The Value of Deep Intent Expression
Deep intent expression is a powerful thing. The idea is what makes for fascinating and compelling brands such as WeWork or the Trump Presidential campaign.
Deep intent expression is intriguing because it is clear, simple, and something that is done actively with a community, specifically, within your tribe. It is something that is done on a daily basis, where all actions are ‘on brand’ or of the same intent.
The concept applies to corporate brands and to personal brands and it will be more important as we continue to operate within a dynamic world. The concept can be harnessed to open up further opportunities, amplify wants, needs, and accelerate progress.
The key with intent expression is to go deep. Really deep.
Without going deep (like Mariana trench deep) systems and actions become more reactive and catered to the surface level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
An individual may choose to pursue a job that would only pay the bills as opposed to something that would be in line with the deep intent of the individual.
A corporation for example would simply choose to coast on the past investments and see itself move away from its core value and reason for existence.
Understanding deep intent expression because it will be key in establishing an entity or a personal professional profile that allows one to be valuable in the future of work.
A Few Examples
Ryan Graves, presumably, was interested in startups and being a part of an early stage company. He might have also wanted to join a startup that would get big and go really fast.
He presumably focused on this intent and kept up with potential opportunities to advance his career by staying in touch with the startup scene, following what was happening in the San-Fransisco startup sector and showing up .
Eventually, he would stumble upon his opportunity.
He would see a tweet for help from and heed the virtual call.
The tweet?
“Looking 4 entrepreneurial product mgr/biz-dev killer 4 a location based service.. pre-launch, BIG equity, big peeps involved — ANY TIPS??”
Graves tweeted Travis Kalanick, and became one of the key leaders at Ubercab.
Ryan Hoover
Ryan Hoover, the founder of Product Hunt, is another powerful example of deep intent expression and the possibilities of connection and collaboration within the new world.
He started Product Hunt by sending out a simple tweet.
The tweet received 37 retweets, 342 likes, and decent engagement. This initial tweet would lead to the creation of the Product Hunt community and the initial user base for Product Hunt.
But the real work started earlier on.
The fact that Ryan was able to have a certain level of engagement indicates that he was involved in the startup scene in some form or fashion and active in the community.
Building the Community before the Niche Community
A cursory glance at his LinkedIn would show that he’s been involved in places like Instant Action, PlayHaven, he created Startup Edition, and served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Tradecraft while blogging and writing on ryanhoover.me.
He’s also published more than 100 articles on Linkedin.
Hoover has been learning and growing in public.
Hoover was taking action while serving at these different companies and building his general community in the tech/startup sector simultaneously.
Indeed, Hoover certainly has community building tendencies and its evidenced by the fact when Ryan tweeted out plans for Product Hunt, people listened and engaged.
Product Hunt wasn’t Hoover delving into a new sector, it was just an extension of what he was already doing.
As he stated earlier, by “forming relationships with several people in the startup community by actively blogging, engaging on Twitter, offering my help, participating in communities like Quibb, organizing Startup Edition, and hosting brunches and happy hours with entrepreneurs. I do so for fun and with a desire to learn from others.”
We’ve also seen this work with people like Brendan Barbato at The Mission.
Brendan Barbato and Lime
He was able to find a job at Lime because of the fact that he was interested in tech, created interesting products and attended events. This allowed him to meet someone from the popular venture cap firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
The relationship with the representative in addition to his various experiences in the startup world would allow him to show the value he would bring to the table.
By staying active, showing his traction, and keeping connected, he landed new job opportunities.
Deep Intent Expression Matters
These examples show that the deep intent was always clear.
They simply continued to follow their systems, improved themselves and their systems to be more in line with their intent, then ended up in a good place.
What’s your deep intent? What are you expressing each day in your actions?
