Happy Monday,

I’m writing this week on a train to NYC from New Haven, CT.

This is ride I’ve done a thousand times. Back in 2016, I used to make this four hour daily commute for an ex-girlfriend every day and it was absolute hell. There’s so many things about that relationship that I’m glad didn’t work, but the daily train ride was by far one of the worst and most exhausting things about it.

This train ride feels different tho. There’s energy. Excitement.

You know that special feeling where fall is in the air and all the things you’ve been working towards are about to happen. For the past three months we’ve been planning this magical one day conference called Founders Forum. I always knew I wanted to throw something like this but the butterflies are really going to hit when it comes game day on Friday. 

This conference needed to happen for so many reasons. For starters I was sick of going to “industry trade shows” and meetups that I thought would be different only to get swarmed by a bunch of account executives and tech dorks trying to sell me something. It’s draining man, I can’t even lie. I’m sure you’ve been in my shoes. And then you get to the conference and everyone is on their laptops. Nobody is paying attention. And probably because the entire conference was doomed from the start. You have a software sponsor in disguise as as an expert up there just subtly shilling his services, while hundreds or even thousands of people spent their time and energy to get there. It just doesn’t feel right to me. And if this strikes a chord to anybody reading this, well maybe you’re just the problem. 

Anyways this is a long commute (one hour Uber to the station, two hours on the train to NYC, and another 45 minutes to my apartment in the Upper East Side) so I have a lot to get off my mind. This used to be my every day. Waking up from my house in Stamford, which was actually just somebody’s shed converted into a bedroom with a shower for $950/month, and training into the city every single day for a $42,750 a year job. Nearly five hours of commuting round trip every single day, for a job that didn’t respect or care about me. Every single day. To make enough money to live in a fucking shed. It’s kind of crazy and as I sit here and type this on my brand new laptop it’s kind of humbling. 

What if I didn’t get fired from that job? What if I didn’t dream of working for myself? What if that boss (her name was Farah) that I absolutely hated didn’t come into the company and destroy the company culture? There are so many “what ifs” in life that just simply make you think. But it all worked out for a reason and this week is going to feel like a trip down memory lane. 

We’re hosting Friday’s event called Founders Forum at a place called the National Arts Club. It’s a fancy place. Suit and tie type shit. Somewhere they’d never let me in growing up. Our advisor who we met playing Padel (another what if type of situation) hooked us up with this spot and it is absolutely beautiful. The craziest part is that its just a few streets down from the place where I landed my first NYC big city job and also the place where I got fired with $750 in my bank account and told I wasn’t good enough. 

Motivation is funny. It comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it’s getting dumped by an ex girlfriend. Sometimes it’s friends who tell you that won’t amount to anything. Sometimes it comes from parents who just expect great things and don’t give you the praise you secretly crave. Whatever it is and wherever it comes from, it’s important to know you have two options, use it to your advantage or make excuses. 

Now at 32 years old I’m done hanging out with the people who make excuses. I just don’t have time for them. It might be shitty. Maybe it’s a bit conceited, but it’s true. I really do believe in the concept of you being a sum of the five people you surround yourself with. Hang out with lazy, unmotivated losers guess what you’ll probably end up like them. Want a better life? Hang out with people who wake up with aspirations and constantly pushing themselves. I can almost guarantee you’ll have a better outcome. 

So for starters, check yourself and the people you spend time with. All the successful people I know have that one thing in common. 

If I’ve learned one thing about myself it’s that time by myself is therapeutic as fuck. I’m BLESSED beyond belief that my wife and I both share this same principle. We need our alone time. We need to recharge. It doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. We are just always on. Always performing. Always having to entertain people. So when we are home, we need some peace and quiet time to unwind. Let me tell you one thing, having a partner that understands you, what makes you tick, motivates you, and pushes you to be better is life’s biggest cheat code. Going back to the above commentary on who you spend your time with. If your significant other isn’t making you want to build the best version of yourself, let me tell you you are in for a long, difficult road ahead. 

