Hey,
I am Morgan Lopes. My days are spent building businesses where I can color outside the lines of entrepreneurship, technology, and social impact.
If you're looking for thoughts and experiences within business ownership, entrepreneurship, leadership, parenthood, software engineering, startups, and things of the like, welcome.
Godspeed.
Recent Posts
A more productive and engaged version of you. While exchanging emails with Adam Walker, a fellow Atlanta entrepreneur and friend, I noticed a message on the footer of his emails. Adam’s message circa 2017: Having batched email communication for years, this seemed like a thoughtful solution to the fervent-mailers who expect a reply within hours or minutes. If nothing else, it properly sets expectations and outlines personal rules of engagement. As I began crafting my own closing postscript, it seemed appropriate to touch on another topic I’m passionate about. While productivity is certainly a driving factor in batching my emails, amplifying the value of real human interactions surpasses mere efficiency. Limiting exposure to email allows me to be more present in daily life. What kind of message does it send to someone across the table, in person, when you keep checking your phone? How about the disruptive nature of constant…
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Working from home provides tremendous flexibility. Unfortunately, it also begins to blur the lines between areas of life that were once separate. Because you’re working and living from the same space, it can feel like one flows seamlessly into the other. This can lead to depriving yourself of a true rest and separation from ‘always being on’. I’ve found a few rituals to be specially useful in signaling to your mind that it’s time to switch gears. These work for me, but I’d love to hear other suggestions. Put Your Pants On When most interaction involves being on-screen, it’s tempting to only ‘prepare’ for what people see (ie nice shirt and jacket, no pants). Changing into a complete outfit for work (shoes too) and changing out of it when you’re done is powerful. It signals to your body/mind whether it’s go-time or not. Our physical world often drives our mental…
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Churches and Congregations are essentially event-based organizations. Many of these groups are likely experiencing availability due to events while also struggling to keep up with the needs in their community. Their day to day work looks drastically different. I put together ideas for inspiration for churches and congregations. Hopefully it prompts some outside-the-box thinking and provides new ways to stay inspired. A “24/7 service” where pastors and community leaders jump online for 30-60 minute time blocks.Shorter, daily service each morning.A video stream of pastors reading books for children. Parents are overwhelmed and allowing their kids to see familiar faces could provide comfort (and free time).Send a daily list of positive, encouraging content for people to consume.Take content from your backlog, cut it to shorter length, and share in smaller chunks.Use your massive parking lot to host a drive-in and project a movie onto a large wall.Host virtual community groups /…
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Local business is hit hardest during economic downturn. Combined with social distancing, gyms and personal trainers are especially impacted. As members consider cancelling, it’s important that these groups get creative about driving attention and sales to their business by providing unique value to their members. I’ve put together ideas for inspiration for gyms and personal trainers. It’s not much, but hopefully it prompts some level of outside-the-box thinking. SBA Disaster Loans. More information is emerging but I’m including this on every list of Ideas for inspiration because too many businesses still don’t know about it.Rent equipment. Charge a monthly fee for members to rent equipment and have it delivered to their home.Facilitate the buying/selling of members’ at home equipment. Allow them to sell, barter, or buy from each other.Charge more for exclusivity. Some members would likely pay 2-5x their monthly membership for the chance to workout in the facility without…
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Local business is hit hardest during economic downturn. Restaurants have a unique opportunity to get creative about driving attention and sales to their business. I’ve put together ideas for inspiration for Local Restaurants. It’s not much, but hopefully it prompts creativity. Increase Prices. I’d rather pay 20-30% more for a short period of time to support local businesses I enjoy as opposed to them closing down and serving no-one.Trade food for work. Rather than layoffs, offering team members food in exchange for volunteering could at least keep their families fed during an economic downturn.Sell goods straight from distributor. Grocery stores are slammed and people are already buying in bulk.SBA Disaster Loans. More information is emerging about this but there is creative financing available for restaurants.Host virtual cooking class that walks people through cooking restaurant favorites.Convert dining room into cooking space to increase kitchen capacity.Offer cook-it-yourself, pre organized meal options.Convert to…
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Meetings can be an important part of work life. They bring people together. At their best, they facilitate meaningful interactions and fuel progress. The time and energy invests produces outsized returns. Advocating for better meetings, the Meeting Manifesto serves as a litmus test. A few critical elements shape an effective meeting. By communicating and championing each expectation, meetings will improve. Start on TimeEnd on TimeSchedule in AdvanceAgenda is Clear and CommunicatedStay FocusedMeeting is NecessaryEveryone Contributes MeaningfullyTechnology Functions Properly Simplicity is not the absence of clutter, it’s the presence of only what (or who) is essential. Start on Time Was everyone present and ready to begin? It’s not just about the clock or the people, it’s about preparedness. Attendees should be present and ready to begin. Starting a meeting at the agreed upon time shows respect for others’ time and primes attendees to take the meeting more seriously. Starting late eliminates…
