Annual Review 2024

At the end of each year, I’ve reflected on the past 12 months, what have gone well, what hasn’t gone well and what things I look to improve. The format has been evolving pretty much every year. Here are my previous reviews from 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

I’ve always used templates to examine my year in review. These are Sahil Bloom’s annual review and Steve Schlafman’s Ultimate Annual Review. Also I’ve used the ones from James Clear and Chris Guillebeau.

Let’s get into the learnings from this year.

What went well this year?

After much reflection, browsing my journals from 2024, these are the things that went well this year on all fronts.

Personal Life Developments

2023 has been a transformative year on the personal front. My kids have grown a lot. They’re doing great in school and developing amazing personalities. We moved into a new home which has brought more stability into our daily routines, even though the move was somewhat challenging.

My sleep quality has seen dramatic improvements since 2023, mainly I started making it a priority to get quality sleet and developing better habits around rest. Finally on the personal side, I’ve gained deeper insights into my own patterns of behavior and decision-making, which has helped both personally and professionally.

Content Creation Momentum

I’ve maintained a consistent publishing schedule on Elite Game Developers, releasing thoughtful pieces every two weeks without fail. The Substack has grown steadily in both readership and engagement. Additionally, I’ve embarked on writing a new book, which is still early and a small weekend project, but could gain momentum during 2025.

F4’s Investment Activity

At F4 Fund, we’ve had an active year deploying capital across 11 new investments. Each of these companies represents careful evaluation and alignment with our thesis around attention-based businesses. We’ve been particularly focused on finding founders who are pushing boundaries in how they capture and monetize user engagement though gamification.

It really felt like the startup spacce evolved very positively throughout 2024. Several of our portfolio companies have successfully secured follow-on funding.

Angel Investment Successes

My angel investment portfolio has seen significant wins this year, with two companies closing substantial follow-on funding rounds in the eight-figure range. While this was great, we had the unfortunate reality of two companies closing their doors, it does align with expected failure rates in early-stage investing. The resilience shown by many founders in navigating challenging market conditions has been particularly impressive throughout 2023 and 2024.

What did I change my mind about in 2024?

I changed my mind on what it means to be all in.

When I say I’m “all in,” I can be fully committed while still maintaining enough energy to sustain that commitment every day.

Weekends are for family and hobbies. While there are often work-related matters like important presentations or documents that need preparation and take priority, I don’t deliberately schedule additional work on weekends just for the sake of it.

Over the course of 2024, my understanding of what it means to be “all in” has evolved significantly. In my career, I’ve found that true commitment involves reducing stress and ensuring my time off is genuinely restorative. By engaging in activities that occupy different parts of my brain, I can step away from my roles as an investor and content creator more effectively.

Occasionally, I do dedicate some free time to work-related tasks. However, when it comes to content creation, I strive to keep it playful and enjoyable rather than treating it as an extension of my job. My curiosity drives me, leading me to explore various interests.

Recently, I’ve been focusing my free time on creating music, watching English football, and building Legos with my kids. These activities differ vastly from my professional responsibilities and provide quality downtime. This balanced approach has made my commitment to being “all in” much healthier.

What new skills and habits did I develop?

In 2024, I saw a significant improvement in my sleep quality. A year ago, I was frequently plagued by nights of only 5-6 hours of sleep, waking up stressed, tired, and anxious. While I still occasionally experience those restless nights and groggy mornings, I’ve implemented several strategies that have substantially enhanced my sleep.

Rather than listing dozens of factors, my key takeaway is the importance of experimentation to find what works best for you. There’s a wealth of information available, so accessing resources isn’t an issue. The challenge lies in tailoring those insights to fit your unique needs and circumstances. By building a conducive environment and adopting effective habits, I’ve managed to transform my evenings into a foundation for better rest.

What didn’t go so well this year?

I dropped the ball on deep work in 2024. For years, I’ve been following the advice of Cal Newport, who’s shared extensively about deep work through his books and podcast. His framework has been instrumental in how I’ve structured my work in previous years – blocking out focused time for complex tasks, eliminating distractions, and creating the right environment for sustained concentration.

But this year, I found myself slipping into reactive mode. Instead of protecting those crucial deep work blocks, I let them get eroded by what Newport calls “shallow work”: the constant stream of emails, checking X, Slack messages, and quick tasks that feel urgent but often aren’t truly important.

Looking ahead to 2024, I need to recommit to the principles of deep work. This means being more intentional about how I structure my calendar and returning to the specific practices Newport advocates, like time-block planning and having clear protocols for when and how I engage with communication tools.

The challenge, of course, is balancing this with the realities of VC work, where being responsive and available to founders is crucial. But I’m convinced there’s a way to do both. To be present for our portfolio companies (office hours, scheduled catch ups, etc.) while still creating the space needed for the kind of deep thinking that ultimately makes me a better investor and advisor.

What goals didn’t I accomplish, and what got in the way?

One significant goal I had set was defining my core values. Which I totally failed at doing.

While this might seem like an abstract exercise, I’ve come to realize its profound importance for both personal and professional development. My failure to prioritize this work stems largely from not fully grasping how fundamental values are to decision-making and overall wellbeing..

Looking ahead to 2025, I plan to approach this more systematically. I’ve been researching different frameworks and templates that successful leaders have used to articulate their values. The goal isn’t just to create a list of nice-sounding principles, but to develop a practical tool that can guide decision-making and behavior in both personal and professional contexts.

What habits or interests held me back?

I became too sensitive about writing and publishing content. If it wasn’t the best of the best, I didn’t want to post it. I actually scrapped countless pieces from my Substack this year because they didn’t feel on par with what I wanted to put out.

What I started to realize by the end of the year was that the pieces that didn’t do as well wouldn’t make people hate or dislike my Substack, compared to consistently getting pieces out and having 50% of them do well. Basically a mediocre piece’s negative impact is small, while a good piece’s positive impact can be significant.

To get more content out, I’ve now focused on publishing 50% founder advice pieces and 50% market analysis pieces. It’s a good mix, and they both require different approaches to content creation. I think 2025 will be great for content creation.

Top lessons learned in 2023?

There’s two that I want to share.

1. Early-stage startups are truly about the founder and their ability to navigate through landmines and change course when needed. The market might be challenging, but a great founder will make it work. However, they need to be the type who will unapologetically push through walls to make progress. Internally at F4 Fund, we started developing a framework for assessing new founder we meet, based on this PDF.

2. This year I read a book called “Die With Zero,” which talks about optimizing your life by prioritizing meaningful experiences and spending your money while you’re younger, rather than focusing solely on saving for later years. I started making financial investments that improve my quality of life. Nothing fancy, but convenience, comfort, and calm would be the key descriptors. I’ve always been frugal, both in my personal life and as an entrepreneur. It just doesn’t make sense to grind for 20 years, then not improve anything that money could enhance, only to continue grinding for another 20 years before allowing improvements.

Final words

That’s it for this year. Let me know in the comments if you’ve written an annual review; I’d be happy to read it!