Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap 4/5/2025)

The Relationship Revolution: Why Your Viewer Count Isn't The Point

Every creator I know obsesses over the same question: "How do I get more people to see my stuff?" But I've learned something fundamental contributing both to Excess Returns (30k+ subscribers) and Cultish Creative (fewer than 300, ahem, yes, do feel free to subscribe, I am shamefully shameless about it): view counts are just vanity metrics, while relationships are the real currency.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "Every artist/creator I've ever known panics about the same thing when sharing their work: 'How do I get more people to see my stuff?' But while visibility is a real challenge, there's something fundamental we need to focus on first. I'm saying this to you and I'm saying it to myself. View counts are just vanity metrics. The real value—the only value that matters—comes from the relationships you build with your viewers. Whether that's 10 million people or just 10."

Freaky Tales: The Wisdom In Extremes

Last Friday afternoon feels like a lifetime ago now, right? Anyway, Dave Nadig, Jason Buck, and I captured another edition of "Click Beta" last Friday, which is our monthly attempt to share the kinds of conversations we normally have behind closed doors about the extremely good and extremely bad of everything, which that week included AI, trade policies, and if we even have a legacy. It's good to confide in friends, and it’s even better to trade working theories on how the world might brilliantly succeed or spectacularly implode with people you can laugh with.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "When Dave Nadig suggested that kicking Russia out of SWIFT might be the moment we can't go back from… I had a 'what are we doing here' moment. I had a, 'is this the kind of conversation that should stay behind closed doors' moment. I had a, 'wait, this feels exactly like the kind of talk we should be having more often, especially with friends like this who'll laugh when I make a Too $hort reference, so what am I worried about' moment."

Always Go Where Your Gut Tells You

When I brought Matthew Stafford back to "Just Press Record," I didn't expect it would lead to a story about the death of his father. The conversation centered around an Epsilon Theory chorus: "Always go to the funeral." It's both literal advice and a metaphor for showing up when it matters, even when inconvenient.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "You can't always get what you want, as the song goes. And, sometimes you get what you need, as it continues. Somewhere in the core of that chorus is the reason I brought Matthew Stafford back to 'Just Press Record' to talk about a clip from Cara Brookins and Rusty Guinn. I didn't expect it would lead to a story about the death of his father. It got real. It got even more powerful than I was expecting (and I was expecting something, just not this!)."

Grow Your Network: Danika Waddell Is An Intentional Investor

I'm on a mission to build a stronger Personal Network and a Personal Archive, inviting you to look over my shoulder. You’ll see more of these FYI. Check out this Intentional Investor where I connect with Danika Waddell, founder of Xena Financial Planning, professional woman helping professional women, and an all-round thoughtful voice in modern finance and tech. If I’d be talking to these people behind the scenes anyway, why not share more of the what and why I do this to help my clients AND myself?

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "I realized, wow, I actually have a lot less control here than I thought I did... My career might end because my company screwed up some paperwork. My income has dropped by 50%. And I was like, I thought this was the safe thing to do, is to work for another company as opposed to doing something risky, like launching a firm and not having a steady paycheck. But I realized, oh, this is not so reliable."

Grow Your Network: Matthew Stafford Is A Default Helper

Matthew Stafford has been running 9others for over 13 years - a monthly dinner that brings together people who understand that "your success requires the aid of others." He embodies something I value deeply, being "default helpful" and creating spaces where authentic connections can flourish.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "My parents always used to say, if someone's having a tough time, if they're bereaved, if there's difficulties, if there's whatever, you gotta cross the street and you gotta go talk to them. And they said, that a lot of people will scurry the other way. Some people will do that, but people who are worth having in your life, you gotta pick up the phone, and if they're having a tough time, you need to be there for them. Cross the street."

Sunday Music: "Timebomb" By Old 97's

From the burnt orange CD cover with army men cowboys to the raw emotional energy, the Old 97's "Timebomb" transported me back to that space between high school angst and something deeper. There's music that demands academic study, music that states its case plainly, and then there's this – a perfect fusion of outlaw country and punk energy that captures something essential about being young, volatile, and feeling like you might explode at any moment.

Quote from the (Personal) Archive: "The emotions that feel like they can blow you up are still there inside of you. If you want to make something that will resonate, you have to tap into an internal emotion that feels like it might detonate. I've (mostly) matured past letting those emotions control me, but it doesn't mean I can't still harness some of their expulsion for propulsion. Music is a major (re)connector for me. TV, movies, and art in general do it too. They're triggers. They're forced reflections."

Other Places I Showed Up This Week

Spreading ideas, making connections, and cultivating meaningful relationships:

• My main man for creator/creative advice, Josh Spector, helped clarify SO MUCH of my thinking when I guested on his show.

• Jack Forehand and I did an emergency markets in turmoil Excess Returns on Thursday. I wrote about it on LinkedIn too.

Personal Archive Prompts (for you): Who do you know this reminds you of, and/or what do you think about...

• How do you harness emotional volatility for creative output without being consumed by it?

• Where in your life are you chasing view counts instead of building relationships?

• When was the last time you had a "freaky tales" conversation with friends about extreme possibilities?

• Who needs you to "cross the street" toward them right now?

• How could being "default helpful" transform your professional relationships?

• What part of your authentic self are you holding back that might actually be your greatest strength?

As always, I did my part, now it's your turn to write some reflections in your own Personal Archive.

(then, be sure to let me know where you're keeping it, I'm in search of the others too)

PS: Seriously, if you make stuff, this Josh Spector interview - the stuff he made me think of IS GOLD