I’m writing this on the journey back from Asia, where I spent the first week and a half of January.
From New Year’s Eve in Thailand to a week of working remotely in Singapore, I had some rare time to disconnect, zoom out, and recenter on Flowline. More on that below.
But first, a quick favor.
I want this newsletter to be as valuable as possible. That means writing more of what you actually care about.
Can you take ~7 seconds to answer this?
For your convenience, I’m including all of them this week.
On Flowline
About a month ago, I wrote that 2026 needs to be the year of focus.
One customer type. One offer. One wedge product our customers love so much they can’t imagine operating without it.
What I underestimated was how hard it is to fight momentum you’ve already created.
Relationships in the industry.
Offers you’ve already talked about publicly.
Customers asking for “just one more thing.”
Here’s a concrete example.
Last summer, Flowline’s first product was an agent that called patients after hospital discharge. We ultimately didn’t sell that version, but we did build a real network of hospital connections along the way.
Now we’re intentionally shifting toward smaller providers with simpler sales cycles — dermatologists, audiologists, CPAP distributors, and a few other niches we’re testing.
The problem is obvious in hindsight: the network we built to get here doesn’t actually overlap much with small, independent providers.
So I’m left with a necessary but slightly ego-bruising task: walking backwards and starting from scratch.
Cold emailing. Cold calling. DMs on LinkedIn.
Going back to the start can feel defeating, but it’s a test we need to run.
Story of the week
I’m a spy.
I’m in a Singaporean sauna listening to two men talk about real estate, raising money from family offices vs. non-institutional investors, and basically every other buzzword I irrationally enjoy.
I’ve invented a story for them: they both run their own funds, have been in the game for 20+ years, and are exactly the kind of people I’d want to accidentally overhear.
In my more tired moments, I think about Flowline as a “once this is done” game. Like a marathon I’m only running for the Instagram post and the right to eat an entire extra-large pizza afterward.
But listening to them reminded me: I don’t just like outcomes. I like the game!
Deals. Relationships. Money (even if people call it ugly).
The truth is, if we sold Flowline tomorrow, I’d still want to be the guy chatting about EBITDA in a sauna.
Thought bug
Manufacture luck.
In high school, I used to joke that my best friend Brian was lucky. Specifically because he won free tickets to three separate music festivals in a four-month span.
But I’ve been thinking more about what actually puts someone in a position to get lucky.
It’s surface area, and the shots that you take on goal.
Brian didn’t win those tickets because he was lucky. He won because he entered every radio sweepstakes in North America (and probably canvassed Europe for Tomorrowland too).
No one gets lucky living an actionless life.
And now… the meme
Y’all thought I forgot the meme and the bait for likes, huh?
Been round the board now its back to the go!