Founder’s Dance with George Levin #13

I can’t believe this is the 13th newsletter. Being a founder for 12 years has taught me that dedication and perseverance are the most important traits for success. Writing 100 newsletters is my challenge to reinforce these qualities. Though I’m still unsure if spending two hours weekly is worth it, a persistent voice inside me says, "Just do it and see what happens."

A newsletter is a fascinating format, lacking the immediate engagement of likes or shares typical on social media. It feels like writing letters to an imaginary friend, but this "imaginary friend" becomes real when readers hit reply. I truly appreciate these short exchanges.

Startup Hacks: Quick Feedback Loops

This week, I realized how much fun I’m having building CRMchat. The key to this enjoyment is a super short feedback loop with clients.

As the account manager for our paying customers, I’m constantly in Telegram chats discussing product improvements, and then we quickly implement them. Here’s an example from this week:

Our client asked for a feature to send reminders when a deal is stuck at a certain stage. They envisioned an interface where they could create rules like, “If a deal is at Stage X, send Telegram Message Y to the deal owner every Z days.” It was a solid idea, and my first instinct was to design a standalone UI for these settings.

But our CTO, Anton, proposed a more elegant solution. Instead of adding another interface users might struggle to find, he suggested embedding this functionality directly into the existing stage setup. Here’s how it works now:

When a user sets up a stage—say, “Contract in Process”—we prompt them to configure a simple reminder: “If deals stay in this stage for more than Y days, notify the deal owner.” The user enters Y (the number of days) and clicks OK.

The client’s reaction was overwhelmingly positive—and the entire cycle, from the request to the client using the feature, took just three days.

This experience made me reflect on why things move so quickly compared to our previous iteration. We often got stuck in lengthy planning and endless discussion calls back then.

Focus: We address one problem for one segment. Most client requests align, so we avoid debates or conflicting priorities. Previously, we were building a horizontal solution catering to multiple client segments, which diluted our efforts.

Collaborative Tech Cofounder: Our CTO, Anton, goes beyond just coding—he understands the product, user problems, and the business. When building, he considers all these aspects and often finds more creative and quicker ways to solve problems.

Minimal Backlog. We keep a backlog of 5-7 items, prioritizing repetitive requests or top-client needs. This keeps us agile and focused, avoiding the paralysis that comes with bloated backlogs.

Immediate client feedback fuels our energy!

Product Spotlight: Whoop

This week's spotlight is on Whoop, a product that's been a game-changer for me. I’m surprised I haven’t written about it sooner, considering it’s #1 in my life for daily engagement and lasting impact. I’ve been using it for four years to track my sleep and activities. Just check the number of activities I tracked over the years.

I’m a big fan of tracking everything because I’ve noticed that emotional perception can distort reality without data. For instance, sometimes I feel overwhelmed with work and think I haven’t exercised enough—then I check my stats and realize I’ve worked out more and stayed more consistent this year than last. However, the reverse happens more often: I feel like I’m crushing it with 10–15 intense workouts, only to see a significant drop in my average strain throughout the year.

I love the concept of strain—it doesn’t measure absolute effort but the stress on your body. For example, two people can do the same exercise, but their strain levels will differ based on their fitness levels.

Whoop’s sleep metrics are similar to Oura’s, but I find them more accurate. I used Oura for two years but recently stopped in favor of Whoop.

Another strength is Whoop’s UI and reporting. Weekly and monthly stats are beautifully visualized, and the app allows you to track a diary of activities beyond exercise and sleep, showing correlations. For example, you can track how much coffee you drink or how many calls you take each day, and Whoop will reveal patterns in your recovery and stress levels. Its built-in chat assistant lets you ask things like, “What’s my average HRV by month over the last two years?”

My favorite feature is groups. You can join or create groups based on shared interests, like “Men 35–40 in NYC” or “Boxers 35–40.” This feature motivates me. One night, I even ran home across the Brooklyn Bridge at 9 PM after boxing because it was the last day of the month, and I needed one more exercise to hit my highest monthly strain. Yes, I’m competitive.

Cons: Whoop is expensive, with a subscription model—you don’t pay for the device but for a monthly fee. Also, the wrist strap isn’t accurate for walking (it shows a higher heart rate and strain), but the biceps strap works great.

If you want to try Whoop, here’s my referral link—it gives us both one free month.

Culture Corner: Thinking, Fast and Slow

Recently, I’ve been taking a break from nonfiction and reading The Plague by Albert Camus. I don’t usually recommend fiction because tastes vary, but I’ve enjoyed it—it’s very meditative.

If you’re up for something more intense, I highly recommend one of my all-time favorites, Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman. If you’ve already read it and want a refresher, I’ve summarized my top 17 takeaways from the book, compiled back when I first read it years ago.

Mind Bender: Emotions vs. Reactions

We often confuse feeling emotions with acting on them. This happens due to a common misunderstanding of stoicism, often mistaken for viewing emotions as a weakness.

In reality, suppressing emotions doesn’t make you stronger—it leads to stress and unhappiness. The real strength comes from fully accepting your emotions, especially the tough ones like anger, sadness, or frustration.

Stoicism isn’t about ignoring emotions but not letting them control your actions. The best way to handle emotions is to experience them fully so they disappear naturally. Once you do, it becomes easier to choose how to respond instead of reacting impulsively.

As Marcus Aurelius said: “You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Emotions happen outside your control, but your mind decides how to deal with them.

I hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter as much as I enjoyed writing it. To wrap up, I’d like to introduce a new section called "Simple Question," where I share a random question on my mind.

Have a great week ahead!

Speak soon,

George

November 17, 2024. Brooklyn Heights.

Twitter | LinkedIn | Consulting