The Start of a Not So Crazy Journey
Quitting my job in early February was both exciting and scary.
I had the pleasure of working at a great company for almost two years, building mostly WordPress websites, but I knew it was time to move on when I reached the top of the learning curve for the work I was doing.
I believe the best way to spend your twenties is to maximize learning and take more risks. Therefore, for the next six months to a year, there is an interesting concept I want to test out.
I saw a video on Impact Theory last year, where Tom Bilyeu was interviewing Noah Kagan.
Both of them are successful entrepreneurs that I look up to. This is not to say I want to be an entrepreneur, but I do highly respect their mindsets and the way they tackle problems.
During the interview, Noah talked about the value of doing free work.
Noah said, "If you are not working and unemployed, what I found valuable is to go work for free until you get too busy, and then start asking for money."
This was how Noah got his job as the director of marketing at Mint Software, a personal finance startup before he founded his own company.
This was how two other people ended up getting jobs working for Noah.
One guy started by offering to take free photos for everyone at Noah's companies. Now, he is a full-time video producer at Appsumo, one of Noah's companies.
Another guy started by volunteering at a charity event Noah hosted. Now, he works for Noah full-time managing his personal YouTube channel, podcast, and blog.
After hearing Noah's advice, Tom Bilyeu totally agreed! In fact, this is the same advice he would give himself when he was 25.
Tom would tell his younger self, "Find the person who is living your ideal life and offer to work for them for free in exchange for knowledge and connections."1
After hearing two of the guys I respect said the same method works, I am intrigued.
One thing for sure is that the “work for free” strategy sounds more awesome than the traditional method of getting jobs, which is sending out hundreds of resumes to companies and hoping you get picked.
I know there is a probability that the “work for free” strategy might not work, but I am still very curious to test it out.
What's the harm?
Twenties is about taking risks. Even if this whole experiment doesn't work out, I think I would grow a lot from the experience.
On the other hand, if the “work for free” strategy does work, and I documented my journey, I feel like my experience could help a lot of people.
Going forward, I will be posting biweekly or monthly updates on the status of my journey.
I will try to keep this story as truthful as possible, warts and all, because I can already foresee the journey will be filled with mistakes, uncertainty, and possible mental breakdowns.
Here's to a crazy journey.
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Thanks for reading!
-George 🐙
Tom Bilyeu. (2020, April 16). Noah Kagan on How to Reduce Fear and Gain Control | Conversations with Tom [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/avrWcm3eTIM?t=3264