Soft Wicker And Egg Shells

May the eggs be ever in your favour…

A few weeks ago I found myself knocking on the door of Canelo Publishing. Their door, located at their email address, was rapped upon excitedly with a long, disjointed and slightly cringeworthy letter about my great love for digital publishing. You know, one of those where the author jabs at their keyboard excitedly with no attempt to break it up, forcing the reader to adopt one of two actions: lean in towards the screen with a squint of considerable interest or expel a mammoth sigh, glance wearily up at the clock, mark as unread and try to forget it was ever there. Yep, I was that guy. And I rambled on unapologetically, highlighting that…

‘For my undergrad I investigated 360 media digitisation and the rise of the pro-amateur comsumer-producer,’ adding that, ‘I engaged in a fight to the death with the great Walter Benjamin over the supposed ‘aura’ and art in the age of technological reproduction for my MA!’ finishing with, ‘I was recently in the midst of creating my own startup created to resolve the issues around digital literature lending while hoping to bust DRM wide open and save us all from political tyranny!’

I was in love with what they do and I didn’t shy away from telling them so. I let them know that should the opportunity arise, I’d love to work with them in some capacity. As far as I could see they were cool, they were fresh, and they were on my wavelength. I just hoped they’d see the same in me!

But what I realised was, like a bunch of startups I’d previoiusly discovered, admired, targeted and unremittingly launched myself at, I had no proof.

It sounds crazy coming from someone who’s more or less academically qualified, but in the tech world I was all talk. As much as sitting in my room and tilting the the shiny hologram on the front of my certificate entertains me, my degrees don’t really mean shit. I don’t mean this in a defeatist way, but their existence probably only helped reaffirm suspicions of Canelo and others I’d reach out to, that I was someone who didn’t like to pursue my heart’s desire outright, and needed some sort of self-validation to consider it worthwhile. As I’m beginning to understand from the make up of the startup population, degree holders are generally seen as the uninitiated rookies of the scene.

With that said, thier encounters with my brief correspondence probably led them to look at my email signature, click and poke around my Medium blog in all of its mismatched glory and say to themselves “Pehh… I thought he might have something on here about literature, publishing, content, social, apps, innovation, marketing, or any of the other stuff he claims to have the hots for. That’s what I would do if I were really passionate. I think I’ll give this guy a miss.”

The truth his that with the pace at which things move in tech, I’ve spent so much of my time consuming all this day-to-day information to stay abreast of the major developments, I haven’t had the time or the inclination to write about the bits that turn me on the most. This is a big mistake. This is not a mistake in the corporate world where experience and academia are almost everything (in comparison), but in the startup world that’s built from community and connections and shared interests, your blog is your portfolio. As a creative (I shan’t comment on that calamatous cliché) this should be obvious, but as I said, too many years learning (another obsession) and not enough time showcasing what I’ve learned has led to this sad state of affairs where nobody knows how passionate I am except me. Again, it sounds a lot like pity and pessimism but I swear, it’s not.

So I don’t blame them. My last few posts, while mildly entertaining, aren’t a true representation of my greatest passion. They’re the remains of a few failed attempts to reach any kind of thematic, stylistic and consistency. And a few tidbits about my life.