Sharpening the Saw: 3 Things Founders Can Do This Summer to Refuel and Recharge

 The startup rollercoaster doesn’t stop often—but when it does, you’d better use that moment wisely. For founders, summer can feel like the quiet lull before the storm. Investors are OOO, your team is on holiday rotation, and the Slack notifications have (mercifully) slowed. Instead of grinding through the gap, consider this your opportunity to sharpen the saw—Stephen Covey’s timeless metaphor for stepping back, refuelling, and preparing yourself for peak performance in the next season.

Here are three meaningful ways you can sharpen your saw this summer and set yourself up for the second half of the year.

1. Reconnect With the Bigger Picture (and Yourself)

It’s easy to get stuck in the weeds of MVP feature requests, sales funnels, and product bugs. But when was the last time you zoomed out? Use the summer to revisit the why behind your what. Take long walks. Journal. Re-read your original pitch deck. Rewatch that one TED talk that gave you goosebumps. And most importantly—ask yourself: “What’s changed in me, in the market, and in my customer since we started?”

This is also the time to reset personally. Founders often operate in a constant state of depletion. Take a solo weekend trip. Spend time with your kids without checking your inbox. Go analog. Whatever helps you feel like you again—do that. Because the truth is, your company only grows when you do.

2. Audit and Upgrade Your Founder Habits

Summer is a great time to clean house. Not just your Notion docs, but your mental systems and routines too. Start with a simple founder habit audit: What’s working for you? What’s draining your energy? What do you keep saying you’ll get around to but never do?

Maybe you’ve been avoiding that once-a-month investor update because you’re unsure what to say. Set up a template now and schedule them through December. Perhaps you’ve wanted to build a better board or add an advisor—now’s your window to reach out over a relaxed summer coffee.

Use the calm to experiment with better habits. Whether it’s batching meetings, finally adopting a real weekly review, or building a "shutdown ritual" at the end of your workday, think of this as upgrading your founder OS. September will demand your A-game. Now’s the time to prep for it.

3. Build Relationships, Not Just Pipelines

Deals may be paused, but conversations don’t need to be. In fact, some of the best investor chats, co-founder meetings, and idea collisions happen over ice cream in Lisbon or a serendipitous beach walk in Devon. Summer is made for light-touch connection—the kind that doesn’t feel transactional, but builds deep relational equity over time.

Be generous with your time. Offer to mentor a younger founder. Join a podcast. Go to that slightly random event you’d usually decline. Book a few “walk and talk” calls with people you’ve been meaning to get to know better—no agenda, just curiosity.

At Canopy, we’ve seen it again and again: the strongest investment relationships are rarely born out of pitch decks. They start with shared stories, aligned values, and moments of real human connection. That groundwork starts in the quiet season.

Why It All Matters

Come September, the energy changes. Pitches get serious. Product launches go live. Investors lean in. And founders—especially those in the Canopy Membership—need to be sharper, clearer, and more energised than ever. That’s why summer isn’t downtime. It’s build-you time.

And we’ve got our eyes on November.

Each year, during Web Summit week, we host our Signature Edition Demo Night—an electric celebration of emerging founders and validated ventures. It’s more than a pitch event. It’s a rite of passage. And the founders who show up ready for it are those who’ve taken the summer to breathe, reflect, reset, and reconnect.

So relax this summer—but do it deliberately. Read that book you’ve had bookmarked for months. Rework your founder bio. Take a yoga class. Sleep in. Because come autumn, we’re back on the field—and we’re going to need your full, fearless self out there.