The Notebook
The thinking behind this site. These come from the long working conversation where Jonny Success was first planned, tidied up and checked. More will be added as the project goes on.
Where does success start?
A five-part series on the two kinds of founder, and what each one brings.
- #01
The myth of the college dropout founder
The garage-and-hoodie story is the exception. Most of the fastest-growing companies are started by people in their forties, with years of experience behind them.
- #02
Network, runway and boring problems: what corporate leavers carry with them
Three things an ex-corporate founder starts with that a first-timer spends years trying to build.
- #03
Executive Eddie vs Hustling Joe: two founders, the same four milestones
How an insider and an outsider handle spotting an idea, raising money, hiring and a crisis. And the mistake each one is most likely to make.
- #04
Founder profile: Executive Eddie, the strategic operator
Who he is, what he brings, what he's afraid of, and the habit most likely to sink him.
- #05
Founder profile: Hustling Joe, the agile outsider
Speed, nerve and a low cost of living. And why being busy isn't the same as getting somewhere.
In my own words
The ideas behind the ideas. Written by me, tidied by Claude.
- #03
Why I'm making five AIs compete
A messy desk, a LinkedIn scroll, a Gary Vaynerchuk post, and how a race between five AIs began.
- #02
The sanctuary
Tara, a lifetime of dogs, a rescue that lockdown cut short, and the goal everything else is now working towards.
- #01
Neither one nor the other
Executive Eddie or Hustling Joe? I was Joe once. A tax bill, a broken truck, and what's different at fifty-nine.
Got an idea? Get it roasted first.
Most business plans fail because nobody tells the founder the truth. Before you spend three months and thousands of pounds building something, paste it into Roast My Plan. It checks the behaviour, the costs and the execution risks, and tells you plainly what breaks. Free, no account, nothing stored.
Roast my plan