinning with things which will make sense when you listen to my routine or just anyone that's a fan. I can probably relate. You wake up with your head fucking thinking about those things. So I try now on this iPad. Cause I'm just, I find it better than pen and paper. Cause I can just obviously have it all on one, never have to replace it, et cetera. Journal on that. Then I go gym. So yeah, get up. Wait, get up, Journal, gym, pretty much work. Recently I sell it actually working at my desk slash computer. I like switch out, go to my home office down here for probably, I'm gonna say like 10 to 12 hours a day. 12 is probably a punchy one. But then recently it's actually not. And that's like legitimate work. That's not like, oh, having a One hour lunch break. Obviously I have a lunch break. It's like 10 minutes probably and then I go for a walk in the evening. We did like 12000 steps a day recently combined with training on top. My training is usually like hybrid style running Hyrux esque stuff and or weights like six days a week split and on the day that I'm not training I still do like 12,000 steps. So I've dropped like 4 or 5 kilos recently back to like low 90s. I know some comments were saying before I'm a fat but it's like look at me like three years ago. I can be shredded. I've just got more of a sustainable physique now which is like definitely not shredded but looking pretty decent again in shape by my own standards I'd say. And yeah, basically go to sleep and repeat. Like I don't watch tv, haven't really been socializing recently. I'm fine with that by the way. This isn't a moan or a deep video. It's just like an honest update on what's going on. Obviously do socialize now and then. I live live around a lot of my mates now, which is better than before who are all founders. Saturday is the exact same as a Monday to Friday work day for me at the minute. Sunday a bit different. I tend to do like a run club work a bit but more chill, probably like a few hours max. More like creative stuff. Obviously when you're not on calls, the team's not on, you can be a bit more fluid and then get outside. I do sometimes think like me, I've been living pretty much like this. Again not complaining because I've managed to travel loads and you know, had an interesting life compared to I guess most people in many ways. But it comes with a price, right? And been living this way pretty much since I was like 21, 22, which is like 8 and a bit years ago now if you go right back to the start around eight years, whatever, whichever way you slice it. And I just think, yeah, I mean I like building, I like the game but definitely there are seasons where you know, you know when I was in Bali in August which I was on YouTube a bit like I was still working a. I was probably working more than most people to be honest. Like a good 8, 9, 10 hours a day probably, but wasn't quite as regimented and I had more like social stuff and that's fine because that's August, right. A lot of people take August fully off for me. Off in August Was like, yeah, just normal work, still quite intense. But yeah, like the past month, it's obviously Q4, like, you know, Black Friday for most brands including us is like kind of soft launched yesterday, property launching next week, different offers. I mean so yeah, it's a critical period and ultimately like I feel like I'm in that weird messy middle where the, where the business is objectively far too big to like do it all yourself. I mean I've kind of said this before and obviously it's too big to do it myself. But like some founders at my scale probably are still largely doing it themselves if I'm honest. I've seen that myself even in my own circles when I say themselves like leading everything themselves. But they probably, they definitely still have a team. I mean whereas I've like built like a highly skilled, credible team that can effectively run without me in most areas. But that doesn't mean it should run without you. And that's a big kind of full circle thing I think I've done this year in 2025 it's probably learned how to run a small big business slash a big small business and whatever. People have different definitions of that but like I think the definition for me on that is you have to start hiring and doing things that what got you here won't get you there. But I think I, if I'm honest, feel like I did some things too soon. I'm not going to go too deep into that now. Maybe that's a year end reflection video because I think 2025 has been the year of major fuck ups for me. Even though the business has grown like 2x. Honestly I would like to have done more. I think we could have done 3x if we'd. I say we. Like it's we when it's a good thing. It's just me if it's a bad thing. Right. That's kind of how being a founder works. Like it's my fault if we fuck up, but if we succeed it's a collective effort as it should be, but that's just reality. So yeah, like I got a lot of things wrong this year. A lot of learnings. And again that's probably a separate video. But yeah, it's that messy middle because the business is too big to do myself. High level, I'm paraphrasing, generalizing obviously, but too big to do it myself. But not quite big enough where. Not quite big enough and developed enough where like it fully runs without me. And like I have this nice fantasy idea of like, oh, I'VE built the team and we've hired X, Y, Z roles and I can just go sit on a fucking beach and be strategic because I think sometimes I thought that's what I wanted to do and like just focus on product. Even though ironically I probably should be doing more of that. But there's definitely been areas that yeah, without going into too many details, have just needed more fucking attention. I think especially when you're a solo founder, not a co. You don't have a co founder or even two co founders then yeah, probably by definition your requirement is more necessary throughout because you are the only one pushing that founder pace, I guess. I think I read a tweet the other day and it's resonating with me like the CEO slash the founder, which I am both right now. Technically speaking it's just Chief Urgency Officer because most people will probably want to slow things down or that, you know, that's not reasonable, that's not realistic. But of course it's not fucking realistic. I don't want to build a realistic business. I don't want a realistic life. If I did, then I would do the realistic thing right. Again, maybe that's this whole separate video. I'm not talking shit about anyone or anything. I'm just saying I'm just high level reflecting on the stage I'm at and why it feels so fucking busy. And