#Discover100Creators

You may know him as Wall Street's biggest influencer or as a Canadian intelligence officer-turned-blogger.

With over 450K people reading his newsletter, @ShaneAParrish is one of the most thoughtful men on the internet.

Here's Shane's creator journey 🧵

Let's get to know Shane!

@ShaneAParrish is the founder of the blog 'Farnam Street' & Brain Food- a weekly newsletter, the CEO of @syruspartners, and the host of a podcast 'The Knowledge Project'.

His work has been featured in nearly every major publication, including Forbes.

🕵🏻‍♂️ Life after College

Straight out of college, two weeks before 9/11, Shane joined the Communications Security Establishment, a division of Canada’s Defence Department.

But little did he know that life would change after 9/11...

Shane was given new responsibilities and forced to make important decisions that didn't come with a manual. He was flooded with questions.

That's when Shane became captivated with the process of decision-making.

✍🏻 The Side Project

A peer directed Shane to Charlie Munger's teaching on mental models. Initially, he found it intimidating but eventually things started to make sense.

He was happy he was able to apply the models but he wanted to keep a track of all his learning.

That's why Shane started @farnamstreet, to keep his learnings chronically organized for himself.

He never expected anyone to find a blog with the URL of the zip code of Berkshire Hathaway.

But the blog attracted an audience of hedge fund titans and mutual fund executives.

Later, in 2017, Shane decided to pursue Farnam Street full-time to help people master the best of what other people have figured out.

And now, the side project is now something much more. @farnamstreet grew into a media company producing an insane amount of inspirational content

The blog attracts the likes of NFL general managers, best-selling authors, and an impressive community of hyper-ambitious learners.

Moreover, it is estimated that Farnam Street is growing 50% a year.

https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish/status/811958135820873729

📰 Brain Food- The Newsletter

The Brain Food newsletter is an extension of Farnam Street. The newsletter explores timeless insights and ideas every week.

As of now, 450k+ people read the newsletter. 

https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish/status/1322162354860285952

🎙 Starting a Podcast

In 2015, Shane started a podcast- the Knowledge Project.

Shane interviews the brightest minds to help you make better decisions in your life.

The podcast now has over 145+ enlightening episodes. Check it out here: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/

📚 Becoming an Author

In April 2019, Shane along with @RhiBeaubien released the first book of The Great Mental Models project.

The Wall Street Journal bestseller consists of four volumes covering the core, timeless, ideas and applying them to real life.

https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish/status/1182706676882952193

Shane looks forward to helping people learn how to become better decision-makers.

So make sure to follow @ShaneAParrish to receive updates on timeless wisdom and mental models.

Shane Parrish

#Discover100Creators

With over 11.4 Million subscribers and 1.87 Billion views on YouTube, Arun Maini a.k.a @Mrwhosetheboss is UK's biggest tech YouTuber.

Unfolding Arun's creator journey to the top🚀 

(His advice for creators is a must-read💯)

Let's get to know Arun Maini a bit!

Arun Maini, well-known as Mrwhosetheboss is a tech influencer and YouTuber content creator. He reviews smartphones, mobile apps & quirky gadgets.

He has been featured on Business Insider, The Huffington Post, BBC Radio, etc. for his work.

👦🏻 Growing up

Arun has been competitive from the very beginning. He was very good at math. He wasn't a big techie but enjoyed Game Boy.

At 13, he was bullied and even called ugly once, which affected his self-esteem.

📱 Where it all began

When Arun was 14, he was having a tough time at school. Around that time, his brother bought him his first smartphone: a ZTE Blade. And it was love at first sight! 

He studied every element of the phone and learned to customize it, hack it & overclock it.

He even learned everything that could make a smartphone perform better. 

His friends often asked him for suggestions and tips. That's when he decided he wanted to pass on his knowledge & YouTube seemed like the perfect platform.

He made a video on the ZTE Blade and uploaded it.

🎥 What happened next

The response to the video surpassed his expectations! This motivated him to make more videos on smartphones.

He didn’t have the money always to test the latest and best tech, so he'd review products he owned or borrowed.

💼 Crossroads between Corporate and Creation

Arun was studying economics at the University of Warwick, UK.

He got an internship at @PwC, one of the big 4 accounting firms. But he found it mundane and boring. There, on completing his work, he'd jot down ideas for new videos.

At the end of his internship, he was offered a job with a salary of about $46,000.

He was torn between a career that he'd make money but find boring or one where he can take risks and explore.

He turned down the offer and doubled down on his YouTube career.

Arun didn't want to limit himself to making smartphone videos. So he started creating videos on apps to download, quirky gadgets and even interaction videos.

He then made a video explaining how to turn smartphones into hologram generators. Overnight, he had 3 lakh+ views. 

https://twitter.com/Mrwhosetheboss/status/631916531434291201

Soon he hit 1 Million subs on YouTube. He was also nominated for Warwick’s most inspiring leaders in 2017.

In 2021, he was nominated for a Streamy Award and won in the technology category.

