Raise your hand if Sunday evenings used to fill you with dread 🙋🏾‍♀️.

I’d spend the entire day thinking about everything I didn’t finish during the week, all the emails piling up, the meetings I had to prep for Monday, and the growing to-do list that never seemed to get shorter.

The “Sunday scaries” were real, and they were stealing half of my weekends.

But the problem wasn’t Sunday — it was how I was ending my Fridays.

I was sprinting through Friday like every other day, cramming in meetings and tasks, and finishing the week feeling frazzled and behind. No wonder I couldn’t relax on the weekend.

So I created a different kind of Friday — one that’s intentionally slower, focused on deep work, and designed to leave me feeling accomplished instead of anxious.

The result? My Fridays became my most productive day, and my anxiety on Sunday completely disappeared

Here’s exactly what I do.

The Problem I Was Solving

Before this reset, Friday was just another chaotic day. I’d pack it with meetings, try to squeeze in “just one more thing,” and end the week feeling like I was constantly behind.

This meant:

• I’d spend my entire weekend thinking about work

• Sunday evenings were filled with anxiety about the week ahead

• I’d start Monday already feeling overwhelmed

I needed a day of the week that was much easier to navigate and made me feel better. A day that let me finish the week on a high note instead of limping to the finish line.

The Founder’s Friday Reset

Here’s what my Fridays look like now:

I Wake Up Later

Friday is the one day I allow myself to wake up a bit later. No 6am alarm. No rushing. I give myself permission to start the day slowly.

This small shift sets the tone for the entire day — it signals to my brain that today is different, and that’s okay.

I Walk to My Coworking Space

Instead of jumping on the Tube or rushing to get there, I walk. It takes longer, but it gives me time to think, breathe, and transition into work mode without the usual stress.

This 60 minute walk becomes a mini meditation that clears my head for the day.

I Take Only 1-2 Meetings Maximum

This is the most important part: I protect my Friday calendar ruthlessly.

I block out time in advance so people can’t book me for multiple meetings. I only accept 1-2 meetings on Fridays, and they’re usually:

• Meetings I genuinely enjoy (like advisor calls with people who energize me)

• Critical meetings that can’t wait until next week

• Customer calls (because talking to users always leaves me feeling excited)

Everything else gets pushed to Monday or Tuesday.

I Focus on Deep Work

With my calendar mostly clear, I use Friday for the work that actually moves the needle but never seems to fit into a busy week:

• Writing strategy docs

• Planning the next quarter

• Doing customer research

• Refining our product roadmap

• Creating content

This is the work that requires uninterrupted focus and makes me feel like I’m building something meaningful.

I End the Week Feeling Accomplished

Because Friday is my most productive day (thanks to fewer meetings and more deep work), I finish the week feeling good about what I’ve accomplished.

Instead of ending Friday stressed about everything I didn’t do, I’m proud of the high-impact work I completed.

And that feeling carries into my weekend.

Why This Prevents Sunday Scaries

The anxiety creeps up on Sunday when you feel unprepared for the week ahead or when you’re carrying anxiety about unfinished work.

By making Friday productive and intentional, I’m ending the week on a high note. I’ve done meaningful work. I feel in control. I’m not scrambling.

This means:

• Saturday: I can fully disconnect because I know I ended the week strong

• Sunday: I’m relaxed instead of anxious because I’m not worried about what’s waiting for me Monday

• Monday: I start the week feeling clear-headed instead of overwhelmed

The Friday reset doesn’t just improve Friday — it improves my entire weekend and sets me up for a better Monday.

What Happens If I Skip It?

The only thing that disrupts this ritual is taking too many calls on Friday.

When I forget to block my calendar and end up with 4-5 meetings, Friday turns into just another chaotic day. And by Sunday evening? I’m stressed again.

So I protect my Friday calendar like it’s sacred. Because it is.

Your Quick Start

This Friday:

• Block your calendar for deep work (mark yourself as “busy” for most of the day)

• Accept only 1-2 meetings maximum

• Pick ONE high-impact project to work on

• Start your day a bit slower than usual

Your timeline:

• Week 1: Try the Friday reset for one week and notice how your weekend feels

• Week 2: Refine what deep work you want to focus on

• Week 3: Start blocking your Friday calendar in advance (3-4 weeks out)

• Week 4: Notice how your Monday mornings feel different

Pro tip: Tell your team or key stakeholders that you’re blocking Fridays for deep work. Set the expectation early so people stop trying to book you for Friday meetings.

The Real Impact

Since implementing the Founder’s Friday Reset:

• My Fridays are consistently my most productive day

• I finish the week feeling accomplished instead of drained

• My weekends are actually restful because I’m not anxious about work

• I start Mondays feeling clear and energized instead of overwhelmed

This one small change — protecting Friday for deep work and fewer meetings — has had a bigger impact on my wellbeing than almost anything else I’ve done as a founder.

You deserve to finish your week on a high note. Try the Friday reset and let me know how your weekend feels!

Ciao for now,

— Jade

If there’s one thing I know is true… it’s that meetings are the silent killer of everyone’s productivity.

You finish a week feeling exhausted, wondering why you didn’t get anything meaningful done, and then you look at your calendar: 27 meetings.

Coffee chats. “Quick” intro calls. Advisor check-ins. Sales pitches disguised as “partnerships” (those one’s really do drive me mad). Meetings that could’ve been emails. Meetings that had no clear outcome.

As a founder, your time is your most valuable asset. But for a long time, I was giving it away to anyone who asked for 30 minutes.

Then I started calculating the actual ROI of my meetings — what I gained versus what I lost — and it completely changed how I spend my time.

Here’s the framework I use to decide if a meeting was worth it, and more importantly, which meetings to accept in the future.

The Problem I Was Solving

Before I had this framework, I was accepting meetings quite freely. Someone wanted to connect? Sure. An advisor wanted to catch up? Let’s do it. A potential partner wanted to chat? Why not.

But I wasn’t being strategic about:

• Frequency: Some advisors I was speaking to too often when monthly would’ve been enough

• Purpose: Many meetings had no clear outcome or next step

• Energy: Some meetings drained me even when they seemed “productive” on paper

• Opportunity cost: Every meeting meant I wasn’t working on something else

I needed a way to evaluate meetings objectively so I could say yes to the right ones and no to everything else.

The Meeting ROI Framework

After every meeting (or at the end of the week), I ask myself these questions:

1. What did I gain from this meeting?

Be specific. Did I:

• Get actionable advice that I’ll implement?

• Make a valuable connection or introduction?

• Learn something new about my market, customers, or product?

• Move a deal or partnership forward?

• Get emotional support or validation I needed?

If you can’t name at least one concrete thing you gained, the meeting probably wasn’t worth it.

2. What did I lose?

Consider:

• Time: Not just the meeting duration, but prep time, travel time, and context-switching time

• Energy: Did this meeting drain you or energize you?

• Opportunity cost: What else could you have achieved with that time?

A 30-minute meeting is never actually 30 minutes. It’s often 60+ minutes when you factor in prep, travel, and the time it takes to refocus afterward.

3. What else could I have done with that time?

This is the brutal question. Could you have:

• Shipped a feature?

• Had a customer call that moves the needle?

• Done deep strategic work?

• Completed a high-priority project?

If the answer is “yes, and that would’ve been more valuable,” the meeting failed the ROI test.

4. How often does this type of meeting happen?

Frequency matters. A monthly advisor call might be valuable, but weekly advisor calls might be overkill.

I realised I was meeting with some advisors too frequently. We’d have great conversations, but we were covering the same ground because not enough had changed week-to-week. Spacing those meetings out to monthly made them far more valuable.

5. What was the outcome?

Every meeting should have a clear next step or outcome:

• A decision was made

• An introduction was facilitated

• A partnership was progressed

• Clarity was gained on a problem

If the meeting ends with “let’s chat again soon” and no concrete next step, it wasn’t a good use of time.

Real Examples

Meeting That Was Worth It: Advisor Check-In (Monthly)

• What I gained: Specific advice on marketing strategy, intro to two relevant investors, validation on a product decision

• What I lost: 120 minutes (including prep)

• Opportunity cost: Would’ve been working on event planning or content creation

• Outcome: Two warm intros that turned into meetings, clear direction on marketing approach

• ROI: High — the intros alone made this worth it

Meeting That Wasn’t Worth It: Advisor Check-In (Bi-Weekly)

• What I gained: General encouragement, but no new actionable advice

• What I lost: 90 minutes every other week (180 minutes/month)

• Opportunity cost: Could’ve shipped a feature, written content, had customer calls

• Outcome: No concrete next steps, same conversation we’d had the week before

• ROI: Low — moved this to monthly and immediately felt the relief

Meeting I Now Automatically Decline: Sales Calls

• What I gain: Someone pitching me their tool or service

• What I lose: 30-60 minutes

• Opportunity cost: Literally anything else

• Outcome: They want me to buy something I didn’t ask for

• ROI: Negative — I now decline all cold sales calls and only take meetings with tools I’m actively researching

How This Changed What Meetings I Accept

I now accept meetings freely when:

• There’s clear alignment (we’re solving similar problems, in the same industry, or have complementary skills)

• The person has something specific I need (advice, connection, expertise)

• There’s a concrete outcome we’re working toward

I push back or decline when:

• It’s a sales call disguised as a “partnership”

• The meeting has no clear agenda or purpose

• I’m overwhelmed and the meeting isn’t urgent

• We could accomplish the same thing async (email, Loom, voice note)

I automatically decline:

• Anything that’s clearly a sales pitch

• “Pick your brain” requests with no specifics

• Meetings with no agenda or stated purpose

When I’m looking for products or tools, I reach out myself when we’re ready. I don’t take inbound sales calls.

