Chatbots; Becoming a creator; Personal branding
Milk, No Sugar #290
💡Think
I went to a Van Gogh virtual exhibition experience thing (technical term) yesterday, and not only was it the creative kick up the butt I needed, I learned something astounding.
Van Gogh’s professional art career was only 10 year long.
I’ve been a designer for 10 years, and my work is still pretty crap. On top of this, he produced over 2000 paintings in that period.
You don’t need to be an expert right now to be successful. If you’re driven, passionate, and want it, you can achieve “success” – that most wonderful of generic words.
This week, let’s take a look at where our passions lie and try to understand how we can make more time for them.
📷 Look
📖 Read
❶ The chatbot problem
In the past few years, ethics and tech haven’t had the best of relationships. The more we try to automate, the more bias we surface. Why? Well, tech is mostly built by people who resemble a white nerdy man, and it’s cheaper to build for yourself than for everyone. This becomes an issue when tech is actually dangerous for people who aren’t you. There was a famous case a few years ago when an automated Microsoft chatbot started to use racist language. It’s the Wild West out there, folks.
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❷ The year everyone became a creator
I learned today that people who make a living from different platforms are called “multi-SKU creators”, which is not catchy in the slightest. What is interesting though, is that there’s becoming a very rich market of people who are earning from something other than a 9-5. This is being taken to the next level too, with investors looking at the space and tools being created particularly for this market. So maybe it’s time you dusted off that TikTok account and raised some VC money for your funny takes on the design industry.
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❸ The darker side of building a personal brand
This article is written by a founder who struggles with the balance between maintaining a “persona” and, you know, running a business. The two things can almost become an ouroboros, with the brand feeding the business and vice versa, but it’s not all gold and rainbows and they explain in the piece. Audiences need to be fed, and once you take that on, you will ultimately neglect what brings in the dollars. This is a good personal reflection on all of the above, and I encourage you to read it if you’re interested in what goes on in the mind of those with a following.
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Bonus round
Beautiful pictures from the iPhone photography awards
A weird and wonderful podcast from a few years ago where a guy records 15 minutes of audio every morning at 9.45am in Japan. Perfect for background or meditation sound
🎧 Listen
This week I struggled to choose one, so guess what? You have two recommendations.
❶ Louis Armstrong, jazz musician
This made me laugh, because people have pronounced his first name wrong his entire life as well. This podcast is a look at Armstrong’s influence on the jazz (and wider) industry, stories from those that worked with him, and just some awesome trumpet music for your ears.
Listen to this podcast (29 minutes)
Spotify – Apple Podcasts
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❷ Leadership in a crisis
This is an interview with General Electric’s former CEO. He was in charge throughout 3 huge crises, including 9/11 and the 2008 financial crash – small fry, ey? He’s honest and has some solid advice for all of us as we navigate what the next few years will look like.
Listen to this podcast (53 minutes)
Spotify – Apple Podcasts
🙌 Share
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🙏 Thanks
Have a great week,
Luis Ouriach
@disco_lu
Founding member special shoutouts:
Kevin Fernandez (@kvnfz)
Karl Barker
George Sumpster