SPI: 3.3.22 - A Transition for the Newsletter
I’ve hit a pivotal point in this positivity practice. I started it as a result of my personal struggle to find a path forward with my company, Gaize. At the time, I’d been turned down for funding by many angel and venture capitalists, and was struggling to stay upbeat amongst constant rejections. Those who’ve started companies know that the experience includes the highest highs and the lowest lows. It’s the task of the entrepreneur to persist - to stay on mission - when the lows happen.
I’ve always struggled with negative self-talk. That is, the voice in your head telling you that you’re not good enough or that you’re failing. This is both motivating to me and demoralizing at times. This newsletter was started with the hope that spending some time focusing on the positive would improve my outlook and my company. Happily, I can tell you that it worked. My wife and I adopted a gratitude practice where each night before dinner we tell the other three things that we’re grateful for. It can be anything as long as it’s genuine. That, combined with spending some time each day thinking about the positive things for this newsletter has made me a more positive person, and my company has dramatically improved as a result.
The mission of the company is to facilitate a safe path forward for cannabis legalization, and this is a mission that I believe in to my core. We cannot legalize an impairing substance with no way to test for impaired drivers, and we likewise cannot continue to imprison people for possession of a vegetable. Today, I’m announcing that Gaize has raised our seed round of capital. This will allow us to finalize development of our product and launch in a meaningful way. I’m also announcing that this newsletter is being bumped from a several times per week cadence to something I’ll do as I have time for it. I want to be clear that I still intend to spend time each day thinking about what I’m finding positivity in. My wife and I will still keep our gratitude practice before dinner. I couldn’t more strongly recommend that everyone adopt both of these, but I’m going to share it less as I’ve got less time to construct these newsletters.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this so far, and I look forward to occasional sharing going forward.
A Song:
One of the many wonderful outcomes of my first trip to Burning Man was the discovery of DJ sets. Prior to this, I’d put on something like Spotify or Pandora and listened to songs. I think most people do this. Now, more often than not, I listen to sets like the one above - one to four hours of constant music. It’s a much more enveloping musical journey than a single song can provide, and the set I posted just now is a particularly special one. I’ve had more peak experiences while listening to this set than any other, by far. It’s best enjoyed with excellent quality speakers or headphones in an environment where you can really get into the music.
A Picture:
This picture is really emblematic of spring for me. Flowing water, green things shooting up, and occasionally flowers. It’s almost here, my fellow Montanans!
Some Inspiration:
Gaize announces $1.2 million in seed capital. This is embarrassingly self-serving, but I’m really excited and want to share. Today, my company, Gaize, is announcing $1.2 million in seed capital. We’ve got angel investors from Montana and Silicon Valley participating; you can read the news story below for the whole scoop. My deepest gratitude to my investors, advisors, friends, family, and all those who have helped along the way. This is only the beginning, but it’s been quite a journey already. We’re going to revolutionize the way impairment is detected and understood. If you’d like to follow along, you can do so using the social media links below.
https://matr.net/news/missoula-montana-based-gaize-inc-today-announced-the-close-of-1-2-million-usd-in-seed-capital-for-their-non-invasive-impairment-detection-platform-beginning-with-cannabis/
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