(I’ll start with a little favor, if you like this letter at the end, share it to your best mate)
But back to today’s topic (from Brittany)
Let’s be honest, every place starts with a feeling.
A space, a light, a small obsession you can’t shake. That’s where it begins.
But then, at some point, the spreadsheet walks in.
And it starts asking the hard questions:
ADR? Payroll? Profitability?
It doesn’t care how good the vibe is or how nice the hand soap smells.
This guy just cares about margins.
And that’s when most founders get lost, they either ignore the numbers completely (with that unfamous -I’m an artist- stamp), or they let them take over
Both options kill the soul.
Because money shouldn’t be the enemy. And you just need to know when to listen to it, and when to tell it to shut up.
You can’t build something meaningful if it’s constantly at risk of collapsing.
Margins give you freedom. Freedom to hire better people, to buy good coffee, to slow down and focus on the details. Soul without structure burns out.
But if you only build for numbers, you end up with something efficient and empty.
That kind of hospitality looks good on paper, but no one remembers it.
So, the work is to make both live together.
The spreadsheet helps you protect the dream.
It’s the system that keeps the soul alive.
At LOBBY, I’m learning this every day.
I do have budget even if its a tiny structure, and cash flow to manage, but I still want every project to have that human energy, that story that can’t be quantified.
The goal is not either/or. It’s both.
Build something that works and moves people.
Make money and make meaning.
That’s how soul stays alive when the spreadsheet starts talking.
Numbers don’t kill soul.
People love to blame money for killing creativity. But the truth is, the lack of financial control kills more soulful projects than greed ever will.
You can’t serve craft if you can’t pay your bills.
