I don't like networking. Networks are just connections.
I prefer community building. Communities are connections based on concern for success and collaboration. 👫
The Texas startup community has always been a community.
A year ago @JoshuaBaer & Paul Hobby exemplified it. 🧵
I was sitting on my couch when I got this text from @JoshuaBaer telling me he ran in to @omairdotcom. He suggested he call me about our business.
Meanwhile Paul Hobby sent me something similar letting me know that he met @omairdotcom who seemed excited about what we did at @SaucedaHQ.
He also nudged him to give me a shout.
Moments later, this DM showed up on LinkedIn.
After doing a panel @CapitalFactory together the year before, @omairdotcom reconnected and started the craziest rollercoaster ride I've ever been on.
@omairdotcom and I discussed culture, the issues that brands were facing today, and why Texas is such a great place to build a tech company.
He visited our facility and took us to lunch where he described his vision of @cartdotcom with @prissc and I playing a big part in it.
Shortly thereafter we arrived at a Letter of Intent and we were off to the races.
@cartdotcom moves at light speed, so from LOI to closing our deal was about 30 days. 🤯
Thankfully, we ran a tight ship in terms of paperwork and legal at Sauceda, so due diligence was fast.
In the final week, their team prepped the board presentation. It was 70 slides pointing to why they should and shouldn't do the deal. They left no rock unturned.
We prepped the messaging and integration plan for how to make the Sauceda team an integral part of @cartdotcom.
They were the most intense 30 days of my life. I was working running Sauceda during the day and going to the @cartdotcom office at night working with the team on all of the details.
Even with the short length of the due diligence, I got major deal fatigue.
But we got the deal done and the rest is what I believe to be, history in the making. 🚀
"Y'all's goals" become mine and @prissc's goals @cartdotcom. And it's all thanks to the support that started with folks like @JoshuaBaer and others whose community manifested the deal.
As you're building your business, the community you do it in is as critical as the plan you have for building it.
Find one that supports and nurtures. Just remember to be a contributor in addition to participant. It'll pay you back in dividends.
We've been blessed to live in and participate in one of the greatest communities in the world and we couldn't be more proud to be building @cartdotcom here as well.
Here's to a community like Austin that loves to push community and company growth up and to the right!