Work Clean
A quarterly recap from our founder.
Q2 ’24 Letter // BY Cornelius
Dearest Reader,
Summer is officially here. The pool is open, the AC is on, and Chicago has taken its rightful place as the best city in the world for the next several months.
Life’s good. Per my last letter, we set a fantastic foundation for ourselves in Q1.
Q2 was all about keeping it going, and that’s precisely what we’ve done. We hit some key growth milestones, delivered the most kick-ass retreat we’ve ever curated and are on the precipice of making a real splash in the world of hospitality.
That’s it. At its best, business is simple, really. It’s just not easy to nail consistently.
Manchester United won the FA Cup in dramatic fashion.
All in all, it was a pretty dynamic quarter. I turned 29 years old. We had four weddings: two here in Chicago and two abroad in Italy and Ireland, which we regretfully couldn’t make since all three fell within the same week. Timing, eh?
I bounced between Miami, Dallas, Austin, and Indiana, celebrating my 29th birthday with some friends with a cracking weekend getaway at the Lakehouse.
Manchester United won the FA Cup in dramatic fashion. Our new couch finally arrived, and I had the pleasure of getting up and close with RB19.
RB19 in all its glory.
As per usual, Q2 was punctuated with many wine tastings and excellent meals.
A special nod to Clos Du Val, Mila and Casa Tua. Just one word of caution on the latter: do not wear shorts. I mean, you can. Just be ready to be politely handed some of their very own Amazon basics trousers and told to change in the bathroom like yours truly.
I’d also like to shout out Vonlane. I was forced into my first luxury bus experience when American told me it’d be $700 to fly ORD-AUS on a random Wednesday in April. Instead, I opted for the $79 MDW-DFW return (yes, there is no zero missing) and spent $140 on the 3-hour “lux bus” from DFW to ATX.
A lux bus I’d take again.
I’ve got nothing but good things to say about my experience.
Massive, reclinable seats with footrests, quality AC, reliable WiFi, superior snacks—I’m talking iced coffee and muffins—served by a charming attendant. The lap desks and blankets were a lovely touch. And the driving itself was smooth and solid.
I’m a Biscoff boy until I die, but there’s so much faff associated with air travel these days that it’s hard to justify a 40-minute flight at astronomical prices. For these short but expensive to-fly distances, I think Vonlane has a real opportunity.
They’re only in the South right now, but they’d crush the Midwest. Riding on Amtrak or Greyhound or driving to your next destination isn’t exactly the holy trinity of travel we all dreamed of when the first commercial plane took off in 1914.
Anyway, enough about me. Let’s move on to business.
Elation in a photo. Thank you, Amad Diallo.
Advisor.
This was my busiest quarter yet on the Expert Network front. My consulting friends tell me their perpetual dream is to retire and take calls like this from the beach for GLG, Tegus, et al. I might just beat them to it.
When not living every consultant’s dream a few decades early, I’ve been heads down on building out Everyday Library this past quarter. We now have live URLs — my mark for whether something is “real” — with show notes and transcripts for all 50 interviews live on the radio. I still need to get another 20 or so live from various talks, retreats, etc., that I’ve hosted over the years, but this feels like a good start.
These could eventually be behind a paywall for members only, much like Farnam Street or Commoncog. But who knows? Given people don’t read books, will they read my library? In a world dominated by algorithmically driven feeds, I’m not sure. It might be too late. But to me, curation is as vital as it has ever been, and I’d like this to feel more like Tegus than the Chicago Public Library.
The other library sections are essays, frameworks, and guides. All significant undertakings, but they’ll be worth it. I’ve got a mammoth task on my hands, but it’s good to have that transcript base complete and a reasonable content engine — AI + VAs + JRE studio — through which I can continue to add.
Sunset Mix #9
Content.
I said back in Q4 that it was time to broaden the scope of Everyday Radio, and we’ve certainly done that. The ~bi-monthly mixes have been great. I’ve got into a good flow. A few have been taken down, but most are still alive and well on YouTube. I’m learning what artists I can and cannot play. I’ll continue these through the summer, especially now that pool season is alive and kicking.