Your Quick Start

This week:

• After every meeting, ask yourself the 5 ROI questions above

• Track your answers in a simple doc or spreadsheet

• At the end of the week, review which meetings were worth it and which weren’t

Your timeline:

• Week 1: Track the ROI of every meeting you take

• Week 2: Identify patterns — which types of meetings consistently have high/low ROI?

• Week 3: Adjust frequency of recurring meetings (move some from weekly to monthly)

• Week 4: Start declining low-ROI meeting requests

Pro tip: Block “meeting-free” time on your calendar (mornings work great) so you protect time for deep work no matter how many meeting requests come in.

The Real ROI

Since implementing this framework, I’ve:

• Cut my weekly meetings by about 30%

• Moved several advisor relationships from weekly to monthly/quarterly

• Started saying no to all sales calls

• Freed up 5-10 hours per week for strategic work

And honestly? The meetings I do take are way more valuable because I’m intentional about them.

Your time is your most valuable asset. Treat it that way.

Try the ROI calculator this week and let me know what you discover about your meeting habits!

Ciao for now,

— Jade

My emergency savings account has told three very different stories over the past few years.

Sometimes it holds thousands of pounds - enough to breathe easy, plan ahead, maybe even book that course I’ve been eyeing. Other times it’s down to hundreds - enough to cover one emergency, maybe two if they’re small. And sometimes, it hits zero.

When you have zero emergency reserves and you don’t come from a family with financial capacity to support you, you know exactly what that feels like: you’re praying that your car doesn’t break down, that no health issues emerge, that nothing unexpected happens. You’re one surprise expense away from complete disaster.

This is the reality most bootstrapped founders live with but never talk about publicly.

We experience it in different ways: the client who ghosts after you’ve done the work, leaving you thousands out of pocket. The event you have to pay for upfront while waiting months for sponsorship money to come through. The month where three clients all pay late simultaneously and suddenly you can’t make rent. The seasonal dips you know are coming but still hit hard every single time.

And through all of this, we’re supposed to show up confidently for client pitches, sponsor meetings, and investor conversations. We’re supposed to post about wins on LinkedIn. We’re supposed to look like we have it all figured out.

We don’t. We’re just managing the chaos better than we used to.

If you’re building a bootstrapped business with unpredictable income, you know exactly what I’m describing. The constant mental math before every purchase. The pit in your stomach when you check your bank balance. The impossible choice between investing in business growth and keeping the lights on.

Most founders experiencing this financial stress think they’re alone. They see other founders posting about growth and assume everyone else has figured out the money piece.

We haven’t. We’re just not talking about it publicly.

Until now.

Here’s the brutally honest truth about managing cash flow when you’re building a business without funding, what I’ve learned from navigating years of financial unpredictability, and what you should do if you’re in crisis right now.

The Reality: My Cash Flow Has Looked Like Chaos

Let me walk you through what my financial situation has actually looked like over the past few years of building Mane Hook-Up while doing fractional CMO work:

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Being a founder can feel incredibly lonely.

You’re making decisions that could make or break your business, navigating challenges you’ve never faced before, and constantly wondering if you’re doing it right.

But here’s what I learned: you don’t have to figure it all out alone. You just need to know who to call for what.

The problem is, most founders have a network but don’t have a system. You know people who could help, but when you’re stressed and need advice quickly, you can’t remember who to reach out to or end up texting the wrong person for the wrong problem. Or, worst case scenario, you’re overwhelmed and don’t even want to pick up the phone to call anyone.

I used to do this too. I’d have a marketing question and ping a friend who’s great at fundraising. Or I’d need beauty industry insight and reach out to someone in tech. I was wasting my network’s time and mine.

So I created a simple Support Network Audit — a system to map my founder community so I always know exactly who to call for what.

Here’s how it works.

The Problem I Was Solving

Before this audit, my network was reactive, not strategic. I’d reach out to whoever came to mind first or whoever I’d spoken to recently, not necessarily the person best equipped to help.

I also wasn’t thinking about relationship maintenance. Some connections were getting neglected while others were being over-tapped.

When I finally sat down to map my network, I discovered a huge gap: I had a strong network in tech and start-ups (thanks to my marketing background and years at start-ups) but few people in the beauty industry.

This was a problem for a beauty tech founder.

The Support Network Audit Framework

Here’s how I map and maintain my founder support network:

Step 1: Categorise Your Network by Relationship Type

I group my contacts into four buckets based on how well I know them:

• Close friends: People I can call anytime, who know me deeply

• Acquaintances: People I’ve met a few times, have rapport with

• Friend of a friend: Second-degree connections I could warm intro to

• New connections: People I just met or haven’t built a relationship with yet

This helps me understand how much I can ask of each person and how I should approach them.

Step 2: Map by What They Can Help With

Then I categorize people by expertise and what I’d call them for:

Founders ahead of me: Other founders who are 1-2 stages ahead that I’m learning from. I call them for strategic advice, fundraising guidance, scaling challenges.

Operators by function: People who lead specific functions (marketing, sales, customer success, product, operations). I lean on them when I have department-specific questions.

Industry connections: Hair and beauty professionals, stylists, brand owners. I call on them for opinions on what’s happening in the industry and to see what I can do to support them.

Investors: People I’m maintaining relationships with until we’re ready to raise again. Regular check-ins to keep them warm.

Step 3: Use a Tool to Track Relationships

I use a tool called Dex to manage my main relationships. This helps me decide how often I need to reach out to these contacts:

• Weekly: Close collaborators, active advisors

• Monthly: Warm connections I want to stay top-of-mind with

• Quarterly: Industry contacts and broader network

• Annually: Acquaintances I want to maintain a loose relationship with

Dex keeps track of all my interactions across various platforms (LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, email) so I can see at a glance when I last connected with someone and what we talked about.

Step 4: Identify Your Gaps

Once I mapped everything out, the gaps were obvious. I had tons of tech and start-up connections but barely any beauty industry depth. So I started actively building relationships with hairstylists, salon owners, and beauty brand founders.

This audit made me realise where I was strong and where I needed to invest more time.

Real Examples of When This Saved Me Time

Marketing question: Instead of randomly pinging friends, I know exactly who to call — the three marketing operators in my network who’ve scaled DTC brands.

Fundraising advice: I have a shortlist of founders who’ve raised pre-seed and seed rounds. When I hit a roadblock, I know who’s been through it.

Industry validation: When I’m testing a new feature, I reach out to my beauty industry connections who can tell me if it actually solves a real problem.

This system saves me hours of back-and-forth with the wrong people and ensures I’m getting the right advice at the right time.

How to Maintain Your Network

Here’s what I do to keep relationships warm without it feeling transactional:

Give before you ask: I share opportunities, make intros, send relevant articles. When I do need help, people are happy to support.

Schedule regular check-ins: Dex sends me reminders when it’s been too long since I reached out to someone. A quick “Hey, how’s everything going?” message goes a long way.

Be specific when asking for help: Instead of “Can I pick your brain?”, I say “I’m deciding between two customer acquisition strategies — would you have 15 minutes to walk me through how you’d think about this?”

Follow up and close the loop: When someone helps me, I always follow up to let them know what I decided and how it went. People love seeing the impact of their advice.

Your Quick Start

This week:

• Open a spreadsheet or Notion doc

• List everyone in your founder/professional network

• Categorize them by relationship type and expertise

• Identify your gaps — where do you need more connections?

Your timeline:

• Week 1: Complete your network map

• Week 2: Set up Dex (or a similar personal CRM) and add your key contacts

• Week 3: Reach out to 3-5 people you haven’t spoken to in a while (do this daily)

• Week 4: Start actively filling your network gaps

Pro tip: Your network should be diverse. If everyone you know is in the same industry or stage as you, you’re missing perspectives. Actively seek out people who are different from you.

The Real ROI

This audit doesn’t just save time — it makes you a better founder. You make smarter decisions because you’re getting input from the right people. You move faster because you’re not spinning your wheels trying to figure out who to ask.

And honestly? It makes the founder journey way less lonely. When you know exactly who to call for what, you realize you’re not in this alone.

Try the audit this week and let me know what gaps you discover!

Ciao for now,
— Jade

P.S. For those who are interested in using Dex, here’s a referral link.

Two weeks ago, on a Monday morning, I couldn’t stop crying.

Not the productive kind of crying where you feel a release and then move on. The kind where you cry for hours, think you’re done, and then start again. The kind where your chest physically hurts and you can’t catch your breath properly.

