If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

African Proverb

I’ve always loved this quote.

Last week, I kicked off a program for venture-backable early-stage founders in Colorado.  I have 14 CEOs participating in 2 groups that meet every other week for 3.5 hours for 6 months. This program was designed to help them go farther together and is an experiment I’m running to see whether or not the framework I’ve developed can help them move the needle on performance.

That’s 14 founders of startups who believed in what I’m trying to do, who signed up for an experiment that takes significant time and effort on their part, with no guaranteed outcome.  When I let myself think about it, it’s humbling, daunting even, and I feel so incredibly lucky and grateful to have pulled such a winning lotto ticket. 

This effort is the culmination of a lifetime of stars aligning, 20 years of professional experience, 10+ years of rumination, and 4 months of running at it as hard as I could. But really, it’s the culmination of a network of people who have helped me go far, rather than just go fast.

For this first program, huge shout out to Natty Zola, Ryan Broshar, Elyse Kent, Tyler Manley, Ingrid Alongi, Brad Bernthal, Rich Maloy, and Taylor McLemore for their referrals. And second shout out to Kirsten Suddath, Brett Jergens and the good people over at Archipelago, and Tom McGrath for hosting us – the ask was huge, and you stepped up and did it with a smile on your face. And thanks to my friend Mark Solon who reminded me to “just go do stuff” and my husband for the continual emotional support.

I’m not going to talk about the program today, rather, because I’m feeling sappy, I just wanted to take a moment to sincerely and publicly thank those who have been so helpful these last 4 months in the background. May we all have those who help us get farther than we ever could alone.