Founders Diary #1

I struggle with social media and publishing. I love to write, and my cloud is full of finished, half-finished, and random notes for hundreds of pieces. When I took a battery of aptitude tests in my 20s, I scored very high on “idea generation”—higher, in fact, than anyone this particular place had ever tested. Not only were my ideas plentiful, they were also widely varied.

This has been both a blessing and a curse. I’m able to look at problems in a variety of ways, but I sometimes get overwhelmed when it comes to choosing what to do about them.

Now that I’ve decided to build a company, I find myself needing to pay attention to this idea-generation capability in new ways. To build something, I need a clear vision. I also need to remain intellectually humble and willing to change direction when needed.

So I had the idea that working in public might be a good move for me. Not only does it give me something to post regularly—and my best-performing posts tend to be the ones where I’m most transparent and vulnerable—but it also provides a regular touch point to assess where I’ve been, where I’m going, and how I’m doing.

I don’t know how often I’ll publish these—every Friday seems like a good cadence—but my energy and focus can be fickle, so forgive me if I miss a few.

THIS WEEK

This week has been up and down emotionally. I got sick on Tuesday, which didn’t help my physical energy. And low physical energy tends to depress my mood. The old bugbears of depression and anxiety returned.

On Thursday morning, as I made my coffee, I had a thought about a bank balance I needed to check and suddenly found myself sweating through my T-shirt. Not quite a panic attack, but certainly something in that direction.

But I didn’t spiral. I think one thing I’m learning is that a founder can’t afford to spiral. We must reflect, but we can’t ruminate. So I’ve been reconnecting with the story of the Splendid Torch (that's what I'm calling the new company, rippleIQ is the first product).

I asked an AI strategy tool I’ve built to help me with this story, and it came up with this:

Not too bad, really. Inspiring even.

That’s the emotional piece of the week, I think: that I can’t spiral or give in to panic, but I also need to reflect—and the story I tell myself about what I want to build matters.

On a more practical front, this week I began building a signature talk and incorporating a brand into the slide deck. I’ll be giving this talk for the first time at the end of October at an event in Greenville, South Carolina. I consider this my coming-out moment.

I also added five people to my “team” this week—three advisors and two consultants who will help me deliver work. My goal is to have 6–8 advisors and 5 consultants by the end of the month. These are uncompensated roles for now, but consultants get paid when we do work, of course. I’d also like to build profit-sharing and shared ownership into the eventual shape of the business.

I could say more, but I think that’s enough for now. Hope you have a good weekend.

—Bob Gower, Brooklyn, NY | Friday, October 3, 2025

CURIOUS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER?

Bob Gower
(bobgower.com)

Building Better Organizations