The First One

Dear Diary,

I really don’t want to write this. I keep telling myself that it’s a terrible idea. But, I’ve run out of ways to procrastinate and the clock is ticking.

As I stare at this blank page today, all I can think about is the time I spent watering dirt.

Wait—as our Diary, do I write this like you already know the stories I am referring to or do I have to provide context? Are Diaries omniscient? Maybe I should give you the background just in case…

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow a cherry tree. As one does, I ate some cherries, saved the pits, and then planted them in the ground (is that even how it works?). Then I promptly forgot where I planted them (squirrel!). So, I watered random patches of dirt for weeks before I realized that this project wasn’t going anywhere. 

For some reason, this whole process of starting a Diary has me thinking of that. Maybe it’s because the few times I’ve actually tried to keep a Diary before, I barely made it past the first entry and those empty composition notebooks all went the way of the cherry tree. 

Now, here we are: a couple weeks away from launching Mosaik—one of the craziest times in my life—and I’m not only starting a Diary, but publicly committing to it and sharing it with the world. 

Oddly enough, despite all the other crazy risks we’ve taken, and likely will continue to take, I think this Diary is the one that makes me the most nervous. 

As just about anyone in real estate, or business at large, has heard these days, content seems to be a non-negotiable. Yet good content seems to be a limited commodity, only increasing in its rarity. If we’re going to put anything out into the world, I want it to be worthy of the privilege of someone’s time and attention.

No pressure.

It didn’t make sense to keep our content strategy entirely product-focused. After all, we’ve built so much of Mosaik around the idea that good technology should fade into the background—that it should be there when you need it and stays out of the way when you don’t. So, asking people to read weekly product updates seemed a bit disingenuous. We looked at the news/current events angle, but there are several others that are already doing it better than we ever could. 

That’s when it occurred to us. After three years of blood, sweat, and tears—of defying conventional startup wisdom and betting the farm—we’ve learned some great lessons and gathered some interesting stories along the way. 

Now, we’re navigating our way through an impending recession, cooling housing market, and volatile tech sector. Despite the constant change and turbulence, I’m all the more certain we’re on the right path and that this product can do a lot of good. Maybe I’m right, maybe I’m wrong. Either way, we’re bound to gather a lot more lessons, inspiration, and stories. 

So why not share them? At least it won’t be content that feels like a copy-and-paste job (although, ever since TikTok came out, I’m convinced I’ve never had a single unique experience).

To say I’m nervous about doing this is an understatement. Honestly, if the team hadn’t already voted on this direction, I’d probably scrap the idea entirely. I mean does this even make sense? Should we be pulling back the curtain on what happens at Mosaik, especially so early on? Should we be sharing our thoughts and experiences so openly? 

I don’t know the right answers to those questions…but, we’re going to do it anyway. If this diary offers someone else some inspiration, or even just a chuckle, then it will be well worth it. If nothing else, it may be fun to look back on some day. 

So my dear Diary, whatever happens, I promise someone from the team will write to you every week. We won’t let this go the way of the cherry tree, or the one-page diaries that came before you. And I promise we’ll always keep it real, unfiltered, unvarnished.

Isn’t that the whole point of a diary anyway?

– S.