The Weekly Startup #6

Welkom to your weekly dose of content. We did the hard work for you and made a selection of the content that's actually worth your time. That is if you still want to level up your hustle game and start living life on your own terms.

In today's email:

• 2 Lessons learned from a singer making bank. (Who couldn't even sing)

• The best podcast for Side-Hustle inspiration. (With 411 episodes ready to consume)

• David Bowie's 60 second advice for artists. (And everyone else if you ask me)

• Why we often over-complicate our solutions.

• How to boost your creativity and innovation.

• Why you should be selling your outcome, not your process.

A short story meant to motivate you to get at it and work for what you want.

My favourite coffee place is near the park. The past 4 days there was a festival going on. I sat down and a few minutes later an act began. It was a singer-songwriter. He played solo on a guitar. He filled the stage with parents and their kids. If I must guess I would say that about 3000 people gathered to see him.

When he started I noticed a few people giggle around me. He wasn’t good. Like, not good at all. Hé stood there with his guitar. Singing basic songs and making funny noises.

My curiosity led to a Google search on his name. I checked his YouTube and this is what blew my mind.

Side Hustle Inspiration (Podcast)

Meet Sam Parr and Shaan Puri. I already talked about them in my first mail but here is another great reminder. Their 411 (last time I checked) podcast episodes are filled with amazing stories of successful businesses. 

They are occasionally funny and have inspired me in at least 10 different ways since I started consuming their content. They approach business opportunities from so many sides that it's almost impossible not to get some great takeaways from them.

If you're looking for something educational to dive into, check them out. 

Advice For Artists (But also any other creative if you ask me)

This very short snippet holds some nuggets for artists. But I feel that the 60-second watch is also worth it for anyone else out there. 

Never work to please other people. You'll never be at your best. Follow your own path instead. 

The Midwit Trap

According to Know Your Meme, “midwit” is a derogatory term used to describe someone of average intelligence who mistakenly believes they are among the intellectual elite.

The Midwit Meme is usually used to defend a position that seems too simple and unsophisticated to be correct. 

The idea behind the Midwit Meme is that sometimes the correct solution to a complicated problem turns out to be very simple.

It's not the easiest read but this article is definitely a confrontation. 

If you feel like you always go for the most complicated solution it could just be that you are in the Midwit trap. In this case, drop your ego and check this article out: 

On Innovation & Creativity

There is a view, to which we subscribe that a lot of innovation and creativity comes from the combination of worldly wisdom, perspective, accumulating existing ideas, and failures from multiple disciplines, amongst other things.

These ideas — sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously tossed around in our head — combine into something new. This is part of the reason that creativity and innovation are hard. You can’t just pick up a single book or thread of knowledge and have it deliver results.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” - Steve Jobs

A Thread about Selling Your Outcome instead of your Process

I posted this on Twitter yesterday. A fun (short) story that could help you grasp the importance of selling outcome and not process.

How You Can Help Me. (If you like this mailing)

First of all, thanks a lot for reading. It motivates me to create and find more content going forward.

I want this information to be free for everyone. The world will only be a better place if chances are distributed more evenly. Inequality is already growing too fast. It's up to us to tighten the gap. 

You can help me grow this educational platform I'm building in 3 easy ways (that cost you nothing).

1. Share this newsletter with friends who could benefit.

2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel: (This way I can earn some ad money in the future)

3. Follow me on Medium (I need 100 followers to get paid by Medium for my writing)

Thank you!

You made it to the end. I hoped you liked the insights provided in this mailing. This email is brought to you by Startup Library, a brand of The Growing Investor. I intend to shift my cheezy quote game on Instagram to a more serious game where I share with you the resources I use to keep myself updated and motivated. If you got any suggestions feel free to reply to this mail or send me a DM on Instagram. If you found value for a friend I would appreciate it if you'd share this mail with them and have them sign up as well.

Thanks again and I'll see you next week with new resources to shake your professional world.