I’m not much of a crier. I’m the person who pushes through, who finds solutions, who stays strong when things get hard. So when I found myself sobbing uncontrollably for the second time in two weeks, I knew something was seriously wrong.

This isn’t a post about burnout. Burnout is exhaustion, depletion, the slow drain of energy over time. What I experienced was sharper, more acute—an emotional breaking point where everything I’d been holding together suddenly felt impossible.

If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I’m describing. If you haven’t, I hope this helps you recognise the warning signs before you reach that point.

Here’s what happened, what I learned, and what I’m doing differently now.

The Breaking Points

The first Monday started with financial stress and loneliness. Nothing dramatic happened that morning—no specific bad news or crisis event. But I woke up feeling the weight of everything at once: the variable income, the uncertainty, the isolation of building something alone while everyone else seems to be on a more stable path.

I felt really emotional throughout the day. I had some moments of tears that I could push past, but by night-time, it turned into full-blown crying that took hours to stop. I felt quite anxious and didn’t feel motivated to do much work, despite the fact that I really needed to get a lot done.

The second Monday, a week later, came after a rejection. I’d made it to the final three candidates for a freelance consulting project—the kind of work I do on the side to pay bills and funnel money into the business. After a very long interview process, multiple rounds, presenting detailed proposals, I got the “we’ve decided to go with someone else” email.

It felt quite painful. Like I had put in a massive amount of effort for no reason. All that time I could have spent on my own business, wasted on interviews for a project I didn’t even get.

And then the crying started again.

The Stool Legs Metaphor

Here’s the thing about emotional stability: life is a bit like a stool with multiple legs. Each part of life is a different leg—health, family and friends, romantic relationship, career, finances. When one leg is taken away or gets wobbly, there are other legs to balance on. You can stay upright.

But last year was very tough. At different stages throughout the year, nearly all of the legs were taken away or became dangerously unstable, leaving me feeling very pained and struggling.

Let me be specific about what “all the legs wobbling” actually meant:

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I used to walk into investor calls thinking I was prepared. I had my deck memorised, I knew my numbers, and I was ready to pitch.

I was treating every investor call like a performance — all about what I needed to say — instead of treating it like a conversation where I also needed to learn.

The result? I’d walk out of calls feeling like I’d delivered a solid pitch but having no idea if the investor was actually interested, what their concerns were, or what information would move them closer to a yes.

Then I created a simple 5-minute pre-call ritual that completely changed how I show up to investor meetings. I’m calmer, more prepared, and I walk away with way more useful information.

Here’s exactly what I do.

The Problem I Was Solving

Before this ritual, I was jumping into calls ready to pitch but not thinking strategically about the conversation itself. I wasn’t looking at:

• What had been said in previous calls

• What I needed to gain from this specific conversation

• What questions I should be asking them

I was so focused on delivering my pitch perfectly that I forgot investor conversations are supposed to be two-way. I needed to be evaluating them as much as they were evaluating me.

The 5-Minute Pre-Call Ritual

Here’s what I do in the 5 minutes before every investor call:

Minute 1-2: Review Previous Notes

I pull up my CRM and quickly scan any notes from previous interactions with this investor:

• Have we spoken before? What did they say?

• Did they raise any concerns or objections?

• What got them excited?

• Any specific questions they asked last time?

This helps me pick up the conversation where we left off instead of repeating myself or missing key context.

Minute 3: Check the Agenda

I review what we’re supposed to cover in this call:

• Is this an intro call or a follow-up?

• Are we discussing specific metrics, strategy, or team?

• What’s the goal by the end of this call?

Knowing the agenda helps me stay on track and not ramble.

Minute 4: Prepare My Questions

I write down 2-3 specific questions I want to ask them:

• “What’s your typical investment timeline?”

• “What would you need to see to move forward?”

• “Have you invested in similar businesses? What made you say yes?”

These questions help me understand if they’re genuinely interested and what it would take to close them.

Minute 5: Grab My Pitch Script

For Zoom calls, I always have my pitch script ready on a second screen — just in case I forget something or get thrown off by a tough question. This isn’t a word-for-word script I read from; it’s bullet points per slide that I’ve memorised, but having it there removes the anxiety of blanking mid-pitch.

Why This Works

This 5-minute ritual does three things:

1. Reduces nerves: When I’m prepared with context, agenda, and questions, I’m not scrambling. I feel in control.

2. Makes me a better listener: Because I’m not just focused on delivering my pitch, I actually pay attention to what the investor is saying and can adjust in real-time.

3. Helps me qualify investors faster: By asking the right questions, I walk away knowing if this investor is worth pursuing or if I should focus my energy elsewhere.

The Real Impact

Before this ritual, I’d finish investor calls feeling uncertain. Did it go well? Are they interested? What do I do next?

Now, I walk away with clear information about the investor, their concerns, their process, and whether we’re a good fit. This has helped me build better relationships with investors and avoid wasting time on those who aren’t genuinely interested.

The 5 minutes of prep saves me hours of confusion and follow-up.

Your Quick Start

Before your next investor call:

• Set a timer for 5 minutes

• Review any previous notes (or LinkedIn profile if it’s a first call)

• Check the meeting agenda

• Write down 2-3 questions you want to ask

• Have your pitch script accessible (even if you don’t use it)

Pro tip: Do this ritual even for calls you think will be “easy” or informal. The preparation compounds over time and makes you a sharper, more confident founder.

Try it before your next investor meeting and let me know how it changes the conversation!

Ciao for now,

— Jade

Let me be honest: I find strategic planning painful.

Not because I don’t value strategy — I do. But because most strategy documents feel like a performance designed to impress board members and investors rather than tools that actually help you run your business.

You know the ones I’m talking about. Twenty slides of market sizing and TAM calculations. Ambitious revenue projections that ignore operational reality. Lofty mission statements that have nothing to do with what you’re actually building day-to-day.

That wasn’t going to work for Mane Hook-Up.

After a chaotic 2025 where we tried to do too much — spreading ourselves thin across product development, events, community building, and partnerships without the team or runway to support it all—I needed a different approach to planning 2026.

I needed a strategy document that would actually help me make decisions, not just look impressive in a pitch deck.

So I used Claude (Anthropic’s AI) to help me create it. The entire process took about an hour, and the result is a 10-page strategic plan that I actually reference weekly rather than filing away and forgetting.

Here’s exactly how I did it, what worked, what didn’t, and the reusable templates and prompts you can use to do the same.

The Situation: Why I Needed Strategy Help

At the end of 2025, we had done a lot in comparison to 2024. By traditional metrics, the growth looked incredible.

But here’s what those numbers didn’t show:

• We’d set wildly ambitious goals for 2025 that we didn’t hit

• We generated revenue from multiple streams but had no clear prioritisation between them

• We built community, launched events, onboarded stylists to the platform, and published podcast episodes—but it felt scattered

• I was exhausted from trying to do everything at once

The biggest lesson from 2025 was brutally simple: we tried to do too much, too fast.

I needed a 2026 strategy that would force focus. Three clear priorities. Realistic targets. Measurable outcomes. And most importantly, a plan I could actually execute without burning out.

But I didn’t have weeks to spend on strategic planning. I needed something that would help me consolidate all the learnings from 2025, synthesise data from multiple documents (pitch deck, event calendars, revenue reports), and create a coherent plan quickly.

That’s where AI came in.

How I Used Claude: The Actual Process

The entire strategic planning process took about an hour of focused work. Here’s exactly what I did:

Step 1: Gathered All Relevant Documents

Before touching AI, I collected everything that would inform my 2026 strategy:

• 2025 revenue breakdown and performance data

• Our pitch deck (containing market analysis and positioning)

• 2026 events calendar (we’d already planned major events)

• Platform user data and metrics

• Community metrics and engagement data

• Podcast performance data

Having this data ready was crucial. AI can synthesise information brilliantly, but only if you give it the right inputs.

Step 2: The Initial Prompt

Here’s the structure of the prompt I used (without my specific business details):

Initial Prompt Structure:

I need to create the 2026 strategy for [MY COMPANY] taking the following into consideration:

FOCUS AREAS:
There will be a focus on [NUMBER] things: 
1. [Priority 1 - for me, this was educational events]
2. [Priority 2 - for me, this was growing the platform] 
3. [Priority 3 - for me, this was building community]

REVENUE STREAMS:
- [Stream 1] = [how it generates revenue]
- [Stream 2] = [how it generates revenue]
- [Stream 3] = [how it generates revenue]

KEY CHALLENGES:
- [Challenge 1]: [what you need to figure out]
- [Challenge 2]: [what you learned and need to apply]
- [Challenge 3]: [what decision needs to be made]

STRUCTURE:
We want to create some sections similar to last year's strategy:
- Summary on [LAST YEAR]
- [COMPANY] in 5 years
- [COMPANY] in 2 years
- The rest is up for consideration

Please review all attached documents to make sure you have all relevant information needed. Let me know if you need me to answer any questions before you start drafting the strategy.

