TechWriterTom

In comparison to Bill Gates -- he's the perfect example. Each had different strengths.

Jobs was a marketing genius. While Gates understood Microsoft's marketing plan in depth -- their approach was fundamentally different.

You can also compare Jobs to Edwin Catmull when he was running Pixar. Catmull was an analytical thinker with a background in science. Obviously Jobs complimented him nicely -- and Jobs was critical to the success of Pixar.

You need to understand the implications, context and how a technology works. But you don't have to be the best engineer in the world to build tech companies.

Anyone who publicly supported Trump can't be too concerned. But considering he has Palintir he must have to keep a relatively clean image.

Overall I think the Gawker lawsuit may have had an antifragile effect--it's improved his image over the longterm.

It says we need Peter Thiel, or rather, funds to back lawsuit everyday people can't afford to pay upfront. Which have been growing the past few years.

I also love Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

But seriously, there's a few specific examples that are relevant.

1. Torches of Freedom. The father of PR, Edward Bernays, convinced women’s rights marchers in New York City to hold up Lucky Strike cigarettes — as “Torches of Freedom”. Obviously this is the type of marketing destroying the world.

2. Treelon Musk & MrBeast. Recently the YouTuber MrBeast started a campaign to plant 20 million trees to help the environment. Already Elon Musk has pledged $1 million.

Both of those ideas were thinking 'bigger'. It's up to the best marketers to be judicious and work on the most important causes.

However, ultimately I would agree with Douglas Adams -- we're better of with engineers in charge. But I still think we need great marketers working for them.

Quick summary:

I committed the ultimate marketing sin. I created content for contents’ sake. Worse still, I counted it as a win.

For one client, my content was producing over 130,000 views a month (170,000 on a good month). Did it bring in sales? Sure. Did it bring in enough sales to justify the expense? I was hoping nobody asked me.

Something changed when I started telling stories. Clients didn’t start saying, “Wow, love the narrative, Tom” or “Gee, great use of subtext.” But they did say, “Loved your piece,” and “Great work. Sales want you on every project.”

“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” — Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal

Grammar and technical analysis don’t make a great writer. Harvard’s Steven Pinker may write clear prose with impeccable grammar.But it’s Homer, Hemingway and Harper Lee who are our greatest writers. Because in the deepest core of their being, they understand the universal truth that holds in every form of content from literature to business writing.The story matters most.

You might like his Medium post that preceded his book. The author is the guy that started DuckDuckGo. https://medium.com/@yegg/mental-models-i-find-repeatedly-use...

Any job that matters is meaningful. But that still leaves many working a bullshit job. That's no fun. As for people who aren't capable of becoming artists or scientists, which I think would be a small % of people, well I hope they have UBI and can live happily.

I think being a great scientist or artist revolves around doing repetitive tasks that aren't not fun or enjoyable. I believe people want to do difficult jobs, as long as they're meaningful.

Compared to the people creating art, furthering science, and improving our society?

They are economically useless - not useless as people. In fact, that's kind of the point. Here's a quote from Andreessen that highlights that potential:

“Imagine six, or 10 billion people doing nothing but arts and sciences, culture and exploring and learning. What a world that would be.”