Pat Walls
What is this?
Some Thoughts On Writing
September 11th, 2020
Want your writing to be read by thousands? By millions?

There is only one way to get there: become a phenomenal writer.

There are no hacks. That’s it.

I see so many people publish a couple of blog posts and get frustrated when nobody reads them. They wonder what they did wrong. They say “I don’t know how to promote my writing” or “I have no audience”.

But that’s not the issue. The issue is their writing. It’s just not good enough (yet).

It takes years to become great. I think it might take 10+ years of writing every day to become great. 

There are shortcuts though, some people have an unfair advantage. 

For example, my shortcut was writing about my startup journey and my own startup tactics. People wanted to read that because they were following or wanted to follow a similar path.

Writers should find their unfair advantage, but also remember that this is only a crutch. It very much was for me.

A few successful blog posts didn’t mean that my writing was good, just that I wrote the right thing from the right audience at the right time. My writing were very matter-of-fact, and they served a specific purpose (“How To Do X”), but they did not make me a good writer.

That’s why I’m writing every day. Because I want to become a better writer. I want to write about more than just my own story.

I know that my writing sucks, but knowing and admitting this motivates me to get better. I will get 100x better. I will only get there by writing for hours, every day.

The best writers grow their audience with ease. They don’t even promote. They write one book that gets shared through word of mouth over and over, between circles of friends and colleagues for decades.

This is not by accident. There’s a reason Paul Graham’s famous essays get shared every single day on Twitter, 7 years later. There’s a reason people still recommend Think And Grow Rich, 80 years after it’s been published. 

The reason is that their writing is phenomenal. Most people skip this part.

Harry Dry wrote a great post about how he promotes his content (amazing post). 

But Harry has a bigger secret. 

His secret: His writing is 100x better than anyone else in his niche. Harry knows this, but he also knows that nobody will listen to this advice. People want hacks, strategies, flowcharts, roundtable discussions, and complex theories.

Becoming a phenomenal writer is just too deceptively simple to put in a blog post. But it is the answer.
Stop Watching YouTube
September 10th, 2020
A few months ago, I logged out. 

But I actually took it one step further: I removed the ability for YouTube to save cookies on my browser. 

With no cookies, YouTube couldn’t identify who I was.

Since YouTube had no idea who I was, they couldn't use their super-smart algorithm to trick me into watching their (super-targeted) empty content - they just show me mainstream stuff now.

This gave me less incentive to click through, and more specifically, I stopped watching motivation/productivity channels (example), which I am a huge sucker for (and YouTube knows this).

When YouTube stopped recommending these productivity videos, I forgot that these channels even existed. I did not even go searching for them.

Without YouTube, I had some extra hours added to my day.

I filled my newfound time up with activities, like making plans, seeing friends, and playing tennis.

But these new activities presented a new challenge: my time was constrained. 

Wouldn’t being busier with random stuff make me less productive because I have less time for the business and give me less time to learn new productivity hacks?

Yes. I worked less on my business. But I actually did more with less time. And my business grew faster than before.

Not only did I work "smarter", but these time constraints gave me more clarity on all the busy work I was doing. I gained the confidence to press delete on so many items on my todo list.

So who cares? I ended up in the same place, right? Instead of watching YouTube, I just did other stuff to fill the time. Does it matter?

Unlike YouTube, I left these activities feeling invigorated, motivated, and rested. 

After a YouTube binge, I feel like a piece of garbage. After an hour of playing tennis, I feel bliss.

Hobbies and having a social life have given me a healthier long term view on building my business. They've added more balance to my life. I feel happier. I sleep better. Less anxiety.

Two People, Same Goal

I believe that two different people will reach the same goal regardless of how hard they work.

In other words, if Person #1 and Person #2 aim to become millionaires by 2025 (and they are equally smart and resourceful), they will both reach that goal at the same exact time, regardless of how much they work.

Person #1 can work 1 hour per day, and Person #2 can work 12 hours per day - they will both be millionaires in 2025!

