Ross Zeiger

There’s a saying I heard last night that I’ve thought a lot about: Pull the Goalie. It comes from hockey and refers to a move coaches sometimes make in the final minutes of the game to pull their goalie out of the game and put another offensive player in. This move is usually made when the team pulling the goalie is losing by one or two points. The odds of that team giving up a goal increases but so too does their chance of scoring a goal to tie the game in the final seconds. If they give up ...

I’ve been creating videos online for a couple years now and there is a phenomenon that all video creators have experienced which is that the videos you expect to perform well, don’t. And the videos you think will flop end up being your best performers. Expect the unexpected when it comes to the public reception of your ideas. I’ve also heard authors, public speakers, artists, and creatives from all fields express the same sentiment. The lesson? Keep honing the craft. Don‘t expect or rely on e...

How much I recommend this book: 6/10 Read: August 2024 Three type of goals: Massively Transformative Purpose (MTP): This is your most important, lifelong, almost-impossible goal. Think Elon’s “get to Mars” High-Hard Goals (HHG): Goals that get you out of your comfort zone and push you closer to your MTP Clear Goals: Short-term actionable goals that focus you and provide direction. Should be specific, measurable, and achievable within a short time frame, building toward accomplishing your HHG...

A few weeks ago, I met a hero of mine, Derek Sivers: https://youtu.be/ao6iLiFXqxQ He said something that has stuck with me. He said that when he travels, he doesn’t care at all about the tourist attractions or even the food or most of the things people care about. He travels to “inhabit philosophies.” And he does that by meeting people everywhere he goes. That little phrase concisely captures why I have always loved traveling but could never quite put it into words myself. When I was in Nepa...

At an event, they passed around cards with conversation starter questions on them. My group received one that asked, “if there was a museum about your life, what would be displayed in it?” There were two responses I loved. One woman said she would have every book she’s ever read displayed chronologically along with explanations of where she was at in her life at that time and how the book shaped her intellectually. One guy said he would have flags from every country he’s visited and lived in ...

I used to love video games. Thinking back on it, much of my social life in my teenage years revolved around playing Halo or Call of Duty or some other game at my friends’ houses. Then, in college, I got it in my head that video games were a complete waste of time. I got rid of my Xbox and haven’t gamed much since. I had convinced myself that the only thing I should be doing with my time was activities that make me smarter or move me toward making more money. In other words, “useful” things...

This morning, I woke up with an idea for turning an old lead magnet into a paid product. I made some updates to the product, set up a landing page, added a checkout button, recorded a VSL, and no more than four hours after getting the idea, I had the new product for sale. Shortly before writing this article, I had my first sale. That’s the beauty of being a solopreneur. There is zero friction from idea to execution. I don’t have to get anything approved. I don’t have to wait for anyone else. ...

I used to think that the hardest part of a startup was the sheer amount of effort it took to create something from nothing. Now, I think the hardest part is being patient. There are days where it feels like my business is a rocket ship and everything is happening at once. But then there are days like today where nothing much happens at all. And it makes me panic and think I need to shift strategy or add new products or start running ads. The reality is, it’s all a cycle. Tomorrow, I’ll pr...

Listening to Lex Fridman’s interview with Pieter Levels right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFtjKbXKqbg Pieter is awesome, I’ve followed his work for several months now. And every time I go down the rabbit hole on his story, I can’t help but feel inspired. It makes me want to try 12 startups in 12 months or drop everything and start building indie apps like he does. He makes it sound so romantic. Travel the world, have complete freedom, make tons of money. And it’s true, he has built a l...

Whenever I feel lost or like I don’t know what my next steps are in life or business or anything else, I whiteboard. I lock myself in my office with my whiteboard, dry erase markers, and some music. For two hours I pace around and I think. I think in the form of graphs, doodles, lists, diagrams, and numbers. I dream in the form of dry erase. Nothing is permanent. I fill the board completely, take a photo of it, erase it, and start over. Multiple times. I emerge from these sessions with clar...

