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I run three businesses. And this month, my internet got cut off. Missed the payment. Didn't even notice until the router just... stopped.
I sat there staring at it like it owed me something.
Now, usually I’m on top of things but this month, everything slipped through the cracks.
Here's the thing. I could have opened this email with "it's been a hectic season juggling everything." That's the polished version. It's technically true. It's also forgettable.
Nobody feels "a hectic season." Everybody feels the guy who runs three businesses and still missed his own internet bill.
That's the lesson today: when you tell your story, keep the detail you're most tempted to cut. The embarrassing one. The one that's a little too specific. The one your instinct says makes you look less like a real founder. That detail is doing the heavy lifting. It's proof the story happened to you and not to a template.
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1 question for you:
What's the detail you always cut from your story because it feels too small or too raw? Reply and tell me. I read every one.
2 rewrites worth studying:
Weak: "It's been a hectic season juggling everything."
Strong: "I missed my own internet bill while running three businesses."
Weak: "I've been busy lately."
Strong: "The invoice I refreshed 9 times. The client call I took in a parked car."
3 things about the detail you're tempted to cut:
"It's been hectic" could be anyone. The router moment could only be you. Specificity is what separates a real story from a template wearing one.
Your embarrassment instinct is usually wrong. The detail that feels like it makes you look less like a founder is often the one that makes people actually believe you.
Put it in the first line, not buried in paragraph three. Watch what it does to your replies.
Stephen
P.S. I still hadn't told anyone that story out loud until just now. Typing it was more embarrassing than living through it.
