Welcome to the new joiners since last week. Excited to see the group grow. Hope the week is off to a great start.

What I’m most fired up about right now is the May gathering. Got the venue locked down, details below. My goal right now is to grow our base, but not at the expense of quality. I want this community to grow with like-minded, high-agency, value-aligned people. That's the whole point of what we're building here.

So with that said, if you've been enjoying this and you're excited about where it's going, I'd really appreciate it if you forwarded this to one person you think would feel the same. That's how this thing grows and becomes more valuable for us all.

The next gathering will be Wednesday, May 20th at 6pm at Jasper's Backyard in Conshohocken, PA.

Our first gathering at McNally's was exactly what I wanted. Small, intimate group of people all thinking outside the box. Entrepreneurial-minded and value-aligned. I'm definitely game to go back to McNally's at some point. I’m a big fan and seems like you all enjoyed it too. But I have a feeling we may be outgrowing it already.

If you're planning to join us on May 20th, reply to this email or text me directly so I can get a rough headcount and confirm with the venue.

In the spring of 1776, a Connecticut delegate named Silas Deane left Philadelphia on a secret mission for Congress. His assignment: go to France, convince one of the most powerful nations in Europe to bankroll a revolution, and arrange the shipment of weapons and supplies for an army of 30,000 men. His cover story was that he was a private merchant buying goods for trade. But in reality, he was America's first diplomat, operating completely undercover in a foreign country. He didn't speak French and had never left the country.

He went anyway. By the summer he was in Paris, negotiating with the French foreign minister and coordinating shipments through a fake company set up specifically to disguise French support. Within a year and a half, those supplies made it to the Continental Army and were a major factor in the American victory at Saratoga, which is what finally convinced France to formally enter the war. He also recruited Lafayette, Pulaski, and von Steuben along the way.

Deane wasn't a soldier. He wasn't a diplomat. He was a well-connected lawyer and merchant who had served in Congress and knew the right people. But none of that prepared him for what he was being asked to do. He said yes anyway because the mission mattered more than feeling ready.

In the context of our personal lives, I don't think any one of us are doing anything close to as important as this (definitely let me know if you are ,and also, why are you reading this). But I think the through line here is how often we wait to feel fully prepared before we start something. Deane had a strong foundation, but the assignment was a massive leap beyond anything he'd done before. He figured it out on the move.

It's an incredible mindset to have and definitely something I try to remind myself of every day. You don't need to have it all mapped out before you start. Just say yes to the assignment. Figure it out as you go.

If you haven’t done so already, please reply to this email and let me know the following:

What part of the Philadelphia area are you in?
What are your favorite local spots — restaurants, farms, trails, taverns?
What would make this community useful to you?

I want to build the most valuable community, your input matters a lot.

Sound Life Philly is in its early stages, and your help growing it matters more now than it ever will later. If this resonated, forward it to someone in the Philadelphia area who should be part of this newsletter and community.

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