I'm obssessed with words as tools to dictate the future
Words are just tools to make things happen. Control those tools and you dictate the future.
project #1
my writing guide
If you don't control words, other people will.
And they'll out-write you. They'll get the investment. They'll get the customers.
Your bad writing will kill your good idea.
I wrote a guide to help you and your team control words, the only tools you have to transfer ideas and make things happen.
When you can be clear and concise, powerful and precise, when you can convince and persuade, you can dictate the future.
"These are wonderful!!
Love that second one about the writer and the editor."
David Perell—
Founder, Write of Passage
project #2
blockchain domains
As it stands, domain names are controlled by central authorities, which means your website and the message it delivers can be censored.
The handshake.org protocol decentralises domain names. It's a vital ingredient in the decentralised, uncensorable web.
naming.media is my portfolio site of $hns domains including .privacy .rare and .authentic
🔋 Battery
“The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."
—f. scott fitzgerald
When I stumbled on this F. Scott Fitzgerald quote I finally had the words to explain a philosophy I had been cultivating for over 15 years, one that sets me free and powers me.
Like a battery, a single cell within which 2 opposing forces, a positive and a negative, sit together to create power.
So, like a battery, I approach life.
🔋 Battery
“The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."
—f. scott fitzgerald
When I stumbled on this F. Scott Fitzgerald quote I finally had the words to explain a philosophy I had been cultivating for over 15 years, one that sets me free and powers me.
Two opposing ideas. At the same time. With the ability to function.
Like a battery, with 2 opposing forces. In the same cell. With the ability to charge and power.
So, like a battery, I approach life.
For example, I can hold the idea that if all of life was condensed into 24 hours, humans would only arrive with less than 2 minutes to go. And, that it’s important to obsess over the right words for my job as a writer in a property startup.
Considering one without the balance of the other results in either apathy because nothing matters, or concern because everything matters. Belief in only one is paralysing. Belief in both is freedom.
Perhaps that’s why I’m a writer. Because great writing is the work of dual personalities. Writing is only the first bit. The positive addition. But what makes writing great is the negative reduction. The culling of words to make the writing irreducibly valuable.
I attribute this philosophy to a dark moment in my early 20s, climbing out of that hole, and spending lots of time alone. Being happy in your own company for a long time is powerful. I remember a night out at a bar having lost my friends to the drink early on. I remember ordering myself a drink, and toasting my reflection in the mirror.
An idea was planted in those fertile alcoholic grounds—that we’re ultimately alone and need to rely on ourselves first. I was toasting my double, perhaps my balancing equal in that mirror, toasting a promise to look after myself.
During the darkness my mum said to me, “you know, you can choose to be happy”. I rejected the idea at first, but the idea persisted and now I believe it. We can choose, we have control. But, we also have no control. Perfect.
Let's work together
I make sure bad writing doesn't kill your good idea. Let me know what you're working on and how I can help.
Tight budget? Read my guide to writing well.