Before the Money, There’s Always Something Else
Before the funding, before the metrics, before the brand decks — there’s something else that makes it move.
We talk a lot about money.
Valuation. Funding rounds. Scalability. Strategy.
But almost no one talks about the thing that actually gets things off the ground.
This piece is for the builders, early-stage creators, brand architects, and cultural operators who know that capital doesn’t lead — it follows.
Subscribe and
Let’s go!
We don’t talk about it enough.
We talk about money.
Connections.
Timing.
Strategy.
But rarely do we talk about
Energy
The invisible force that builds everything before it exists.
Energy is what makes people believe in you before the numbers do.
It’s what gets an idea off the ground when the resources aren’t there yet.
It’s what separates the ones who start from the ones who just talk.
And here’s the thing:
You don’t need permission to have energy.
You don’t need to be funded, followed, or famous to bring energy into a room.
It’s available to everyone.
In the early days of anything — a company, a movement, a vision —
it’s not money that carries it forward.
It’s the force behind it.
The person who shows up with conviction.
Who’s clear on why it matters.
Who’s willing to keep going when it’s still quiet.
That kind of energy is contagious.
It attracts talent.
Customers.
Believers.
Eventually, it attracts capital —
but by then, it’s already moving.
Because people don’t invest in spreadsheets.
They invest in momentum.
In stories that feel alive.
In builders who don’t just have an idea — but are the idea.
So whether you’re just starting, or sitting on a portfolio of brands — ask yourself:
Where’s the energy?
Are you leading with it?
Protecting it?
Scaling it?
Because money can multiply.
But energy compounds.
And the person who brings it — consistently, clearly, with care —
has the power to shift everything:
Rooms.
Markets.
Cultures.
Outcomes.
Energy isn’t the soft stuff.
It’s the first stuff.
The thing that moves things forward —
before anyone else believes.
So start where the great ones always do:
Not with money.
With energy.
✍🏽 Gundeep Anand
Creative Director | Cultural Strategist | Presenter & Speaker