Cutting Through The Crap
Nov 12, 2025
There are 49 days until the new year.
Chances are, you’ve already thought about your holiday plans—where you’re going, who you’re seeing, what you’re bringing.
But what about your business? Have you started thinking about your goals for next year?
The best way to crush next year is to plan for it now. Last weekend, we locked ourselves in Mike’s office and hammered out our 2026 strategy.
We use the V2MOM framework—a simple but powerful tool for clarifying your vision and aligning your team. Here’s a V2MOM planning doc we share with our companies—and it can help you too.
Even if you don’t use V2MOM, sit down and capture a few basics:
Your vision — Where do you want to be by the end of next year? Be specific.
Your priorities — What 3–6 actions will get you there? Put them in order.
Your obstacles — What could stand in your way? Naming them helps you avoid them.
Your success metrics — How will you know you’ve won? Define it now so there’s no guessing later.
Heading into 2025, our vision was simple: TurnShoveling $h!t: A Love Storyinto a national bestseller and make the USA TODAY Bestseller List.
That focus guided every decision. We hit the road, worked like crazy, and—thanks to you—blew past even our wildest goals: USA TODAY, The New York Times, LA Times, and more.
Now we’re setting our sights on 2026. What about you?
Share your vision and goals in the comments or shoot us an email—and tell us how we can help you hit them.
INSIGHT
🥊 Take the punches. The small wins have to carry you through a lot of suffering as a founder. Hear how we stay in the fight.
🍀 Create your own luck. By showing up and persevering, you open yourself up to “lucky” breaks. See why “lucky” founders aren’t lucky at all.
❌ Fail fast. It’s okay to fail—but you have to learn faster than everyone else. Learn why speed beats perfection.
CHEAT CODE: CUTTING THROUGH THE CRAP
Here’s the dirty truth: most business plans are a waste of pixels. They’re crafted to dazzle investors—not to tell you the unfiltered truth. The best business plans? They cut through the crap.
A business plan has one job: to prove your idea can stand on its own two feet before you start throwing real time, money, and sanity at it. Forget the 50 pages of fluff. Focus on answering six “Go Gauge” questions:
1️⃣ Product: What problem do you solve, and why should anyone care?
2️⃣ Differentiation: Why you—over the dozen other startups with the same idea?
3️⃣ Customer: Who’s actually buying, and have you talked to them?
4️⃣ Sales & Marketing: How will you find, win, and keep customers?
5️⃣ Delivery: Can you deliver reliably, repeatedly, and profitably?
6️⃣ Financial Model: Does it pass the smell test? Cut your revenue in half, double your expenses. If the math still works, you’ve got a fighting chance.
We’ve seen too many founders skip the spreadsheet stage because it feels “too corporate.” Rookie mistake. The numbers bring clarity. They show whether your dream has legs—or just looks good in a deck.
Planning doesn’t make you dull—it makes you dangerous. The founders who tackle the gritty details early are the ones who actually build something that lasts.
That’s the real cheat code: clarity beats complexity every time.
🆘 Access the 49 other cheat codes every entrepreneur needs to know fromShoveling $H!T: A Love Story.
🚜 Have you made a hard pivot? Jump into theFounders Farmand share some stories.
KASS & MIKE'S FOUR FAVORITE FINDS
👨💻 What is 'AI-washing' and what does it mean for the layoffs hitting the economy?
💾 How Intel plans to reclaim dominance in semiconductors.
📊 Third-quarter earnings are revealing a divided economy—with wealthier Americans spending more and others pulling back.
🏔️ Local entrepreneurs in a Montana town have banded together to bring back the American dream.
AROUND THE FARM
👨🌾 Join the next Founders Farm session!
⏰ Tuesday, November 11th | 12:00–12:45 PM ET
📍 Click here to add it to your calendar
Got a topic you’d like to discuss?
Email: info@kassandmike.com
🤔 Forbes interviewed us about how we use the V2MOM framework to make investment decisions.
💸 CNBC shared our story of how we dealt with our company going bankrupt.
🎙️ Secrets of Happily Ever After interviewed us on the ins and outs of our romance and partnership.
🎤 We sat down with Mike Perkins on The Necessary Entrepreneur to talk about leading with empathy through the chaos of life and entrepreneurship.
📚 Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story debuted on the New York Times & USA Today bestseller lists! We couldn’t have done it without this community.
FINALLY, WANNA GET INVOLVED?
📖 Get bulk copies
⏰ Invite us to speak at your event.
🤯 Share your thoughts on social: #FoundersFarm
⏩ Forward this dispatch to 3 entrepreneurs who should be getting it!
Thanks for reading. And never stop shoveling—because an entrepreneur who loves to shovel is unstoppable!
