Category: Creator Confidential
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Four ways to reach out to your network for (job) opportunities
I recently contributed to a discussion on Hacker News about the pains of job hunting. In particular, my comment was on the topic of tapping the people you know on the shoulder, without sounding too desperate or forward. Rather than worrying about how you come off, focus on being intentional instead. You want to know—and…
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Algorithms charge an ignorance premium on marketing
When you write (or make videos, music, etc.) and rely on an algorithm or platform to distribute your work, you are also paying for it to do so. You may not realize it during the good months, but in the bad months, you’ll start wondering where your earnings went. The platform will always have a…
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Don’t worry about getting chosen
There are plenty of good people making good work who don’t get selected for the lists—30 Under 30, bestseller list, honor roll, etc. That doesn’t take anything away from their work. It certainly doesn’t diminish them in any way. Similarly, making the list doesn’t guarantee success either. “I know somebody who had a number one…
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Find a place where your effort makes an impact
Early in his career, Brian Lee juggled a bunch of projects. This included managing recording artists Dumbfoundead and Breezy Lovejoy. It was Brian who suggested to the latter that he should change his name to something closer to Anderson .Paak. In addition to investing into their two careers, Brian also built a media platform and…
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The leap
In The Dark Knight Rises, a villain defeats Batman and locks him up inside an ancient prison known as the Pit. The Pit bears resemblance to an extremely large well, and all prisoners are free to climb out of the Pit to escape. The only thing standing in the way is a particularly large gap…
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Openness
When I was a senior in high school, my English teacher shared an op-ed she clipped from a newspaper entitled, “Please offend me, and allow me to offend you.” The spirit of the class discussion focused on how important it was for you, me, and everybody else, to be able to say what was on…
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Everything I shipped in 2024
Self-initiated creative projects: I worked at Figma as a content strategist (I wrapped up my gig there in June), here are three projects: I joined FGX as its director of marketing, here are three projects: I didn’t count all of the blog posts that I published here (including my 1000th!), which I’m absolutely delighted by.…
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Creative unattachment
It’s best to attach the value of your work based on something that’s within your control. This could mean a way of doing things, a philosophy, or a set of values—or all three. Championship NFL coach Bill Walsh would call this a Standard of Performance. Here are some things you don’t control: How other people…
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My 2015 interview with MC Jin
In 2002, Jin Auyeung took over hip-hop by winning a weekly freestyle competition for seven consecutive weeks on 106 & Park. His debut song, “Learn Chinese,” was on regular rotation in my elementary school, and my friends would holler out the Cantonese ad-libs. It was a moment that felt similar to Linsanity, Jeremy Lin’s two-week…
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Friends pay full price
Several months ago, I met a new friend and gave them a copy of Creative Doing as a gift. They responded that they would buy another copy, saying, “Friends pay full price.” It was refreshing, the complete flip of the usual friends and family discount. (Or in my case, giving gift copies.) When you reciprocate…