It’s up to me how I decide to spend my time while reaching my goals. For me, I choose to be happy. It’s much easier that way.

(note: YouTube here is just an example. YouTube was my drug of choice, but this applies to Twitter, blog posts, self-help books, etc)
No End Date
September 9th, 2020
The best way to achieve something is to build it into your daily life, without an end date.

Diets have end dates. You can go on a diet and see results, but once it’s over, you’ll go back to being fat again.

Instead of going on a diet, change your lifestyle (forever) by learning how to eat less and eat healthier. Make that a habit.

Your results might be a bit slower at first, but you’ll maintain those results for decades.

The same goes for business. Want to start a business? Work on it for 2 hours every day, without an end date.

I’ll work on “business” every day for the rest of my life. For me, there is no end date. I might sell the business, but then I’ll just start another one.
Change Your Perception
September 8th, 2020
Most people go through their life waiting for change:

  • Waiting for their partner to change
  • Waiting for their friends to change
  • Waiting for the weather to change
  • Waiting for the economy to get better
  • Waiting for the weekend

But the issue here is you’re not watching all things change, you’re really just waiting for a few things to change, in your favor.

In other words, you’ll only notice the changes you’re looking for, and we all know that we are looking for is doesn't end up being the answer.

Expecting the world to change around you is narcissistic and selfish. How can you be so right and perfect that everything should change to your expectations?

This is why I cringe when I hear people speak in absolutes. People say the world should be this way or that way, but how do they know?

Instead of waiting for a change in others, change your perception of others.

Instead of waiting for the bad economy to change, change your perception of what is possible in a bad economy.

By changing your perception, what you might have seen as a flaw before is now something you love. Something that was a blocker is now an opportunity. Glass half full, always.

By changing your perception, you can make every single aspect of your life amazing, right now! You can have everything you ever wanted, right now! 

Nothing needs to change except yourself, and you have 100% control over that.
Private (Sept 2020)
September 7th, 2020
(wrote today, but it's too private to share)

█’█ ██ ██████ ██████████ ██ ███████ ██.

████ ███ ████ █ ███████ █████ █████ ███████ ████, ███ ████████ ██ ████████ ███ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ███. ████, █████ █████ ██ ████ ███ ████. ████, █████ █ ███████ ████████ ██’█ █████████ ████.

████ █████ █ ███ █ ████ ███████████ ██ ████ ██ ████ █ ████, ███ █ ████ ███ █████ ██ 10 ██. ████ █ ████, █ █████ ████ ███ ███ ███ ████ █ ███ ███████.

█ █████ ███ ███ ███, ███ █ ████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ██ █ ████ ████ ███ ███████ █ ███’█ ████ ███.

████ ████ █ ███████ ██ ██ █████ (███ █’█ ███ ██████ ███████ ███ ████ ██ ██ █████████ █████) ████ █ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ████ ██.

█ ████ ██ ███ █ ███ ██ ████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██████ ██ ████ █████. ███, █ ██████ ████ ████. ███ ███████, ████ █████ █ ███ ███████ ██ █ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███ █████ (█████ █ ████ ███ █████) ███ ██████ ██ ████ ██ ██████. ██████, █ █████ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ████, ███ ████ ████ █ ███ █ █████ ███ █’█ █████████ █████ ███ ███ ███.

████ █████ ████ █ ██████? █████████, ██’█ ██ ████ ██ ████ ███████. ██ ████ ██ ████ ███ “███████” ████ ██████████ ██ ███ ███████████.

███ ████ █████ █████ ██ ████████.
Purpose
September 6th, 2020
I had a long discussion with my friend today about dating.

We had two takeaways:

1. Purpose is the most attractive thing in a guy or girl. 

Associate your happiness with your own purpose (aka love yourself first). 

Not only is this the best life advice, but as far as dating, it signals to others that you don’t mind their rejection because you’ve already got important things to get back to.

It’s basically saying “Hey, I like you, but if you don’t like me, that’s fine, I’ll just go back to what I was doing and be just as happy.”

