diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b52a7da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Mandatory
+AVS_SYNC_PRIVATE_KEY=
+AVS_SYNC_REGISTRY_COORDINATOR_ADDR=0xd19d750531c5e95CcC5C9610bF119dDe3008A16D
+AVS_SYNC_OPERATOR_STATE_RETRIEVER_ADDR=0x1b41CA79b86295e77Dd49f28DbB000286c022dfd
+AVS_SYNC_ETH_HTTP_URL=http://localhost:8545
+AVS_SYNC_SYNC_INTERVAL=24h
+
+# Optional
+AVS_SYNC_FIRST_SYNC_TIME=00:00:00 # this will make it run at midnight
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3570cb0..452505b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,11 +4,18 @@
 help:
 	@grep -E '^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "\033[36m%-30s\033[0m %s\n", $$1, $$2}'
 
+# Currently exporting the .env vars directly in the commands that need them
+# see for eg. the run-avs-sync command
+# Uncommenting the two lines below will export the .env vars for all commands
+# include .env
+# export
+
 start-anvil-goerli-fork: ## 
 	anvil --fork-url https://goerli.gateway.tenderly.co
 
 run-avs-sync: ## 
-	./start.sh
+	@# we export the env vars from .env file and then run the go program
+	@set -a; . .env; set +a; go run .
 
 test: ## 
 	go test ./...
diff --git a/avssync.go b/avssync.go
index 7477a2e..32f081b 100644
--- a/avssync.go
+++ b/avssync.go
@@ -56,8 +56,17 @@ func NewAvsSync(
 }
 
 func (a *AvsSync) Start() {
-	a.logger.Infof("Starting avs sync with sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration=%s, syncInterval=%s, operators=%v, quorums=%v, fetchQuorumsDynamically=%v, readerTimeoutDuration=%s, writerTimeoutDuration=%s",
-		a.sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration, a.syncInterval, a.operators, convertQuorumsBytesToInts(a.quorums), a.fetchQuorumsDynamically, a.readerTimeoutDuration, a.writerTimeoutDuration)
+	// TODO: should prob put all of these in a config struct, to make sure we don't forget to print any of them
+	//       when we add new ones.
+	a.logger.Info("Avssync config",
+		"sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration", a.sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration,
+		"syncInterval", a.syncInterval,
+		"operators", a.operators,
+		"quorums", a.quorums,
+		"fetchQuorumsDynamically", a.fetchQuorumsDynamically,
+		"readerTimeoutDuration", a.readerTimeoutDuration,
+		"writerTimeoutDuration", a.writerTimeoutDuration,
+	)
 
 	// ticker doesn't tick immediately, so we send a first updateStakes here
 	// see https://github.com/golang/go/issues/17601
@@ -83,7 +92,7 @@ func (a *AvsSync) Start() {
 		if err != nil {
 			a.logger.Error("Error updating stakes", err)
 		}
-		a.logger.Infof("Sleeping for %s\n", a.syncInterval)
+		a.logger.Infof("Sleeping for %s", a.syncInterval)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -98,7 +107,7 @@ func (a *AvsSync) updateStakes() error {
 		for _, quorum := range a.quorums {
 			a.tryNTimesUpdateStakesOfEntireOperatorSetForQuorum(quorum, a.retrySyncNTimes)
 		}
-		a.logger.Info("Completed stake update successfully")
+		a.logger.Info("Completed stake update. Check logs to make sure every quorum update succeeded successfully.")
 		return nil
 	} else {
 		a.logger.Infof("Updating stakes of operators: %v", a.operators)
@@ -139,9 +148,11 @@ func (a *AvsSync) tryNTimesUpdateStakesOfEntireOperatorSetForQuorum(quorum byte,
 
