Justin Gordon @justingordon212 Twitter profile

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Justin Gordon

1 year

BIG update! I resigned from my role at VITALIZE Venture Capital to go full-time building Just Go Grind! Just Go Grind has become my obsession, the newsletter will pass 9,000 subscribers today, and I’m so excited about what’s to come. Why I’m going all-in👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

He raised $550k for Calendly early on after pouring all of his own money into the company, maxing out his credit cards, and even getting a loan Doesn't raise more for 7 YEARS Until 2021 when he announced a $350M round valuing the company at $3B Tope Awotona's amazing story 👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

ANGEL INVESTORS: If you're actively investing, drop a 👋 or intro yourself below with the areas that you invest in Early-stage founders have a hard enough time building their startup, let's help them identify some potential investors

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Where are the best places to source amazing talent for early-stage startups?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Hiring is one of the hardest parts of building a startup What are the best companies, tools, recruiters, and resources for hiring great talent?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS Fundraising is hard, let's make it a little easier Here are 21 resources for funding your company - Investor databases - Non-dilutive funding - Cold outreach guidelines - Pitch deck help Take a look 👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Fundraising is a full-time job Hiring is a full-time job Growth is a full-time job Props to those early-stage founders doing it all

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

EARLY-STAGE INVESTORS: Lots of founders are raising now If you're actively investing + okay with founders reaching out, introduce yourself: 🔮 Thesis 🌱 Stage 💰 Check-size 🌎 Geo ✉️ Contact Let's make some connections happen 😊

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Besides YC and TechStars Which startup accelerators should founders consider?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Lots of startups fail But what's not talked about enough is how many founders succeed on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th company You may not succeed with your 1st company, but it puts you on the path to succeeding eventually if you keep building

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

We need more female: - LPs - GPs - Angel Investors How do we do this?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What are the metrics that matter most in early-stage startups?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What are the alternative funding options for founders outside of raising venture capital?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What's a normal salary range for pre-seed founders? (Let's say they raised about $1M)

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

10 months

Travis Kalanick on what made him so fierce: My last company, I started in January 2001. It was a networking software company. In the first 4 years, I didn’t make a salary. It was tough. One of those years I was at my parent's house. Ran out of money. It was 6.5 years all in…

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

She is one of the grittiest founders you'll hear about - Spent 3+ years trying to find PMF - Tried out 4 different business models - Nearly ran out of money multiple times - Cut marketing spend from $1M/month to $0 to survive Ooshma Garg's 12-year journey to a 9-figure exit👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

If you could invest $5M into any VC's next fund, which would it be?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Pre-Seed Investors: What are you looking for in a startup and the team at this stage?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

FOUNDERS: If you're raising now, give the one-line pitch, link your website, and tag the investors you'd like to connect with I'll retweet some of these and try to give you some visibility + make intros here before the year is over

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

I understand the desire for “work-life balance” but if you’re trying to build a multi-billion dollar startup it’s highly unlikely you’ll have anything close to this, especially in the early days Yet somehow this has become a controversial take recently and I don’t understand why

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

10 months

@michaelrubin Legend. Also, a lot of people will see the video and pics, but not realize the endless hard work that got you to this point in life You're definitely an inspiration for other entrepreneurs out there!

Michael Rubin's Sports Empire

How He's Building Fanatics Into One of the World's Largest Companies

www.justgogrind.com

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

VCs want one investment to return the fund. I want one angel investment to return my student loans.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What's your startup pitch in five words or less?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Some of the best resources for founders and investors (An ever-growing list of Tweets, essays, etc.) A thread 👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Early-stage founders have multiple full-time jobs: - Raising capital - Sales & marketing - Developing a product - Building & managing a team All while executing on their vision in an ever-changing world Props to early-stage founders taking on the challenge! How can we help?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What VCs and Angels are investing in African startups? I get connected to a number of founders building in Africa and I'd love to be able to help them

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

I'm curious... have you gotten a job, hired someone, or found an investor through Twitter? (And if so, how?)