2. Change how you think about impressing others

Instead of worrying about impressing your date, think about if they are actually impressive to you.

Ask them a million questions. When they state their opinions, ask why. Go deeper. Be curious.
Virtual Head Nod
September 5th, 2020
One of the best parts about starting a business or creative endeavor is when you get acknowledged by the people that inspired you, even in some small way.

“XYZ started following you.”

or

“Hey, love what you’re doing with ABC, keep going!”

Along my journey, I’ve had a few memorable moments like this, and I’ll always remember when and where I was when they happened. It's always nostalgic to think about these.

In some ways, this is like a virtual head nod - a small gesture we can use to show our support and let each other know we’re all rooting for each other.

Sometimes, a simple click the RT button is enough to make someone's week. 

As I grow, I try to always remember this and pay it forward to younger and smaller creators.
Ground Yourself
September 4th, 2020
After a big business success, or a viral tweet, or hitting the front page of Hacker News, I always have this massive “rush” of excitement.

It feels great. I feel like I’m on top of the world. It’s like being high on drugs.

But like drugs, there’s always a come down. For every high, there will be a low. 

As the high wears off, I’ll find myself worse off than before:

  • I’ll have more anxiety
  • I’ll have way less focus
  • I’ll have a heightened sense of ego and self-importance: I’ll think I’m smarter or better than others
  • I’ll keep reloading social media to get more of “the rush”

This is happening to me right now actually (something good happened today). I feel amazing. 

But I’m writing this right now to try to ground myself. Writing helps me clarify my thoughts. It’s helping me calm down. Writing this down reminds me how temporary this high will be. The success I had today was mostly out of my control.

If I can’t control my thoughts in the good times, then I’ll be screwed in the bad times. That’s what happened last year.

As entrepreneurs, it’s hard to avoid these ups and downs because we validate ourselves with the success of our business. 

Over the years, I’ve gotten better at grounding myself. Here’s some things that help:

  • Get off social media and stop checking email. Celebrate your success with quality time with friends and family. One time, I had a blog post go viral, and I spent the whole day replying to emails about it and checking the comments and upvotes go up. I had a friend visiting from out of town and I couldn’t even enjoy myself… Cringe!
  • Don’t go around shouting about your success to everyone. Nobody wants to hear it. Go talk to people, ask them about their life, and practice your listening skills. This is REALLY hard in the moment, but it’s great practice in controlling the ego.
  • Write! Write for yourself first, get your thoughts on paper. Then, write about your success, turn your excitement into a blog post about “how you did it”. Always nice to look back on and make something that will help and inspire others.
August 2020: Let's do this!
September 3rd, 2020
August 2020: Biggest month in Starter Story history in terms of traffic, revenue, new email subscribers, and content published.

Last month, we had over 120k unique visitors (+19% MoM) according to Google Analytics. Our other analytics tool (which is less prone to ad blockers) is reporting 263k visitors.


This growth is directly the result of our intense focus on experimenting, producing, and scaling our content machine. We published 198 new pieces of content in August. We will continue to grow this number by 20% every month.

This is continuing to pay off as we are seeing big growth in traffic from Google search. Here’s a look at Google search impressions over the last 6 months. Yesterday, we had 139k impressions, the biggest day we’ve ever had:


We are constantly testing and experimenting with new forms of content that will drive traffic to the website. For example, our business name ideas experiment is really starting to pay off.

Here are some more types of content we are experimenting with:

  • Business Ideas for [Insert Niche] (we now have over 1.1k business ideas in our database)
  • Startup Costs Pages
  • Business Ideas in [Insert City]
  • ...and many more

Many of these experiments do not pay off though. For example, we have been working hard on our start a business guides, but we’re not seeing much growth. Our goal is to quickly identify winners and double down, while moving on from the losers (easier said than done…)

Once we find something that works, we build processes and automation around it so that we can keep publishing more content in the future. 

We also added a new team member, Anjali, to the content team. We now have 6 people working at Starter Story, crazy!

