A NEW CHAPTER

Helping you to get free from Founder's Block!

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of ‘Founder’s Block’ – a new focus for our Substack. We’ve enjoyed sharing Extra Brain’s thoughts here and slowly building our loyal audience. Now, we’re ready to share something designed with you, the small business founder, firmly in mind.

You might be asking why Founder’s Block? Well, Founder’s Block is the problem that we obsess over, and the problem we help our founders to get free from. We didn’t know how to describe it at first, but now we’ve named and claimed it (hat tip to The Category Pirates.)

It’s the feeling of being stuck, of hitting a (temporary) wall in your business where progress seems slippery and elusive, and you appear to be going round in circles. Sometimes Founder’s Block is pure excitement about the future, but being uncertain about how to get there. One Founder said to me this week, that he feels “beleaguered” after five years of developing his business. That is Founder’s Block. You get the picture. (If not, we think it feels something like this…)

Our driving force is to help free 10,000 founders from this Founder’s Block over the next five years. Our writing is a crucial part of this, providing accessible insights and inspiration to help you navigate the bumpy old ride they call business.

So, what can you expect from our Founder’s Block series? A breadth of content that goes far beyond typical business musings. We believe that true inspiration comes from diverse sources, and we want this Substack to be a well of ideas and stimuli that frees you, even if only for 5 minutes!

Imagine finding a meditation to recenter your focus, a thought-provoking book recommendation, a curated playlist to fuel your workday or a fresh mental model to shift your perspective. Alongside these, you’ll still find articles sharing our expertise and observations on the world of small business, but always with our unique, warm and positive Extra Brain spin.

We’re not aiming to be ‘another business newsletter’ (you don’t need more of those) - this is vibrant, varied and a genuinely stimulating source of support and growth.

We’ll give you our expertise and time. What do we ask in return? Please share Founder’s Block with other founders you know. It doesn’t matter if it’s 1 or 100. Every time we know we’ve lightened the load or reenergised a Founder to hit the day, week or even hour with some renewed zeal, we get a kick out of it (maybe we need a bell to ring, or something?)

I wanted to make sure this opening post has some useful starters in it. It’s not like me to write a Top 5 - in fact, this is the first time - but, to get this party started, I wanted to share some observations on Founder’s Block, how it manifests and what to do when you get it.

Top 5 things that Founders who have Founder’s Block say to me when we first meet:

1 - I/we are going/feel like we’re going round in circles.

This is the classic. Founders or teams of founders feel they are in a loop. On decisions, on making progress, on how to change. If I had a pound for every time a Founder used this phrase when I meet them, then I would be writing this letter on a yacht, not a barge.

2 - I’m in a constant loop between being a practitioner and business owner.

You want to lift yourself out of the detail, but you always get sucked back in. Some of our Founders are solopreneurs who are starting to build a flexible team for the first time, some are 15 years in and still wading in the weeds. Either way, they know it’s limiting their potential, and this is the root of their Founder’s Block.

3 - We need to set a new path.

Some Founders feel Founder’s Block because they know change is necessary, but they are not quite sure how to get there. In many cases, they have taken themselves away and done some thinking, starting to shine a light on a different future. Inevitably, months later the notes are still notes, the strategy isn’t formed, and nothing has changed.

4 - I’m tired/feel trapped/want to get off

Unfortunately, this is the reality for a lot of Founders. When we meet them, they are close to burnout, they are running out of energy and sometimes money too. Founder’s Block has become overwhelming; every day feels like firefighting. This is when people need to slow down and take stock, and free themselves before they get swallowed up.

5 - I can’t share with my team

Founders often experience Founder’s Block in relatively established companies. Why? Because the Founder role can be pretty lonely. If you share early-stage ideas, not to mention concerns, with others, they naturally worry about what it means for their future, the company, the capacity of their team, etc. So Founders find themselves constantly jotting notes, brainstorming with themselves, feeling the burden or worry, and feeling isolated despite being surrounded.

What to do….

The good news? Small business Founders are an amazing breed, and we’ve never seen a case of Founder’s Block that can’t be freed. We’ve never known a Founder who, with some space, support, challenge with compassion, and new stimulus, doesn’t appear reenergised.

So what can you do if you think you have Founder’s Block? (Another Top 5 coming, maybe I should write for Buzzfeed…)

1 - Be disciplined about thinking time.

Get out of your office, team, and head. Take time out of your day-to-day. You’ll never get free from Founder’s Block by worrying about it at 3 am. However you do it, create time to think - get Claude or Chat GPT to help you design a workshop for one (I haven’t tried this, but if you do, tell me if it works), block out time in your diary to think about ONE problem or opportunity, create a weekly time slot where no one can interrupt you, work with someone who forces you to have thinking time scheduled in your diary.

2 - Find an extra brain.

It could be a mentor, a friend, a peer, or the milkman (it could be an Extra Brain, but this is not the place for cheap plugs, is it?) Getting new perspectives always helps, even explaining your concerns or hopes helps you to form and process them. Ideally, speak to the milkman/local landlord/patient mate every few weeks, or once a month, even once a quarter, so they can help you to build a picture of where you’re going and reflect it to you, building where they can.

3 - Get new stimulus

The world isn’t short of information; filtering it is tricky but not impossible. Read books, read blogs, join curated communities, seek out people who have had similar experiences and find out what worked for them. Look for patterns, but also look for the things that appeal and apply to you (clue, we know that every small business is unique, and trying to cookie-cutter someone else’s plan or past probably won’t work for you). Get new stimulus in, let it influence your thinking, find a way to implement even a little of what you learn.

4 - Safe ideas spaces

This is similar to 2, but find yourself a safe space to build on your ideas - don’t keep them in a box, it will only frustrate you. It could be a small cohort of trusted colleagues who understand that not everything you say in this space needs to be executed tomorrow. It could be someone external who has the experience to build on and challenge your ideas. It could, of course, be an AI assistant that you have trained to help you; they’re just not as fun to work with. Most people thrive on building with others, and this is something Founders often miss. Go find your thinking partner/s and let your ideas find some light.

5 - Invest in yourself

Back to the ‘every pound, yacht’ thing. Founders are DREADFUL at investing in themselves, and I can count on one hand those who do it without prompting. Many Founders see it as being indulgent, when it’s the very thing that gives most to their organisation and the people within it. Invest in yourself, your wellbeing, your development, your skills. Founders who stay free from Founder’s Block, in our experience, know that having the right support around them (whether it’s a weekly Reiki session, a retreat with their co-founders, or a leadership coach on speed dial), is a fundamental to building themselves and their business.

So that’s it, that’s my ramble into our new Substack, Founder’s Block. Like it? Great. Stick around, the others are better at writing than me. Loath it? I’m sorry, I guess this Substack is no longer for you.

Thanks for getting this far, and look out for more Founder’s Block content in the next couple of weeks.

Jess

CEO of Extra Brain - Helping to free 10,000 Founders from Founder’s Block in the next 5 years.