Best of...
The Creative Technologist comeback
How a misunderstood role from the digital agency era is becoming essential for the AI age
Building a Portfolio Career
For freelancers, independents, and anyone building a career that doesn't fit in a job title.
I've been a freelancer, a founder, a consultant, and an accidental entrepreneur - sometimes all at once. These are the pieces I keep coming back to when I'm thinking about how to build something sustainable without a traditional path.
Start Here
The essential reads on portfolio careers
Mindsets & Growth
The Shadow Brief
Carl Jung said every person has a shadow - the other version of themselves, shouting in silence. Turns out, every
Best of...
7 ways to improve a conference speaking proposal
I’ve just finished evaluating proposals for SXSW 2025. Here are 7 things that separate the standouts from the rest.
Best of...
Carl Cox's timeless creative career advice
Two simple tips for a successful long-term career, courtesy of a one-of-a-kind artist & entertainer
How-To Guides
How to find portfolio/audience fit
You’ve probably heard of Product/Market Fit. It’s widely seen as the holy grail
for just about every
Resources
How to create an interactive workshop in Zoom
A step-by-step guide to setting up and running an interactive 90-minute workshop
in Zoom.
Note: This is part 1 of
How-To Guides
Practical playbooks for building your portfolio
A.I.
Pascal's Wager for AI (and why you should bet on Scenario 2)
Dan Hockenmaier just cut through all the AI noise with a simple framework. Here's why his "scenario 2" bet makes perfect sense.
Future Of Work
An antidote to AI tinnitus
Sam Altman says agency and adaptability will be extremely valuable. But what does cultivating them actually look like?
Creative Business
Lemon automation: How Chick-fil-A processes 20% of America's lemons... and what it means for your career
The unexpected career insights hidden in a chicken restaurant's remarkable lemon-squeezing operation
Future Of Work
Soft Skills are dead. Let’s talk Character Skills.
Forget buzzwords—how do we build environments that make developing Character skills exciting, impactful, and irresistible?
Independent Paths
The wallet, the CV, and me
A simple but effective method to design any kind of creative career.
Future Of Work
8 questions to get better at hiring
How to get better at hiring? A few simple questions can go a long way…
Hiring is one of the
Independent Paths
Stories from the road less traveled
Creative Business
Act or artist?
A small distinction I noticed as a talent agent that applies far beyond the music industry—and changes how you approach your work.
Independent Paths
The wallet, the CV, and me
A simple but effective method to design any kind of creative career.
Independent Paths
The unspoken layoffs
The thing no one talks about when it comes to layoffs.
Independent Paths
The new Mom-and-pop store
“Mom-and-pop” businesses are typically small, family-owned, independent. They’ve gone in and out of fashion (mainly out). But I reckon
Building a portfolio career?
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All Posts
Everything on portfolio careers and the future of work
Future Of Work
Futsal
Brazil's reputation for producing incredible footballers isn't just climate or culture. It's a smaller pitch and a ball that doesn't bounce.
Future Of Work
The Return of Oral Culture
Speech is becoming the skill that matters. What do we need to get better at?
Learning Innovation
Three types of tough crowd
"Tough crowd."
You've heard someone say this after a gig, a presentation, a workshop. But there&
Howard's Riffs
A Quiet Way to Know Someone
On receiving a book someone's already read
Future Of Work
The new company department? Storytelling
Notion merged their internal comms, external comms, social, and influencer teams into one. They're calling it the Storytelling
Culture & Insights
33/45?: Carl Craig's cross-scene connections
For months, two South London DJs had been playing a Detroit music producer’s track at the wrong speed -
Creative Business
Movie bets: Judge by the peak
The producer behind "The Social Network" ignores the flops and the recent work. He asks one question: what's the best thing you've ever seen them do?
Learning, Education & Growth
What if business school taught you the wrong skill?
Taylor sent 2,000 applications in six months with her MBA. She can dissect any case study. But the job market needs people who can decide under pressure, not study someone else's choice from 1987.
A.I.
Why is no one talking about the job thing...?
Err, can we talk about the job thing? Y’know, the thing no one’s talking about? Brushing under the
Creative Business
The $2.5M Decision That Changed Everything
A screenwriter turned down Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise for unknown actors. He had no way of knowing if he was right. But he trusted his vision anyway.
Best of...
The Creative Technologist comeback
How a misunderstood role from the digital agency era is becoming essential for the AI age
A.I.
Pascal's Wager for AI (and why you should bet on Scenario 2)
Dan Hockenmaier just cut through all the AI noise with a simple framework. Here's why his "scenario 2" bet makes perfect sense.
Creative Business
What happens when you collapse the talent stack?
Adobe's Chief Strategy Officer says the magic happens when designers code and engineers hack growth. But here's what he doesn't say: the specialist roles are about to dissolve.
Future Of Work
The AI displacement wave is here (and it's not what you think)
Real professionals are losing work to AI right now. But the solution isn't just learning new tools—it's becoming harder to replicate.
Future Of Work
Two Pilates studios - and the great capability divide
One teaches craft, one delivers product. In an AI-driven world, the gap between human expertise and scalable systems is widening fast.
Creative Business
New business: The commercial alchemy that defies systematization
The elusive art that isn't quite sales, marketing or biz dev - and why we all need to master it.
Howard's Riffs
How on earth are people cranking out so much content?
Between client work, parenting, and trying not to lose the plot - when does all this 'content' actually happen?
Future Of Work
An antidote to AI tinnitus
Sam Altman says agency and adaptability will be extremely valuable. But what does cultivating them actually look like?