table of funtents

1. 👋🏼 it’s me, hi

2. 🛑 when the market isn’t “ready” for you

3. 💩 no bs good to knows

4. 🎁 from my ops toolbox

5. 👑 misfit wisdom nuggets

👋🏼 it’s me, hi

Usually I’m a beacon of calm and vibes, but by the time you read this THE UNITED STATES WILL HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT, SO I AM NEITHER CALM NOR VIBES.

With that said, I schedule these on a Tuesday so looks like we’ll learn the verdict together. In funnier news, US Election Day fell on the same day as UK Bonfire Night this year and the whole thing is twisted in irony.

Bonfire Night (aka Guy Fawkes Night) has a pretty grim starting point (really, it was a planned explosion), but is now a fun-loving event for the whole family (???). Meanwhile, US elections started with brilliant intentions (ya know, democracy and whatnot) yet ends up being a source of literal anxiety every 4 years.

In last week’s episode, I talked about ghost prospects and got lots of fab questions about where to find prospects in the first place.

TBH, it’s a loaded one that’ll take several episodes to talk through. Let’s start this week by diving all the way back to basics with step 1: meeting your market.

🛑 when the market isn’t “ready” for you

When I started keshty, the overwhelming opinion I heard was “the market isn’t ready for fractional.”

• My ideal clients: I need someone who’ll be fully committed, not committed at a fraction.

• My mentors: You should join another early-stage startup and take them to exit, then try fractional.

• Fractional advocates: Either market yourself differently or be prepared for the uphill battle to educate the market.

• Pragmatic people: Times are tough - it’s hard enough to get a full-time job these days. Are you sure you should start something now?

Here’s the thing, y’all: everyone will have an opinion on your business. I’d argue most of them have the best intentions in the world, too.

You can either treat opinions as (1) data points to observe or (2) suggestions to be acted on. It’s up to you.

Before acting on anything, I personally chose to collect data points to observe.

1. talk to your ideal client

I spent the first 3 months of keshty simply talking to 100 ideal clients. No rhyme or reason for 100; it felt like a clean number and I didn’t overthink it too much.

Here’s how I came up with the list:

1. Warm 1st Degree Connections: I scheduled 25 remote / f2f coffees with founders / leaders I was already close to or wanted to reconnect with.

2. Warm 2nd Degree Connections: When each asked “how can I help you?” (and they all did!), I asked them to connect me to 2 other founders in their network who’d be great to speak to. This took me up to 75.

3. Misc Connections: The final 25 was reserved for people I’d naturally meet along the way and wanted to establish a connection with.

2. ask these two questions

These conversations had a clear purpose: understand common pain points my ideal clients face and their genuine views on fractional hiring.

I asked every founder / leader these two questions:

1. What's keeping you up at night?

2. What scares you most about working with a fractional executive?

Here's what came out of these convos:

1. Being a founder is f*cking lonely

2. The top reason they lose sleep is their team; the other is cash flow

3. They don't get enough opportunities to talk freely about challenges

4. Some do in fact worry fractional execs aren't committed to their business

5. They've been burned by other contractors and fear replicating the same with their most senior hire

3. make your choice

Given the (totally valid) understanding gap, I had a choice: market myself differently for faster results, or market myself as is while educating the market.

The former would be less mental tension and a shorter uphill battle for prospects, but I chose the latter. Why?

Either decision would’ve come with challenges. But I believe so many founders and leaders could benefit from fractional support.

I also know founders from marginalised backgrounds are at a disadvantage when it comes to hiring seasoned executives. I felt I’d be doing a disservice to founders otherwise - making a quick buck without really solving a problem or establishing systems for scale.

If I believed all this, I knew I couldn’t be the only one - so I opted to do what I felt was right over what was easy.

Here’s what you can say to reassure the cynics:

1. Fractionals directly combat loneliness 🥰

2. We've been there, done that on two key things keeping founders up at night

3. We're both committed and independent to effectively discuss / tackle challenges with them (not one or the other)

4. We're fully committed to seeing founders succeed. All that's fractional is our time (and cost to them!)

5. Founders can also be burned by full-time staff, and both FT and contractors have at some point been burned by founders. Find the right fit in the person.

Remember, everyone will have an opinion. Be clear with yourself which opinions you’ll take on, how much data you need to collect and once you have 51% confidence one way, make your choice.

💩 no bs good to knows

👂🏼 Listen without solving problems

I tried to simply listen, but didn’t always succeed without jumping in to offer my two cents. I quickly learned I was only disadvantaging myself by doing this; an offer that solves problems for others HAS TO BE DRIVEN BY OTHERS, not our assumptions.

One of the best (and hardest) practices we can learn, especially when talking to our ideal buyer, is to listen to understand rather than listen to respond. A massive part of client acquisition is simply building a relationship on mutual trust. Have faith knowing when prospects trust you, you’ll be the first call when they’re ready to solve the pain.

💰 There’s money everywhere

No one knew they needed a handheld device to manage their lives or a universal search engine producing info in 0.003 seconds until they did.

People fear and avoid what they don’t know. There’s also no shortage of people saying the market is bad. Don’t blame them, keep delivering your message patiently / consistently and let change take its course.

There’s money (and opportunity) everywhere. Your best future clients will always find a way to work with someone who’ll take their business to that next level. Your objective is to find those who believe that person is you.

🎁 from my ops toolbox

Staying on brand, how can one collect and digest all this insight efficiently?

🧰 In my toolbox: Fathom AI Notetaker

I sampled multiple AI notetakers and ultimately landed on Fathom. It has the best free offering when compared to the rest IMO. Besides recording, transcribing and summarising meetings, you can also record yourself speaking on a particular topic and it’ll give you a complete written transcription. Handy for those days you want to create content but aren’t feeling creative!

Use my link above to get 3 months of Premium for free 🥰

👑 misfit wisdom nuggets

✍🏼 Gavin Pieterse, a very good friend who’s just launched Ideal and Digital (check it out!) writes:

“Looking back, I’d tell my younger self this: Don’t get caught up in the myth of 'natural talent.'

I had a teacher who used to get really worked up whenever football commentators would talk about players as if they were born with their abilities. He’d say, ‘No footballer is born, steps onto a pitch, and just knows how to do what they do on TV. It’s a skill they’ve built, not a gift they were born with.’

Of course, there’s the whole debate about genes and all that, but his point was simple: it’s the hard work, the hours they put in and the resilience to keep at it that truly make them great. And that’s what I’d tell my younger self now.

Work on your skills, stay intentional with your growth, and, most importantly, don’t wait for things to come to you. The results might not show up immediately, but if you stick with it, one day it will all come together.

And here’s the thing: once you reach a goal, it doesn’t mean you’ve reached the top. There’s no “end” to growth. Building a business, building yourself, these are ongoing journeys. It’s a lot to take on, but that’s the exciting part, too, because every step you pick up new skills, insights and behaviours that shape who you are.

You’ve got to be resilient and keep showing up, especially on the days when results are nowhere to be seen. Think of it like pulling back a slingshot: you might miss a few times, but with each shot, you’re aiming closer to that goal. So keep pulling back, keep aiming, and if you miss? You just go again.”

📣 HEY MISFIT! If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming issue, email me with your answer to this question and LinkedIn profile. Let’s learn together 🫶🏼

Thanks for joining episode 7, misfits! I’m off to drown my American passport with tears either way. Wish us luck 🇺🇸

PS: get excited - we’re confirming referral gifts NEXT WEEK!!! 🎉

Before you go, let me know what you thought of this issue with the pulse check below! Good intent feedback is always welcome ⬇️

xo, Neds