It’s been about a month and a half since we have officially sold CROSSNET. I didn’t really know how I was going to feel. Would I lose my purpose? Would I be lost? What would my free time be filled with? I was CROSSNET Chris after all. I walked into a DICKS Sporting Goods this weekend and saw our game on the shelf and honestly just had a pinch me feeling of gratitude. 

You really can achieve anything you want. It sounds corny but it is so true. Everyone reading this has a phone or a laptop. We all have the same 24 hours and the ability to make something of ourselves. The next chapter of my life will be only entertaining opportunities that actually excite me. If it’s not a FUCK YES, then it’s 100% a fuck no. The one thing that I’m most excited about is the fact that I’m not going to be in this exited founder lull where you try to figure out what’s next. You aren’t going to catch me basket weaving, going on a sabbatical, a seven day silent meditation. The next thing is so clear with the community we’re building with The Founders Club. 

We just crossed 550 members and it’s honestly surreal typing that into the world. Aaron & I used to beg people to join when we first started. “Hey we have this community, I think you’d be a cool fit.” They’d take a call with one of us and then we’d try to sell them on a digital Slack group that nobody used. Oh how the time has changed. $100M brand founders are applying and getting denied. Some of my favorite brands and celebrities applying. Entrepreneurship is lonely, hard and scary and we’ve really struck a chord with our audience and found product market fit. We’re up to 12 admissions people screening over 1000 applications a month and we’re barely spending money on advertising. The community is talking and spreading the word itself and that is the BEST form of marketing.

If you take one thing about of this weeks’ newsletter its this:

GO TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

Everyone is so heads down on building a better product, improving marketing, scaling their team, and so on. But in reality, the one thing we are all avoiding is the uncomfortable. Talk to the people who are already supporting you. Pick up the phone and call them. What can you do better? What could you make that they’d buy? What’s stopping them from sharing your company with their friends. 

It’s scary. It’s awkward. It’s uncomfortable.

Nobody wants to seek out rejection or criticism, but the truth is the more you get used to it the better you become. 

I Fell In Love with Mercury

If you’re like me, you know plenty of tools that look good on pitch decks. Mercury is one of the few that actually makes our business run smoother.

As we head into the busiest season of the year, it’s worth asking: Do you trust your banking setup to move at the speed of your operations?

For the majority of the ecommerce brands inside the Founders Club who plan to scale in Q4, Mercury is the backend they can lean on. Through our experience with Mercury, it has consistently delivered where it counts.

Here’s why we’re doubling down this peak season:

Before the Rush:

• Auto-allocations help keep expenses, taxes, and profit organized before volume spikes

• Working capital loans can bridge ad spend or inventory gaps (so you don’t burn runway)

• Free USD wires and low-cost international payments help you move faster with suppliers
  

During the Rush:

• Mercury IO gives you 1.5% cashback with no caps, and from today until Oct 31,
  they’re offering 2.5% cashback1 on ad spend (up to $3K) to ease the pressure

• You’ll also get a real-time view of your revenue by platform (Shopify, Amazon, etc.)

• Real-time payments (launching soon) mean your cash moves faster, no waiting around

After the Dust Settles:

• Accounting syncs help you close the books cleanly

• Performance dashboards help you plan for 2026 with clarity

• You can reallocate leftover funds instantly, no spreadsheets required

If you’re prepping for Black Friday, catching up on inventory, or just want a financial foundation that won’t crack when things get crazy, Mercury’s worth a look.

We use it. We recommend it. It’s the real deal.

^{The IO Card is issued by Patriot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Mastercard®. The 2.5% cashback promotional offer must be claimed by 10/31/2025. It applies to eligible purchases made within 120 days of your IO account activation date, capped at $3K earned. See here for the full promotion details.}

Lets Hang in NYC?

Thanks for helping me pass the time today. I’m pulling into Grand Central station where I’ll be in NYC for the next seven days. While I’m here I’d love to hang and meet some new faces. I’ll be hanging with a ton of our NYC Founders Club members at places like the Othership, coffee shops, runs through Central Park and the West Side Highway, shoot me a message back and come say whats up.

As a reminder, Founders Forum is 100% sold out. So is our welcome party at the Snapchat HQ and our 180 person rave at the Othership. But I’d still love to see you.

All the love in the world,

Chris