Owner of Gate Check Studios. Publishes Sabbatical
Not since the Great Recession has there been such a disruptive reconfiguration of how media, “content,” and comms work on the internet. I’ve been tossing around a few predictions and observations with friends, and I wanted to collect them all in one place here.
The first phase of a startup’s journey often gets most of the attention. After all, it’s the one phase of building a company that everyone has to go through. Peter Thiel popularized this moment as the “Zero to One” phase.
There is a road in Philadelphia.
I’ve been working as a head of “content” in one capacity or another since 2014 and I’ve never seen a hotter job market for my field. Tech companies are tripping over themselves to “go direct” and build the audiences they want to reach, skipping most traditional media channels.
It’s an exciting time to make things on the internet.
When you read old speeches of American presidents, you’ll sometimes notice it was commonplace to refer to our country as “these” United States. From Lincoln (“And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States”) to Roosevelt (“I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making”).
Author, podcaster, and entrepreneur Paul Jarvis spent years building his email newsletter, writing books, and making courses. His career was the dream end state for many of those in the “creative economy.” There was “passive income,” a published book, and a portfolio of diverse revenue streams.
As COVID-19 continues to alter the way we live, there is a scramble to predict what our “new normal” will look like. After the virus fades away or, God help us, becomes a constant in our day-to-day life for years to come, which change brought on by the pandemic will stick?
I was catching up with a friend recently when I asked how work was going. He was making good money, he said. And had enough seniority to have a high amount of autonomy. For the first time, he felt in control of his career trajectory.
Pilcrow House is an event series that aims to foster candid conversation over some delicious food.