Highlights

• I announced a new product and then discovered it was a mistake.
• I simplified the TinyPilot website to focus on a single device.
• I tried taking my first real vacation from TinyPilot with mixed results.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Train local staff members to assist with customer support

• Result: Local staff members are answering ~50% of support emails.
• Grade: A-

We now use HelpScout as a shared customer support queue. There are still plenty of cases where I’m the only one with the context or technical background to handle the request, but it’s great to have help with the rest.

Overall, this was an interesting read, but I found it hard to apply the lessons to my product. The book contains compelling case studies and ideas from the field of meta-learning, but most of the ideas were either too theoretical or too specific to large companies.

Highlights

• TinyPilot had its highest-revenue month ever.
• One of TinyPilot’s competitors raised $800k almost overnight.
• I’m working with a design firm to improve TinyPilot’s brand and website.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Publish a sample chapter of Refactoring English

• Result: Made progress but didn’t publish a chapter
• Grade: D

TinyPilot got busy enough again that I didn’t have much time to write this month. Sadly, I’m going to put the book on hold indefinitely since TinyPilot still needs my full attention.

Highlights

• A redesign of TinyPilot’s website seems to have increased sales.
• TinyPilot now has a European distributor.
• After three years, I’ve earned back my investment in Zestful (and I might sell it).
• I’m still ruthlessly delegating every task I can.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Help TinyPilot’s EU distributor achieve his first sale

• Result: The distributor made his first sale on September 6th
• Grade: B

I was hoping we’d earn the first sale within August, which unfortunately didn’t happen. Still, we got a sale within 10 days of launching the EU site.

As a big fan of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, I was interested in this book. 70 years after it was published, I still see people recommending it, so I had high hopes.

Sadly, the book fell short of my expectations. When I read How to Win Friends and Influence People, every chapter felt relevant and useful. In contrast, only about 20% of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living felt useful. Most of the book is personal anecdotes that failed to connect with me and mental exercises that didn’t appeal to me.