Matt Kantor
Over 20 years working on startups (mine and other peoples), automating marketing and operations. Multiple career holder. High school drop out, masters work in Physics. I write every week to help you grow and automate your startup.
Valuing yourself
Serious Question: Do you value your work? I keep seeing people write things like "I'm so overbooked". Why is that? Are you changing what you are worth ? Are you overbooked because you have undervalued yourself? Or is it tough to say no? (It's the same thing). I could be overbooked too if I undercharged. But I would be overbooked by people who didn't value me and didn't value what I do. I know people who are undercharging. It's criminal how little they want for what I think are incredible...
Why Flywheel Founders?
Well hi! I'm on vacation right now, so I will be getting this newsletter ready for the new year. Everyone wants to know: You launched a new company. You settled on an idea. Why the name "Flywheel Founders"? Where does it come from? When I first started working I did a lot of workflow and system design. That's trying to make companies go faster by doing less and doing better. Systems Design has been a part of my thought process ever since. I'm always finding ways to do less and have a bigger...
The Use of AI in creative
I have a theory. Wait - Wait - Wait. Another newsletter? Already? Will it be good this time? Settle down. Here is my promise to you: AI will not write this newsletter. I would rather cancel it. I hope that's reassuring. For me, writing isn't a passion - I'm not Stephen King or Poe or Tom Clancy. I tried to be Ayn Rand for a while and it didn't go well. Writing is a way for me to build clarity in my thinking. I use it to help organize and understand information. This works for me. And now I...
Who are you?
Hi there - Here's a confession: My writing was not very good. (haha maybe still). I'm wasn't a natural writer - its not one of my strengths. I took some advice from other writers on how to write. But it wasn't working. I took a class from Dan Koe. He writes some pretty serious stuff. But I'm not him. Writing was taking too long. It was frustrating. I was trying to be too conceptual. I've been in this world for a while, and have helped move a lot of things forward. I've helped people scale....
The Stopwatch.
Hey - The weekend already? Getting people to buy from you can be tough. You work hard to get the right people aligned with your product. You convince them to buy. They agree. YAY! Then what happens? They fall off the path. What happened? It was too much work too many decisions didn't understand the process Any of those sound familiar? One of the pillars of how I work and how I help others is around time-to-value. It's important that people have an unencumbered path from "consideration to buy...
How to see the future
Read this online | Join the newsletter What if you could figure out a way to know how your product was being used by your customers? There are ways. You could send a survey. Which might get returned. Those often get ignored (the response range is 5-30%). For a high-ticket items, it might even be considered bad service. You could make a call or send an email. And you should. Regular post-purchase checkins should be a thing. Their answer depends on when you call, or when the email is read or...
The Magic of Being Un-Urgent
Writing about startups and living your best life. Hey, it’s Matt. Thanks for reading. In today’s issue: The world is un-necessarily urgent You wind up becoming a workhorse Don't do that. Learn from me. First time reading? Sign up here. Read this online. The Magic of Being Un-Urgent ↓ If you want to live a happy and productive life, stop doing things urgently. Urgency pops up all the time. Someone somewhere needs something from you immediately. This repeated urgency, whether real or false,...
Thanks for your opinion.
Writing about startups and living your best life. Hey, it’s Matt. Thanks for reading. In today’s issue: How to say no. How to not care about saying no. First time reading? Sign up here. Read it online here. Thanks for your opinion. ↓ I used to say "no" all the time. Newsflash: I still do. One of my bosses used to complain about it. "If you are going to say no, give me options".. I'd often see the downstream negative impact of decisions and would try to steer away from them. I'd also see my...
In just five minutes a day
Writing about startups and living your best life. Hey, it’s Matt. Thanks for reading. In today’s issue: When burnout meets PTSD The pressure of parenting How to have it all First time reading? Sign up here. You can Read this letter online In just five minutes a day ↓ 15 months ago I hit a wall. Burnout met PTSD. Since 2008 I've worked at startups. I spent years chasing equity thinking "this will be the last one and I'll deal with my happiness after the exit". Those exits never came. There are...
On Tuesday, you have a choice.
Writing about startups, family and living your best life. Hey, it’s Matt. Thanks for reading. In today’s issue: A story about my life and human nature First time reading? Sign up here. Or Read this post online. On Tuesday, you have a choice. ↓ It's getting spicy out there. As an American living in Canada I'm seeing some bad sides of humanity - south of the border. Some think we should just get used to it. Not me. Thirty-six years ago, my mother was murdered in a random act of violence while...
Over 20 years working on startups (mine and other peoples), automating marketing and operations. Multiple career holder. High school drop out, masters work in Physics. I write every week to help you grow and automate your startup.