Normally, I enjoy taking public transportation. There is something about it that feels good. It’s economical, it’s efficient, it feels safe and relaxing. I don’t have to worry about parking or fueling up or crashing. Most of the time… Yesterday, I had a miserable time on a bus. I had the misfortunate timing of evening rush hour to try to get to an event. When the bus pulled up to my stop and opened it’s doors, passengers almost spilled out. A few people got off and the mass of people inside ...

I love coffee but… what if it’s the new smoking? I know you’re sharpening your pitchfork and preparing the tar but hear me out. 50 years ago and beyond, nearly everyone smoked and doctors even went as far as endorsing certain brands of cigarettes. It was blasphemy to suggest that smoking might be killing people. Until more research came out and public opinion (and behavior) started to shift. I’m old enough to have caught the very final years of smoking at restaurants being allowed and that see...

I’ve lived in dozens of cities in my life. Whenever I arrive in a new place, I start exploring it. I try as many restaurants as I can, I go to all the parks, I see the major sights. But what inevitably happens after a few months is I stop exploring. I settle into a routine and don’t leave certain boundaries. I settle into a comfort zone, physically and mentally. Yesterday, I spent the day trying new places in a neighborhood on the opposite side of the city where I live. I discovered a new café ...

I’m currently reading Shoe Dog, the memoirs of Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. I can’t put it down. Business biographies and business histories are my favorite genre. Every single successful business I’ve studied has a fascinating story behind it. I’ve never read a single one where the path is predictable or linear. There is almost never a moment in the first decade or two where the success of the business or entrepreneur is secured. Shoe Dog starts from the very beginning of Nike in 1962 a...

There is a commonality with the people I admire the most: they are independent. They aren’t consultants or bankers or government contractors or soldiers. They aren’t people with ‘normal’ careers. They are entrepreneurs. They don’t live (for the most part) anywhere close to where they grew up. They get out of their home country. They don’t do the traditionally ‘safe’ thing in any aspect of life. They do what they want and follow what interests them. They don’t stay inside of a comfort ...

A few days ago, my dog Elvis had his spleen removed. As a result, he isn’t supposed to be active and he definitely cannot jump or else it’ll tear his stitches. Because of this, we blocked the couch that he normally lays on and put the huge futon cushion on the ground. When we got home from the hospital, he immediately walked to the cushion and laid on it. He’s barely left it in the days since. In fact, I write this while laying next to him on the cushion. He’s recovering nicely but until h...

Today, I published a video that I think may be my best one ever. Not only was it fun to make, it’s objectively the highest production quality video I’ve made (using a nice camera and mics). I’m also proud of the story and pacing and how I took over an hour of raw video and compressed it into just 8 minutes. But, viewers don’t agree. Youtube gave it tons of impressions but it’s currently getting the lowest click-through rate of any recent video I’ve posted. And worse, those who click aren’t wa...

Formula for an interesting life: Do interesting stuff > Document > Storytell > Ideate and Iterate > Repeat Do Interesting Stuff Interesting here means interesting to you. How to find what interests you: What pulls your attention? What do you obsess about? What makes you think, “I wonder if X is possible?” Then, complete a challenge related to what interests you. Document Capture yourself doing said interesting stuff via your favorite media i.e. video or writing. Storytel...

Three days ago, my dog had a medical emergency and we thought we were going to lose him. Friday night, as we rushed to the vet hospital and I held him in the back of an Uber, I was prepared for that to be the last time I ever saw him alive. Many tears were shed and it was one of the longest nights of my life. Today, we got him home (minus his spleen). It is an immense joy to have him back. There is a new found appreciation in every moment. The normal tasks of dog ownership like walking him an...

Over the course of the past year, I’ve uploaded over 250 videos to my business’ Youtube channel and grown a small audience. Almost every day there is a trickle of new subscribers and comments. But yesterday, I net lost a subscriber and had no new comments. Ouch. This isn’t the first time that’s happened either. But every time it does, it’s hard not to feel discouraged. Like all my efforts are wasted. Like the YouTube algorithm gods don’t like me. Like I’m doing something wrong with my conten...