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Bootstrapping vs. Venture Capital What do founders need to know?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Definitely moving more video calls to phone calls Feels like the way to go Anyone else?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Since 280 people showed interest... I'm launching a community for founders Playing around with the details, but have a ton of ideas to make this amazing Letting people in once per month with the first group starting in July Reply 👋 below and I'll DM the application link

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

10 months

Overnight success is often a decade in the making.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

So much of succeeding in life is about managing your own psychology.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

She built a $1.6B category-leading company But it's been quite the journey: - Sold beanie babies as a kid - Beat out 358 applicants to get a role at USV - Taught herself to code & created 30+ projects - Got to $10M ARR before a Series A Christina Cacioppo's amazing story 👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Thinking of starting a community for founders I did this back in 2020, had around 50 founders join, but I didn't know what I was doing It'd be much different this time around Interested? 👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Today was hard Decided to shut down my founder community Feeling like I'm letting a lot of people down But I've tried to take on too much - now focusing on less with work: 1. Continuing to help build VITALIZE into a world-class VC firm 2. Writing the Just Go Grind newsletter

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

I wonder how many more people would start angel investing if they knew just how many other angel investors are writing $1k-$5k checks

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What’s the best advice you have for founders starting a company now?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Adam Neumann, Founder of WeWork, just raised $350 million from a16z It was their largest individual check ever What are your thoughts?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Who are the Future of Work founders, investors, and operators I should follow?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS: Drop a one-liner on the company you're building & one ask you have of the wonderful people on Twitter I'll retweet a few and make some of those requests happen

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

“No one cared. No reporter even thought YC was interesting. They wouldn’t even call me back. But we just kept moving forward, little by little, not caring what people thought about us.” @jesslivingston on co-founding @ycombinator Great reminder for founders in the early days.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Build is a book every founder should read. It's a masterpiece, a great blend of tactics, strategies, and stories. And was written by Tony Fadell, who helped create the iPod & iPhone and founded Nest, which sold for $3.2 billion to Google. Here are 26 of the best insights:

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

I'm not renewing my lease in LA Going to be a digital nomad for a few months then come back to LA It's something I've always wanted to do I want to visit family + friends in Milwaukee, Las Vegas, SF, NYC, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, and Minneapolis Where else should I go?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

My lease in LA ends in August Tempted to not renew and: - Travel for 3-6 months - Visit friends in different cities - See my parents for more than a few days - Meet more founders and investors in other cities Then come back to LA after Any insights if you've done this before?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Twitter is the most underrated learning platform. Here are 15 of the most valuable THREADS:

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Angel investors are core to the startup ecosystem Founders need capital and those early believers Are you angel investing this year and if so what are you looking to invest in?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Founders and Investors in Los Angeles: Introduce yourselves below! I've been in LA for 4 years and want to do more to connect the wonderful folks in the LA startup ecosystem

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What're the best resources for founders on how to raise venture capital? Books, blog posts, podcasts, communities - anything that'd be helpful

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

You only need one “yes” to get you started One customer, one user, one subscriber, one member, one listener, one investor

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS What are you building and how can we help?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

If you could invest $1M into someone's next company (Not your own), whose would it be?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

She's the 2nd richest self-made woman in America But most people don't know about her By creating a healthcare software powerhouse she built a $7B+ personal fortune And she did it from a small town in Wisconsin, without raising VC How Judy Faulkner built Epic Systems👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

10 months

America has a loneliness epidemic How do we solve this? And who is already working on it?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

She's raised $100M in venture capital Here's what Iman Abuzeid says gets deals done:

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Good morning to everyone excited to work on making their dreams become a reality

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

I love the idea of a Past Year Review from @tferriss Been going through this as I review 2022 and plan for what's next in 2023

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

The more founders I talk to, the more I realize the importance of storytelling and having a clear vision

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

A story you can't miss - Moving from Nigeria to the U.S. - Multiple failed businesses - Flying to Ukraine to hire developers - Pouring EVERYTHING into his company - And growing a $3B company his way How @TopeAwotona built @Calendly 👇

Tope Awotona's Unwavering Determination

How He Built Calendly Into a $3B company

www.justgogrind.com

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

good morning to everyone playing the long game

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

10 months

Brian Chesky in 2013: “None of our valuations are really that real without liquidity for the value of the company. I try not to let this go to the heads of us or the employees. We’re not successful yet. We’re successful when we’re profitable for a really long time and we’ve…

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Allowing more small investments into startups is a game-changer.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

friendly reminder to shoot your shot you don't get what you don't ask for

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

How long until "remote work" just becomes work?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Want to elevate your career? Elevate others.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

1 tweet to get a VC to invest in YOUR startup What's the tweet?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Want to start a startup? Solve your own problems Want to grow a startup? Solve other people's problems

