The Mission · Tracked in public
10,000 businesses. Ten years.
Not a slogan. A number we track, business by business. If The Advantage plays any part in you starting something, you count toward it. This page is where we count.
Businesses started · Counting since July 2026
The counter starts at zero on purpose. We're building this in public, and every number on this page is real.
One dot, one business
Why
“When I started Freshly, I had $15 in my bank account and a dream.”
That's not a line Mike uses for effect. It's what the balance said. A kid from a ranching family in southern Arizona, an average degree, no network, no safety net. Fifteen years later: Freshly acquired by Nestlé, Petfolk built past $100M in run rate, and Cutting Horse investing in the next generation of founders.
The point is not the outcome. The point is that there was nothing special about the starting position. The story is repeatable, and the thing that changed his life is available to far more people than believe it's available to them.
This is the single greatest time in history to start a business. The 10,000 is a ten-year commitment to be the voice in the back of your head saying today's the day.
From the challenge
The challenge, on camera.
Build photos, first days, founder stories. Send footage with your claim and it can end up here.
The Wall
The businesses.
If we touch you, tell me
Started something?
You're one of the 10,000.
If a newsletter issue, a podcast episode, a post, or a conversation from this platform contributed in any way to you starting something, or joining something, Mike wants to know. Every claim is read and verified by a real person before it joins the count — and every business in the count is in the running for the six-month pick: one business Mike chooses to personally mentor.
Join the challenge
Circling the idea of starting something?
You can hear the same idea ten times, and on the eleventh it finally clicks. The newsletter is where the reps happen: one short note a week, built to leave you nuggets. If you get one out of every five issues, it's doing its job.
Every six months, Mike picks one business from the count and works with it personally — recurring sit-downs, mentorship, his full network. Take the leap, claim your business, and you're in the running.
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How the count works
What counts as a business?
All of it. A restaurant, a plumbing service, a construction company, a CPG brand, a social following turned into a real enterprise, a technology company. Joining an early-stage startup counts too — there are many doors into this universe.
How do you verify entries?
A real human reads every submission. Only verified businesses join the counter and the wall. We'd rather the number grow slowly and mean something.
What's the six-month pick?
Every six months, Mike picks one business from the count and works with it personally — recurring meetings, mentorship, and his network. Every verified business on the wall is automatically in the running. It's his time, not a check; if a check ever makes sense, that's a separate Cutting Horse conversation.
Why does the counter start at zero?
Because we're building this in public and every number on this page is real. Zero is where every business starts. Watch it move.
What does The Advantage get out of it?
Cutting Horse invests in companies after they've started. The hope is this platform helps create some of the very businesses it gets to invest in someday. Full circle.