Hello Shareholders!
A few updates. I’m in Portland, Oregon and I have COVID-19. But most importantly, there is a new shareholder vote!
🗳️ Shareholder Vote: My Role in Television
As some of you might remember from the Shareholder Summit, I tend to fall into a role I like to call “Alpha Number Two.” Alpha Number Two is like the right hand man of whoever is in charge. The Scotty Pippin vs. the Michael Jordan. I think this makes me a good team player, but it also means I tend to prefer playing the role of éminence grise and letting the buck stop with someone else.
In working with Kathryn on a pitch for a TV show based on KmikeyM I am in the lucky position to be working with a subject matter expert with great experience in her field. So I find myself falling in line behind her. At the same time, KmikeyM is my story, and I’ve found that other people tend to tell it poorly in some way or another. So my choice is to stay in my comfortable place of support and assist in creating this pitch or step up and take a more active role.
The work we’re doing now is preparation to sell the idea of the show, which if bought then will be written. This could involve someone hiring us to write a pilot, and then based on that they might order a series, and then based on that they might decide to make a show. It’s a long, slow, road that usually ends in nothing. It reminds me a lot of pitching a company to investors.
I feel like optimizing for the short win, which would be getting someone to pay us to write the pilot, would involve me stepping back and being in a support role. Kathryn has experiences and a success in this arena. On the other hand, the position I take now will determine how things progress, and I want to establish myself, while less skilled in writing television, as her equal in terms of this project.
So it’s a bit vague, but that is the vote. Let Kathryn take the lead, or step up and be equal partners. Make the short terms a little harder because I believe that will make the end result better.
Here is a picture of me right before the COVID hit while we were biking in Redding. It was an amazing ride and the last time I was outside. So healthy and carefree and no idea of what horrors are brewing in my body…
🦠 COVID
I think I’m about out of my COVID hole. My symptoms started super mild on the first of August, got really bad on August 4th when I slept on and off for 14 hours. I’ve been slowly improving and today I went on a short bike ride and felt pretty good. It has been rough and really eaten up a ton of my Portland summer plans. I’ve watched a lot of TV, read a lot, and have barely been on the computer.
🗺️ Coming Up Next
At some point in mid-August we will drive across the US towards Niagara-On-The-Lake in Canada. This is where Kathryn’s parents live and also where I plan to go if anything really apocalyptic happens. It’s a little paradise and the best place to spend the summer.
After that we’ll drive back to Los Angeles. Kevin and I are hoping to send out our book proposal this fall and I have some big votes I’d like to ask my shareholders about (it’s time to bring back the vasectomy vote, and I’m thinking about college in 2023).
I came across this quote from GRIT and replaces “goals” with “projects:”
This was not easy for me, but I came up with the following list:
🥚 Experimental Garden Group
👉 Fingerholers
📕 KmikeyM Book Proposal
📺 KmikeyM TV Pitch
🧙♂️ Change Wizard Re-launch
Anything I do that is not related to these goals is a waste of time, which is a terrifying thing to write. I made each of these a Priority 1 goal in my ToDoist App and they scream at me as “overdue” each day.
So no new projects until at least one of these is finished. (I feel like a project addict.)
👯♀️ KmikeyM Meetups
A few people responded to the route we might be taking across the country and I’ll announce some meetups as we figure out the dates for our travels, but in the meantime you can also organize your own Shareholder Meetup!
Shareholder Jesse Rifkin lives in Washington DC and is looking to meet up with any shareholders or shareholder-curious folks. Reach out to Jesse via email here if you are in the DC area.
If you’re in some other major metro area and want to meet up with shareholders let me know and I’ll share with everyone on the list.
🆒 The End
That’s it! The most important thing is to vote on the proposal and I’m leaving it open a few days to let people ask questions.
Profitably Yours,
-K. Mike Merrill