https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter daily 0.75 2026-11-12 https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7-tzlaz-xck97-grjtb-s8p3y-ag85b-tejsh monthly 0.5 2026-11-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/cae55cd3-7aa7-4057-8700-2ab131b4f6f7/IMG_9400.jpg NEWSLETTER - Every no had a good reason. - Our net new MRR has gone up a steady amount every month this year. And then in August it slowed down. I didn’t catch it in August though. I caught it in September. Here’s why I missed it. Every deal that slipped had a reason. This one’s waiting on their fiscal year to close. That one had a leadership change. This guy went quiet but he’ll be back after Q4, no big deal. Every no, every delay, made sense on its own. I looked at each one, nodded, and moved on. Lumpy sales. That’s just how some months go. So it wasn’t until September that we actually stopped and looked at the whole thing at a macro level. And it looked a lot different than the pile of individual stories did. People who had verbally committed were getting less committed. The bottom of the funnel was closing slower than Q2, slower than most of Q3. It wasn’t one broken deal, it was a trend, and I’d been explaining it away one deal at a time for a month. Now the part that makes it stranger. Our churn held steady. And our expansion is actually running hotter than we modeled, more than last year, enough that we’re building it into our forecasts differently now. So the clients we already have are healthy and growing. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7-tzlaz-xck97-grjtb-s8p3y-ag85b monthly 0.5 2026-11-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/d7a5a509-d10b-4cff-ab46-bfcba656111b/Captura+de+pantalla+2026-10-27+a+la%28s%29+1.10.39%E2%80%AFp.m..png NEWSLETTER - My wife noticed before I did - A couple weeks ago we finally got to celebrate Amy's birthday. A week late, because she'd been on her girls' trip. And somewhere in the middle of the afternoon she looks at me and says, "I noticed you didn't really pull your phone out today." Huh. She was right. I hadn't. And I had no idea until she said it. Now if you read the last one, you know where my head's been. Payroll. Ending the sprint. Closing businesses. I'm in the middle of shutting down Bloomin' Blinds North Austin, my franchise, and I decided to close PipApp too, so that's two businesses I'm closing at the same time (which is a weird thing to be doing while you're also trying to grow). I've been running hot for months and my brain just doesn't turn off. Like ever. So me and the girls took Amy out for the day (I filmed a bit of the day if you want to see it). https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7-tzlaz-xck97-grjtb-s8p3y monthly 0.5 2026-10-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/be2e29f9-4379-4c34-bc0e-b105792aa7de/IMG_6087.jpg NEWSLETTER - It can always get worse. - I talk to my business partner Nym almost every day. Last month I told him I’d hit rock bottom. And I meant it. I’ve been scared this year in a way I haven’t really said out loud. Up in the middle of the night, head in my hands, trying to figure out how I’m going to make payroll. Shutting businesses down. Ending the sprint I’ve been running for five years. It got to a point where I could not picture it getting worse than it was right then, and I told him that. I said I can’t imagine a world where this gets harder than it is right now. Then last week my wife went on a girls’ trip. Which she’s way overdue for. She hadn’t taken one in years and she earned it, so no complaints from me. But it meant I had the kids by myself all week. Still carrying all the same business stuff. Still scared about the same things I was scared about last month. And now I was also doing drop-off and pickup and dinner and bedtime, trying to actually be there for them, be patient, be present, while the back of my head is still grinding on payroll. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7-tzlaz-xck97-grjtb monthly 0.5 2026-10-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/9ae8e774-504a-478f-9ae6-b369b11bc4db/IMG_7254.jpg NEWSLETTER - I threw my back out. - I threw my back out bowling. Bowling. I've been training for months. Kettlebells, calisthenics, actual programming, 'cause I'm in my forties and I'd like to still be useful at sixty. Getting strong, feeling good about it. Then I go bowl with my team one night and somewhere around the third or fourth frame my back just goes, and I can't stand up straight. Flight home was brutal. Couldn't work right for days. Took me out, from the one sport where people are drinking beer while they play it. The dumb thing is that I grabbed a lighter ball on purpose. Figured I'd take it easy, have fun with the team, not try too hard. The one time I deliberately chose the easy version is the time that put me on the floor. And I've bowled many times before. Didn't stretch, didn't think about my form, didn't think about it at all, 'cause it's not that serious for me and it's always been more of a fun activity to do with friends. Nothing's happened the last dozen times so why would it this time. That's the thing though. I warm up for the deadlift 'cause I respect the deadlift. I don't warm up for bowling 'cause I don't. And the stuff you don't respect is the stuff that's been around so long it's never given you a reason to. