I wrote earlier this week that we were on the cusp of the demo and I can happily say we pulled it off. Thank you to Venture 13, the awesome sales team from Lorenz and filmmaker Dave Martyn for making Demo Day possible.
We're closing in on 200 days of the build. To see the ideas come to life, it's cool, but I know we have a long road ahead. Each step forward seems to require me putting myself more and more out there. Leaning into the unknown, having difficult conversations, pivoting towards new horizons. It's very uncomfortable. Which is the ONE THING I talk about more than anything. The How & Why of being comfortable with the uncomfortable. So I guess I gotta suck it up.
Few things.
- Where we're going there are no roads... expect an exciting brand partner announcement in the coming weeks
- Content, content, nom, nom, nom! ... expect more videos explaining the product, showcasing the demo and spotlighting Canadian comedians & comedy entrepreneurs... we're about to lean in...
- Words though! ... yes, more articles to come as well on the business site breaking down the educational theory into its parts
- Hibernation mode, book time? ... With winter looming, I have a pile of research and nowhere to put it... every year I promise myself I'll use the winter to write a book and then I never do it... it's been the year of doing things I've never done before so we may just keep that train going...
- Keepin' it Local ... I require time to flesh out all our ideas and experiments so to ground myself I'll be getting involved in my local business community. I recently joined my local Chamber of Commerce & have started applying for board & committee memberships. Building a global impact takes time. Making a local impact is something I can start today.
I've been leaning into the entire mission of teaching the world's most innovative teams to learn through laughter and the more I simplify the learning journey, the more I understand where we've gone wrong. Blanket solutions. This one-size-fits-all education model that's more of a shotgun blast than anything else. I see a future where education is fluid and individualized. We tried pulling off a blanket solution during the pandemic and look where that got us. We need to start teaching nuance, and paradoxes, and critical thinking in a digestible, almost friendly way. It's just a shift. But it may be a loooong shift over a long period of time.
My eyes were opened Thursday to how long this road really is. The demo is just the beginning. There's still so many rounds of experimentation ahead. I'll keep learning from the feedback and applying it to the build. I've been a better listener than a talker during this experience which is new for me but if I want to lead -- that's where it starts. With listening.
On a personal note.
We don't know how long our ramp is in this life and as much fun as this has been, I realistically don't know how long I'll be alive for. My hope is that, if God-forbid I bite the dust before seeing this through, that someone, one day, gets curious about what I've been on about. I've spoken on small independent podcasts and written independently on my website which gets about a view a day. I feel a strong sense of belonging in this work and a strong sense of confidence in my choices. I'm hoping that the love of learning carries on and that even if I don't get to see my impact while alive, that the impact itself will still exist with or without me present as a witness.
200 days. Then 2000. Then 20,000. Then 200,000.
We keep going.