The Curse of Finding Your Proof of Concept
How I'm learning to turn the comparison trap into a super power.
Pinterest can be an amazing resource for visual stimuli and inspiration. My feed is decadent and only takes me about 5 minutes and 37 seconds to get antsy with a need to make things.
However, if you’re building a product based business (say for instance, a clothing brand with a certain aesthetic and niche), the feed can crush souls if faced with the reality of a brand that is similar in aesthetic and significantly more popular.
I stumbled across a UK brand I didn’t know about until last week, and when I saw what they were making, I nearly threw my computer in the Thames. Yes, I would endure the TSA, fly to England, stand on the Tower Bridge and toss the Macbook into the murky waters, giving it the ol’ double-deuce all the way down.
This stings more than it should because knowing what’s cool is way easier than the doing cool things. This brand is doing the cool work and while I’m struggling with refinement. The gap between taste and execution is the Snake River Gorge filled with self-doubt.
For about 43 seconds, I had this nagging anxiety about working in a similar niche, using a somewhere similar style, and thinking that I was a copy-cat; a bandwagoner. A coattail rider looking to snatch a piece of their excellence for myself.
Then I remembered that comparison is a bullshit reason to quit and I ain’t about that anymore. I’m not making the same type of work, but if anyone tries to make that association, they get the stink-eye, because I’ve got receipts in the form of wildly scribbled journal notes of my psychosis-turned-inspiration.
Up All Night to Get Lucky
I had this idea for showcasing loose interpretations of the Daft Punk helmets with the phrase “Only Robots I Trust.” I like the idea, but because my sketch was so bad, I didn’t have enough faith in myself to execute it well enough to put on a shirt.
Oddly enough, I was inspired to make this design after I wrote this post about Deus Customs and its influence on me:
I talk a good game sometimes, but I struggle to follow my own voice. I gave up on the Daft Punk design before I really started… until now.
The way I’m choosing to look at this now is that I’m going to make the cringy things, and they may be terrible, but the more I make, the better I get. I can always revise them and go again, right?
We weren’t put on this earth to waffle about our work. We are here to make a dent, and since the world seems to be going to hell a little more with each passing day (I paid $5.69 for gas yesterday, and that was cheap.), we might as well foist our work above our heads in pride, because at least we’re making art instead of making war.
This design is now available in the shop. The goal is to let the audience decide if they love it or not with their dollars… or find the audience that will.
As far as the anonymous brand above which shall not be named; they’ve built something cool and maybe I’ll buy a shirt in appreciation. Then I’ll never visit that site again, because it’s none of my business.
Things I’ve Seen
I Think I Know Why That Famous Entrepreneur Pivoted Her Business (And She’s Not Going to Be the Only One) - Kelly Diels
I’ve read three articles recently talking about this same topic, how AI is radically upsetting the apple cart for content creators, coaches, and course makers. The hypothesis is the same in all three articles; people won’t pay for knowledge anymore because AI can provide it faster and cheaper. Instead, what people will pay for it experience and discernment.
Where Diels’ separates herself from the others I read is in the data and the extensive footnoting. Instead of just spitting hyperbole, she comes with proof.
How I Brought 100K+ Visitors to My Substack via Pinterest - Olivia Wickstrom
I’m bearish on Instagram these days; like old, angry, starving Kodiak Grizzly kind of bearish. At the same time, I feel like I need to extend my promotional efforts of both this publication and my brand into other territory. I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest, so I thought I should dig in and do more there. Wickstrom’s article couldn’t have come across my feed at a better time.
The Internet Archive
This might be the coolest thing I’ve stumbled across in a while. Stop letting AI tell you what it thinks is cool and let your own fingers flip through thousands of pages of pure inspiration.
This Daft Punk fan is glad you persevered with your design! I appreciate your transparency as you’re building this new project.
Just keep going, Dave. It's really hard to be truly original anymore, but that doesn't mean the work isn't worth doing.