Your Greatest Advantage Isn’t What You Make, It’s Who You Are
10 thoughts, ideas & creative finds on authentic creation, audience-building, and turning vision into reality
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The Rundown 23: Don’t Rush to Fit Someone Else’s Timeline… A Mission Takes Decades
The Rundown 24: Build For Substance Not Speed… Creating Space Let’s Your Work Speak For Itself
The Rundown 25: The Most Powerful Choice You’ll Ever Make Isn’t Between Success & Failure… But Conformity & Authenticity
Hey Everyone,
Before I begin this week’s Rundown…
**I’m currently developing an All-in-One Notion Dashboard to help you streamline your creativity, productivity and income — so you can manage the technical, creative and financial aspect of your work easier. it's not just another project management tool or content calendar, but a complete operating system for the modern creative professional who needs to be both artistically fulfilled and commercially successful. You can join the waitlist here.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…
The Rundown — Here’s what I found over the course of this week that has helped me, inspired me or gave me some creative pushes…
On serving the right audience deeply — "Your role isn’t to please everyone who finds your work… it’s to transform those who are waiting for it.” (—) — This distinction has been fundamental to my approach to creation and impact. Many creators fall into the trap of diluting their message to appeal to the widest possible audience. But true resonance doesn't come from being palatable to everyone — it comes from being transformative for someone. I've observed that the work that impacts people most deeply is rarely the work that tries to satisfy everyone. When you create with a specific person in mind — that person who feels like they've been waiting for exactly what you offer — your work takes on a different quality. It becomes more focused, more resonant, more true. This doesn't mean ignoring feedback or being intentionally obscure. It means understanding that your most meaningful contribution will inevitably connect deeply with some people and not at all with others. The paradox is that by accepting this limitation — by focusing on transformation rather than universal approval — your work often reaches further than it would have otherwise. Your voice, your perspective, your approach will be exactly what someone needs, precisely because it's unapologetically yours.
On being the face of your brand and vision — "And when you're putting yourself up to brands that have been running for a long time, how am I competitive? What is different about my brand? No one's got me, Amy's now in their brand. You are your biggest advantage, no one is you. You was to ask me what I enjoy most about my job. It It is being that face of the brand to the community." (—Aimee Smale via Foundr) — This perfectly captures what I've been advocating for years — your greatest competitive advantage isn't your product, price, or promotion... it's you. In a world of algorithms and automation, authentic human connection cuts through the noise like nothing else. What Aimee understands is that people connect with people first, brands second. Your unique perspective, experiences, and voice can't be replicated or commoditized. While established brands battle over fractional market advantages, you have something they can never buy or replicate — your authentic story and vision. This is why I consistently encourage creators to build in public, share their journey, and let their audience see the human behind the work. Your most powerful differentiator isn't what you sell, but who is selling it.
On validating your idea before adding complexity — "It is not about having a good idea. Having ideas is easy and trivial. The important thing is how clever can you be to come up with a quick and cheap and easy way to test it.." (—Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix video via Diary of a CEO) — I've seen countless entrepreneurs make the same critical mistake — falling in love with their solution before validating the problem. There's a dangerous allure to building something complex, hiring teams, and raising capital before you've proven anyone actually wants what you're creating. The most successful founders I know all share this quality — they're masters of the minimum viable test. They find the smallest, fastest, cheapest way to validate their core assumption before investing significant resources. This approach isn't about lack of ambition — it's about intelligent risk-taking. Netflix wasn't built in a day; it started with a simple question: would people mail back DVDs? Before you invest months of energy, significant capital, or your reputation into an idea, ask yourself: "What's my dormitory sign test?" What's the simplest experiment that will tell you whether your core assumption is valid? The best validation doesn't require fancy technology or investor pitches — it requires creativity in finding the shortest path to real market feedback.
On building your vision with an audience instead of investors — "If you have an inspiring vision, the conviction to execute, and the ability to communicate it well, you will become a magnet for everything you need." (—Isaac French) — This perfectly encapsulates the power shift happening in creative entrepreneurship today. The traditional path said you needed gatekeepers, investors, and permission before building your vision. But I feel Isaac was right… when you can clearly communicate a compelling vision, the resources find you. Tanner's micro resort story demonstrates that having the right audience is more valuable than having the right investors. Instead of pitching to VCs, he presented directly to his future customers. Instead of giving away equity, he created founding memberships. This approach isn't just about funding - it's about validation. By pre-selling to an audience first, he confirmed demand before breaking ground. The ones that are doing this best build in public, share the vision, invite participation, and create belonging. The modern path to bringing ambitious visions to life isn't through closed boardrooms — it's through open communities where people can invest in both the outcome and the journey.