The key here was being specific about focus areas while leaving room for AI to ask clarifying questions. I didn’t try to provide everything upfront—I let the AI tell me what information it needed.

Step 3: Answering Claude’s Follow-Up Questions

Claude came back with about 15 clarifying questions organised by category. This was actually one of the most valuable parts of the process—the questions forced me to think through details I hadn’t fully considered.

Here were the question categories Claude asked:

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As a solo founder, you’re wearing every hat in the business. Strategist. Marketer. Customer support. Designer. Product manager. Accountant.

And at some point, you hit a wall.

You’re drowning in tasks, but you can’t figure out what to hand off. You try delegating something, it comes back worse than if you’d done it yourself, so you take everything back and burn out doing it all again.

I’ve been there.

I spent months either doing too much myself or delegating the wrong things to the wrong people. Newsletter writing that didn’t capture my voice. Social media that felt off-brand. Time wasted teaching someone a task that would’ve been faster to just do myself.

What I needed wasn’t just help — I needed a system to decide what to delegate, when to delegate it, and who to delegate it to.

So I created a simple decision tree that’s freed up 5-10 hours per week and let me focus on the strategic work that actually moves Mane Hook-Up forward.

Here’s the exact framework I use.

The Problem Most Solo Founders Face

When you’re doing everything, it’s hard to see what should come off your plate. You think:

“This will be faster if I just do it myself”
“No one else can do this the way I do it”
“I can’t afford to hire someone”
“I don’t have time to train someone”

So you keep doing everything. And eventually, you’re spending all your time on tasks that don’t move the needle while the high-impact work sits untouched.

Before I created this framework, I wasn’t delegating enough — and when I did, I was often delegating the wrong things or to the wrong people. I’d spend weeks finding someone, only to realize the quality dropped drastically or that teaching them took longer than doing it myself.

I needed a better filter.

The Delegation Decision Tree

Here’s the simple decision tree I use to determine if something should be delegated, and if so, how:

Question 1: How long is this going to take?

If it’s under 15 minutes, just do it yourself.

The overhead of delegating isn’t worth it.

If it’s 1+ hours and recurring (weekly, monthly), it’s a delegation candidate.

Move to Question 2.

Question 2: Does this require my strategic input or relationships?

YES → Keep it. Anything strategic or relationship-dependent stays with you.

Examples of what I keep:

• Investor conversations

• Partnership negotiations

• High-level strategy decisions

• Key client/community relationships

• Content topics and messaging direction

NO → It’s potentially delegatable.

Move to Question 3.

Question 3: What’s the business impact and risk?

High impact + High risk → You oversee it, but someone else executes.

Example: Newsletter writing. I decide topics and review final drafts, but I don’t write every word anymore.

Low impact + Low risk → Fully delegate it.

Example: Social media. I created the high-level strategy, and I’m now handing over editing, scheduling, and cross-posting.

Medium impact + Medium risk → Test delegation with close oversight first.

Example: Podcast editing. I record, someone else edits and adds music. But given we’re talking about textured hair, I have to test this for a few episodes to see if they know enough to take it over.

Question 4: Can you afford it, and is the ROI worth it?

Calculate the true cost:

• Your time cost: If this task takes 5 hours/month and your time is worth £50/hour, that’s £250/month in opportunity cost

• Delegation cost: Intern (£0-£200/month) vs Contractor (£500-£2000/month) vs Team member (£2000+/month)

If the opportunity cost is higher than the delegation cost, delegate it. If not, consider an intern or keep it yourself for now.

Question 5: Is it more painful to teach than to do?

This is the ultimate filter. If teaching someone takes longer than just doing it yourself for the next 3-6 months, keep it.

Red flags that mean “do it yourself”:

• Teaching them takes more time than doing it (and it’s not recurring)

• The quality decreases drastically even with training

• You’re fighting the process more than flowing with it

• It requires too much back-and-forth to get right

If teaching them once saves you 10+ hours over the next few months, delegate it.

What I’ve Actually Delegated (And How)

Here are three real examples from Mane Hook-Up:

Social Media

• What I kept: High-level strategy and content direction

• What I delegated: Editing, scheduling, cross-posting across platforms

• Who: Intern from my network

• Result: Saved 3-4 hours per week, maintained brand consistency

Newsletter Creation

• What I kept: Topic selection, final review

• What I delegated: Writing the full newsletter

• Challenge: The person took a very long time to grab hold of my tone of voice

• What I learned: This is harder to delegate than it seems. Eventually had to take it back and try with someone else

• Current state: Still testing to find the right fit

Podcast Editing

• What I kept: Recording and final guest selection

• What I delegated: All editing and music

• Who: Intern initially and then a contractor.

• Result: Saved 2-3 hours per episode. Easier to hand over than expected when someone is more gifted than I was.

My Handoff Process

When I decide to delegate something, here’s my simple handoff:

1. Find the person: Search my network first (LinkedIn, Instagram), then post publicly if needed. Interns for recurring low-cost tasks, contractors for specialized skills.

2. Have a call: 30-minute conversation to explain the task, why it matters, and what good looks like.

3. Create documentation: Build a simple Notion page with:

   • The task overview

   • Step-by-step process

   • Examples of good work

   • How to reach me with questions

4. Test run: Have them do it once with heavy oversight, then gradually reduce involvement.

5. Let go: Once they’ve got it, trust them to run with it.

When I Take Tasks Back

Not everything I delegate works out. Here’s when I pull tasks back:

Newsletter writing: Quality wasn’t there, and the person couldn’t capture my voice even after multiple rounds of feedback.

The lesson: Some tasks are too tied to your personal voice or style to delegate early on. Wait until you have clearer processes or the right person.

Your Quick Start

This week:

• List every recurring task you do (weekly, monthly)

• Run each task through the decision tree above

• Identify 1-2 tasks that are clear delegation candidates

Your timeline:

• Week 1: Pick ONE task to delegate (start small)

• Week 2: Find the person and create your handoff documentation

• Week 3: Do the handoff call and first test run

• Week 4: Review the results and adjust

Pro tip: Start with tasks that are more painful to keep doing yourself than to teach someone else. Podcast editing, social media scheduling, and expense tracking are usually good first delegations.

The Real ROI

Delegation isn’t just about freeing up hours — it’s about freeing up the RIGHT hours.

Those 5-10 hours I’ve reclaimed aren’t spent on more admin work. They’re spent on strategic projects: building partnerships, refining our product, planning our next fundraise, creating content that actually moves the business forward.

That’s the real win.

Try the decision tree this week and let me know what you decide to delegate first!

Ciao for now,
— Jade

I have eight advisors.

Let me be clear: I’m not a venture-backed start-up with a fancy advisory board assembled to impress investors. I’m a bootstrapped Small Giant trying to transform the Black hair industry while striving to approach break-even.

Yet I’ve assembled a group of advisors that includes ex-founders who’ve built and sold beauty booking platforms, technical leaders with decades of experience, celebrity hair stylists, executives from companies like Unilever and L’Oréal, and entrepreneurs who’ve successfully exited technology and beauty companies.

This didn’t happen by accident. And it didn’t happen because I had equity or cash to throw around.

It happened because I understood something fundamental: the right advisors don’t join your board for money. They join because they believe in the world you’re trying to create and want to be part of building it.

Here’s how to build your own personal board of directors when you’re a Small Giant with more mission than money.

The Advisor Reality: Why Traditional Board-Building Advice Doesn’t Work

Most start-up advice about building advisory boards assumes you have equity to burn and investor connections to leverage. It’s written for founders who can offer 1-2% equity stakes and name-drop their lead investor to attract impressive advisors.

That’s not our reality.

As a Small Giant, you’re protecting equity carefully because you’re not planning multiple funding rounds that will dilute everyone anyway. You can’t offer big cash compensation because you’re barely paying yourself. You may not be focussing on a lucrative exit because you’re building for sustainability and impact rather than acquisition.

And yet, you desperately need strategic guidance from people who’ve navigated challenges you’re facing for the first time.

The conventional approach won’t work. But there’s a better one that plays to our strengths as mission-driven founders.

The Unfair Advantage: Why Mission Attracts Better Advisors

Here’s what I’ve discovered: when you’re building something genuinely meaningful, advisors often come to you through recommendations rather than you having to hunt for them.

Read more

Most founders spend weeks crafting their company values, pin them to the wall, and then... never look at them again.

Your values become decoration instead of decision-making tools.

Team members can’t remember them.

And slowly, the culture you wanted to build drifts away from the culture you’re actually creating.

During lockdown, while working at a start-up with amazing values, I got inspired to create a simple system for Mane Hook-Up that would keep our values front and centre.

The result? A 15-minute Friday check that ensures our values aren’t just words on a page — they’re actively shaping how we work.

The Problem

Values only work if they’re memorable and consistently reinforced.

Here’s what usually happens:

• Week 1: Everyone’s excited about the new values

• Week 4: People vaguely remember them

• Week 12: Values are completely forgotten

• Month 6: You’re hiring people who don’t align with your culture at all

If your team can’t remember your values, they definitely aren’t living them.