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

If an investor hasn't responded to your DM: 1. Remember they get hundreds of DMs from founders 2. Do they invest in the type of company you have and at your stage? 3. Was your DM lengthy? SHORTEN 4. Did they miss your DM? FOLLOW UP 5. Has it been 5 minutes? PATIENCE

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What's the best startup idea you don't have time to build, but want to exist?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

good morning to everyone trusting the hard work will pay off because there's no other option

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

What should founders know about going through startup accelerators?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What are the best resources you've found for helping founders raise capital from angel investors and VCs?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

A few early-stage VCs and angels to get us rolling: @ellenjdasilva @startupstella @MacConwell @galeforceVC @katiesheasays @changds @HeatherHartnett @RomeenSheth @Trace_Cohen @irrvrntVC @wenwen @eva_ho @lpolovets

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. That’s for: - Startup funding - Getting a raise - Having someone join your team - Podcast guests - Finding a life partner - Making a sale Getting past that fear of rejection comes with some amazing outcomes.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

7 months

Today is my birthday Admittedly, 32 was a rollercoaster of a year From family health issues and personal struggles to quitting my job to chase my own business dreams and meeting some amazing people in that journey 33 now and grateful for so many blessings. Onward 🥂

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS I tweet questions and prompts to provide insights for you on hiring, raising VC, startup metrics, customer acquisition, and more The replies are an absolute goldmine The best ones are below:

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

10 months

Founders: How do you take care of your mental health?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Non-technical founders: How did you find your technical co-founder?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS: What's your biggest challenge right now? Let's try to connect you with who or what you need

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS How did you find your co-founders and first few employees?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Everyone talks about morning routines We never hear about afternoon routines How do you stay productive in the afternoon?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

The more I learn about Melanie Perkins, the more impressed I become - Co-founder & CEO of Canva - Company valued at $26 billion - 100+ million monthly users - $1 billion in yearly revenue But the best part? Her ambition to make a positive impact too Her story 👇

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

11 months

New milestone for the Just Go Grind newsletter! Very pumped about this one and grateful for all of you!

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

FOUNDERS: How did you acquire your first 100 customers? And if you haven’t yet, how do you plan to?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

He's a future billionaire. You know him as one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. But do you know about the incredible success he's had as an investor? Here's how @nas successfully crossed over from music to investing:

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

You know what helps you solve problems? 8 hours of sleep

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

FOUNDERS: How did you get your first customers?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Passed 2,500 subscribers for Just Go Grind today!

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

What I'm working on: VC @VitalizeVC TVP VA Re:Vitalize Podcast Playbook Justin's Journal JGG Fitness

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Longest run of my life. (Pace seems a little faster than what I did though 🤔)

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Which VCs create the best content? Some of my favorites: @ljin18 @dunkhippo33 @galeforceVC @lolitataub @garrytan @MacConwell @HarryStebbings @Jason @JoshConstine I'm thinking about how we want to create content at @VitalizeVC and could use some more inspiration🙂

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

I did this a couple of months ago, let's try it again! In ONE tweet: 1. Intro yourself 2. Drop one GIVE (An offer to help others) 3. Drop one ASK (A specific request) Let's make some good things happen 😊

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

Why @tferriss didn't become a VC:

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

It's been one helluva weekend Candidly, I've been writing from a hospital Just want to remind everyone - call your loved ones, make time for them, and please please please take care of your damn health

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

In 2018, I started a podcast with ZERO connections in venture capital and startups. If the past 3.5 years since launching have taught me anything, it's that podcasting is one of the greatest relationship-building assets.

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

9 months

Passed 20,000 subscribers for the Just Go Grind newsletter! Just getting started 😊

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

I want to learn French next year Any suggestions for ways to learn a new language?

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

I want my Twitter account to be one of the most valuable you follow Let's try this out 1. Intro yourself 2. Drop one GIVE 3. Drop one ASK Let's make some good things happen

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

3 years

Dave Steward is a black self-made billionaire, part-owner of the St. Louis Blues, and you've probably never heard of him. He founded World Wide Technology ( @wwt_inc ) a company with $13.4 billion in annual revenue and 7,000 employees. Here's his amazing life story 🧵

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

2 years

Friendly reminder to build momentum, however small, and let compounding work it’s magic

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Justin Gordon

@justingordon212

1 year

The first 6 founder deep dives are live! Intentionally have an even split of men and women I'm sharing their stories, how they started and grew their companies, and lessons we can all learn from them Each takes 20-25 hours of research and writing Who should be next?

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