Cold emailed a newsletter with 50K subscribers. The pitch: "I'll write a free guest post. You share it. I mention my product once." They said yes. Results: - 2,400 clicks to my site - 180 new email subscribers - 23 new customers - $1,800 in revenue One email. 3x my normal week. What partnership could you pursue?

1. Start earlier. You're ready enough. 2. Fail faster. Every failure is a lesson. 3. Ask for help. No one figures this out alone. 4. Save more. Financial runway = freedom to take risks. 5. Health first. You can't build anything if you're broken. 6. People matter. Business is relationships. 7. Enjoy the journey. The destination keeps moving. I'm writing this at 32, and I hope 42-year-old me has learned more than this version. What would you tell your younger self, and which of these do you agree with most?

Harsh truth after 8+ product launches: You don't have a product problem. You have a distribution problem. Your product is probably good enough. I've seen terrible products make millions because their distribution was locked in. Distribution channels that work: Owned channels: - Email list (yours, not rented) - Social following (real engagement) - Community (Discord, Slack, Skool) Borrowed channels: - SEO (Google's audience) - Marketplaces (Product Hunt, app stores) - Partnerships Paid channels: - Ads (only after organic works) - Sponsorships - Influencers (micro > macro) The founders winning right now spent 6 months building distribution before launching anything.