First, master fundamentals. Then, play infinite games.
— James Stuber

I look for interesting topics people find overwhelming. 

Then I spend hundreds of hours trying to make their mastery simple.

  1. I pick a skill I want to be good at.
  2. I research and experiment to uncover their principles. I question assumptions behind its conventional teaching.
  3. I get my hands dirty. Because the "difference between knowledge and wisdom is experience,” and I need experience to teach.

I'm asked why I publish online handbooks instead of books.

Surprisingly, books are a worse medium for education and discussion:

  1. Books become outdated, whereas I update my handbooks yearly.
  2. Books lack audio and video, which are sometimes critical.
  3. Books contain boring filler to reach page count requirements.
  4. Book excerpts can't be linked. So, people rarely re-read them.

Teach well

Great teachers—not experts—help you attain mastery. Because mastery requires tools over knowledge.

Bad teachers dump their thoughts onto paper then imply, “Here, you figure this out.”

Great teachers, on the other hand, appreciate how the brain works—and what it needs for comprehension.

So, I spend more time appreciating teachers than experts.

And I do so with the open-mindedness that teachers can be bloggers and podcasters. Not just professors.

Work

Writer

Julian.com is read by over 650,000 people a year.

Founder

I run Demand Curve, a Y Combinator-funded training program that teaches companies and individuals to become expert marketers. Clients include Microsoft, Imperfect Produce, Perfect Keto, and 100+ others. I also write a marketing column for TechCrunch and occasionally appear on podcasts to talk about marketing, including Indie Hackers, Spec, and Mixergy.

Before Demand Curve, I started NameLayer, a domain name company that sold domains to startups and Fortune 500's. After our launch, I wrote the guide that many startups consult when choosing a name. NameLayer was acquired by Techstars.

Engineer

I made Velocity, a popular open source tool used by Samsung, Uber, WhatsApp, and thousands more. I published a book on it through Pearson. It was awarded the Stripe grant, with which I made Libscore. I was interviewed about the project by Forbes.

Contact

Say hello on Twitter. I'd love to hear from you.

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