FOUNDERS, MAKE SURE TO INVEST YOUR ENERGY AND RESILIENCE SELECTIVELY

PSA to Founders. I just got off a call with a brilliant Founder from TheCulture. They're working with a client that's an asshole and agreed to the deal because they needed the money.

You may become aware of a bad deal before or after signing an agreement. I don't know of any Founders that haven't experienced a situation (or multiple situations) in their business careers when they hit a wall and had to decide whether or not to do a bad deal to pay bills.

Unfortunately, you may be the best at what you do and have found yourself compromising because of a situation that had to do with life - and nothing to do with the deal itself.

Beware of investing your resilience & energy to chase deals or do business with partners, clients, or alliances that want to win at your expense.

First and foremost, work with a trusted lawyer. If you can't afford a lawyer in the immediate future, pay close attention to the other party's ACTIONS and what they DON'T SAY.

Of course, you want to avoid a scenario like this. But if you have to do a lousy deal knowingly, make sure it's a short-term move to get you out of a short-term hole. Investing your energy, time, and capital with bad actors as a long-term play - to accelerate or scale your business - NEVER works out.

If you show your cards because you're in a compromising position, and they've shown you who they are, PLEASE KNOW that they will play the same game on you for as long as you let them. People like this are either after more money than they're entitled to - or more power. Don't set long-term growth plans for your company around this deal.