Mane Hook-Up’s Core Values

Before I share the check system, here are our values. Notice how specific they are — no fluffy corporate speak:

• Aim for remarkable: Worth making a remark about

• Focus on the users. Everything else will follow

• Look for the answers. Don’t wait for them.

• Have the will to win

• Be accountable

• Take risks

• Accept failure. It’s part of the process

• Leverage our collective intelligence

I chose these by thinking about the core personality traits I needed people on the team to have for Mane Hook-Up to be successful long-term. A lot of this is about attitude and vision, not just skills.

I rejected anything too fluffy or generic — I want people to know exactly what we expect from them.

The 15-Minute Friday Culture Check

Every Friday afternoon, I run through three simple exercises. You can do this solo as a founder or with your team in 1:1s.

Exercise 1: The Memory Test (5 minutes)

What I do: Ask team members if they can remember our values without looking them up.

Why it matters: If values can’t be remembered, they aren’t being lived.

How to apply this:

• In 1:1s, casually ask: “Can you name our company values?”

• Don’t make it a pop quiz — make it conversational

• If people struggle, that’s valuable data about what’s not landing

Exercise 2: The Values Mirror (5 minutes)

What I do: In 1:1s, I ask two questions:

1. Which value did you live most this week?

2. Which values do you see other team members reflecting best?

Why it matters: This creates accountability and recognition. People start noticing when they and others are living the values.

How to apply this:

• Make this a regular part of Friday 1:1s

• Listen for patterns — if certain values never come up, dig into why

• Celebrate when team members call out great examples

Exercise 3: The Win/Loss Reflection (5 minutes)

What I do: I reflect on our biggest win and biggest loss of the week, then ask: “Were our values present in both moments?”

Why it matters: This helps identify where we’re living our values well and where we’re drifting.

How to apply this:

• Pick your biggest win: Did you “aim for remarkable”? Did you “focus on the users”?

• Pick your biggest loss: Did you “accept failure” and “look for the answers”?

• Track patterns in a simple doc (Notion works great for this)

Real Impact

This check has helped us identify moments where we haven’t dealt with situations in a way that lives our values — and moments where we absolutely have.

Example: We had a negative event review recently. Instead of getting defensive, I used the 15-minute check to reflect on our values. “Be accountable” and “Look for the answers” stood out immediately.

So I decided to call the people who left negative feedback to better understand what we could do better next time. That decision came directly from living our values, not from a generic customer service playbook.

The weekly check helps us see where we need to be steered before we drift too far off course. It feeds into hiring (knowing what traits to look for), 1:1s (values as conversation starters), performance reviews (months of data), and decision-making (asking “What would our values tell us to do?”).

Your Quick Start

This Friday:

• Block 15 minutes at the end of your day

• Run through the three exercises above

• Track your reflections in a simple doc

Your timeline:

• Week 1: Do the solo reflection to get comfortable with the process

• Week 2-3: Start incorporating Exercises 1 and 2 into your 1:1s

• Week 4: Review your notes — are certain values consistently missing? Are others showing up strong?

Pro tip: You might start with more values and narrow them down over time. The key is making them memorable and specific enough that people can actually recall and live them.

“I Don’t Have Time for This”

Spending 15 minutes checking your culture each week prevents spending months hiring the wrong people or building the wrong culture. This isn’t extra work — it’s insurance that your most important asset stays intact as you grow.

Try it this Friday and let me know which exercise gave you the most insight!

Ciao for now,
— Jade

P.S. Want a simple Notion template for tracking your weekly culture checks? Just reply and I’ll send it over.

Two years ago, I left a stable salary to build Mane Hook-Up full-time. I knew it would be financially challenging. I expected some lean months. I anticipated having to be scrappy and resourceful.

What I didn’t expect was that two years later, I’d still be making 30-50% of my previous salary —60% (ish) when you factor in the fractional CMO work I do on the side to make ends meet.

The salary cut has been the most painful part of this journey, and it’s the one thing I don’t think anyone really prepares you for.

But here’s what’s interesting: by traditional start-up metrics, I’m failing. I’m not profitable yet. My revenue isn’t growing at the exponential rates that excites investors. If you looked at my business through a conventional growth lens, you’d probably advise me to pivot or scale faster.

Yet by the metrics that actually matter for building a Small Giant, I’m succeeding. Our community has doubled from 500 to over 1,000 people in a year. We’re hosting events that attendees describe as “still intimate even with 100 people in the room.” Brands that initially passed on partnerships are now reaching out unprompted, asking to collaborate. Our post-event reviews are consistently five stars, with people thanking us for creating spaces where they finally found their tribe.

The disconnect between these two realities taught me something crucial: Small Giants need (some) different metrics than traditional start-ups. When you’re optimising for intimacy, impact, and sustainability rather than scale and exits, the numbers that matter change entirely.

Here’s what I’ve learned about measuring success when you’re choosing to be great instead of big.

The Investor Pressure I Walked Away From

About two years ago, I was having conversations with investors about raising capital for Mane Hook-Up. The pitch meetings went well. They loved the concept. They believed in the team. But every conversation ended the same way: “Come back when you have more traction.”

Their version of “more traction” meant bigger numbers across the board. More users, more revenue, faster growth. They wanted us to branch into market segments we had no interest in serving, just to show the kind of scale that would justify their investment thesis.

I remember sitting in one particularly frustrating meeting where an investor kept pushing: “Why not expand beyond textured hair? Why not serve the broader beauty market? The total addressable market would be so much larger.”

Because that’s not the mission, I thought. Because serving everyone means serving no one exceptionally well. Because the Black hair community deserves businesses built specifically for their needs, not generic solutions retrofitted to include them as an afterthought.

The feedback became tedious and repetitive. Same script, different investor: “Love the concept and the team, come back when there’s more traction or money being made.”

I decided to walk away from those conversations entirely.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment of defiance. It was a quiet realisation that chasing investor approval was pulling my focus away from the people who actually mattered:

Read more

Cold emailing investors is brutal. You spend hours drafting the perfect pitch, hit send, and then... crickets.

When I first started fundraising for Mane Hook-Up, my investor emails were getting ignored. Generic subject lines about “fundraising” or “investment opportunity” went straight to the trash. I was doing everything the traditional way and getting nowhere.

Then I completely changed my approach. I created a 3-email automated sequence that balanced storytelling with hard stats, sent every 10 days, and tracked everything in my CRM.

The results?

• 📧 50% average open rate

• 🖱️ 11% average click-through rate

• ↩️ Over 300 replies from investors

• 😊 Several investors replied just to say it was a good email (even when they couldn’t invest!)

Here’s the exact sequence I used and how you can replicate it for your fundraise.

The Problem with Traditional Investor Outreach

Before this sequence, I was sending generic emails with subject lines focused on “raising capital” or “seeking investment.” Investors see hundreds of these every week - they all blur together.

I wasn’t being pushy enough to follow up, but I also wasn’t offering enough value to make investors care. The emails were all about what I needed, not what made my business interesting.

The 3-Email Sequence That Changed Everything

This isn’t about being aggressive. It’s about being consistent, valuable, and clear. Each email serves a specific purpose, and the 10-day gap gives investors time to respond without feeling harassed.

Email 1: The Industry Hook (Day 1)

Purpose: Lead with the market opportunity, not your fundraising need.

Subject line that worked best: “The black hair industry is still relying on word of mouth”

The template:

Hi [first name],

I know you get a lot of these emails, so I’ll make this quick. I’m [name], Founder of [company], a platform/business that [explain what your product does in one sentence].

Since launching in [year or market area], we’ve been [add your most impressive achievement here].

Here are some stats about us and the industry:
* [industry name] industry is worth over $X billion
* X% of our traffic/customers are coming from [source]
* X partnerships with credible [industry] brands

Right now, we’re raising an investment round and aim to work with Angels/VCs who truly understand the problem we’re solving and (most importantly) want to [insert your mission statement]. Given your experience, we’d like to know if [company] is the kind of product you would be interested in.

I’d love to have a 10-15 minute intro call with you to shed some light on our work and see if you think we’re a good fit for each other. Here’s a link to our deck for more info: [insert link]

Let me know if you’re happy to have a call in the next few weeks to discuss this more.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

[Founder name]

Why it works: You’re leading with the industry problem and opportunity, not with “I need money.” The stats make it concrete, and the mission statement filters for investors who actually care about your space.

Email 2: The Customer Problem (Day 11)

Purpose: Reframe the opportunity through your customer’s pain point.

The template:

Hi [first name],

I’m [name], Founder of [company]. We’re a platform that helps [explain who you serve and why].

Here are some quick facts:
* [industry name] industry is worth over $X billion
* Customers [explain how they currently solve their problem and why it’s inefficient]
* People spend an average of X amount on their current solution

Our endgame is to become a global solution that [insert your mission statement]. I’m raising an investment round to get [company name] to the next level which includes [insert your top 1-2 goals]. Given your experience, we’d like to know if [company name] is the kind of product you would be interested in.

Would you be open to having an introductory conversation? I’d be happy to connect.

