He pulled out his phone to show me the deal.
A contractor running forty jobs at once. The numbers were right. He just could not see them.
- Pinching and scrolling from the purchase price to the profit, on a sheet built for a desktop screen.
- Sitting in a coffee shop. Nothing about his math was wrong.
- He had just never had it anywhere he could use it.
Him “We all like a good Excel spreadsheet.”
Me “It is a good spreadsheet. It just never leaves the desk.”
A contractor, over coffee, September 2026






