Green-broke Feb 25
Hello equible friends,
Where did February go? If I ever have a horse that is really fast, a little short, and a bit spicy I am calling it February.
Welcome to the sixth issue of Green-broke, a monthly newsletter for those interested or invested in coming along for the ride with me. This is a monthly update for you and a routine check point for me, keeping you informed (or more likely entertained by the ups and downs) and me accountable.
Let me introduce you to Feb 🐴
Slowing down and speeding up at the same time
The freshness of the new year has worn off and reality well and truly sunk in as I near the end of my forecasted financial runway for equible. So with pressure mounting in the last month I had to change up my riding style.
A dear old friend of mine often jokes that most riders have perfect timing. By that he means they pull back on the reins and spur the horse on at exactly the same time, perfect! Jokes aside, if the rider slows down and does one thing at a time, they may just enable the horse to speed up.
I am optimistic this holds true for me and equible as I take on some more advisory work to lengthen the financial runway and inevitably slow down (case in point with this issue’s tardiness). These are the other changes I made in the last month to avoid perfect timing and enable speed.
More industry backer less angel investor
After chatting with a few angel investors I’ve realised the best investor for equible – albeit niche – is backers in the equine industry. A vested interest means not only capital, but more importantly help creating traction. For backers it’s a way to diversify, offset tax, and add sustainable value to their business and industry. Narrowing the focus has already sped things up attracting three quality leads in the last few weeks.
Psssst… to PSA
Until now I’ve been coy with the idea of equible thinking this maintained competitive advantage… but you have to be competing first. Nowadays stealth startup is an arguably traditional, slow, and costly approach.
Listening to Daniel Prestley on Diary Of A CEO podcast and reflecting on some subtle – and some not so subtle – hints I’d gotten from folks in my circle resulted in this connecting the dots moment. It’s no longer enough to have a faceless idea, consumer trust needs to be built in both my personal and equible’s brand to compete.
So I’m bringing equible out of hiding and into your feeds. I kicked off in February launching a less than perfect landing page. Check out equible.com.au and prepare to be entertained, it’s going to get western.
One more ‘no’ closer to ‘yes’
As a product person I’m used to adapting solutions around ‘no’. In corporate environments this kind of agility is a strength. But I’ve learnt successful entrepreneurs respond to ‘no’ differently and instead persevere with their ideas — they view every ‘no’ as one more step closer to ‘yes’ Carmine Gallo, Talk Like TED.
Being conditioned to accept ‘no’ is now a weakness and has slowed equible down. For example, I spent approx. 3 months rejigging the concept because I’d hit ‘no’ technical feasibility rather than finding someone or something that made it feasible, like I did a couple of weeks ago.
If this was a line item it would equible’s biggest cost to date. Unfortunately, a change in mindset isn’t that tangible so I just have to get back on the horse and hang on.
Mane Points
Welcome to Mane Points a new section of Green-broke highlighting interesting news, insights, and takeaways from the equine industry.
💚 2025 Nutrien Classic Sale
The sale grossed $13,584,500 with 93% clearance of 533 horses offered.
Online participation is growing with $1.95m in sales from 1,550 bids placed on 415 horses securing 87 lots including the highest price horse.
A promising indicator of the demand for modern accessible trading methods.
🤕 Horcery: For Horses That Try to Commit Suicide
I chatted with one the brains behind the AI powered stall monitoring solution at Horcery.
I recommend a quick look at their witch craft, it might save you a lot of heartache.
👯♀️ The World's Greatest Horseman Is A Woman
Erin Taorimino became the first woman ever to win the prestigious event on Hazardouz Material aka ‘Skeeter’.
The win is just in time to celebrate International Women’s Day, yeehaw cowgirl!
⛷️ Ever Heard Of Skijoring?
The Canadian sport crossover that is gaining popularity quick and is a personal bucket list item.
If it’s not in your algorithm it should be @skijoringcanada
We’ve reached the tail end of the sixth issue, I hope you’ll keep joining me for the ride. Feb is a bit of a roughy, but every string has got one!
Best,
Emily