Revenue: Our revenue (on accrual basis) for August was $12,714, the highest all time, and a 3% increase over last month.

Premium subscription: We grossed $11,432 in August. Unfortunately, that’s about a 20% decline over the previous month. I think this was due to us taking away the “lifetime deals” and that August may be a slower month in general (summer?).

Email list: Our email list is now at 22K+. We added 2.7k net new email subscribers in August (+39% MoM). We converted 2.66% of unique visitors into email subscribers. I’m excited about how much the list is going to grow as we keep increasing the top-line numbers. Still so much room for improvement in that conversion number too.

The new format of the newsletter is working, too. We have seen open rates increase from 17% to 27%, and click rates from 3% to nearly 6%.

Last month we saw our best month in terms of clicks inside emails:


August Numbers

- Monthly revenue (accrual): $12,714 (+3%)
- Traffic: 120k unique users (+19%) (this is a GA number, i think
- Content published: +198 (+70%)
- New email subscribers (net): +2,700 (+39%)
- Email collection rate: 2.66% (-15%)

Plans

(micro)

Just like last month, we will continue to laser focus on content: Experimental content. New content. Scaling content.

Our goals for this month: 

- Publish 240 pieces of content
- Execute content experiment around creating an LLC in [insert state]
- Implement an internal tracking system so we can understand how changes to our content are affecting our ranking in search engines (going to be epic)
- AB test lifetime memberships vs. first-year discount
- Come up with more data points for businesses and business ideas (market size, startup costs, etc)

(macro)

Over the next few months we’ll put our heads down and drive towards our goal of hitting 500k monthly uniques by the end of the year.

This is a very ambitious goal but I do think it’s possible with our current strategy. We have a better grasp than ever on how to grow to Starter Story through content and we’ll continue to iterate on this strategy.

For the next few months, we’ll be less focused on monetization and more focused on growth of the top line. We have a lot of runway and we plan to invest a lot of this back into the business.

Recently I wrote a bit about my vision for Starter Story: the tl;dr is that we are building a media machine that will one day rival Forbes and with technology & data angle like Crunchbase, with an angle on small business. 

Eventually, we will hit 1M monthly users and then 10M/month, just gonna take some hard work and a bit of time :) 

As the world keeps changing and more people go to start their own online business, we’ll be the best resource on the internet to help them with that. Let's do this!

Thanks for reading!

Good Writer
September 2nd, 2020

Two days ago, my dad told me I was a good writer. A few days before that, my mom called me to tell me how much she liked one of my posts.

A girl IRL told me she Googled me, found the blog, read it (oh god), and then told me I was a good writer.

Sometimes my writing gets shared on Twitter. Sometimes, I get emails from readers saying they like the blog and that I’m a good writer.

It feels bizarre when people tell me that I’m a good writer because I don’t identify as a writer at all, let alone a good one…

It is validating to hear this feedback. It’s the main reason I write every day: to become a better writer!

I've only gotten better because of daily practice. There is no magic here. I've written every day for 10 months now. I spend 1-2 hours per day writing. I feel mental anguish before, during, and after I publish. I cringe at my old posts.

BUT I know how much I still suck at writing. I have so much more room for improvement…

I want to write down what I’m excited about for the future. Here it goes:

  • I want to write essays with conviction like Paul Graham. 
  • I want to write something that gets shared like wildfire, something so good that people read it and immediately share it with all their friends.
  • I want to write stuff that's timeless, stuff that gets shared over and over again, even years after I’ve published it.
  • I want to write stuff that inspires. Stuff that makes people quit their day jobs, follow their dreams and change their lives.
  • I want to write controversial things, where people get really mad at me. I want to get canceled.
  • I want to write about with more honesty and transparency. I want to write about my deepest insecurities.
  • I want to write about philosophy. I want to write about the meaning of life.
  • I want to write about random things. I want to be more funny in my writing. I want to write about really mundane things, Larry David style.

Lastly, I want my writing journey to be different. I don’t have a traditional blog, and I don’t have a newsletter. This daily writing thing is different, and I love that.

