Date: 2026-08-24 Channel: Anyhouck (formerly Hard Calls; legal entity: Founding Journey) thread, permalink https://ryevalley.slack.com/archives/C07Q8FGH4CU/p1787585737471789 Owner: Blake Stewart Contact: Mona Darwish (Agree.com, GTM/Head of GTM)
Michael met with Mona Darwish from Agree.com for a product demo that turned into a sales conversation for a Hard Calls sponsorship. Mona sees strong ICP overlap (Hard Calls ~60-80k founders). She mentioned they have money to spend, though walked it back slightly when Michael named price territory. Cat was out of the bag.
Michael’s read: Target a $10k+ package. Mona backtracked to “scrappy” after Michael telegraphed the price point, so Blake should calibrate the pitch accordingly.
Package scope: Newsletter primary; possibly a retreat or dinner as an add-on.
Logistics: Agree is setting up a shared Slack channel with Rye Valley. Blake will be added to that channel.
Transcript: Full demo notes in Granola; Michael told Blake to review it.
Commitment: Blake to build and send the sponsor package.
Update: 2026-09-14 - Mona Regrouping Directly with Michael
Mona Darwish initiated a “regroup” call request directly with Michael (not Blake). They confirmed: Wednesday Sep 16 at 4pm CT / 5pm ET. This is a notable signal: Mona escalating to Michael directly suggests either (a) she wants to negotiate terms beyond what Blake offered, or (b) the Sep 10 Blake/Mona discovery call revealed a gap and she wants to loop in the principal. Watch whether this results in a revised scope or a close.