Best,

[Founder name]

P.S. Here’s a link to our deck for more info. [insert link to deck]

Why it works: This email takes a different angle - focusing on the customer experience and what’s broken in the current solution. It shows you understand your market deeply.

Email 3: The Momentum Follow-Up (Day 21)

Purpose: Demonstrate progress and create urgency without being desperate.

The template:

Hi [first name],

Just following up on my last email - I’m [name], Founder of [company] - a platform/service that [explain what you do in one sentence].

[Company] is a platform/service that helps [customer type] to [explain problem/solution]. We offer them everything from [mention 2-3 product features or services] which allows them to [insert key outcome that your customers achieve].

We have spent time [insert two core objectives], and now [insert your current focus]. As such, we are raising outside capital for the first time and feel that we could be a good fit for each other.

Are you free for a call sometime next week? Here’s a link to our deck with more info.

Best,

[Founder name]

Why it works: You’re showing momentum and progress. This isn’t “please respond,” it’s “we’re moving forward with or without you - want to join?”

How to Set This Up

Step 1: Build your investor list I paid researchers who had access to platforms like Crunchbase to gather investor details that matched my criteria. Focus on investors who are actively investing NOW in your stage and sector.

Step 2: Segment by region I segmented my list by location (UK, USA, Canada) to track which regions were most interested. This helped me understand where to focus my energy.

Step 3: Use a CRM with automation I used Wobaka to automate the sequence. The system sent emails automatically every 10 days and only removed investors from the sequence once they replied. This meant I could reach hundreds of investors without manually tracking each conversation.

Step 4: Let it run The automation sent 8-9 emails total per investor. If someone didn’t respond after that, they weren’t interested.

What Makes This Different

Balance of story and stats: Generic fundraising emails are either all narrative or all numbers. Mine combined both - the industry stats gave credibility, while the mission and customer problem created emotional connection.

Value over ask: Each email offered investors insight into an industry opportunity, not just “I need money.”

Persistence without pushiness: The 10-day gap and automated follow-ups meant I stayed visible without being annoying.

Quality subject lines: “The black hair industry is still relying on word of mouth” worked because it highlighted a problem, not a pitch.

Your Quick Start

This week:

• Identify 50 investors who are actively investing in your stage and sector

• Adapt the 3 email templates above with your company stats and story

• Set up a simple CRM (Wobaka, HubSpot, or even a spreadsheet with reminders)

Your timeline:

• Day 1: Send Email 1 to your first batch of investors

• Day 11: Automated Email 2 goes out to non-responders

• Day 21: Automated Email 3 goes out to non-responders

• Day 30: Review your open rates, replies, and adjust your messaging

The key is consistency and automation. You can’t manually track hundreds of investors - let the system work for you.

Try this sequence and let me know your open rates! I’m curious how it performs in different industries.

Ciao for now, — Jade

P.S. Want my full Wobaka setup guide and investor tracking spreadsheet? Just reply and I’ll send it over.

Hey all! A reminder that I'm hosting an ask me anything session TODAY in London about building meaningful communities with Nicola Gunby (2x time founder and co-founder of CLIQ). There are still some in-person and virtual tickets, you can grab one here. 

Two years ago, when I was building Mane Hook-Up full-time, I was excited about a partnership that looked perfect on paper. A well-small brand with a strong reputation wanted to collaborate on content production. They promised to generate 1,000 leads for our community. The numbers looked good, their credentials were solid, and their pitch was polished.

I even pre-warned them that getting hair stylists as leads was a tricky job with unique challenges. “No problem,” they assured me. “We’ll make it work.”

They delivered less than 100 leads and didn’t tell me about their struggles until I started asking probing questions and dug the truth out of them.

That partnership didn’t just fail—it actively set us back. It almost cost me £1,000 and wasted months of valuable time during a critical period when every resource mattered. We’d allocated resources, adjusted our strategy, and built our quarterly goals around their promises. When they under-delivered by 90%, we didn’t have time to fill the gap while maintaining momentum with our community.

The worst part wasn’t even the poor results—it was the communication breakdown. They knew they were struggling but didn’t proactively communicate the problems. I had to play detective to understand what was actually happening.

It was an expensive lesson in why partnership decisions are make-or-break for Small Giants. When you’re building something intimate and values-driven, you can’t afford to waste months on misaligned relationships. Every partnership either accelerates your mission or derails it—there’s no middle ground.

But the experience taught me something crucial: most founders approach partnerships backwards. They get excited about the opportunity, negotiate terms, and start collaborating before they’ve properly vetted the relationship. By the time problems emerge, they’re already invested—financially, operationally, and emotionally.

The solution isn’t to avoid partnerships entirely. Done right, partnerships are the fastest way to achieve what you couldn’t accomplish alone. But they require a completely different evaluation framework than most founders use.

Here’s what I’ve learned about filtering opportunities to find partnerships that actually work.

The Hidden Cost of Bad Partnerships

Most founders focus on the upside of partnerships: expanded reach, shared resources, collaborative opportunities. But the real risk isn’t missing out on good partnerships—it’s saying yes to bad ones.

Bad partnerships don’t just fail quietly. They consume your time, energy, and credibility. They force you to make excuses to your community. They create operational chaos that ripples through your business for months.

Consider the math: if a partnership takes 20% of your focus for six months and delivers nothing, you’ve lost three months of progress. For a Small Giant trying to build sustainable growth, that’s devastating.

But the costs go deeper than lost time. Bad partnerships damage your reputation in tight-knit industries. When a partner fails to deliver promised results to your community, your credibility takes the hit. Your audience doesn’t know about internal partnership dynamics—they just know you promised something that didn’t happen.

There’s also the opportunity cost. While you’re managing a failing partnership, you’re not pursuing better opportunities. The mental energy spent on damage control could be invested in relationships that actually advance your mission.

Finally, bad partnerships often leave you worse off than when you started. They can disrupt your systems, confuse your messaging, and create operational complexity that persists long after the partnership ends.

The solution isn’t to avoid partnerships entirely—it’s to become ruthlessly selective about which opportunities deserve your attention.

The Partnership Filter Framework

After several partnerships (some brilliant, others disasters), I’ve developed a three-stage filter that helps me evaluate opportunities before they consume significant time or resources:

Read more

Dozens of tiny choices — what to eat, when to exercise, which task to tackle first, where to work, how to respond to messages — slowly sap your energy without you even noticing. By the time I sat down to focus on the things that actually mattered, my brain felt fried.

That’s when I decided to experiment with eliminating as many micro-decisions as possible. I created systems that took choices off my plate, freeing my mental energy for the work that truly drives results. Below, I’m sharing exactly what I did, why it works, and step-by-step guidance so you can implement the same strategies yourself.

The Decision Elimination Framework

Here's the simple process I use to identify and eliminate decision fatigue:

• Step 1: Track your micro-decisions for one day
  Notice every small choice you make throughout the day. You'll be shocked how many there are.

• Step 2: Identify your biggest energy drains
  Pick the areas where you waste the most mental energy making repetitive choices.

• Step 3: Create default rules
  Set simple, consistent rules that remove the choice entirely.

• Step 4: Test for one week
  Stick to your defaults without modification, even if it feels strange initially.

• Step 5: Measure the energy saved
  Notice how much clearer your thinking becomes when you're not constantly choosing.

Now, let me show you exactly how I applied this framework to four major areas of my life:

🏋️‍♀️ When to Exercise

The Problem

When you're knees deep in completing a project, fitting in time to exercise can feel more like an internal fight — deciding whether you really want to go or stay at home. From my experience, this is partly down to discipline and partly down to finding a form of exercise you really enjoy and can commit to.

The Experiments

Exercise has always been a huge part of my life, so this was probably one of the easier decisions for me. I train as an athlete, four days a week, and my sessions have set times (predominantly evenings). This schedule forced me to get a set amount of work done before leaving, which actually increased productivity. I tried yoga classes too, but they were inconsistent and unsustainable for me.

My Solution

Evening training became non-negotiable. I never skip unless I'm sick or injured. It acts as both a physical reset and a mental reset, helping me return to work with clarity and focus.

Your Action Steps

• Identify the time of day that naturally suits your energy and lifestyle

• Fix your workout time and treat it like a mandatory calendar event

• If you think you're likely to skip, find somewhere close to home or your office

• Ask someone to help keep you accountable

• Prepare your workout gear in advance to remove excuses

• Make skipping a rare exception, not a choice

The Payoff: My workouts no longer drain mental energy — they boost it. I complete my workday more efficiently, and the structure improves both productivity and focus.

🏠 Where to Work

The Problem

Deciding where to work every day — home, coworking space, or café — drained time and focus. Without a consistent rhythm, I often ended up in places that didn't support deep work, which led to my to-do list stretching further and further.

The Experiments

I tried different coworking spaces until I found one that had a reasonable commute, a great team, felt like home, and was just the right vibe. My current rhythm is 2–3 days at the coworking space and 2 days at home, with a goal of moving to 4 coworking days a week.

My Solution

I assign locations based on where I work best and the type of work I need to do. Coworking days for focus and energy, home days for lighter or administrative work. Budget-wise, I managed to negotiate a membership in exchange for running some small community events for the space.

