I started journaling this year, but it's been much more complicated than I thought. I've missed more than two weeks in January. Lack of consistency is my wrong side. And this is only one of my challenges for this year - I must win this battle to become the person I want to be. This may be the only thing that people need to work on. Sometimes, I think that is something about ADHD because I can't focus on one task and do plenty simultaneously. I'm the perfect founder for some products for focusing on tasks.

To describe this month in a few words: I love challenges. I've made some money that helped me work on my projects for the next few months. Also, I started coding and feel more relaxed than last month.

Next month, I will dedicate myself to improving my consistency and adding more checkboxes on my calendar around my chosen habits. I started journaling this year, but it's been much more complicated than I thought. I've missed more than two weeks in January. Lack of consistency is my wrong side. And this is only one of my challenges for this year - I must win this battle to become the person I want to be. This may be the only thing that people need to work on. Sometimes, I think that is something about ADHD because I can't focus on one task and do plenty simultaneously. I'm the perfect founder for some products for focusing on tasks.

Five slides Pitch Deck structure for all time:

1. team
Does this team have the relevant skills for winning to the conclusion that their market? Does the team have a track record of shipping together?

2. problem
How did this team conclude that there was indeed a problem?

3. solution
How does the service or product work? How will the solution evolve in the future?

4. market
Is the market large enough that all the participants (founders, employees, investors) will make a crap ton of money?

5. traction
Are there any early pilots, MVPs, or user traction to indicate that there is indeed market pull behind this idea?

What would you add to your pitch? 🤓

Google recently released FREE online courses on AI. Here are 9 best courses (with links) you can access:

1. Introduction to Generative AI
(https://shorturl.at/FHMYZ)

2. Introduction to Large Language Models
(https://shorturl.at/fiDJ2)

3. Introduction to Responsible AI
(https://shorturl.at/xB135)

4. Introduction to Image Generation
(https://shorturl.at/gC126)

5. Transformer Models and BERT Model
(https://shorturl.at/envBV)

6. Introduction to Generative AI Studio
(https://urlis.net/9wcnatur)

7. Encoder-Decoder Architecture
(https://urlis.net/xgu833yb)

8. Create Image Captioning Models
(https://urlis.net/ai4u56gy)

9. Attention Mechanism
(https://urlis.net/cuq5b8ww)

I’m not sure what burnout is, but it seems I had/have it. For four months, I’ve been in a horrific emotional dip and apathy due to business failures, including losing money, missed investments, and partners. I was fooling myself, pretending everything was fine.

But when D-day came and I admitted that things were screwed and I needed a change, that's when I lost it. It feels like I was completely burned out emotionally, and for about a month I experienced the most intense apathy and laziness of my life. I just didn’t know what to do next.

I saw some psychologist friends, a few coaches, and even a clinical psychologist. I was desperate for any solution, medication, or mind tricks to get out of this state. I heard thousands of familiar words about what to do and how to act, and all the advice felt very familiar. Eventually, I decided that none of it would specifically help me.

I set myself a tough deadline to apply for a grant I had been planning for half a year and ended up starting just a week before the deadline. Then, I had to work hard.

It felt like magic, at least for now. After that, I was driven to keep working and getting things done. I think the small victories were key. When everything has been going downhill for a while, these little wins can really boost your motivation. Most importantly, I remembered how much I love working. Sitting up late into the night or early morning, writing documents, or planning some work. Thinking about how the product will evolve is what I love and know how to do.

In summary, to anyone who’s dealt with this, you’re not alone. I know how crucial it is to talk to people who are in the same boat during such times. What helped me, and probably will help others, is to assess your situation. Talk about how you're feeling with various people, and remember what you truly love doing.

If you need someone to talk to, just message me here or DM me. I’d be glad to help you get out of that rut because it really sucks.

Peace to all.

OpenAI shows a new update that looks amazing and strange at the same time. 
Now, you can chat with your GPT in real time using voice and video, and this really looks natural. 
https://x.com/sama/status/1790068956557881504

Most startups fail because they build non-solutions to non-problems 🙅🏼‍♂️

I believe the checklist must be simple as hell:
1. do 30+ customer interviews.
2. do people want to give you money?
3. NO? improve &repeat or Yes! build mvp.

I pitch to anyone who will stand still.
I do it in line at Starbucks. I do it with friends and strangers. I always spill my guts when it comes to discussing what I’m working on, because:

a. I have no fear that anyone will steal my idea (and anyone who has that fear is an amateur) and…

b. You find out more about your movie [startup] by talking to people one-on-one than having them read it.

This is a quote from a book I started reading this week.
“Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder.
He is a successful scriptwriter from Hollywood who wrote a bestseller and deskbook for anyone who wants to become a screenwriter. The founder's journey is the same. You must cook a great logline and prepare a great story and pitch. I've just read 1/10 of this book, but I highly recommend it to any startup founder as soon as possible.

Stress doesn’t come from hard work. Stress primarily comes from not taking action over something that you can have some control over.

So if I find that some particular thing is causing me to have stress, that’s a warning flag for me; what it means is, there’s something that I haven’t completely identified perhaps in my conscious mind, that is bothering me, and I haven’t yet taken any action on it. I find, as soon as I identify it, and make the first phone call or send up the first email message or whatever it is that we’re going to do to start to address the situation, even if it’s not solved, the mere fact that we’re addressing it dramatically reduces any stress that might come from it. So stress comes from ignoring things that you shouldn’t be ignoring, I think in large part.

