🪦 The Most Powerful Founder Exercise I’ve Ever Done:
I wrote my deathbed letter.
To my family. My wife. My legacy.
If I died tomorrow—this would be the message I’d leave behind.
It wasn’t about sadness.
It was about truth. Clarity. Compression.
No fluff. No optics. Just what mattered.
🧠The insight?
When you write like you’re running out of time,
you stop pretending and start speaking from your core.
You realize:
What actually deserves your energy
What you're proud of (and what you're avoiding)
What your real work in this life is
That your business is not your life—but it better be aligned with it
🔥 If you're a founder, do this:
Write a short letter to your family or closest people.
Ask yourself:
What would I regret not doing?
What impact did I really want to make?
What would I tell them about how I lived?
Who would carry my fire forward?
No edits. No audience. Just truth.
Then ask:
Is the business I’m building today aligned with that letter?
If not, good.
Now you’ve got your new North Star.
Death isn't the end—it's just a great editor.
Now go write it.
—Charles