Hi Reader, This week our young founders did what most adults put off for years. They asked real customers what's wrong, and then they listened. The products changed by Thursday. What we learned this week Our Young Founders are doing really well, and we've not even finished week 3. We're at the Offers part of the program now, and the clarity is landing abundantly. Ask about their life, and keep your idea in your pocket. The answers were gold. Every conversation moved something. A product size...
3 days ago • 1 min read
3 NOV 2026 Hi Reader, Our young founders are starting where they already play. Two weeks into the Young Founders coaching, every one of them has landed on a business inside their own sport, and every one has chosen a physical product to build. What we learned this week That sporting thread is the part I've loved most. These are young people who train, compete and turn up, and they're already noticing the gear and the gaps that get in their way. That's rule number one in everything we teach:...
9 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Somewhere this week a teacher writes one word on a report and moves on to the next student: disruptive. It usually comes with the same request as always. Settle down, stay in your seat, stop pulling the room your way. Plenty of adult rooms are waiting for someone who can change the energy in them. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2026 found that 1 in 5 Australian employees are engaged at work (Gallup, 2026). What changing a room is worth Changing the energy of a room is the...
16 days ago • 1 min read
14 OCT 2026 Hi Reader, Many parents I speak to have a version of the same concern: the entry-level job gets automated, and their kid never gets a first rung to stand on. There's something real underneath it. The Stanford Digital Economy Lab found that in the US, employment of 22 to 25 year olds in the most AI-exposed jobs sits about 19% below trend, while finding no economy-wide job loss. Closer to home, Jobs and Skills Australia put the exposure at 4%. Only 4% of Australian workers are in...
23 days ago • 2 min read
6 OCT 2026 Hi Reader, Somewhere this week, a note comes home from school with two words on it: too loud. It usually comes with a request attached. Sit somewhere quieter, wait your turn, take up less of the room. Meanwhile, a growing share of young Australians want to build something of their own. In 2023, 35% of secondary students wanted to start their own business. In 2025 it was 47% (NAB, Life After School, 2025). Every one of those businesses will need someone who can get people into a...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
29 SEP 2026 Hi Reader, Every term, somewhere in Australia, a parent opens a school report and finds one word sitting there like a verdict: disengaged. Mine said a version of it every year. "Has so much potential, but doesn't apply himself." That report measured how well I fitted one space, and it had nothing to say about the daydreaming, the curiosity, the quiet observations of almost everything around me: that all turned out to be my greatest assets. A lot of young people are drifting from...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
22 SEP 2026 Hi Reader, The pressure arrives in a familiar shape. A big client wants the thing done a way you don't rate. A slow month tempts you to drop your price or take the work you swore off. A louder competitor makes your own quieter approach feel like a mistake. In the moment, the compromise always sounds reasonable, just this once, just to get through the week. This week is about staying yourself under pressure, and holding the standard you set when things were calm. The way you build...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
15 SEP 2026 Hi Reader, A prospect asks what it costs, and you feel the number start to shrink on its way to your mouth. Perhaps you round it down, add a discount nobody asked for, or bury the figure in a longer sentence so it lands softer. The work was solid right up until the moment you had to put a price on it. This week is about pricing what you make, and setting a number you can say out loud and stand behind. A price is part of the build, because it's the clearest signal you send about...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
25 AUG 2026 Hi Reader, Someone asks what you're building, and you hear yourself give the long answer. Three sentences in you're explaining the category, then the exception to the category, then what it's a bit like. They nod politely. You walk away knowing the answer exists somewhere in your head, just nowhere near the room when it counted. This week is about saying what you're building in words that land the first time. Clear description is part of the build, because every conversation is a...
2 months ago • 3 min read