I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
How to live a meaningful life
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Hey Reader, I started my career as a designer, so when I had the opportunity to sit down and interview Bill Burnett and Dave Evans for my podcast, it felt like meeting legends. Dave was the product manager for the original Apple mouse and was a cofounder of Electronic Arts. Bill worked at Apple for seven years on the team that pioneered the modern laptop. Getting to talk with them was really special for me. They took everything they learned designing products and applied it to designing your life. Their book, Designing Your Life, has sold over a million copies. It helped people figure out what to do with their careers and how to make decisions. But they started hearing something unexpected. People came back and said, “I did what you taught: I designed my life, I built the business, I achieved my goals, and… it's still not fulfilling.” That question led them to write How to Live a Meaningful Life, which just published today. Bill and Dave spent decades studying what makes life feel meaningful and they found that most people define meaning entirely through impact or the change they make on the world. But impact is temporary, and it's largely outside your control. Which sets you up to feel like you're always chasing something just out of reach. They’ve identified four categories of meaning that are within your reach:
The book shows you how to access each one in your life right now. After they joined me on the podcast, I kept thinking about one thing Bill said: When you're designing a product, you make it simple so people can actually use it. That's what they've done with the question of how to live a meaningful life. PODCASTHow To Partner With Anyone In 2026Julia Taylor, founder of GeekPack, went from the intelligence community to building a profitable company teaching tech and business skills to women. She has already empowered more than 100,000 women and is on a mission to reach one million by 2030. In this episode, we break down her embedded partnerships framework—the strategy driving most of her revenue through collaborations with brands like TikTok and Verizon. She also explains why she chose to shrink revenue to rebuild with positive margins and long-term impact. Here's what we cover:
Watch or listen to episode » WORKSHOP5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business in 2026Sam Vander Wielen, who's been on my podcast and spoken at Craft + Commerce, is hosting a free live class on February 9th covering the key legal protections every online business needs this year. Sam has taught 150,000 online business owners how to make their businesses legally sound. She'll walk through five specific steps to protect yourself from challenging client situations, refund disputes, copycats, and more. The class is designed for online entrepreneurs who want to make sure their business is set up properly without getting overwhelmed by legal jargon. PODCASTLiving in a garage to building the $1B+ 'Savannah Bananas'Jesse Cole took over a college summer baseball team with 200 fans and $268 in the bank. Three months into their first Savannah season, they'd sold two tickets total. They ran out of money, sold their house, and moved into a garage. Now they have a multi-million person waitlist and 10X more followers than the New York Yankees. They're essentially the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. Crazy story. Jesse's been a friend for years and I've enjoyed going to a hometown Bananas game back when there were just 5,000 people at a game! Have a great week! —Nathan |
Nathan Barry
I'm a designer who turned into a writer who turned into a startup CEO. My mission is to help creators earn a living. Subscribe for essays on building an audience and earning a living as a creator.
Hey Reader, Years ago, I was walking along the Seattle waterfront feeling confused and sad. I'd just attended a design conference. The content was great, but I hadn't met anyone. I was too shy to introduce myself beyond small talk with whoever sat next to me. Ahead, I noticed some of the speakers walking together. People I looked up to. They looked like a group of close friends, laughing and joking. That was the circle I wanted to be part of. I picked up my pace so I could catch up. I got...
Hey Reader, Tell me if this resonates: You're working harder than ever, and your team is busy, but growth has slowed. The reason for this tends to come down to focus. As companies grow, they tend to start focusing too much internally instead of externally. Jason Lemkin, one of the top SaaS growth experts, noticed this pattern with founders. Whenever they don't know what to do next, he tells them to start with the basics: First: talk to your customers. Not surveys or data dashboards. Actual...
Hey Reader, The hardest decisions you have to make are rarely between good and bad options. They usually feel like choosing between two good options. When I was talking with my coach, Dan, about everything I’m trying to balance, he told me to imagine myself 10 years in the future. He asked: which one would I regret most if I didn’t accomplish it? I thought I’d say growing Kit to $100M. But the answer surprised me: publishing my book. If Kit hit $100M and I never published another book, I’d be...