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As times get hard, businesses need to get creative about driving attention and sales to their business. I’ve put together ideas for inspiration for Coffee Companies. It’s not much, but hopefully it prompts creativity. Streamline all promote larger bags or bulk buying.Rent storage space. Inviting companies who are downsizing to utilize your storage space.Selling large, portable carafes of coffee and make local deliveries.Engage the artist community. Host a digital competition of creative artwork using coffee beans.Create a printable calendar with each month focusing on a type of coffee.Create playful/shareable gifs of your teamMobilize your team to brew larger quantities at their home and sell to their neighborhood (safely).Sell gift cards at reduced cost.Provide recipes for things you can do with coffee:• Breakfast recipes with coffee• Lunch recipes with coffee• Dessert recipes with coffeeSend a short, simple, plain text email to all customers with a clear ask to subscribe.BONUS: Create unique…
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There is no shortage of information about company culture. In practice however, there are few actionable resources that make an impact. Surveying the team regularly helps determine what is working and what should improve. This survey is long and is probably most appropriate for annual reflections. A more frequent survey could be shorter and lean on questions that assess the current focus. Keep in mind, it makes sense to add questions that assess the companies alignment with its values. Enjoy. I make meaningful progress every day. Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither agree or disagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree I have opportunities to learn and grow. Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither agree or disagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree I have a close friend at work. Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither agree or disagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree My manager seems to care about me as a person. Strongly AgreeAgreeNeither agree or disagreeDisagreeStrongly Disagree What (if any) blocker(s) hold you back from ASKING for more feedback? Distance and/or travelMore structure/framework…
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Product Hunt is a great resource for previewing what’s new in tech. Every day, dozens of apps are added or launch for the first time. I’ve pulled a list of the remote resources from the last few weeks. The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work Getting up to speed with remote work? We’ve gathered our best learnings, tips, tools, and templates gleaned from years of collaborating across multiple hubs. Good for managers and employees alike!10+ chapters in total (navigate using the TOC on the left) https://www.producthunt.com/posts/the-ultimate-guide-to-remote-work-2 WFH Manual A super huge collection of some of the best tips/hacks, resources and best practices shared by pro #WFH workers around the Internet 💻 https://www.producthunt.com/posts/wfh-manual Remote Makers Remote Makers is an online magazine where you will find awe-inspiring interviews with people working remotely. Our mission is to inspire and help those who want a similar lifestyle and career. https://www.producthunt.com/posts/remote-makers Train skills crucial for REMOTE…
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Company culture is a top focus at New Story. As a distributed team, we’ve had to get creative with ways to enrich company culture while team members aren’t in the same office. I’ve pulled together a list of the most effective, actionable steps we’ve taken. Monday Team CallFriday ‘Values Shoutouts’ CallHang-10sValues channel in SlackWorking in Public PolicyMore, focused Slack ChannelsCustom reaction emoji’sSlack NotificationsWeekly Focus Channel Monday Team Call A weekly, 45 minute video call via Zoom. The entire team joins a Zoom call and gets on the same page. The agenda is always evolving to accommodate shifting needs and priorities, but alignment and excitement is the goal.getting on the same page. One department shares an update each week. Celebration moments from last week are shared. Important highlights are shared for the week ahead. Friday ‘Values Shoutout Call’ A weekly, 30 minute call Friday afternoons. The entire team joins on Zoom.…
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Bain & Company released a great checklist for companies and executive teams to plan for weathering COVID-19. You can reference the actual article, but the format of the checklist is less than ideal. Had it not been shared directly from a trusted friend, I likely would have blown right past it. This is not an attempt to plagiarize their ideas. Instead, I’m hoping to provide a more executable format so organizations actually benefit from the insights. People Implement the best-known guidelines available for both employees and customers; over-investMonitor global health guidelines and other companies—and continue to fine tuneOver-communicate with full transparencyAssist epidemic-limiting initiatives in any way possible P&L (Profit and Loss) Outline macro scenarios by market, translate into revenue-decline and P&L scenarios:Units, revenue, costsCapex (capital expenses), working capital, cash/liquidity13-week, four-quarter outlookBuild extreme downside scenarios; this has the potential to be a 100-year eventOutline major operational actions Do-now hand-brake actions vs.…
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