I don’t know where all of this will go, but I will keep writing every day, right here.
Prediction: Existentialism
September 1st, 2020
Prediction: The global pandemic will trigger an existentialist movement.

Over the next couple years, people will more question their existence and the meaning of life. People will think more about their purpose.

In 1 year, existentialism might become trendy. In 3-4 years, it might become mainstream.

I think this will happen because people are no longer going into “the office”.

In some ways, the physical office provided a place for people to validate their purpose. Every day, they commuted into an office to work with a bunch of people who were also validating their purpose. It’s kind of like a cult/religion: "if other people are doing it then it's OK, right?".

Also, Powerpoints and spreadsheets *feel* a bit less important when you don’t dress up in fancy clothing and sit in *important* meetings with *important* people.

But now that’s gone, and people are sitting at home with not much to do. They are, of course, wondering if these PowerPoints and spreadsheets even matter! Existentialism!

The same goes for college, and universities. Many students are deferring enrollment and taking gap years. These kids don’t want to go to school when there’s no physical campus! Maybe college was never about your degree, but so much more about the experience of going to college?

Over the next few years, more people will explore the arts. They will explore philanthropy and politics. They will build their own businesses. They will work less.

I see this in my own friends. They’re talking less about their jobs and their careers. They’re talking about their depression and anxiety and the meaning of life! They’re also talking about wanting to travel, and move to remote locations, and live out of a van.

Although the pandemic is a horrible thing, I think it might give many people what they needed: a reset on life.

We are in the middle and the end is not in sight. We are waiting, which is among most people’s least favorite thing to do, when it means noticing that you have taken up residence in not knowing. (source)
Cool And Interesting And Unique
August 31st, 2020
I used to want to be cool and different and interesting and unique.

And I thought I could achieve this through external things, like my career or my material possessions, or what city I lived in, or how much I traveled.

One “unique” thing about me is where I’m from: I’m from a famous small town in Wyoming. Everyone has heard about it.

When I tell people where I’m from, sometimes I feel like this “tricks” people into thinking I’m more interesting than I actually am.

But this is obviously wrong. Sure, it might make me seem more interesting for a few minutes and give us some things to talk about, but once that’s over, I’m no more interesting than the next guy.

Where I’m from doesn’t have anything to do with me as a person. 

My Profile

When you sign up for Facebook, they ask a bunch of questions like:

  • Where are you from?
  • Where do you live?
  • Where did you go to school?
  • What do you do for a living?
  • What religion do you follow?
  • What’s your best photo?

When people visit your profile, it’s displayed in some widget like this:

.

I wonder what our profiles would look like if you stripped away all of these questions and answers. 

Without it, are we still cool and unique and interesting?

I think too many people live their life for these line items on their profiles. 

For example, some people cheat and pay their way to get into Ivy League schools. And some people work jobs because it will “look great on their resume”. Some people doctor their photos. The list goes on.

Instead of where I’m from, what school I went to, etc, I’m trying to answer more of these questions:

  • Am I being a good person?
  • Am I giving more than I’m taking?
  • Am I being a good listener and being genuinely interested in others?
  • Am I being supportive and compassionate and nice to my friends / family / SO?
  • How am I going to help people today / this week / this year?
  • Am I making the world a better place from my work?

^^ I want the answers to these questions to define me as unique and different, rather than my resume or my Twitter account.

These answers are so much more important than looking good.
What You Don't Say
August 30th, 2020
I put myself out there. I said what was on my mind. For this, I got hurt.

But you know what won’t ever hurt me? The regret of what I didn’t say!

Because I said it all, and that’s all that matters.

The hurt from what you don’t say is dull but lasts a lifetime.

The hurt that comes from what you do say is sharp but is only temporary.

I always regret the things I didn’t do, or didn’t say. Over a lifetime, those hurt 100x more than a quick blow to my ego. 

Just say it!!
Commit
August 28th, 2020
A few months ago, I did 20-30 customer interviews for Starter Story. 