Last night, my best friend almost died. I had to rush my 12 year old Husky to the emergency room where they found his spleen had ruptured and he needed surgery. Thankfully, he made it through the night but needs a couple more days at the hospital while he recovers. But, let me back up to a few hours before the emergency situation. Yesterday, I listened to an outstanding TED Talk that got me inspired to start writing. I wrote a story I had been procrastinating on. You can read that story for ...

Yesterday, I listened to an outstanding TED Talk that has me feeling inspired to start writing daily. It’s this one by Mathew Dicks, a professional storyteller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7p329Z8MD0 Go watch it. In it, he tells how spending 5 minutes each night writing down one story from the day has changed his life. First, his life feels more important because each day he forces himself to reflect on the seemingly mundane events of the day and pull an interesting lesson from it. ...

For the last two months, a toilet in my house has had a problem. After flushing, the water continued to run. It’s small enough that I didn’t call a plumber but big enough to be annoying. I gave a few half hearted attempts to fix it myself but eventually I’d give up and decide it was fine for now. There was a temporary fix where I could remove the back of the toilet, reach my hand into the water tank, and press down on the rubber seal on the bottom to stop the constant running. So I did that. A...

How much I enjoyed it: 6/10 A woman receives a package containing a manuscript for a book written by her ex-husband. Her current husband leaves on a trip to NYC and she starts reading the manuscript. As she reads, the movie’s storyline becomes that of the manuscript which opens with a couple and their daughter taking a roadtrip through the desert of West Texas. They’re driving through the night and they get stuck behind two cars driving slowly side by side. One of the cars drops back and the ...

How much I recommend it: 10/10 I first read this book in 2020/2021 when I was running a small business. After six months of running that business, I hadn’t paid myself yet because I was “reinvesting it all back in the business.” That changed the moment I read this book. Without changing anything else, I started to pay myself and take Profit First. From that moment on, the business was sustainable and I had a lot less stress running it. The traditional accounting principle is that [ revenue - e...

How strongly I recommend it: 6/10 Most of the advice in this book feels pretty generic but there was a few things that stuck out and made it worth reading. 1) Sales are your main priority in business. Everything else is a distraction. Sales, sales, sales. Without sales, there is no business. And you’re not just selling your product. You have to sell yourself, your vision, be able to recruit star employees, etc. 2) Pick an hourly rate for yourself. This is the value you can/should provide to th...

How Much I recommend it: 7/10 Wow. The opening of this novel is vivid and horrible (in a disturbing way, not the quality of writing). The type of scene I’ll never forget. Set in the near future (maybe 2040?), an entire town in India gets killed in a horrific heat wave. Across the country, 20 million die. That scene sets the stage for the urgency and gravity of what’s to come. The book is cleverly written in a way I haven’t seen before. Each chapter is written from a different perspective and t...

My best career advice is to get obsessed with and master “one-to-many” skills - writing, speaking, and video. In that order. Writing is the foundation. Writing pulls ideas out of your brain and brings them into the physical world. From there, it requires you to revise your message until it’s as clear, simple, and short as possible. The writing process itself sharpens your thinking and reveals new ideas. Writing requires the least production of the one-to-many skills. It’s as simple as typing ...

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KNtxkKzb8Y My notes from watching How to Win the Game of Youtube by MagnatesMedia Youtube is like a video game; you need to level up in different skills: storytelling, camera work, editing, etc there are strategies that can help you win Everyone starts at 0 skills, 0 subs, 0 strategy There are level unlocks like becoming a YT partner Most people post without any strategy Like losing weight (eat fewer calories and exercise), growing on Youtube is si...

1: Get a Credit Freeze. If you’re a US citizen or resident with a social security number, this is the lowest hanging fruit for you. A credit freeze - according to the FTC - restricts access to your credit report, which means you — or others — won’t be able to open a new credit account while the freeze is in place. You can temporarily lift the credit freeze if you need to apply for new credit. When the freeze is in place, you will still be able to do things like apply for a job, rent an apar...