Love,
Kass & Mike
Chances are, you’ve already thought about your holiday plans—where you’re going, who you’re seeing, what you’re bringing.
But what about your business? Have you started thinking about your goals for next year?
The best way to crush next year is to plan for it now. Last weekend, we locked ourselves in Mike’s office and hammered out our 2026 strategy.
We use the V2MOM framework—a simple but powerful tool for clarifying your vision and aligning your team. Here’s a V2MOM planning doc we share with our companies—and it can help you too.
Even if you don’t use V2MOM, sit down and capture a few basics:
Your vision — Where do you want to be by the end of next year? Be specific.
Your priorities — What 3–6 actions will get you there? Put them in order.
Your obstacles — What could stand in your way? Naming them helps you avoid them.
Your success metrics — How will you know you’ve won? Define it now so there’s no guessing later.
Heading into 2025, our vision was simple: TurnShoveling $h!t: A Love Storyinto a national bestseller and make the USA TODAY Bestseller List.
That focus guided every decision. We hit the road, worked like crazy, and—thanks to you—blew past even our wildest goals: USA TODAY, The New York Times, LA Times, and more.
Now we’re setting our sights on 2026. What about you?
Share your vision and goals in the comments or shoot us an email—and tell us how we can help you hit them.
INSIGHT
🥊 Take the punches. The small wins have to carry you through a lot of suffering as a founder. Hear how we stay in the fight.
🍀 Create your own luck. By showing up and persevering, you open yourself up to “lucky” breaks. See why “lucky” founders aren’t lucky at all.
❌ Fail fast. It’s okay to fail—but you have to learn faster than everyone else. Learn why speed beats perfection.
CHEAT CODE: CUTTING THROUGH THE CRAP
Here’s the dirty truth: most business plans are a waste of pixels. They’re crafted to dazzle investors—not to tell you the unfiltered truth. The best business plans? They cut through the crap.
A business plan has one job: to prove your idea can stand on its own two feet before you start throwing real time, money, and sanity at it. Forget the 50 pages of fluff. Focus on answering six “Go Gauge” questions:
1️⃣ Product: What problem do you solve, and why should anyone care?
2️⃣ Differentiation: Why you—over the dozen other startups with the same idea?
3️⃣ Customer: Who’s actually buying, and have you talked to them?
4️⃣ Sales & Marketing: How will you find, win, and keep customers?
5️⃣ Delivery: Can you deliver reliably, repeatedly, and profitably?
6️⃣ Financial Model: Does it pass the smell test? Cut your revenue in half, double your expenses. If the math still works, you’ve got a fighting chance.
We’ve seen too many founders skip the spreadsheet stage because it feels “too corporate.” Rookie mistake. The numbers bring clarity. They show whether your dream has legs—or just looks good in a deck.
Planning doesn’t make you dull—it makes you dangerous. The founders who tackle the gritty details early are the ones who actually build something that lasts.
That’s the real cheat code: clarity beats complexity every time.
🆘 Access the 49 other cheat codes every entrepreneur needs to know fromShoveling $H!T: A Love Story.
🚜 Have you made a hard pivot? Jump into theFounders Farmand share some stories.
KASS & MIKE'S FOUR FAVORITE FINDS
👨💻 What is 'AI-washing' and what does it mean for the layoffs hitting the economy?
💾 How Intel plans to reclaim dominance in semiconductors.
📊 Third-quarter earnings are revealing a divided economy—with wealthier Americans spending more and others pulling back.
🏔️ Local entrepreneurs in a Montana town have banded together to bring back the American dream.
AROUND THE FARM
👨🌾 Join the next Founders Farm session!
⏰ Tuesday, November 11th | 12:00–12:45 PM ET
📍 Click here to add it to your calendar
Got a topic you’d like to discuss?
Email: info@kassandmike.com
🤔 Forbes interviewed us about how we use the V2MOM framework to make investment decisions.
💸 CNBC shared our story of how we dealt with our company going bankrupt.
🎙️ Secrets of Happily Ever After interviewed us on the ins and outs of our romance and partnership.
🎤 We sat down with Mike Perkins on The Necessary Entrepreneur to talk about leading with empathy through the chaos of life and entrepreneurship.
📚 Shoveling $h!t: A Love Story debuted on the New York Times & USA Today bestseller lists! We couldn’t have done it without this community.
FINALLY, WANNA GET INVOLVED?
📖 Get bulk copies
⏰ Invite us to speak at your event.
🤯 Share your thoughts on social: #FoundersFarm
⏩ Forward this dispatch to 3 entrepreneurs who should be getting it!
Thanks for reading. And never stop shoveling—because an entrepreneur who loves to shovel is unstoppable!
Love,
Kass & Mike
Connect with Kass & Mike
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info@kassandmike.com
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© Kass & Mike Lazerow 2026