#gary chou

[regulars]

Check out this workshop from Gary (who has hung with the Regulars before) and Christina. [details]

[regulars]

[regulars]

[youexdee]

Most design schools are built around the idea that the higher the quality of your work, the greater your long-term success. But I believe something that's fundamentally different. I believe that your long-term success is more of a reflection of the size of your network.

Gary Chou, on the importance of social networks. I think another way of saying this is: It's really hard to accomplish things (including happiness) by yourself, and that's why it's a worthwhile endeavor to actively form and build meaningful relationships.

[kenyatta]

The notion of the independent creator is relatively new. It’s predated by “artist” and “artisan” and carries with it the vestiges of “founder” and “creative.” It’s a medium-agnostic term, brought to life by filmmakers and designers, musicians and animators, engineers and game developers. There’s no standard path to success for the independent creator, though companies like Kickstarter, Patreon, Shapeways and Etsy are creating digital spaces for hundreds of thousands of them.

The uncertain path of the independent creator is a “zig zag,” as Gary puts it. The path often diverges from that of the prototypical tech startup, with charts pointing up and to the right in dramatic growth curves.

“The tech startup has become the predominant form for the expression of ideas. It’s a great, well-understood form. People know how to finance it. People know how to operate in it. Strangers know how to look at it and say, ‘I can go join this thing.’ But it’s flawed in that it comes with certain sets of expectations, and a narrowing set of outcomes as you proceed.”

[The] ability to navigate uncertainty and chart your own path is increasingly critical in a roller coaster economy supercharged by technological change, when jobs and industries appear and disappear in a matter of decades. No longer is there certainty in the corporate ladder, nor has there ever been a clear pathway to success in the startup rocketship. “Much of what most people think of as ‘known’ is actually unknown, unstable, and shifting under our feet imperceptibly,” explains Orbital advisor Christina Xu of Gary’s philosophy.

- Orbital Offers Space for Independent Creators to Explore Unknown - PSFK

the everybodyatonce​ office is located at orbitalnyc​. garychou​'s philosophy on the future of work is a very big reason why.

[karenbaker]

"Yeah... we're using 'crush it' as a litmus test for who _not_ to let in here."

— Gary Chou, on creating the community he wants to see at Orbital, a new co-working space in the Lower East Side. Thankfully, it's not one of brogrammers or other similar folks intent on ruling the world.

[entrepreneurdesigners]

Entrepreneurial Design 2014

As followers of this blog, you may have noticed that we've resumed posting. The Spring semester at SVA is now underway, and we're back back for Year 3.

The course is mostly the same as it was before. The 10 Assignments and the $1,000 Project are still in place, and the focus remains rooted in exploring our shift to a networked world.

However, the size of our class has increased to 19 students, so we've made some adjustments to address that.

Most notably, we've staffed up. Joining me as instructors this year are Christina Xu and Leland Rechis.

Christina, in her role at Breadpig, and with her understanding of Internet culture and all things awesome, has helped numerous independent creators and entrepreneurs launch successful projects. (also: check out Christina's blog post here.)

Leland, who I've met during my time at Union Square Ventures, is one of the best product advisors in New York and has a unique understanding of networks and creators, given his past product roles at Twitter, Etsy and now Kickstarter.

For the students, the most critical part of the course is getting access to quality feedback and coaching when they need it. With Christina and Leland joining me as instructors, we'll be able to properly support the students.

I invite you all to follow along with our students via their blogs and twitter accounts. It's going to be a fun semester.

[loyalcx]

Design = Defining the Rules of a System. Designing a System != Controlling the Outcome.

(via Gary Chou)

Last night, we made a quick stop at Gary Chou's Designers and Geeks' event, Designing for Uncertainty. Sometimes, our clients find the prospect of an uncertain outcome to be terrifying - especially when it comes to community with an uncertain ROI. The better that we can all become at defining the system (how the community works), the better we can come at predicting its outcome and return.