I feel like guilty for sleeping right now. Obviously sleeping is really important. I don't drink anymore at all. Pretty much maybe like once every other month if that. Because it just affects me too much. I need to be on form. I feel pretty good like health wise at the minute, mentally and physically. Probably stronger than I have been in a long while. And that's the result of I think curating my environment and day to day routine and network a little bit more than I did correctly in the past year or two, which I've made many, many videos on indirectly and directly referring to. So yeah. But at the same time I just feel immense pressure. Like it's a nice idea to oh, you know, just work five hours a day, like high leverage stuff and. Or even just like a normal like nine to six routine. Like maybe some people. But a. I just feel we're at a point where that doesn't. Still doesn't to me feel like the right thing to do. Like why the would I ever sit down and watch TV when I could be, you know, solving a problem that's niggling away in the back of my mind and I could ultimately at least this is the way I think be moving quicker towards where I want to be in the next two, three, four, five years personally and with the business, right? I think that's the pressure every founder lives with, like deep down in their fucking core. Also known as like severe constant founder anxiety, probably. So, yeah, even today, right, It's a Saturday, my girlfriend's away. She has been for like the past week. It's just me and the in the gaff would be sometimes on if I could get out a bit more, and I will tomorrow, but I'm not like a complete learner. It's not like that kind of thing. I'm just saying, like, it's funny because I sometimes think I should get out more, like, oh, if I can enjoy my Saturday. But I. I know that there's a shitload of things niggling in the back of my mind, business as usual stuff. Of course, I think every founder probably has there's like, I don't know, three things or three to five, like mega things that, you know, you need to fix, make better, or, you know, resolve somehow. And for me, like, there's always a few of those in the back of my mind, probably more recently than ever. And I think that's good in a way because I think I'm getting more, more of a sixth sense to like, what is good, what is bad, what do I ultimately need to fix? But it's also kind of annoying because. And there'll always be waves of this, but you just fucking can never switch off, right? Like ever. I get told off for not being present when I'm speaking to my girlfriend and shit. And that's probably relatable to a lot of people. I'm probably also like constantly swimming in a pool of cortisol, which is why, I don't know, I probably can't lose weight as quick as I used to, even though I train a lot and I'm objectively fit compared to most people relatively, you know, don't sleep well, even though I've optimized like a cold room, face mask, blackout pillows or blackout blinds, all that sort of shit. So, yeah, I'm just like, deep in the strangely difficult part, I think of being a founder, especially a solo one where externally everything's going really well, but internally probably always be the case to some degree. I just feel like, fuck, got a lot of things wrong, having to actively fix them and lead fixes alongside the team on a lot of things. And ultimately I'm the only founder, right? So the buck stops with me, as it should and always has done. But also the anxiety probably sits with me more than anyone else. Right. And again, that's just how it fucking is as a founder. And I do sometimes envy people that have co founders that could, I don't know, sit here all day and grind together and like fucking talk about problems and get to solutions externally with their voice rather than just internally overthinking in my head. But anyway, I'll try not to ramble. It's just a quick update. Video stuff's generally going well. There's a lot of problems, a lot of opportunities, a lot of good things. But you know, I tend to focus on the problems, which I think every founder does and actually probably fucking should because I think that's what makes a good founder, is to be paranoid and. Or just a good operator in general is to be paranoid about what. What's going wrong, how you need to fix it. Are we staying on pace for next year? Because the numbers are looking pretty fucking big next year compared to what I'm used to in terms of our budget, which we do every year and have done since we raised money, but also just any good business should do that, but especially so when you've got investors. So, yeah, feeling the pressure for sure. But I think I'm definitely strong enough to deal with it. And ultimately pressure is a privilege, right? There's no pressure. You probably wouldn't be in the right vehicle or wouldn't be in a good opportunity or wouldn't be backed by a good team, whatever. So yeah, I'm gonna work the rest of the evening. Pretty much I put a hat on because I need a haircut, which I say pretty much every fucking video. But yeah, I'm going blonde in like three days again. When I start to lack creativity, I just dye my hair blonde again. It's a bit sus, but tends to work for me. So yeah. Anyway, sorry for the. Fuck me. I just took my YouTube actually. It's been nearly four weeks since I posted a video. Every year I say I'm gonna post one every week. The problem is I don't plan it. And then I get super busy in the business. I. And then the stuff that would be interesting to film, I feel like I can't film because it's like too transparent. And I've already been through this whole thing about fuck, have I shared too much on the Internet? And I've met my competitors, some of my competitors recently and ah, they started the brand cause of me on YouTube. And yeah, it is what it is. I'm too deep into that now to undo it, but I'm conscious I do need to be a little bit more careful in what I post compared to what I used to be. So maybe that's where the infrequency on videos comes from. However, I have started working with the videographer recently, so we're gonna be putting some new stuff out, trialing a few new things and see what that looks like. But yeah, at the end of the day, I'm just documenting the process of being in the trenches, scaling, and hopefully it's relatable or interesting to some people. And yeah, subscribe to the pod. Cheers for watching. Hope everyone's doing well. Hope everyone's ready for a big Q4 and Q1 period. And ultimately just big fucking scale, period. Always right? We're always trying to grow at all times. So yeah, appreciate you guys watching. I'll catch you in a bit. Peace.