On dealing with limited resources — “Your limited resources aren’t a barrier… they’re your competitive advantage” (—Matt Gottesman) — limited resources actually being a competitive advantage, how constraints enhance creative problem solving, why too many choices and options actually paralyze decision making, examples of great companies and ideas that were born from significant limitations, dealing with 4 types of restraints (financial, time, knowledge & resources) and more — My latest podcast on this can be found here (APPLE, SPOTIFY)
On turning your journey into compelling content — "You don’t have to have it all figured out… none of us do and your audience certainly doesn’t expect you to… but your audience will also connect with your cause and become your biggest customers because you’re doing it for both you and them." (—Matt Gottesman) — Alex Garcia's breakdown of Bad Hambres' success perfectly illustrates why sharing your journey publicly works better than waiting until you have everything figured out. What caught my attention is how they positioned their content as a series that took people along for the ride — complete with problems, challenges, and real-time solutions. This approach transforms what could be basic promotional content into a story people actually want to follow. In short, the ones who document their process rather than just showcasing their outcomes build far more engaged communities. When you invite people into your journey with all its messiness and uncertainty, the audience becomes invested in your success because they've witnessed the struggles. This isn't just a marketing tactic — it's a fundamentally different relationship with your audience. The very act of bringing people along transforms them from passive viewers into active participants in your brand's story, otherwise known as your mission.
On creating from inner necessity, not external expectation — "Always remember that the reason that you initially started working was that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest it in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you coexist with the rest of society. And, I think it's terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people's expectations. I think they generally produce their worst work when they do that.." (—David Bowie) — It’s easy to start with genuine passion, but be careful if you find yourself gradually drifting towards what you believe others want you to make. This shift happens so subtly that you may not even notice until you feel disconnected from your own work. What Bowie understood was that true creative power comes from that initial inner impulse — that thing you needed to express to understand yourself better. This isn't just about artistic integrity; it's about creating work that actually resonates. Paradoxically, when you create to meet expectations, you often produce work that satisfies no one — neither yourself nor your audience. Periodically return to your core "why" as a compass. Ask yourself: "Am I still creating from that inner necessity, or have I drifted into fulfilling external expectations?" The answer to that question often separates work that lasts from work that merely performs.
On overcoming fear to make your work more visible — "Just post the content… So just pick up the camera, record the video, just post it. (—Derek Ortiz) — Don’t get trapped in an endless cycle of preparation, perfectionism, and planning — all which serve as sophisticated forms of hiding. The truth is, no amount of strategizing can replace the value of simply putting your work into the world. Remember, visibility itself is the strategy. Your unshared ideas, no matter how brilliant, have zero impact. Your unpublished work, no matter how refined, helps no one. There's a vulnerability that comes with hitting "post" — the exposure of your thoughts, the possibility of criticism, the fear of judgment. But as Derek points out, most people are far too focused on their own lives to scrutinize your content as intensely as you imagine. The biggest revelation comes after you've been publishing consistently: you realize that the act of sharing regularly builds more momentum than any single "perfect" piece ever could. Your greatest ideas often emerge through the process of regular publishing, not before it.
On building your “failure” resume — "I've lost millions in bad hires. I've had six failed businesses. I've had nine failed partnerships. The best entrepreneurs in the world have the biggest failure resumes. You're not gonna hit it out of the park on the first shot, but the crazy thing about how success works is that you only need to win once.." (—Alex Hormozi) — What strikes me most about Hormozi's candor is how it contradicts the carefully curated success narratives we typically see. Most entrepreneurs hide their failures, creating the illusion that success comes in a straight line. But the reality is messy, iterative, and often looks more like a chaotic scribble than a linear path. I've experienced this truth firsthand. The key insight isn't just that failure is inevitable — it's that failure is instructive. Each setback becomes a data point, each loss becomes a lesson. What most people miss about entrepreneurship is that it's not about avoiding failure; it's about staying in the game long enough to find that one significant win. This perspective shift changes everything about how you approach your work. Instead of being paralyzed by the possibility of failure, you begin to view each attempt as another opportunity to discover what works. The freedom in this mindset is realizing that your past failures don't define your future potential — they actually increase your odds of eventual success.
Playlist — Slow Morning House Music Mix | Deep Relaxing Brunch Terrace DJ Set — A great playlist from Flavour Trip on YouTube @flavourtrip of Chill House to work to… great for creating, designing, writing, computer work.
Your Greatest Advantage Isn’t What You Make, It’s Who You Are
True impact comes not from perfect execution or universal appeal, but from authentic expression, intelligent testing, and consistent visibility.
What separates transformative creators from forgettable ones isn't their resources, initial ideas, or absence of failure. It's their willingness to:
Build with an audience rather than for an audience
Share their journey rather than just their outcomes
Test quickly rather than build prematurely
Create from inner necessity rather than external validation
Post consistently rather than waiting for perfection
Use failure as instruction rather than definition
The most powerful approach isn't trying to please everyone who might find your work — it's focusing on transforming those who are waiting for it.
Your unique perspective isn't something to minimize or hide behind your creations - it's the very foundation that makes your work impossible to replicate.
The niche is you!
Until next week,
– Matt
P.S. If you found value in this week's insights, consider sharing this post with someone who might need this reminder about the power of individuality. ↙️
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