Your Action Steps

• List all the locations where you realistically can work

• Match each location to the type of work it supports best

• Decide what days are better for you to work away from home (e.g., days with back-to-back calls)

• Follow this rhythm for a month and adjust only if needed

The Payoff: My productivity increased significantly, and I feel more energized and focused. Choosing where to work no longer consumes mental bandwidth.

📋 First Task of the Day

The Problem

Starting my day staring at a long to-do list created overwhelm and procrastination. It also stopped me from being able to move through my list efficiently and eventually created a backlog that led to missed deadlines.

The Experiments

I began prioritizing one "impact task" at the start of each day. These are tasks with high business impact and pressing deadlines.

My Solution

I plan the first task the night before, considering: time required, impact on business objectives, and urgency. Tasks like completing an accelerator application or preparing for a speaking opportunity take priority over routine admin.

Your Action Steps

• At the end of each day, identify tomorrow's top tasks

• Choose one "impact task" that moves the needle most

• Begin your day with this task before checking emails or messages

• If it's a long task, set a certain amount of hours on the work per day

• Defer lower-value work until the impact task is complete

The Payoff: I start each day with focus and momentum. Urgent, high-impact work gets done first, and I no longer waste energy on decisions that don't matter.

📞 Communication Defaults

The Problem

I was drowning in messages — email, text, WhatsApp, Instagram — and spent too much time deciding how to respond and which channel to use. Or, I experienced some kind of miscommunication when I used a channel that wasn't entirely fit for purpose.

The Experiments

Instead of trying to communicate on all channels equally, I created defaults:

• Quick updates & anything that needs an immediate response → WhatsApp/text

• Detailed responses & non-urgent → email

• Sensitive or complex topics (often to prevent miscommunication) → phone calls

My Solution

I didn't announce these rules formally; I acted consistently and clarified when necessary. The consistency reduced friction and ensured important messages were handled in the right way.

Your Action Steps

• List all the channels you use regularly

• Assign default types of communication to each channel

• Apply consistently in daily communication

• Adjust only if patterns prove ineffective

The Payoff: My communication became much clearer. I reduced decision fatigue and avoided unnecessary miscommunications, even in challenging situations.

🤖 AI for the Mundane

The Problem

Drafting emails, proposals, and slide decks multiple times a day consumed attention and added decision fatigue.

The Experiments

I began using AI to draft initial versions of emails, proposals, and decks, ensuring all points were covered and reducing the number of small decisions.

My Solution

AI handles repetitive, lower-stakes work, while I review and adjust for quality and nuance.

Your Action Steps

• Identify one repetitive task to outsource to AI

• Provide as much context as possible for the AI output

• Review and refine the result rather than starting from scratch

• Expand AI usage gradually to other repetitive tasks

The Payoff: Saved multiple hours each week. Reduced decision fatigue from small, repetitive choices. Freed up mental energy for strategy and high-value work.

"I Don't Have Time to Create Systems"

I know what you're thinking: "Jade, I'm already overwhelmed - I don't have time to set up systems."

Here's the thing: spending 30 minutes creating these defaults will save you hours every week. The mental energy you're currently burning on tiny decisions is costing you way more than the upfront investment.

These aren't complex systems - they're simple rules that eliminate choice.

Your Quick Start

Decision fatigue isn't about laziness or poor willpower. It's about mental energy being drained by choices that don't matter.

Start here: Choose "First Task of the Day" if you're not sure where to begin. It takes 2 minutes to set up and you'll see results immediately.

Your timeline:

• Tonight: Pick tomorrow's impact task before you close your laptop

• Day 3: You'll notice the mental relief of not staring at your to-do list each morning

• Day 7: It becomes automatic - no more decision paralysis to start your day

Once this feels natural, add one more area from the list above. Apply the framework: identify defaults, set rules, and stick with them for at least a week.

Even small wins compound into major mental freedom.

Try it and let me know which area had the biggest impact for you!

Ciao for now,

— Jade

P.S. Want my complete decision elimination playbook with all the specific defaults I use? Just reply and I'll send it over.

Hey all! A reminder that I'm hosting an ask me anything session in London about funding for female founders with Nanna Soenya (founder of the first grant for Black and brown women in the UK). There are still some in-person and virtual tickets, you can grab one here. 

I’ve realised that a lot founders think they need massive audiences to create meaningful impact.

They chase the biggest venues, the most attendees, the widest reach. They obsess over vanity metrics like "impressions" and "reach" while completely missing the metrics that actually drive business growth.

But they're optimising for the wrong game entirely.

Last month, I hosted a beauty mastermind for 15 stylists and beauty brand founders. By traditional metrics, it was embarrassingly small. By the metrics that actually matter for building a sustainable business, it was perfect.

Here's what I witnessed: stylists learning directly from brand founders about product development challenges they'd never considered. Brand founders finally understanding the real operational struggles salon owners and stylists face daily—things like inventory management, client retention, and staff training that never make it into industry reports. Cross-industry connections that would never happen at a massive conference where everyone stays in their designated "networking zones."

Everyone walked away with a strategic business plan and concrete next steps. More importantly, they walked away with 2-3 new relationships that will compound in value over the coming months.

This isn't just about hosting better events. It's about understanding the community compound effect—when each person who joins your network makes it exponentially more valuable for everyone else, creating a multiplier effect that scales without requiring you to scale.

Think about it like this: If you have a phone but nobody else does, it's worthless. Add one person, and suddenly you can call them—some value created. Add 50 people, and you have a valuable network where everyone can reach everyone.

Add 5,000 people, and... well, you still have a communication network, but now it's overwhelming, impersonal, and ironically less valuable to any individual user.

The same principle applies to business communities, but most founders miss the sweet spot entirely.

They think bigger is always better.

They're wrong.

The Magic Number Nobody Talks About

Through two years of trial and error (mostly error), I've discovered that 40-50 people is the optimal size for creating genuine business connections that lead to actual collaborations, partnerships, and growth. Not 400. Not 40,000.

Somewhere between 40-50.

Here's the mathematics behind why this works: In a room of 50 people, there are roughly 1,225 possible connections (50 x 49 ÷ 2). That's manageable. You can actually see and assess everyone in the room. You can be strategic about who you want to meet.

You can invest real time in conversations that matter.

Compare this to a 500-person conference with 124,750 possible connections. The cognitive overload is immediate. The paradox of choice kicks in. People retreat to their existing networks or wander aimlessly through a sea of strangers, collecting business cards they'll never look at again.

At our events, the average attendee makes genuine contact with 1-2 new industry connections — people they actually follow up with, collaborate with, and build ongoing relationships with. I track this not through surveys, but through watching what happens months later: joint ventures, referral partnerships, collaborative projects that emerge from our community.

Maya's story illustrates this perfectly. She's a celebrity stylist who also supports her mum's salon, and they're hoping to expand into hair education. She attended her first event earlier this year feeling uncertain about the business side of her expansion plans. After attending multiple events, she's now part of our extended community. I'm currently reviewing her business plan as she develops this new venture—something that grew directly from connections and insights gained at our gatherings.

Her initial connections at our events have evolved into ongoing mentorship and strategic guidance that extends far beyond the events themselves. This is the compound effect in action. '

But it's not happening because we're big—it's happening because we're small enough for relationships to actually form, deepen, and multiply.

The Framework: How to Build Your Own Community Compound Effect

If you want to create this for your own business, here's the practical framework I've developed through hosting dozens of events and making every possible mistake:

1. Start Stupidly Small (10-15 People)

This is where most founders fail before they even begin. They want to launch with a bang—200-person venue, big-name speakers, massive marketing push. They're thinking like a corporate conference planner, not a community builder.

Don't try to fill a 200-person venue on your first attempt. Plan an intimate event for 10 people. Yes, 10. It will feel small. Do it anyway.

Feed and water them properly. This isn't optional. If you're asking people to come during dinner time, the least you can do is feed them well. If you don't have a massive catering budget, that's fine—just have an event for the number of people you can afford to cater for properly.

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Quick switch-up from the usual newsletter — I've got something coming up that I think the female founders in this community need to know about.

Female founders get 3% of VC funding. But here's what that stat doesn't tell you: there are so many other ways to fund your vision.

If you're ready to explore funding paths that actually work for women like us, I have something for you.

On 27th August, I'm hosting an AMA with Nanna Soenya, founder of OmegaSeven and creator of The FundHerShip Grant (the UK's first £10,000 grant for Black & Brown women).

What makes this different:

Nanna isn't just talking about the problem — she's built solutions. She knows the routes that work when traditional paths feel impossible.

What you'll walk away with:

• An idea of the current funding landscape (what's going wrong and how women can work around it)

• ​How to overcome the common challenges that feel like major barriers

• A clear next step, no matter where you are in your journey

27th August, 6:30pm | The Hearth, London | 30 people only

Grab my ticket

If you're building something meaningful and want funding advice that actually feels achievable, this is your space.

Jade

P.S. Got a specific funding question? Hit reply — I'll make sure we address it on the day.

