Some Big Changes
Also, a brand new website and fresh content.
Hi everyone. Writing to you from Buffalo, NY, where I'll be spending time with family for the next few weeks. I took last week off to work through the details of a new newsletter structure that I'm thrilled to share with you.
First, and probably the most on-brand of the updates: Sunday Scaries will now be sent on Sundays. Shocking. This was an obvious and overdue decision that is mostly the result of my inability to resist procrastination. Sunday Scaries will focus on providing you with the best content that I discover each week and commentary on why it's important. The first edition will launch next week as a separate and free newsletter. Followers of this newsletter will be automatically subscribed for the inaugural post, so you can decide if it's your speed. If you want to opt-out, just respond directly to this email and I'll take care of it personally for you.
Next (and this is a big one for me), the current publication you're reading will switch to a paid subscriber model in (roughly) three weeks. This change gives me a way to separate my extended writings from the curated-link format of Sunday Scaries. It also provides me with an incentive to write more personal essays reserved for those of you who find value from my content. I haven't decided on the price, but it will be reasonable -- I promise. I don't write to make money, but the income from subscriptions will justify my coffee habit and the weekend afternoons spent typing away at a keyboard. Putting the content behind a paywall also helps me to share some of my more raw thoughts that may not be fully formed yet. Since it's associated with my name, there is a trust between subscribers and I to express unfiltered opinions, even if they are contrarian or still developing.
Finally, I've launched an updated website that will be the global home for my content. Previously, my website existed in a kind of no-mans-land. I would sporadically publish content there that didn't fit anywhere else. Essays went on Substack, but that wasn't giving me the level of customization that I was looking for. The main components of the new and improved website include:
What's top of mind: an entry point into my working notes. I capture thoughts in the form of Evergreen notes that are connected to each other through a graph database. What's top of mind will feature top-level links into my working notes on the current projects I'm scheming up. Right now it features a book summary of Richard Hamming's "The Art of Doing Science and Engineering" and extended commentary on why note-taking is the most important form of communication that you do every day.
Essays: the permanent home for essays that stand the test of time (and Twitter mobs). I write essays to understand the world and explain it simply to others. Essays published here will represent fairly in-depth examinations of topics ranging from economics, to friendships, to product management and technology. My hope is that these works will act as a kind of Schelling point for creative people that want to collaborate with me. On the internet, no one knows that you're a dog, especially if you're a dog with well-articulated and useful opinions.
Short Stories: Sometimes I write fiction. I have no idea what to do with these stories and am slightly embarrassed to share them with others. Naturally, they get a full section on the website.
About Me: What it sounds like. It's exhausting to try and keep up with the different personalities required for each social platform. I'll keep trying to be pithy on Twitter and photogenic on Instagram, but this is my website, dammit, and I'll write what I want here. This section features a candid description of who I am, why someone might want to read things I've written, and how to get in touch.
So yeah, that's my update for the week.
One new newsletter with a familiar name
One paid option for people who want to support the work
A nice place for it all to live.
Thanks for sticking through to the end. Here's a photo from the brand new “About Me” section taken during a recent trip to Mammoth Lakes.
Have a great week!
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