No Tirade Today, Just a Toast
Most Tuesdays = Tirades.
This Tuesday = Toast.
To one of our portfolio compay founders.
To decisions made on the fly, not deferred for Q3 agendas.
Because when you’ve got trust and traction, the car is the only boardroom you need.
Here’s to grit, trust, and finding ways to win - anywhere, anytime.
The message...
Some people joke that no one outworks me.
They haven’t met Michael Haddix.
He might be one of the few who does.
Michael was in town last week for NBA meetings and fundraising. But with Scout and the new paradigm of collegiate athletics — the revenue share era reshaping how universities and athletes are supported — fundraise or not, the work never stops.
I’m on the board and an investor in Scout, so I had a front-row seat to how it went down.
Michael was at the finish line with a major university, a high-stakes opportunity. The zoom was set for 4pm. We’d just stepped off the links with a prospective anchor investor.
As he’s logging into Zoom, his phone rings. On the other end: another university decision maker who had just read the Alabama news and took the initiative to reach out cold to Michael.
Two schools. Two opportunities. Same moment.
Michael doesn’t blink. He tells the caller, “My partner will reach out right away, I’m tied up,” and hands me the phone to take the number.
So now we’re pitching in parallel. Michael with one university, me on the phone with another. Both conversations happening at the same time.
And for the record: keeping my voice soft so I didn’t blow up his call might have been harder than the pitch itself (I’m not exactly known for being quiet).
Ten wild minutes in a golf course parking lot.
That’s Michael as a leader: pushing two opportunities forward at once, confident enough to delegate, and trusting enough to hand the ball to his partners when it matters.
Proud to back Michael. Proud to back Scout. Because that combination of grit and trust is unstoppable.