Hey 👋 - Matt here.

Here’s a brief story.

I’m writing you from Devoción Coffee in Brooklyn.

Today’s issue takes about 3 minutes to read.

Enjoy.

My Story

I’ve been down and out in life. 

I grew up in a small town called Newmarket. Growing up my closest friend attempted suicide a few times. The pain changed me forever.

I learned to not take life for granted. To cherish every moment.

I learned to let people know I love them.  

I graduated from university and backpacked through 21 countries across Europe and Southeast Asia. England, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, the list goes on.

I had the time of my life. 

I made a pact with myself that summer - I would optimize my life for pure joy and freedom.

Upon returning home I started Bitmaker. We trained software engineers and got them jobs at companies like Shopify and Facebook. 90% of graduates got jobs within 1 month of graduation. It wasn’t easy but we created something special.

Bitmaker was acquired by General Assembly. 

In 2014 I started Herb. The mission of Herb is to change the way the world views cannabis. Herb is now a community of over 14 million people and the leader in cannabis-marketing-as-a-service (CMaaS).

Key Mental Framework: Speed vs. Velocity

Too many people are addicted to busyness instead of building a real business.

It’s important to understand the difference between speed and velocity.

Speed is working hard.

Velocity is working hard on the right thing. 

Speed is ripping down a highway at 100 miles per hour with no idea where you’re going.

Velocity is using a GPS, driving 80 miles per hour, and reaching your precise destination on time.

Velocity is speed and clear direction.

I choose velocity.

My Next Big Thing

My mission is to foster inner peace and build generational wealth by doing work that feels like play.

I believe I can accomplish the impossible through flow - optimizing for experiences that ​​produce intense feelings of enjoyment. 

I have a dream where I focus my time on travel, those I love, mornings spent building scalable systems, doing deep work, and a couple of days a week for meetings with inspiring people. 

My Criteria

The more clear I am in life, the faster I am able to manifest.

My criteria for what I do next are:

• Control 90%+

• Love the problem

• Love the customer

• Distribution/product fit

• 3 months or less to build

• Do work that feels like play

• Make something people want

• Optimize for $2M annual cash flow

• Extreme leverage and highly scalable

• $1,500 per month price x 100 raving fans for V1

My Business Stack

I love automating tasks, traveling to inspiring places, helping others through technology/coaching/AI, and believe entrepreneurship is a soulful journey.

I am obsessed with running experiments. 

My current businesses are:

• Trail: Blazingly fast AI-powered sales automation using Cohere AI.

• Herb: The largest cannabis-marketing-as-a-service (CMaaS) company with a community of over 14 million people.

• Coaching: 1:1 help for high-growth entrepreneurs (more info here).

• Consulting: I help entrepreneurs build systems and leverage.

• The Soulful Mastermind: Helping entrepreneurs with growth, systems, and monthly sessions to build peace, product, and profit.

• The Soulful Entrepreneur: Sharing my soulful journey of building startups and living a healthy lifestyle. Tools, systems, and mental models to help you achieve your dreams.

Massive Focus & Leverage

Writing is an amazing tool for building awareness. My current daily focus is to:

• Teach everything I know

• Create every day

• Build in public

I am eager to help entrepreneurs that want to make a dent in the universe.

If you enjoyed this newsletter please share it with 2 friends. 

If you have something you’d like me to write about next time, feel free to @ me on Twitter. I love hearing from y’all.

See you again next week.

Much love ❤️