One of the most stressful moments as a founder? Logging into your bank account and realising you have way less money than you thought — or worse, discovering you're closer to running out than you expected.

I used to check our cash flow sporadically (usually when I was worried), which meant I was constantly stressed or getting annoying surprises.

Now I have a simple 5-minute ritual every Monday morning that gives me complete confidence about our runway and catches any red flags before they become problems.

Here's exactly how you can set this up for your start-up:

The 5-Minute Monday Morning Cash Flow Check

What you'll need:

• A simple spreadsheet (I use Google Sheets)

• Access to your business bank account

• Your upcoming expenses list

Minute 1: Log your current position Open your bank account and write down your exact balance. Don't round it — use the real number.

Minute 2: List this week's definite outgoings Write down everything you KNOW you're paying this week:

• Salaries, freelancer payments etc.

• Software subscriptions

• Admin costs

• Any invoices you've already committed to

Minute 3: Add your expected income List any money you expect this week, but be honest about the probability:

• Confirmed client payments (90-100% likely)

• Outstanding invoices (60-80% likely)

• Pipeline deals (20-40% likely)

Minute 4: Calculate your runway Take your current balance, subtract this week's outgoings, add your most likely income, then divide by your weekly burn rate.

This gives you weeks of runway remaining.

Minute 5: Flag the red flags Look for:

• Runway dropping below 12 weeks

• Large payments due next week you hadn't planned for

• Expected income that hasn't materialized for 2+ weeks

• Unusual spikes in spending

Why this works

This ritual has saved me plenty of times. Last month, I spotted that a major client payment was 3 weeks overdue during my Monday check — if I'd waited another week to notice, we would have missed our contractor payments.

The key is doing it the same time every week. Monday morning works because:

• You're planning your week anyway

• Weekend payments have usually cleared

• You have time to act on any issues before Friday

Your simple template

Create a Google Sheet with these columns:

• Date

• Bank Balance

• This Week Out

• This Week In (Likely)

• Runway (Weeks)

• Red Flags

Why this is a win for founders

• Peace of mind: You always know exactly where you stand financially

• Early warning system: Spot problems while you still have time to fix them

• Better decision making: Know if you can afford that new hire or software subscription

• Investor confidence: Always have accurate numbers when investors ask about runway

The whole process takes 5 minutes but gives you confidence for the entire week.

Honestly, this simple ritual will get rid of those 3am "how much money do we actually have?" panic moments.

Try it this Monday and let me know how it goes!

Ciao for now, — Jade

P.S. Want to see my actual cash flow template? Just reply to this email and I'll send it over.

If you're a founder, a builder, a carer, or simply someone trying to keep a lot of plates spinning — this one’s for you. Life doesn’t pause just because your to-do list is full, and sometimes the quietest burnout is the most dangerous kind. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been navigating what happens when everything comes at once — from physical pain and family crises to growing work demands and personal overwhelm.

It’s been a lot.

This deep dive isn’t just a story about burnout — it’s a reflection on boundaries, honesty, and being human when the world expects you to keep performing. I’ll share what happened, what helped, what I’ve learned, and what I’d do differently.

If you’re in the middle of something messy or quietly unravelling at the seams — I hope this gives you language, permission, and possibly even a path forward.

The Signal: “I Can’t Do This Right Now”

Twenty unread WhatsApps.

Two missed calls.

Over twenty flagged emails I hadn’t replied to in over a week.

Every time my phone lit up, I felt a knot in my stomach — like I needed to run from something but didn’t know where to go.

I wasn’t just behind. I wasn’t just busy. I was overwhelmed in a way that made even thinking about responding feel impossible. I’d stare at the screen, heart racing, and then quietly put it face down again.

I’ve always prided myself on being someone who shows up.

Someone who replies, delivers, figures it out, keeps going. But over the last month, I stopped being able to do that — not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t.

And for a while, I didn’t understand why.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned recently is that not everyone breaks loudly or quickly. There’s this assumption that when someone is struggling, it will be obvious. Emotional outbursts. Big cancellations. Major meltdowns.

That’s not how I unravel.

I go down slowly and quietly — the kind of burnout that hides itself in high-functioning habits. I’ll still show up to meetings. I’ll still get things done. But inside, I’m dissolving. It’s a dangerous combination, because from the outside, I look fine. And when no one knows what you’re holding, no one thinks to ask if you need to put it down.

That’s why communication is starting to become everything for me. I’m still learning how to name when I’m struggling, before it shows up in missed calls and forgotten messages.

Before my body forces me to listen.

This isn’t a story about burning out and bouncing back.

It’s not a motivational pep talk.

It’s a reflection on what happens when everything breaks at once — and how I slowly started piecing myself back together, quietly and imperfectly.

Four Weeks of Overwhelm

It wasn’t one thing.

It was all the things — layered, constant, and quietly layering on top of me. Each day felt like I was carrying more, with less capacity to hold it.

For context, here’s what I was juggling all at once:

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If, like me, you’re a UK founder who also needs needs to focus on the US — whether to attract investors, find more customers, or expand your brand — one of the first questions is:

How do I actually set up a US entity?

I went through this a few years ago and know it can feel confusing, frustrating, and a little overwhelming (especially when you’re then dealing with taxes in more than one country).

Thankfully, I found Firstbase, a platform that made the entire process quick, simple, and totally online.

Here’s a detailed quick win for you: how to set up your US company using Firstbase, step-by-step, with everything you need to know.

P.S. Just so you know, this isn’t a sponsored post. I’m recommending Firstbase because I’ve used it, trust it and found them super helpful when it came to setting up my US entity.  

Step 1: Understand your business entity options (and get advice)

The kind of company you form depends on your goals:

• Seeking US investors? Most investors prefer Delaware C-Corporations because of their structure and investor-friendly rules.

• Focusing on sales or services? An LLC might make more sense for flexibility and simpler tax treatment.

This choice affects taxes, liability, and paperwork, so I highly recommend consulting a legal or accounting professional to make sure you pick the right option for your business.

You’ll need to make a firm decision on this before you start using Firstbase, because it’s literally one of the first questions they ask you.

Step 2: Prep your information — here’s what you’ll need

Before you start your application, make sure you have the following ready to go:

• Proof of your full legal name and date of birth

• Proof of your current home address (can be in the UK)

• A government-issued ID or passport for identity verification

• The business name you want to register (have 2-3 options ready in case yours is taken)

• A short description of your business activities (e.g., “e-commerce sales of beauty products”)

• The US state where you want to incorporate — Delaware is popular for start-ups but you can pick other states too

• Your company ownership structure: number of owners (members/shareholders) and their details. This means any existing investors, basically anyone who has equity.

Step 3: Start your application on Firstbase.io

The application process is pretty straightforward and should take you 10-15 minutes. Here’s what you’ll be running through:

• Selecting your entity type (LLC, C-Corp, etc.) — remember to check with your advisor first

• Entering your prepared info from Step 2

• Choosing any additional services like:

  • Registered Agent Service: Firstbase acts as your registered agent and provides a US business address for legal documents — important if you don’t have a US office. This service is a monthly fee (usually ~$30)

  • Employer Identification Number (EIN): This is your US tax ID number — essential for banking, hiring, and taxes. Firstbase will apply for this on your behalf.

Step 4: Pay & Submit your application

The cost varies based on your entity and services but generally expect:

• Incorporation fee: $300–$500

• Monthly fees for registered agent and business address (if you opted for this)

Step 5: What happens next?

• Firstbase files your paperwork with the state government — this can take a few weeks

• You’ll receive official company formation documents (e.g., Certificate of Incorporation) via email

• Your EIN (Employer Identification Number) will arrive electronically via the platform

• With these documents, you can:

  • Open a US business bank account (some banks allow remote opening) - Mercury is a good option.

  • Register for US taxes and permits

  • Legally operate your US company

Bonus tips from my experience:

• Use the registered agent service if you don’t have a US address — it’s worth the monthly fee to stay compliant and avoid missing official mail.

• Have your business name alternatives ready — sometimes your first choice isn’t available in the state you pick.

• Make sure your business description is clear and professional — this helps avoid delays in approvals.

• Keep digital copies of all your formation documents and EIN for future reference and applications.

• Affordable accountant partners: The US tax system is blindingly complicated, so Firstbase can both do the tax filing for you or recommend some really affordable options.

Why this is a win for UK founders

• Entirely online: No need for US trips or dealing with confusing government websites

• Time-saving: From start to finish in under an hour to apply, with documents back in a few weeks

• Confidence: You know everything is done correctly and legally, ready to start US operations or attract investors

• Great customer support: They have an online chat for existing customers and their team are pretty helpful when it comes to explaining what needs to be done.

I hope you’ve all found this helpful! Finding Firstbase definitely made me feel like setting up a US company was doable, more straightforward and affordable than I originally thought (hopefully you feel the same way too).

Ciao for now,

— Jade

P.S. Have questions or want to hear about some of the challenges I faced? Just reply to this email — I’m happy to help.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been deep in the planning and execution of our first in-person event with celebrity hair stylist, Kaye Dash. It’s been a full-circle moment, going from online commu…

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