I don’t know how to cook
But I’m going to teach you.
I don’t know how to cook. I’m not alone:
I do know how to build products. Could I build a product for them? I mean, just look at all that pain begging to be fixed.
Maybe I can teach all these people how to cook.
A Problem
One hiccup: I don’t know how to cook.
That is, I don’t know how to cook very well. I’ve been preparing food for almost 20 years, but I’m not particularly good at it.
Hell, I’m a beginner.
How can I teach people to cook when I’m not an expert?
A Solution?
Cue Nathan Barry, straight from the sales page for his book Authority, in response to “But I’m not an expert”:
…experts at the top of their field are often less qualified to teach than those who were beginners more recently, simply because those experts often can’t remember what it was like to be brand new in the field. Whereas someone who has learned the lessons and overcome the challenges more recently will have an easier time teaching at a beginner level.
I think he’s right.
I’ve been working on the foundation of CookAcademy for more than a few months now, teaching people (and myself) in small doses. I’m personally cooking more because I eliminated some easy-to-fix pains up front. And I’m systematically doing so with everything I cook.
Yesterday, as one tiny example, I helped my buddy Keiran diagnose his endless difficulties cooking chicken breast. No matter what he does, they always turn out, in his words, dry or salmonella.
It was a quick fix: you just need to flatten ‘em. Chicken breasts are irregularly shaped and will cook irregularly when not flattened.
A small win, but a win nonetheless. Hopefully he ends up with better chickens. Rack up enough wins like that, and I might just teach people to cook.
Teaching through learning
I’m not an expert. I’m teaching as I learn.
I’m my own ideal customer. I need this in my life. I’ve wanted it so badly and couldn’t find it, I’m finally just scratching my own itch. This is dogfooding to the extreme.
But it’s not like software products where you simply need to automate something you could already do manually. I have to learn this first for myself, and then teach what I learn as I go. And along the way, I have to find the common denominator and extract it out into a repeatable process.
I’m not doing this alone. I’m still hiring a chef who can demonstrate techniques on camera. I’m working with animators and designers who can help explain complex concepts simply. But they need direction, and they’re getting it from someone who’s learning as he goes.
Will I be able to teach you how to cook? Let’s find out.
You can sign up below to stay updated on my progress:
If you want to learn how to cook,
you should sign up for CookAcademy.If you’re really desperate, email me at
josh [at] cookacademy.com
and I’ll help however I can.
