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**Adam Stacoviak:** Let's ask this final question on the horizon - I call it my horizon question. What's on the nearby horizon, that not many people are aware of? Not so much that it's brand new, or unknown, but something that people are less aware of, or not very aware of... On the nearby horizon for you, for the orga... |
**Sid Sijbrandij:** Yeah... I think what's super-interesting is that it's clear now that a DevOps platform makes a ton of sense, and we now see our biggest competitor, GitHub, starting to ship more features. How that perception in the market changed a couple of years ago - everyone assumed that old products would be co... |
**Adam Stacoviak:** Sid, it's been fun talking to you. I love to go back into your history, into the early days of GitLab, and even yourself, to sort of grok where you came from. We didn't go too deep, but deep enough; maybe one day we'll have a chance for a part two, but I really enjoyed learning a lot about you and a... |
**Sid Sijbrandij:** Yeah, this is great. I'm always up for a second round. |
**Adam Stacoviak:** Awesome. We'll make sure we do it then. Thanks, Sid. |
**Sid Sijbrandij:** Thank you. |
• The origin of Jeff Sheldon's "Five things I'm digging" email series |
• How the email series was started as an accident during a downtime in production and turned into a regular feature of Ugmonk's brand |
• The importance of authenticity and passion in building a business, as exemplified by Jeff's approach to creating Ugmonk |
• Jeff's background as a designer and entrepreneur, including his childhood interests in art and design |
• The evolution of Ugmonk from 2008, when e-commerce and social media were still developing, and how Jeff was able to carve out a niche for the brand |
• Challenges of starting a brand in a crowded market |
• Balancing business and family responsibilities as a work-from-home entrepreneur |
• Benefits and drawbacks of working from home with young children |
• Strategies for managing time and setting boundaries between work and personal life |
• The concept of "work-life balance" vs. "work-life blending" |
• Importance of finding flexibility and adaptability in managing work and family commitments |
• Balancing work and family life |
• The importance of a slow and steady approach to business growth |
• Jeff Sheldon's business philosophy and approach to building a successful brand |
• Lessons learned from launching Gather on Kickstarter, including scaling up production and customer service |
• Comparison between the launch of Gather and Analog, with a focus on direct-to-consumer sales and keeping operations in-house |
• The trade-offs between seeking quick growth and success versus focusing on long-term sustainability and quality |
• Importance of analyzing one's own goals and values in business decision-making |
• Dangers of taking on external pressures and expectations from investors or others |
• Benefits of maintaining a slower, more deliberate pace in business growth |
• Value of prioritizing intangible aspects of business, such as work-life balance and fulfillment |
• Importance of understanding and living by one's personal values in entrepreneurship |
• Learning through experience and doing, rather than relying on external resources or education |
• Challenges of balancing growth with the need to fulfill orders and meet customer needs |
• Outourcing vs in-house operations and the importance of hands-on control |
• Building customer trust and authenticity as a key differentiator for Ugmonk brand |
• The value of long-term thinking and building relationships over short-term gains |
• Juggling multiple roles and responsibilities, including delegating tasks to others |
• Prioritizing personal touch and high-quality products over scale and efficiency |
• Challenges of delegation in small businesses |
• Maintaining connection with processes and employees after delegating tasks |
• Blending personal and family relationships with business dynamics |
• Managing work-life balance in family-run businesses |
• Perils of letting work dominate personal relationships and life |
• The impact of working from home on children's perception of one's job |
• The balance between work and family life, particularly for parents who work from home |
• Showing children what one does at work and letting them participate in the business |
• Navigating the concept of work and its differences to kids |
• Balancing being intentional with showing kids what one does with keeping their space welcoming |
• Encouraging independence and exploring non-traditional paths in life |
• The creation and meaning behind Jeff Sheldon's productivity system, "Analog" |
• How Analog helps with focus and task management |
• Prioritization as constraint, limiting tasks to 10-3 items |
• Design process of Analog card system, combining various productivity concepts |
• Effectiveness and flexibility of the Analog card system |
• Shift from digital tools to physical notebooks for note-taking and prioritization |