People get stress wrong all the time in my opinion. Stress doesn’t come from hard work, for example, you know you can be working incredibly hard and loving it.

Jeff Bezos

I’m 37

hey founders,
stop doing automation on automation and endlessly developing processes.
sometimes (always), do the work that quickly leads to results. this sounds stupid and trivial, but it still works for most founders.
the one skill you must develop constantly is stress tolerance.

Consistency.

I used to believe the most important words in startups were “growth,” “vision,” “traction.”

Today, for me, it’s consistency.

Not brilliant ideas.
Not flashy pitches.
Not explosive growth.
But showing up every single day — even when it’s hard, boring, or uncertain.

As a founder, I’ve learned:

Consistency turns a dream into a product,
and a product into a business.

It’s about:

Writing to investors every day
Posting content every week
Improving the product constantly
Selling systematically, not just when you’re inspired

It’s the discipline of doing the work:

When you have no motivation — you still show up
When results are invisible — you keep going
When rejection hits — you don’t slow down

It’s the kind of predictability that builds trust:

Your team, partners, and investors know you’ll deliver
You don’t quit after the first failure
You lead by behavior, not just by pitch

Why does this matter?
Because startups are a race of survival.
Not the fastest wins — but the one who doesn’t stop.

Consistency is what turns chaos into results.
It’s my word now.
My compass.
My path.

This is just my 1285919th time starting to use X daily. Let's follow each other.
https://x.com/raremaxi

Morning 🥱
As an old schooler, I’ve started my new routine on September 1st:

- no alcohol. again.
- everyday yoga.
- strong work schedule.
- finish raising capital by november.

When someone asks me why I quit alcohol at all, I'll show this screenshot.

I found a useful article: the guys analyzed 17,500 pitch decks. Here's what really works:

🖤 Solo founders were 9% less likely to raise, but when they did, their median raise was 21% higher.

🖤 96% of decks were Pre-Seed/Seed reporting ARR at pre-seed made teams ~2× more likely to raise.

🖤 Funding is concentrated: Fintech, Enterprise, Healthcare = ~50% of total. Frame accordingly.

🖤 Funded startups were 47% more likely to have founders with prior startup experience, and 27% more likely to have at least one technical cofounder.

Full study: https://www.openvc.app/blog/worlds-first-study-of-17500-startup-pitch-decks-by-sequel

Being a Founder Isn’t About Doing Everything

At some point, I realized a founder really has just three real jobs:
1. Direction. Define where we’re going (vision) and why it matters (mission).
2. People. Hire those who are way better than you in every area.
3. Capital. Bring in the money that keeps the vision alive.

Everything else? That’s the team’s job.
Ownership means they decide, execute, and have all the resources they need for the next quarter, without waiting for permission.

The founder’s job is to do a few things that are brutally hard, not hundreds of small ones.
Every time I catch myself buried in micro-tasks, I feel it - that quiet frustration of working hard but not really moving the needle.

Anyone else feel that tension between being busy and creating real impact?

Building on my last post about a founder's core jobs: Direction, People, and Capital, I've been reflecting on the journey to get there.
Yes, the endgame is delegation: empowering your team to own execution while you focus on the big levers.

But let's be real.
In the beginning, the founder has to do it all.

Why?
Because your vision isn't just words on a slide.

It's born from rolling up your sleeves, grinding through the details, and embedding your DNA into every process, product decision, and customer interaction. You prototype, you sell, you troubleshoot. You live it to ensure the foundation aligns perfectly with where you're headed.

Only then can you hand it off.
Delegation without that hands-on phase?
It's like passing a baton in a race you never started running. Your team needs to see the vision in action, not just hear about it.

Once the groundwork is solid, step back. Hire stars, fuel them with resources, and watch them scale what you sparked.

May the founder’s force be with you. 🤙🏼

Maker vs Manager Time

If you feel drained from constant context switching, Paul Graham’s model can help. He wrote about it in “Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule”

Manager time is meetings, calls, quick decisions.

Maker time is long, uninterrupted deep work.

Founders usually mix these modes and then blame themselves for low output. In reality, one random call inside a focus block can ruin the entire day.

For almost three months I’ve been running a strict split:

☕️first half of the day - important work that needs full immersion,

🫖second half - calls and everything that breaks focus.

The difference is very noticeable. more progress, less mental noise.

Try it for a week. Protect a few clean mornings. Push all calls later.
Try it or share in comments what helps you feel more productive.

The longer I build products, the clearer one truth becomes:

Marketing is everything.

You can have a technically perfect product.
A masterpiece.
A system that deserves to win.

But if you can’t bring attention → audience → users…
You’re dead.
Not instantly, but inevitably.

GTM isn’t a document.
It’s a living creature. Wild, emotional, unpredictable.
You test, break, adapt, and steal attention every single day.

I stopped talking to users in “corporate marketing tone” long ago.
People don’t want polished slogans.
They want real language. Real emotions. Real intentions.

I love the hunt, finding non-obvious angles, unusual hooks, and new entry points.

And honestly?
Xtok is turning me into a much stronger marketer than ever before.
You can’t build an adult-creator fintech/AI platform without becoming obsessed with attention mechanics.

May the founder’s force be with you. 🤙🏼