My Reason for Being (Here)

Where it all begins

Hello and welcome to my Substack! I'm just another expat living in Japan. Please feel free to peruse (or completely disregard) my musings and ramblings around business, personal finance, and life.

"That's a bit of a mixed bag to be writing about," you might say, and you'd be 100% correct. I even considered calling it "A Mixed Bag" for a brief period.

While the literal, figurative, and personal meaning of those very words resonated deeply with me for so many reasons that I'll now never be able to talk about, thankfully the brand marketer in me triumphed, and we promptly let that one go.

So you might be wondering, "Well, what are we really trying to accomplish here?" Excellent question. I'd been thinking long and hard about the "Why," “What," and "How," and then "When" started to feel left out and nagged at me incessantly.

To cut to the chase, I decided I'd keep things simple and intentionally vague for now, get started, and adjust as needed to fit into my workflow along the way.

My objectives are twofold.

To be more active in contributing to the online conversation

The democratization of the Internet has been astounding. It has been transformative in terms of breaking down the barriers and allowing so many voices and minds to come together and speak up. The growth has been exponential.

Having said that, in the grand scheme of things, even with the vast number of content creators out there, ranging from revered celebrity-like influencers to normal everyday people, like you and me, and of course the media industry at large, it pales in comparison to the "Silent Majority" who consume content on the Internet every day, deriving entertainment and information value.

I won't even pretend that I'd be able to compete with established content creators—heck, even new and upcoming ones. No, I'd be better off leaving them to their own devices because, quite honestly, I'm a huge fan as well.

So much of what I know and believe in is thanks to this ecosystem.

The "Content Creator Economy" is mind-boggling in terms of what it has enabled and achieved. It is amazing to see how successful influencers and businesses can become by taking advantage of information asymmetries and leveraging the Internet's information highway to efficiently disseminate it.

Influencers and media businesses ensure the content entertains or informs, and tech businesses develop new and better ways to deliver and consume it.

Things have become so saturated and competitive for our attention that we now expect single-digit second short video reels, "TL;DR" (Too Long; Didn’t Read) microblogs, and far-far-too-long Twitter threads to gratify us with quality entertainment and meaningful information. But alas, somehow, it gets done.

It is anyone's guess where we're supposed to go from here (looking at you, Meta).

For those lucky enough to have near-constant access to the Internet, I wonder if, like me, you have ever found yourself with your smartphone in rather unusual predicaments ranging from: "I never have any time, but why do I have nothing to do?" to "I’m trying to be entertained; why does it take a hundred swipes?" or the classic, "I want to become an expert in ten steps or less."

We've grown so accustomed to (that is, desensitized to and trusting of) the status quo that it feels as if the chasm that was once narrowing and bringing us closer together is now widening again. And for the most part, we don’t even notice. We take so many things at face value that it has begun to not only reinforce our existing biases but also form new ones.

Despite the chants of "DYOR" (Do Your Own Research) and "This is not financial or legal advice," the very same information asymmetries have also been exploited by people and organizations with less well-intentioned motives.

Whether it is unknowingly spreading incorrect information, willingly misleading others, or running outright illegal scams, all of these result in a subset of the population falling victim to them and becoming less well off than before. This can never be okay.

I don't profess to know much, nor do I have the right to pass judgment on anyone. If anything, I make mistakes all the time. And while I do try to learn from them, I'm actually quite insecure about them.

As someone who still remembers growing up with “VHS” (i.e., video cassettes) and the immensely confusing time of believing in “MiniDiscs” (don’t even ask) as we transitioned from analog to digital, I fundamentally believe in the idea and potential of the Internet.

But lately, I've been feeling increasingly compelled to speak up. Throw in my two cents (as insignificant as they may be) by jumping into the fray and supporting the part of the Internet I've come to trust and rely on over time.

To connect to others with a perspective based on my own experiences

This is where I try to get off my soapbox or at least take it down a notch and tie this back to something more practical and useful, I'm not an academic, nor am I an authority on anything.

As I said, the Internet has been an incredible resource for me; all of the information is already there and technically accessible to anyone. It has simply become more crowded and noisy, and therefore, ironically, harder to navigate.

I am grateful, however, to have had firsthand experience with a career in consulting in professional services, and brand marketing in tech, as well as being a retail investor for some time.

They’ve been eventful enough for me to use as a bridge and write about my experiences and perspectives to connect with you (if you’re still reading) in areas we may both find important.

I plan to write about topics that interest me across the areas of business, finance, and technology in a way that feels natural to me in terms of style and cadence.

And now comes the part where I list down my accomplishments and accolades to convince you that I know what I'm talking about, but to be honest, and I'm not ashamed to say this, my so-called "success" has been shaped more by my missteps and failures than any of my wins. So I shall spare of you of this.

Now don't get me wrong; if you get a "W," take the dub. They don't come easily, but it's the lessons you learn the hard way that stick with you and can really help you when the going gets tough (yes, yes, I know, cliché).

I should also mention that I owe a lot to the knowledge base of the Internet and the content creators who contribute to it. It has helped round out and shape my thinking.

But it's an information overload out there.

I don’t know about you, even after all these years, with all the sources and content creators on which I've come to rely, I still regularly find myself having no idea about what they're talking about or what to do with it.

And you know what? I actually think that's completely fine.

There is always something new to learn, and even if you don't understand everything, there are usually ways to extract something useful that you can apply for your own benefit with the right amount of skepticism, a little bit of effort, and some differentiated thinking.

I hope to share my thoughts and opinions on things that I've experienced firsthand and that you might also be thinking about too, while pointing you in the direction of those far more knowledgeable and proficient than I am, so you can see for yourself and decide on your own whether it makes sense.

I look forward to working with you; see you in the next one!