State of the Patreon/A kind of life update

[warning: a longer post]

Hello all!

Sorry to deluge you with posts today - but there are lots of things to talk about!

Firstly: there are a lot of you now! An astonishing amount really, and it makes me feel a few different things:

- Excited! So much we can accomplish, and I can move so much quicker.

- Nervous! There are expectations! I must meet them! I am responsible to you, as a group, and I actually think a little liability is a good thing.

- Grateful. Extremely grateful.

I've been focused on trying to make the best videos I can, with reasonable frequency, and while that has been successful it has not been without issue.

Secondly: I have not found my rhythm on here. For that, I apologise. I really enjoy posting on here, and the conversation that can happen here. It feels so much calmer than the comments section of YouTube that quickly spirals out of control. I've also been slow to answer DMs on here, for which I also apologise. I intend to respond to every single DM on here, which I can't (and won't) do on other platforms. I tweeted yesterday about the volume of messages I get now outside of normal emails, but this place is special and I want to be a bit more on top of that. I'm constantly looking for other ways of delivering more value here, but I need more of one particular resource: time.

Thirdly: This is not just an "oh poor me!" post. I have a plan. I don't really talk about what I do for a living much, but I have responsibilities (but not job titles) at five or six companies (you'll obviously know Square Mile Coffee and Prufrock, but there are others). I'm also working inside another new company launching later this year (outside of coffee),  I do some advisory work for a small number of startups, and I'm going to be travelling a bit this year with the VA Eagle One project. 

Also, sometimes I make YouTube videos.

There are lots of pulls on my time, but one of the trickiest bits is managing all of the projects within those businesses. So I'm going to be hiring some help (don't worry - not out of Patreon funds!) to help with admin and project management across all of this, and to gently bully me into getting more things done. (If you know someone well-suited to this PA role in London then do please DM me!)

So - if I have been slow to reply here or anywhere else, I apologise. Things will be getting better. I don't know if this kind of update is weird, but I've never felt directly responsible to over 1,400 people before! This stuff has been on my mind a lot, so maybe sharing is a kind of therapy for me too...

While I was writing this the channel ticked over 200,000 subscribers. This is a head-wrecking number. It took over 1000 days to get to 100k. This next 100k came in about 120 days. All of you have made this possible, and I still feel we are at the beginning of something really wonderful that could bring more people to great coffee and make their lives that bit better, the way that great coffee does.

Thank you,

James