# #26 - A butterfly effect moment

*Week 29 & 30 of "My new business" series*

By [Morten Gilje](https://paragraph.com/@mortengilje) · 2025-09-01

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I missed last Monday again... Last week my head was in a different space. I had a tough decision on my mind, and I let it steal my attention. The silver lining: a few of you messaged asking where the post was — I take that as a compliment. It means you expect it and (hopefully) enjoy reading these.

With that in mind, I’m making a change: I’m moving from **weekly** to **one post at the end of each month**. Less filler, more juice. I’d rather give you a meaningful recap with real lessons than force an update when there isn’t much to say. So this is a quick Monday note, and then I’ll switch to end-of-month recaps.

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### Business update (August)

August was good. I brought in **~100k NOK** with the consulting business, delivered solid results, and I’m heading into autumn with a clear plan. Focused.

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### The hard decision

On the side of my consulting business, I’ve been helping a developer friend with an AI startup — supporting product, booking meetings, and we even landed paying customers. Someone from a VC firm (through my network) asked what I was working on when I bumped into him in the office building; I mentioned the startup. A few days later, we had a meeting with them and were invited into a cohort with a likely investment (only 3-5% of 160k applicants are accepted...) We had three days to decide. On the last day, we both signed.

The very next morning my gut was loud and clear: **this isn’t right**.

I talked to my friend and told him I needed to focus on my thing; he should keep going if he wanted — he’s the real founder anyway, he built it. We agreed. Then I called the VC and withdrew. They understood.

The relief I felt right after told me everything. I’ve made the mistake of taking on too much before. **Not again.** I want my freedom (no VC´s breathing down my neck) and the focus to build something excellent — not two things half-baked.

**There’s a butterfly-effect element to choices like this**: small decisions now can send your life in completely different directions years later. We’re bad at thinking long-term; this time I chose long-term focus over short-term excitement.

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### What this means

*   I keep my focus on "my new consulting business"
    
*   Curiosity is great, but **capacity** is finite.
    
*   Depth over width. Fewer things, done extremely well.
    

Thanks for reading — and for holding me accountable. See you in the **end-of-September** recap.

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*Originally published on [Morten Gilje](https://paragraph.com/@mortengilje/26-a-butterfly-effect-moment)*