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7-tzlaz-xck97 monthly 0.5 2026-10-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/5ae8e4e4-6595-40f1-a87c-00500a232614/IMG_7605.jpg NEWSLETTER - I'm shutting one down. - I'm shutting one of the fourteen down. Bloomin' Blinds, the window treatment franchise I own in North Austin. Revenue was fine. It never made money. It came down to labor, which is where most of these decisions actually land. Here's the problem with blinds. About half a dozen major manufacturers, and each one has hundreds of product lines underneath it. Different fabrics, different automation, different repair mechanics. Somebody has to hold all of that in their head or the job doesn't work. So you hire a tech and you spend real months and real money teaching him all of it. He gets competent. Then he leaves, and every dollar of that training walks out with him. Same with sales. You start over. My techs and salespeople kept shuffling, and I never got anybody far enough up the curve to earn back what it cost to get them there. That's where the margin went. Not to a competitor, not to pricing. To turnover. And none of it is visible on the top line. Revenue was coming in the whole time. Jobs were getting done. If you only looked at the number most owners look at, the business was working. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7-tzlaz monthly 0.5 2026-10-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/03e5cf7b-640b-494f-8f9e-80c00e497bdb/IMG_6788.jpg NEWSLETTER - I'm ending the sprint at 14. - I could force two or three more across the line. I'm choosing not to. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm-g5rp7 monthly 0.5 2026-10-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/8ecb21b7-d9fa-4337-ac90-0e1911feee78/1790015533993.jpeg NEWSLETTER - Everything they named was free. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r-tcgjm monthly 0.5 2026-09-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/c3ce231f-7378-4b12-9de6-5c5b4349c5f2/1785160736613.jpeg NEWSLETTER - What made him great at 12 is what killed him at 15. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp-cek5r monthly 0.5 2026-09-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/8fdc585d-e74d-4d68-aa10-6176cf79ba6d/IMG_3080.jpg NEWSLETTER - He turned his chair around. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka-7kghp monthly 0.5 2026-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/307d267d-bf1f-46e6-810f-fe0d9e766000/Captura+de+pantalla+2026-09-03+a+la%28s%29+12.29.23%E2%80%AFa.m..png NEWSLETTER - I finished my walk the other way. - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.alwayshan.com/newsletter/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-grwka monthly 0.5 2026-09-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/f93d0287-33a6-4791-a1d2-971bcb8214cf/38aVorXUTCqiSUFQmLFCMj.jpeg NEWSLETTER - Worry is a tax, not fuel. https://www.alwayshan.com/home daily 1.0 2026-07-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/b18fe204-8196-472e-bd70-e1ce72846684/Screenshot+2026-06-04+180938.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/6a583984-56da-4fb9-9582-ce25779dcd28/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181203.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/7ee34700-61a2-4d43-8b72-bc6e2419a4b7/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181307.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/6a583984-56da-4fb9-9582-ce25779dcd28/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181203.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/dc702830-850a-4f11-b6d2-0fe37e6d81bf/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181435.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/b23e4a04-4dd6-4e13-aa1d-ac594cdfc0e4/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181829.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/6a583984-56da-4fb9-9582-ce25779dcd28/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181203.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/5f811be0-49b6-46f7-b8bb-83fc0d00a908/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181621.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/6a583984-56da-4fb9-9582-ce25779dcd28/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181203.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a21ef8efd3b202c0a7fc8ec/e79b50c0-3f63-4c8b-8a20-f5db8bb5115d/Screenshot+2026-06-04+181744.png https://www.alwayshan.com/work-with-me daily 0.75 2026-06-09 https://www.alwayshan.com/about daily 0.75 2026-06-24 https://www.alwayshan.com/portfolio daily 0.75 2026-06-11 https://www.alwayshan.com/subscribe-to-blueprints daily 0.75 2026-06-11