Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Whatever your business problems, Lou Mosca says in his latest video, alternative lenders do not have the answer.
Should you join a peer group? Take Kelly Berry’s quiz.
The Consumer Price Index rose less than expected in January.
Only four slots remain for this year’s 21 Hats Live. If you’ve been thinking about it, now’s the time.
SCHEDULING NOTE
The Morning Report will observe Monday’s holiday. It will return to your inbox on Tuesday.
THE TRADE WARS
Ben Knepler has put his portable-chair manufacturing business on hold and is looking for a job: “I’ve been banging on about U.S. tariffs and trade policy for the past few years not just because I’m an economics nerd, but because it has been devastating my business, True Places. The past year in particular has been brutal. We invested a lot in moving our manufacturing to Cambodia (the U.S. unfortunately is not an option) in 2024 only to get crushed again over the past 10 months. There are so many challenges for startups in normal times without getting destroyed by one’s own government. We’ve had to pause production, cut every possible expense, and we can’t operate as we wish we could at the moment.”
“I refuse to give up though, not when thousands of customers are fanatical about our (patented) products and knowing that there’s so much potential with what we built from nothing. However, we’ve had to radically scale back and will operate at a tiny fraction of what we planned this year. We’ll just be making a small, limited number of Emmett chairs available at the end of the spring (please join the email list at trueplaces.com if you’re interested in knowing when those drop).”
“On a personal note, all of that means that I need to find new employment. I’d love to stay working at the earlier stages of growth and bring my experience as a founder and former consultant to help others build the future. In practice that means roles like chief of staff or strategy & ops at an early stage company, but I’m open to more. If you have connections to opportunities you think I’d be a fit for, or if we just haven’t caught up in a while, I’d love to chat!” READ MORE
Last summer, Ben explained his predicament on the 21 Hats Podcast.