I talked to readers to find out what they needed help with.

What I discovered was unexpected. Nobody needed help. They knew all of the steps to starting a business. Most of them had a great business idea and some had even already gotten started.

So what did they need help with? My conclusion: commitment.

I came to this conclusion because I kept hearing these same two questions over and over: 

  1. "How do you know when you have the right idea?” and
  2.  "How do I know when it’s time to go all in?”

What are the classic reasons businesses fail? Run out of money? Cofounder conflict?

I believe the biggest reason a business fails is a lack of founder commitment.

Commitment might be the single most important trait of a successful founder. Why? Because a committed founder will do everything in their ability to succeed. No matter what.

I am by no means a good case study on commitment, but I do remember my commitment to making Starter Story work in the early days.

Let me try to explain what this “felt like” in the early days:

“I am going to make this work. No. Matter. What. Maybe this isn’t the billion dollar idea, but this is something that is WORKING. This is all I can think about. I can’t focus at my day job because I’m thinking about this all day. I’ll wake up at 5am every day to put the work in. This weekend is Labor Day? Great, a full day I get to work on my business.”

This was probably not totally healthy, but it was a necessary evil to get the business off the ground in the first 2 years.

I’m not saying you need to be like this, but this was what commitment meant to me.

If that is commitment, what’s it mean to not be committed? Not being committed is not solving all the problems of your business. Not finding solutions. Not seizing all the opportunities. Not taking action every day. Overthinking. Talking about things you want to do, instead of just doing them.

If you’re not committed, it’s obvious to see. Uncommitted people are Indecisive. If you’re indecisive, it will show in your leadership. People won’t want to work for you. People won’t want to invest in you. People won’t believe you will succeed.

It’s not just in business, but in all aspects of life. It’s the difference of actually making plans with someone versus saying “let’s do something next week”.

Being committed is attractive - you will be like a magnet. A magnet for money. A magnet for people. And a magnet for success.

Internally, living a committed life is also just more fun. You will have more confidence. You will have more conviction. You will be more present.

Don’t be that guy that keeps starting over!  I’ve been that guy.

The life you have right now is the best one. It will not become better by changing the things around you (work, people, location, house). It will ONLY become better by being committed to changing YOURSELF into a better person.

If you commit to yourself first, all the other things will change in your favor without you having to work for it, because you’re a magnet! 
2020 Vision
August 27th, 2020
As founders, we all have some sort of vision and questions and goals, but I think it’s important to write it out sometimes. This isn’t formal, just some of the thoughts in my head today.

The goal for the end of the year is to get to 500k users/month.

We have steady revenue streams and a lot of runway, now is time to focus on building channels of growth.

And by growth, I mean, how can more people find the website? How can we find new “sectors” of people that are interested in starting a new business? Maybe it’s people from India? Maybe it’s people that are looking for business ideas? Maybe it’s people stuck in their corporate job?

How can we find more people that are interested in starting their own businesses that don’t even know a resource like ours exists? How can we demonstrate that we have all of this value? How can we get them to come back? How can Starter Story continue to help them throughout their business journey?

I think that SEO is the most important thing we should focus on right now. There is still so much more potential for us here. I think we can grow it 100 to 1000x. The thing is, SEO is something that grows beautifully over time. We are working our asses off today, and seeing some good results, but I have a feeling it will pay off like crazy years down the line.

If we just focus on SEO, I am confident that one day we will reach 10M uniques/month. It will take years, but look at Hubspot and look at Crunchbase.

We have a business model that works right now, and we have dozens of business models we could explore in the future. Courses, more advertising, paid products, etc, all of it built off of the backbone of a massive organic channel.

But for now, what we have is working. Just time to focus on GROWTH.

What’s the goal of Starter Story? Simple. To help founders with their business. Whether they have a business yet or not, we make content and features to enable them. 

What we have done very well so far is our interviews with founders. We did it in a way that was better than nearly all other written interview content on the internet. 

