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The Matt Stone ShowDream big, leap fast, and win together. Author: Matt Stone Enterprises
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Pineapple-Shaped Cheese, Six-Pound Goldfish, and Raising the Floor So You Don't Drown
Friday, 17 April, 2026
Down to a lovely 77 degrees after almost 90 yesterday (65 days until summer), and Matt’s happy about it. Last night’s nonprofit event was packed with sweating professionals in jackets—met two women from Colombia working for a nonprofit, a writer, all kinds of interesting people. Not a community he’s heavily involved in, but he felt part of it instantly. Good for the soul. After sharing trivia about pineapple-shaped cheese (1810—truly a gift to humanity), Geraldine Mock’s solo flight around the world (1964), Apollo 13 returning safely (1970), and a six-pound goldfish caught in California (1996—imagine that thing), he dives into what’s really on his mind.He’s tired but working on next week’s presentation for a networking group. Yesterday the curtain started pulling back—the flow, a self-assessment, the stories and data he’ll bring in. Now he just needs to distill it down into something punchy and interactive. He’s 85% there. Put the call out and it comes. But here’s the thing: building any business is rocky and up-and-down in the beginning. You get a victory, wait for the next thing, keep plowing away. At some point you ask: how can I create a higher floor, a safety net, in the meantime?He’s got this all-or-nothing narrative in his head—if you take contract work unrelated to the main thing just to stay stable, that’s somehow a failure. Where does that come from? Not very useful. Time to retire that one. So he’s looking at options to bring in a little guaranteed money each month without constant pitching, and let the foundation ferment and grow. They’re in a garden—seeds planted, tending them, there are seasons, and he can see signs of huge opportunity. But it’s not a straight upward trajectory. How do you handle it when the trend line dips before the market kicks back up? That’s the cycle. So he’s shoring up the foundation so arresting fear doesn’t hit every time there’s a lull between where he’s at and the next wave of clients. The question: What do you need to do to make sure the floor is solid and high enough that you’re not going to drown? It’s okay to do it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com
