Much of it was cleaning windows, picking up sandwiches, and writing mailing labels. But it was the most impactful job I ever had. I started working at that independent record store when I was 15 and arrived for a week of work experience. By the time I was finishing sixth…
Browsing Category Career Fuel
As good as it gets
It’s easy to forget that even Hollywood legends had to start somewhere. There was once a time when Jack Nicholson was pounding the pavements of Los Angeles, trying to get hired. Before the yeses began to flow, he was on the receiving end of inevitable rejections. But there was also…
Two types of con game
The first type of con game is part of our lexicon. This confidence game involves a trickster building up the confidence of their mark before depriving them of something – usually through their wallet. And a knock-on effect of the con’s impact is that all the mark’s increased confidence disappears…
Finding your edge
Everyone says you’ve got to find your edge. Seek out your competitive advantage. Maybe that’s not what’s lacking. You’ve already got your edge. It’s innate. Unique. Sharp and incisive. But it’s been dulled. The edge gets rubbed away by fear. The comfort of conforming. Regression to the mean. Of course…
Now Obvious
There’s a joy that comes with hindsight. So much so, a popular phrase encapsulates it. Hindsight lets us recognise all sorts of concepts, beliefs, opportunities, and connections that are Now Obvious. When we use hindsight and think of what’s Now Obvious, we probably go back years or even decades: how…
How to find portfolio/audience fit
You’ve probably heard of Product/Market Fit. It’s widely seen as the holy grail for just about every early-stage startup – and for good reason. But what happens when your product doesn’t really feel like a product; when you have a portfolio rather than a product? And what about when you’re…
“This call may be recorded for quality & training purposes”
For a long time, this kind of automation was incredibly expensive and complex to set up. Then, for most companies, it got affordable. Now, in a Zoom world, it’s incredibly easy for anyone with an account. But very few of us choose to hit record: whether we’re at a multinational…
A departure point for innovation
Comes from a very simple question: what are you sick of? Podcast editing. Cookbooks getting splashed with olive oil. $50 haircuts. Tech bros. Whiteboards. Covid symptoms. Online course creators with no knowledge of pedagogy. Noisy WhatsApp groups. Self-styled gurus. Bad handwriting. Running around the park. Cleaning the kitchen. Rain. Looking…
How I do Morning Pages
The theme of my most recent newsletter was New Wine, Old Oak; encouraging readers to be comfortable with both the old and the familiar as there are plenty of lessons and insights to gain. Like a decent bottle of vintage red, a good example of a relatively old title continuing to appreciate…
Frames and Lenses
“Don’t care what anyone else thinks about you.” Maybe. But looking through the lens of others can sharpen up our own view. What do they see that I don’t? How do they explain what I do if someone asks? What would they omit that I’d like them to include, or…