• Video production and storytelling as a key aspect of Analog's creator, Jeff Sheldon |
• Importance of mastering a skill vs just learning the basics |
• The danger of getting caught up in gear and technology over actual creativity and storytelling |
• The value of patience and dedication in honing one's craft |
• The challenge of deciding which idea to pursue and how to gauge its potential for success |
• Details about Analog, including its Kickstarter campaign and potential future developments |
• Development of Analog cards was validated by high-performing individuals who saw its value |
• Refills were anticipated as a part of the business plan, but not the exact price point |
• The campaign has exceeded expectations with 3,448 backers and $305,284 raised in just two weeks |
• Jeff Sheldon is "blown away" by the response, citing that people see Analog as a system for long-term use |
• Refills are expected to be low-cost, around $10/month, making it a no-brainer for users who find Analog useful |
• The campaign has been successful due in part to people buying cardholders and refills together, indicating a desire for the cards to be used consistently. |
**Adam Stacoviak:** Jeff Sheldon is the founder and creator of Ugmonk. Jeff is a designer by trade and an entrepreneur by accident. I've been following Jeff's journey for the better part of Ugmonk's existence, and I'm also a customer. Jeff and I hold several similar values near and dear to our hearts, and in addition t... |
Jeff, one of the things I love about you is this aspect of sharing. You've got this simple email - that thing has become like a cornerstone of your personal brand, "Five things I'm digging." I bought stuff from what you've done, and I've checked out different houses around the world, because you have this aesthetic, th... |
**Jeff Sheldon:** Yeah, it's a funny story... Most of the things like that that happen are not on purpose, and it was not some master plan to start sending out this email every month... It literally was I didn't have anything else to talk about; it was an in-between time. I think some of our product got delayed, manufa... |
\[04:04\] It was nothing to do with Ugmonk, nothing to do with me; it was just fun to spotlight some other things, whether it was architecture, or an album I'm listening to... And then from that, I got all these replies, like "Dude, thanks for sending this. This is cool. I didn't know about this band. I've never seen t... |
That was 2-3 years ago maybe at this point. I don't know how many I've sent, but now it's like the monthly most-clicked email that I send out. |
**Adam Stacoviak:** I just did a search for "five things I'm digging" in my email, because I can search by subject, and - I mean, it goes back a while. I think I have like a hundred in my initial view, first search... No, 50. And there's several pages of this. Like, lots. You've sent a lot. |
**Jeff Sheldon:** Yeah... It's different, because for me it's truly things that I'm into, things that I enjoy, and part of the Ugmonk brand and what I'm doing is looking at the world through my lens... And it attracts other people that like similar things, or are exposed to certain things that have a similar mindset, a... |
**Adam Stacoviak:** I like that it happened by accident, like a downtime, which -- I don't know, I guess you seem to leverage the spaces, I suppose; the margin of life. And not too often do people really appreciate margin; as a designer, you totally appreciate space. Even the initial start of your business, which from ... |
**Jeff Sheldon:** Yeah. I mean, Ugmonk from day one was this side project that was to keep me busy, because I wanted to make sure it's what I thought looked cool, everything has been a layer on top of that, year after year after year, still with that same mentality. I think when we create things that we're passionate a... |
**Adam Stacoviak:** There's a reason for it, yeah. There's a reason he likes it. And then you have a pretty particular style, that I think others appreciate as well. That's why you became successful. It might be helpful though -- I know you pretty well, or at least I think I do. I'm not a Jeff stalker by any means, but... |
**Jeff Sheldon:** Yeah, so I'll start way, way back - when I was a kid, I've always been into art, making things, creating things, designing things... I didn't really know that that was uncommon; I thought everybody just wanted to do that. I'd have friends over and be like "Do you wanna draw? Do you wanna color?" and t... |
**Adam Stacoviak:** \[laughs\] Play G.I. Joe and get dirty. |
**Jeff Sheldon:** \[08:08\] Yeah. And I did that stuff, too. But I would sit there with my Lego set, or like Knex or any type of thing, and spend hours and hours obsessing over creating things from that. Not just following the instructions, but trying to make things. And I think that is in my DNA, because I've always l... |
**Adam Stacoviak:** 11 years ago. |
**Jeff Sheldon:** The internet was a different place back then. |
**Adam Stacoviak:** Yeah, it was. Way different. |
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