Lesson 8: Idea Public Offering
Lesson 8: Idea Public Offering
Lesson of the Week:
Idea Public Offering (IPO)
The Medium Spectrum showed us that we all have different comfort levels on different social media platforms. The Content Spectrum showed us that it's hard to make meaningful connections just by talking about the weather.
Our most interesting ideas are on the far side of the Content Spectrum, the area where we're uncomfortable sharing those ideas publically. Our biggest and most useful audiences are on the far side of the Medium Spectrum, the people we're most uncomfortable opening up to.
It's a paradoxical juxtaposition - we get the most impact from sharing our important, fragile ideas with the most critical audience. How can we do this?
Ideas only grow from exposure. You develop them. You steelman them. You find supporting examples and work out edge cases. But all of this only occurs through conversation with other people.
This is where the Idea Public Offering (IPOs) fits in. IPOs shepherd fragile ideas from fragile beginning stages to strong, supported ideas that can withstand scrutiny.
This is how an IPO for ideas works:
Introduce your ideas to a trusted audience and get feedback.
Develop supporting evidence and arguments and repeat with a larger audience.
Keep progressing in this fashion until you're comfortable taking your idea to the larger world, to the public.
You're gradually moving your ideas up the Medium Spectrum.
The safer environment allows you to incubate your ideas before they're exposed to a hostile environment. Your ideas are cultivated in a safe space, allowed to grow hardy before venturing out.
Once your ideas are strong and are out in the public space, others will buy them. Others will follow you; this is your audience. And those who love your ideas and trust you will cross that bridge from the public channels and even join your private channels, your newsletter.
Newsletter of the Week:
Instead of a newsletter, this week we’re sharing a clip from Adam Savage’s Tested YouTube channel.
Adam often answers questions from his audience and in this video he answered, “Do you share your ideas for your next build with friends or family? I stopped sharing because they would tell me it would be stupid or just too hard to do. How do you combat that negative feedback?”
Adam talks about the fragility of ideas (even for him!).
“When we share our excitement and our enthusiasm, we make ourselves vulnerable. We're sharing something deeper than we often think.”
“It's really important to remember how tenuous those relationships can be inside of ourselves with the things that we want to do - with the ways that we want to explore the world.”
Tip of the Week:
Don’t be afraid to remove someone from your email list. Your newsletter is your home ground, it’s the environment where you explore your creativity. Think about it as your house. If someone’s trolling, acting rude, or just has a negative vibe, feel free to kick them out.
Thank you for reading. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with a friend or two.
Louie & Chris
P.S. you can respond directly to this email. We read every reply. We'd love to hear from you.
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