---
aliases: ["September 2025"]
Is A: Month
Created at: "2025-09-28"
Belongs to: "[[25q3]]"
Rating: "😄"
---
# September 2025

## Focus

- Deliver keynote at [[25q3-leaddev-london]]
- Recover from August intensity — schedule white space, prioritize sleep
- Close Q3 metrics and plan Q4

## Highlights

- Delivered keynote at [[25q3-leaddev-london]] on "The Newsletter-to-Business Pipeline" to 1,200 attendees — biggest stage ever, standing ovation, 5 enterprise sponsor inquiries
- Took 10 days fully off in early September — first real break since January, no email, no Slack, just cycling and reading
- Newsletter hit 78k subscribers by month end — the LeadDev exposure and ebook cross-promotion driving a late-Q3 surge
- [[measure-sponsorship-mrr]] reached EUR 20.1k — [[2025-reach-22k-mrr]] within reach for Q4
- [[25q3-podcast-season-4]] wrapped up with 8 episodes released — consistently above 15k downloads per episode
- Community stabilizing at 850 members with strong engagement — [[person-sara-ricci]] running it almost independently

## Reflections

The 10 days off in early September saved me. I came back from August brittle — snapping at [[person-paco-furiani]] over minor things, dreading the newsletter instead of enjoying it, skipping workouts. The break was non-negotiable: I told the team I'd be unreachable, set up auto-responders, and disappeared into the Dolomites with my bike and a stack of books. By day 4, the fog lifted. By day 7, I was excited about work again. By day 10, I had a notebook full of ideas for Q4.

LeadDev London was the professional peak of the year. The keynote was different from Codemotion last year — bigger stage, broader audience, higher stakes. But I was more prepared and, honestly, more confident. The talk traced the arc from "person with a newsletter" to "media business with a team, a podcast, a book, and a community." The vulnerability of sharing revenue numbers on stage felt risky but landed well. Authenticity again.

Q3 was the most productive quarter of my career. Ebook published, community launched, Stelvio climbed, LeadDev delivered, podcast season completed. But it was also the most draining. The lesson is crystal clear: I can sustain this intensity for 13 weeks, but not 26. Q4 needs to be calmer. Fewer launches. More depth. More sleep.
