Field Notes #1: I'm Building Something New

Excited to share my next chapter.

I’ve decided to step away from corporate and go all in on something I’ve been working on for a while.

This didn’t start recently. I actually began putting the foundation together back when I was running OakCitySMB. The consulting work was one thing, but on the side I was starting to create something very different.

I was raised in a family of entrepreneurs, so I’ve always been drawn to building.

At AOL, GoDaddy, Indeed, and Constant Contact, I got to work closely with small businesses. Ads, getting online, hiring, growth… different angles, same customer.

After Indeed, I launched OakCitySMB and worked directly with owners. That’s where things really clicked.

Over time, a pattern kept showing up.

Most small businesses don’t have a demand problem. They have a follow-through problem.

Calls get missed. Leads sit. Customers don’t hear back.

That’s where the money leaks.

There are tools out there for parts of this, but you still have to run them, connect them, stay on top of everything. It’s a lot. And things fall through.

That felt like an opportunity, so I started putting something together.

At a certain point, I wanted to see how this really held up at scale, so I briefly stepped back into a larger environment at Constant Contact. This time, I was focused on how inbound activity was actually handled across the customer lifecycle.

Didn’t take long to get clarity. Same issues, just more visible.

At that point, going all in felt pretty obvious.

I’m working on a SaaS product that basically runs the front end of a business. When a customer reaches out, it gets handled. All the way through booking, payment, follow-up, and bringing them back again.

No missed opportunities. No constant chasing.

Still early, but I should have something in market soon.

If you’re a small business owner, I’d genuinely love to hear how you’re handling this today. Always helpful to compare notes.