Founder Letter

A few years ago, I moved to New Orleans to reconnect with my maternal ancestral Louisiana roots. What grew from returning to my ancestral home was a platform for the Creative Economy that won First Place in the Mayor’s Tech Innovation Challenge.

I bootstrapped and built the platform. It gained some traction. I stretched every dollar.

Life eventually brought me back to the SF Bay Area, where I spent the last couple of years leading a team at a well-known tech company. It was a season of growth but the spirit of a builder never stays quiet for long.

I am an entrepreneur at heart.
I am a builder at heart.
That will never change.

So I am officially back in Builder + Founder Mode. Completely reinvigorated. Sharply focused. More determined than ever.

Despite the challenges as an industry and as a society, I am driven by the boundless possibilities of what we can build for our future.

There is no better time than right NOW for an entrepreneur, engineer and bootstrapper to BUILD.

The Creative Economy is currently $3.3 trillion in size and on track to grow to $11.5 trillion by 2035.

It is built on the creativity, craft, and culture of artisans, experience makers, storytellers, and solopreneurs. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping everything — who creates, who distributes, who profits.

As a former investment banker, I know first hand that private equity firms are not buying music catalogs and acquiring entertainment conglomerates out of the goodness of their hearts. They are betting that creativity is one of the last frontiers worth owning.

If we do not actively participate in designing and developing agency and ownership systems within the Creative Economy, we will continue to earn and own the LEAST from what we create.

The gap has never been talent or creativity. It has always been the absence of business models and ownership systems that are built specifically to support, protect, and empower creatives.

I did not ask for help after winning that competition.

That was the lesson.

So I am standing in grace this time and refusing to repeat that mistake.

A 19-city grassroots community tour, the Abundance Artist — I.V.E Journal, and the launch of Craftsmxn, an AI-native startup.

All in one year, all bootstrapped.

If you are moved to help, here are three ways to be part of this journey.

• Subscribe to Abundance Artist — I.V.E Journal

  Check out our I.V.E Journal subscription & Merch options here

• Connections + Intros

  If you know an artisan, experience maker, storyteller, or solopreneur in any of our 19 tour cities, I would love an introduction.

• Explore Craftsmxn

  Request a demo. Demos begin July 19th. We launch membership service on October 19th.

Please forward this letter to anyone who may want be part of or learn about what we are building.