Interviews are maybe 1% of the potential of an online media business. There are many more different kinds of content that we will be exploring over the next few years.

What about people in the idea stage of their business? We will help them find business ideas. What about people that want to come up with a name for their business? We will help them find a name. Looking for a manufacturer for your products? We help you find one. What about people that need legal paperwork and formation stuff? We will help them set up their business.

^^ And that’s just four examples. There are hundreds of more things we can do.

Starter Story will be a big brand name like Forbes. It will also be full-featured and full of data like Crunchbase. We will monetize like The New York Times. 

We will be focused on small, online, work from home businesses. In the next 10 years, these kinds of businesses will explode in popularity. Everyone and their mom will be starting their own business. More people will be fed up and want to leave their corporate jobs. This is only the beginning!

Sometime in the next few years, there will be a “tipping point”, where  this “start your own business fad” will become mainstream and trendy. We will be ready for that and our business will explode.

On the internal side, Starter Story will be this new “hybrid” of a media business that I believe will emerge over the next 20 years. We are not a blog and we are not a community and we are not a newsletter. All of these blogs and course sellers will evaporate. We stand the test of time. 

We build VALUE FOR THE LONG TERM, we are a living breathing thing that evolves with the times. We are a media company not a blog!

So, how to grow to 500k/month users by the end of the year? 

Continue to experiment, build, and scale content. Go harder every month. Outsource aggressively.

It should always feel like we are “doing too much”. That is a good thing. It should feel ridiculous how much content we put out as a team of 4 people. That’s because we are doing things different. We are not a blog!

We should embrace these differences and not follow what other people are saying we should do. We are stretching the limits of what people think is possible as a very small team. One day, we will be a case study of the “new media”.

We must think “big”. How can we publish 100 excellent pieces of content per day? I know that might sound crazy, but it is possible with the right approach, hiring, business model, and with automation.

We need to implement systems and processes that enable this. And more importantly, set really ambitious goals, every month bigger than the last.

We must always focus on the integrity of the Starter Story database. It is and will be our greatest asset. Collect as much data as possible. Our data should be accurate and up to date. It should intertwine and integrate with everything else, because it allows us to build features in the future with ease.

We should never write one-off blog posts because we feel like it. We should never follow the flavor of the week’s content. We write things that last decades and will be constantly updated.

We approach content with scale. Instead of one article, how can it be 100 articles? How can we build systems around it and, for example, interview over 1000 founders that result in 1000 articles? (we already did that)

We should also focus on tweaking existing content. We still have so much to learn about SEO and what works. Don’t always focus on new content and features, how can we can get #1 on Google on our old stuff?

Last week, we had our biggest week in organic traffic, and the week before that was the biggest, and then the week before that was the biggest too. Traffic is going to grow as long as we keep doing what we’re doing.

We are already so far ahead of the game when it comes to other media businesses. We are set up for a big success. When this is all over, we’ll be worth millions.
Quitting Alcohol: Social Life Update
August 26th, 2020
It's been over 8 months since I had my last drink. Here's another update on not drinking. (some past updates)

The latest challenge has been learning how to be social while not drinking. I've lived in NYC for almost two months now.

I've gone out with friends, dinners, parties, gone on dates, a weekend-long bachelor party, and even went to a wedding, completely sober.

I feel like I've learned a lot and become much better.

This past weekend was that wedding, and I can say with confidence that I had a fantastic time completely sober, and I don't think alcohol would have improved the experience!

I am saying with full honestly that I had a better time NOT drinking.

This is fascinating to me because I did not expect this! I figured that alcohol was essential for the wedding experience.

I also felt great at the wedding. More confident. Less needy. More of enjoying the moment and the people.

I still hit the dance floor, mingled with everyone, and had a great time. Being sober did not inhibit any fun.

Let me contrast this with something that happened two months ago...

I went out with a friend, his girlfriend, and another girl, who was cute. They were all drinking and I wasn't. I was hiding the fact that I wasn't drinking at first (drinking seltzers), and things eventually escalated to taking shots.

