A farm kid's notes on selling, banking, building and starting over.
I've fed cattle at 40 below, cold-called my way onto Wall Street, sold $10M+ of solar and grew a company to $2M ARR before closing it. I write down what I'm learning as I go, especially the parts I got wrong.
Now: I'm looking for a full-cycle AE seat inside a world-class B2B sales organization. Email me
What lands in your inbox
Same four parts in every issue, so you know what you're getting.
A real story
One story, recent or from the last ten years, told straight, with the numbers.
What I got wrong
The mistake, what it cost me, and what I'd do differently next time.
A question for you
Something I'm still figuring out. Reply to the email and tell me how you'd handle it.
One thing worth your time
A post, call or book that changed how I think about business or life.
Start here
The one-way flight to New York. No finance internship, living out of a hotel in Times Square, cold-calling managing directors. Read the full story
The first few issues
- How a farm kid cold-called his way onto Wall Street
- Why I closed FabGen
- What 10,000 cold calls taught me
- Going back to being a rep, on purpose
What clients said
In their own words, from video testimonials FabGen clients recorded.
“You asked a lot of relevant questions. You wanted to really understand our business and our process before we dove into it.”
Jason, Sitler's LED Supplies
“I got a twenty to one return on my marketing dollar working with Alec and his team.”
Bret Walburg, President, Lovelight Solutions
“They quickly went from us not knowing who they are to being our number one vendor.”
Brett Lee, CitiClean Services
“Alec understands the industry, which helped us book more high quality meetings and ultimately close deals.”
Kevin Grupp, VP Sales, Buffalo Solar
“He's a reasonable guy. He's a guy you can easily talk to, so it's not just some company.”
Noah Steeves, Steeves Solar Solutions
“Gotta say, this guy's the real deal.”
Abe, Founder, Evo Energy
As a matter of record
The deals and numbers behind the story, set the way Wall Street announces a closed transaction.
Farm kid to Wall Street to $2M ARR, and back to learning.
At 18 I was feeding cattle at 40 below on my family's farm in Canada. A few years later I cold-called my way into Eastdil Secured with no finance degree, one of 51 analysts, and worked on $5.5B of deals.
Before Wall Street, I knocked on 7,000+ doors and broke 3 national sales records with a painting franchise, one of them a 30-year record. Since then I've made 10,000+ cold calls, sold $10M+ of solar and energy storage, and once called American Express's CEO six times until he introduced me to his global head of tax.
In June 2024 I founded FabGen, a go-to-market firm for solar companies, and grew it to $2M ARR in 11.5 months as a solo founder with a team of 21. When federal policy changes hit the solar sector in 2025, I tested a pivot into AI search for contractors, then closed the company. I got plenty wrong, and I write about it.
Next, I want several years inside a world-class sales organization, learning to run complex deals the institutional way. I still write my own code, and I'll bring that with me.
Along the way
Plenty of suits. Fewer of them these days.
Follow along
The wins, the losses and what I'd do differently. No set schedule, only when it's worth your time.
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