“I just quit my 9-5. Now what?”

Welcome to Issue #10 👋 

Danny here. It’s been a gloriously (i.e. rare) sunny week in London and I’ve been busy meeting tons of starters building cool things. If you’re in my neck of the woods and cooking up something good, shoot me a message – I’d love to say hi.

In this week’s issue…

• INSPO ↣ 8-figure shrooms

• TIPS ↣  SURI’s co-founder

• IDEAS ↣ Passion vs purpose

• TOOLS ↣ Trend trackers

• TOWN HALL ↣ Leaving a 9-5

Ten issues of For Starters out the door! What are you finding valuable? What will help you build your dream biz? Tell me everything → [email protected]

DG

↣ Check out this beautiful cargo e-bike: designed in Switzerland, made in the French Pyrenees, and perfect for all you starters out there looking to do local deliveries of fresh croissants, fresh flowers or, maybe, freshly groomed dogs. 🐶

↣ This week, US Air Force veteran Evan Fay soft-launched Roar Brewing Co, which is, incredibly, Detroit's first ever Black-owned brewery (although sadly not surprising: Black-owned breweries make up <1% of all breweries in the US). 🍺

↣ Over in New York, everyone’s talking about Ha’s Snack Bar, a tiny Vietnamese-French-ish joint on the Lower East Side from married starters Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns-Ha, who previously ran the pop-up Ha’s Đặc Biệt. The NYT is calling it the city’s most exciting new spot – the New Yorker is a fan too. 🗽

↣ Anyone been to Merci 2 yet? It’s the second act of the Paris shop that basically helped define the modern lifestyle concept store. 🛍️

↣ Elsewhere in Paris, Tehran-born Farimah Fattahi is "bringing a touch of Iran to Paris's café culture” with her coffee shop Harvest. ☕️

↣ I really enjoyed reading this story about the origin of very famous Californian pottery brand Heath Ceramics, founded by Cathy Bailey and Robin Petravic – and how they’ve quietly reimagined a seaside retreat on gorgeous Tomales Bay. They call it Fisherman’s Camp. 🎣

↣ Also in California: Check out Slightly Choppy, a great custom flag maker in Newport Beach run by painter, collector, designer and surfer Scott Richards. Might have to get some For Starters flags made up… 🎏

↣ Mignon Francois, founder of Nashville’s The Cupcake Collection, “was a stay at home mom drowning in debt and stuck in a house with no electricity when she had the idea to start a cupcake business. After spending her last $5 on cupcake ingredients, she began to multiply her profits to $10 million.” 🧁

↣ Portland, Maine-based Matthew McInnis is growing (sorry…) a really impressive mushroom business called North Spore. It started in 2014 with him and some buddies and they quickly cracked the code of how to sell mushroom spawn (i.e. seeds) via e-commerce. Today, it's an 8-figure company. 🍄

↣ In Chicago, industrial designer Joyce Lai has created a 3D-printed hanger for bras called Bras Up that extends the bra's lifespan (and, thus, reduces waste). Smart. 👙

↣ And Elliot Wolf, son of Law & Order creator Dick Wolf, is developing a new company which uses AI to create daily murder mystery games: They’re hoping to work with IP holders to adapt TV shows. Here’s hoping they create a game in which [SPOILER] a certain character in White Lotus season 2 has a less tragic ending… 👀