 		timeoutCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), a.readerTimeoutDuration)
 		defer cancel()
+		// we need to refetch the operator set because one reason for update stakes failing is that the operator set has changed
+		// in between us fetching it and trying to update it (the contract makes sure the entire operator set is updated and reverts if not)
 		operatorAddrsPerQuorum, err := a.avsReader.GetOperatorAddrsInQuorumsAtCurrentBlock(&bind.CallOpts{Context: timeoutCtx}, []byte{quorum})
 		if err != nil {
-			a.logger.Error("Error fetching operator addresses in quorums", "err", err)
+			a.logger.Error("Error fetching operator addresses in quorums", "err", err, "quorum", quorum, "retryNTimes", retryNTimes, "try", i+1)
 			continue
 		}
 		var operators []common.Address
diff --git a/flags.go b/flags.go
index e208ec3..464a08a 100644
--- a/flags.go
+++ b/flags.go
@@ -42,12 +42,11 @@ var (
 		EnvVar:   envVarPrefix + "SYNC_INTERVAL",
 	}
 	/* Optional Flags */
-	SleepBeforeFirstSyncDurationFlag = cli.DurationFlag{
-		Name:     "sleep-before-first-sync-duration",
+	FirstSyncTimeFlag = cli.StringFlag{
+		Name:     "first-sync-time",
 		Required: false,
-		Value:    0,
-		Usage:    "sleep for `SECONDS` before first sync (default=0)",
-		EnvVar:   envVarPrefix + "SLEEP_BEFORE_FIRST_SYNC_DURATION",
+		Usage:    "Set the HH:MI:SS time at which to run the first sync update",
+		EnvVar:   envVarPrefix + "FIRST_SYNC_TIME",
 	}
 	OperatorListFlag = cli.StringSliceFlag{
 		Name:   "operators",
@@ -59,9 +58,9 @@ var (
 		Usage:  "List of quorums to update stakes for (only needs to be present if operators list not present and fetch-quorums-dynamically is false)",
 		EnvVar: envVarPrefix + "QUORUMS",
 	}
-	FetchQuorumDynamicallyFlag = cli.BoolFlag{
+	FetchQuorumDynamicallyFlag = cli.BoolTFlag{
 		Name:   "fetch-quorums-dynamically",
-		Usage:  "If set to true, will fetch the list of quorums registered in the contract and update all of them",
+		Usage:  "If set to true (default), will fetch the list of quorums registered in the contract and update all of them",
 		EnvVar: envVarPrefix + "FETCH_QUORUMS_DYNAMICALLY",
 	}
 	ReaderTimeoutDurationFlag = cli.DurationFlag{
@@ -93,7 +92,7 @@ var RequiredFlags = []cli.Flag{
 }
 
 var OptionalFlags = []cli.Flag{
-	SleepBeforeFirstSyncDurationFlag,
+	FirstSyncTimeFlag,
 	OperatorListFlag,
 	QuorumListFlag,
 	FetchQuorumDynamicallyFlag,
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 3605222..d207996 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -98,11 +98,30 @@ func avsSyncMain(cliCtx *cli.Context) error {
 	for _, quorum := range cliCtx.IntSlice(QuorumListFlag.Name) {
 		quorums = append(quorums, byte(quorum))
 	}
+
+	firstSyncTimeStr := cliCtx.String(FirstSyncTimeFlag.Name)
+	var sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration time.Duration
+	if firstSyncTimeStr == "" {
+		sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration = 0 * time.Second
+	} else {
+		now := time.Now()
+		firstSyncTime, err := time.Parse(time.TimeOnly, firstSyncTimeStr)
+		firstSyncTime = time.Date(now.Year(), now.Month(), now.Day(), firstSyncTime.Hour(), firstSyncTime.Minute(), firstSyncTime.Second(), 0, now.Location())
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if now.After(firstSyncTime) {
+			// If the set time is before the current time, add a day to the set time
+			firstSyncTime = firstSyncTime.Add(24 * time.Hour)
+		}
+		sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration = firstSyncTime.Sub(now)
+	}
+	logger.Infof("Sleeping for %v before first sync, so that it happens at %v", sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration, time.Now().Add(sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration))
 	avsSync := NewAvsSync(
 		logger,
 		avsReader,
 		avsWriter,
-		cliCtx.Duration(SleepBeforeFirstSyncDurationFlag.Name),
+		sleepBeforeFirstSyncDuration,
 		cliCtx.Duration(SyncIntervalFlag.Name),
 		operators,
 		quorums,
diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index e79dfb0..0000000
--- a/start.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-source .env
-
-go run . \
-    --ecdsa-private-key $PRIVATE_KEY \
-    --eth-http-url $ETH_HTTP_URL \
-    --registry-coordinator-addr $REGISTRY_COORDINATOR_ADDR \
-    --operator-state-retriever-addr $OPERATOR_STATE_RETRIEVER_ADDR \
-    --sync-interval $SYNC_INTERVAL