# The lessons

Nearly three decades of mistakes, extracted and published. The names are retired; the lessons are not. Each note is dated to when the lesson crystallised, not when it was published. Free to take — that is the point.

validation

operations

licensing and governance

capital

turnaround

handover

## [Hack, then engineer](/notes/hack-then-engineer)

operations

August 2026

## [Autopsies, not graveyards](/notes/autopsies-not-graveyards)

handover

August 2026

## [The pivot conversation happens six months late](/notes/pivot-conversation-six-months-late)

turnaround

May 2026

## [Fire yourself from the recurring jobs first](/notes/fire-yourself-first)

operations

December 2025

## ['What is the money for?' deserves a real answer](/notes/what-is-the-money-for)

capital

July 2025

## [Name the fork: exit or yield](/notes/name-the-fork)

capital

March 2025

## [Write your confidence down as a number](/notes/confidence-as-a-number)

validation

November 2024

## [Fractional is not half a person](/notes/fractional-not-half-a-person)

operations

July 2024

## [Treat the regulator as your first customer](/notes/regulator-first-customer)

licensing and governance

March 2024