When we went to cheers the shots, the girl turned to me and asked why I wasn't drinking. I didn't have a good answer. I had to just say I wasn't drinking that night, and the girl looked at me puzzled, and kept urging me to drink with her. That was hard!

That night, I felt like I couldn't be fun, charming, or funny without alcohol. I was tense and awkward and nervous.

Now it's been a couple of months and I've tackled many different social situations without alcohol. That wouldn't happen anymore, I feel like I've come a long way!

It's funny, I actually feel more confident in social situations now that I'm sober. I'm more open to being social and less reserved than when I was drinking.

As for everything else (non-social stuff), quitting drinking has been amazing. But that's a post for another day.

.
Ask Their Name
August 25th, 2020
Every morning I walk to the corner store and buy a cup of coffee.

And every morning, the same guy is working there.

Every day, we have the same encounter:

  • I walk in  
  • I ask: can I get a large cup of coffee with Splenda & milk?
  • He pours the coffee and tells me the price
  • I put my credit card in the chip reader and wait impatiently for it to be approved
  • I say thanks and go on with my day

After many visits to the corner store, I realized I was being a robot.

On my 9th visit, I switched it up. I asked him his name.

The biggest smile came across his face, I could see it through his mask. He asked my name, and in that instant, I made a friend.

Every day, I learn a little about him and he learns a little about me. His name is Mohammed. He works every single day of the week, Monday through Sunday. He lives across the water in New Jersey. He takes the PATH to get to work. He is married.

Two years ago, I would have never done this. I would have gotten my cup of coffee and tunnel-visioned back to my laptop, thinking about work, thinking about how to be “efficient” with my time, only thinking about myself. Like a fucking robot.

This reminds me of something that happened last year in Vietnam. I went to the same coworking space every day. There was a girl who worked there and we would chat for a minute every day when I checked in.

Over a month went by, and one day she asked me out of the blue: “Do you even know my name...?”

I didn’t know her name! 

I didn’t feel embarrassed, I just felt pathetic. I was too “busy” and in my own head at that time to even want to know her name…

Asking someone’s name shows you care about them, even in some tiny, minute way.

Besides being a decent human being, asking someone’s name keeps YOU curious, and remaining curious will give you everything you want in life.

Instead of the same coffee routine every morning, my small conversation with Mohammed starts my day off with a little dose of curiosity, which I carry into my next activity or endeavor, and the next. It keeps me on my toes.

Ask their name! Stay curious!!
Life Is Fucking Awesome
August 24th, 2020
Apologies if this post comes off braggadocious. It’s just a vibe right now. It comes from a good place. Today is my birthday :)

Over the past few months, I’ve had this really awesome feeling over and over.

I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s just that life is fucking awesome.

It’s almost a manic feeling, but only the “high” part.

It’s the culmination of so many things. I’ve worked so god-damned hard over the past 12 years to get here. 

I’m blessed to be able to work for myself, on projects that I’m passionate about, people that I love, and be able to set my own schedule.

Financially, I’m in a good place. I understand how to build a business and how to make money. I live in New York City, my favorite place in the world. I have a great circle of friends.

My anxiety has mostly vanished in 2020. Overall, I care less about what people think. I have a lot more confidence.

Most days feel…. nice. The sunny days feel sunnier. Music sounds better. Food tastes better. I’m less judgemental.

I don’t care to tell people about my accomplishments. I don’t flex on social media. I do this shit for myself (for the most part).

The best part is that I can see the rest of my life being like this. I know what I want in life. It’s not money or status, it’s just to be happy and make cool shit and be passionate. To live a fucking full-ass life.

I used to be worried about “losing it all”. But dude!! I have nothing to lose!!!

^^ I think that might be the reason I feel this way.

Take away my money and take away my assets. I’ll be fine. I’ve learned I can be happy with nothing.

I only find happiness in the journey, not in the outcome.

Maybe this is just a moment. Hard times will come. I will become more critical of myself. Everything happens in waves.

But I have to appreciate this moment.