In case you missed it, I record a music show every other week. I curate a playlist of 15-20 of my favourite tracks based on the weather and time of that day. There is no intervention, autotune, mixing, or adverts. It’s just me, you, the views, and the tunes.
I call this my version of NPR Tiny Desk. And I started doing it for two reasons.
First, I held down a cigar bar in Atlanta for two nights last year, and a top executive from EMPIRE told me I had great taste in music. Second, I’m reacting to how flawed most music is that is played and listened to in public today.
The radio is an ad-centric mess of the same ten tracks. Online DJ sets have been usurped by those more focused on looking cool than playing good music. So many of these playlists I hear out in the wild are like, “WTF?” We’re at this gorgeous rooftop bar overlooking the water on a Friday evening, and I wouldn’t have known you were playing a set unless I walked past the booth en route to the loo.
Anyway, I digress. Once I’ve got a solid backlog of these — think mixes for winter, summer, spring and fall — I’d like to start approaching restaurants and hotels to see if they’d consider letting me curate playlists. Informed by their brand, sure, but more importantly, their space, the weather and the time of day.
I get such a kick out of it. I want to apply my taste to the spaces and brands I rock with most in this game called life.
Hospitality.
I can’t share too much publicly just yet. However, our analytics-enrichment service has continued to impress major operators and hospitality groups worldwide.
Nobody takes a data-driven approach to identifying, creating and capturing more lifetime value (LTV) from a restaurant’s truest fans. That’s exactly what we provide.
A holistic look and score for your top customers across every facet of the business, plus data-driven recommendations for personalized upsells (e.g., events, merch, catering) based on past behaviour (e.g., spend, orders), is a real winner.
I believe we’ve got something really special here. Can’t wait to see H2 play out.
Stanly Ranch. Napa, CA.
Travel.
Retreat XXVI was a huge success. This is the 26th retreat I’ve curated since 2019, and it was by far and away our best yet. Shout out to all our partners.
Auberge’s Stanly Ranch was stunning and the perfect base for us in Napa, CA. The team at Noble Rot sent us some beautiful tongue-in-cheek totes and magazines, while Joel and the team at Las Jaras delivered a beautiful tasting of 14 of their best vinos. FlyWithWine‘s Ron Scharmann ensured every guest had a stylish and safe way to bring their favourite bottles home with personalized wine suitcases.
If you’d like to grab a wine suitcase from FlyWithWine for yourself or a loved one, use code EVERYDAY at checkout for a special surprise.
Swag bag of dreams?
Q3
Looking ahead to next quarter, there’s lots to be excited about.
On design, we’re working on a brand refresh with GoodStuffDesign. We love our original aesthetic, but we felt it was time to re-examine our look now that we’re five years old and in a totally different place as a business than when we started. We’re exploring new logos, linkups, and business card designs. I can’t wait for this to drop.
On systems, I’m going to ratchet things up a notch or two on the business development front. It’s wild what the latest and greatest sales tools can do. I’m excited to hone in on a well-oiled outreach machine that’s quality and personal.
On website, I’ve also got a few Jason Fried-esque letters to finish. Ideally, I’d have one that smacks for each subsidiary of our holding company by EOY. I want to ensure this website reflects our entire portfolio before the year ends.
On content, it’s time to develop a new sonic identity for Everyday Radio. Send me your favourite radio, podcast, et al. sounds, introductions and background music.
Personally, Irish citizenship is (hopefully) en route. I’m fine-tuning my pickle game, keeping PF$ cooking, and reading more amazing books like this one on Nipsy. 28 was an incredible year. I celebrated my wedding, a decade in the USA, a GC, my 9th (dating) anniversary with my wife, and Everyday’s 5th year in business.
Who knows if 29 will hit those heights? All I know is I want to keep levelling up.
As always, if you’d like to follow along, please drop your email here for updates or reach out directly if you’d like to get involved in the world we’re building.
I’m always on the lookout for innovative and ambitious partners.
Here’s to Q3 — CGM.
Never Miss A Letter
A quarterly reflection from our founder.