Moreover, he now has a small team- a camera operator and an editor to create videos.

https://twitter.com/Mrwhosetheboss/status/1298539870206529536

🤙🏻 New Channel

Arun started a second channel dedicated to shorts in April 2021. He often dedicates about 6 hours to making a YouTube short of 30 seconds.

The channel already has 5.26 Million+ subs and 2.28 Billion+ views.


https://twitter.com/Mrwhosetheboss/status/1381626712014909441

🌪 Challenges

Arun feels he often loses control over his sense of time.

As his content is time-sensitive topics, he hesitates to commit to anything outside of his career. 

But he enjoys his work and is figuring his way forward through these challenges.

🌟 What to become a Creator like @Mrwhosetheboss? Here's what he suggests:

👉🏻 Expect nothing.

👉🏻 Experiment. Make all kinds of videos that interest you and see what you like.

👉🏻 Analyze. Think about who watches your videos and how to address their likes and dislikes.

Arun Maini

You might've seen her on Filter Copy’s videos or Queens of Comedy or Netflix or even on Discovery.

There's no denying that Comedic talent Surabhi Bagga has come a long way from a humble beginning.

Here is @SmallTalkPolice's journey 🧵

But who is Surbhi Bagga?

Surabhi enjoys tickling the funny bones by talking about the struggles of modern dating, freelancing & her astrology obsession.

Basically, @SmallTalkPolice is a stand-up comic, writer and podcaster. She rose to fame with her podcast The Overthink Tank.

👩🏻‍💻 Life after college

After graduating, Surbhi moved to Mumbai in 2015. Just like her peers, she looked forward to having a 9-5.

She started out as a copywriter in an advertising agency. She wasn't satisfied- not with the pay nor the environment but she couldn't quit either.

💥 Where it all changed

Surbhi looked for an outlet to let out her frustration. She had a friend who was into standups and they both attended open mics and watched people perform.

One day, out of the blue, they decided to write their set and perform!

Surbhi performed for the first time at The Habitat in Mumbai (Tuning Fork back in the day).

She got an early evening slot and her flatmates were so excited to see her perform. And it went great!

But it wasn’t a career move per se, she kept doing stand-up as a side hustle.


📺 Getting on screen

Surbhi moved to Delhi and continued with her gigs there. There, she got a call from Queens of Comedy, a show to air on @TLC.

She'd to submit a video to qualify. She submitted her very first attempt on stage. She not only qualified but made it to the finals!

🎙 Becoming a podcaster

Starting off as a sketch idea, Surbhi created The Overthink Tank in 2019 as she received an overwhelming response from people sharing their problems to overthink with her.

Basically, she overthinks your problems for you, so you don’t have to.

https://twitter.com/SmallTalkPolice/status/1093498986537791490

She recorded the first episode of @TheOverthinkPod on a mattress; the next 15, on a couch and the third season in a studio.

The podcast attracted 15 lakh listeners over two years. Each episode features a guest and has fun conversations on a topic.

Moreover, at @IVMPodcasts, Surbhi went on to produce seven podcasts and hosted two- Dating is Garbage and IVM Likes.

She looks forward to entertaining the mass by doing more stand-up comedy and comedy writing. 

Follow @SmallTalkPolice to have a hearty laugh! 😄

Surbhi Bagga

#Discover100Creators

A monk at 22, a job seeker at 25 and now a corporate ‘guru’ at 34, @jayshetty has 240M+ views on YouTube.

Known as an award-winning host, storyteller and viral content creator, he has also made it to Forbes 30 Under 30.

Here is Jay's creator journey🧵

Not that we need to give an introduction but here's a bit about @jayshetty.

Jay (a.k.a the Urban Monk) is a motivational speaker, lifestyle vlogger, award show host, storyteller and content creator.

Though born and raised in London, United Kingdom, Jay's roots are from India.

👶🏻 Early Days

Jay was a shy, introverted young boy. He was bullied for being overweight and a little nerdy.

He spent most of teen years experimenting and his thrill-seeking ventures saw him often got him suspended from school.

💫 Turning point

When he was 18, Jay met @GaurangaDas at a seminar at his University and was swept off his feet.

The incident redefined success for him and he wanted a life of service, impact and passion.

At the age of 22, Jay moved to an ashram in India and took up monkhood.

⚡ Bouncing back (Well, almost)

About 3 years later, Jay's teacher suggested moving back and spreading the message to the world.

With a debt of $25,000 in debt, he moved back in with his parents in London and spent 9 months just updating himself on the world.

Soon he went out on a job hunt but got rejected by 40 companies!

He finally managed to crack an interview and join a consulting company.

Months later, though he was working 80-hour weeks, he felt he wasn’t living up to his potential.

This got him thinking about how to share mindfulness in the corporate world.

When he pitched his mindfulness-based video ideas, 10 media companies rejected him and 3 media executives told him he was too unqualified and too old to have a career in media.

That didn't stop him...

👦🏻 Becoming a Creator and a Speaker

Noticing the world going digital, Jay began sharing insights on productivity and how what he had learned as a monk on Facebook.

Soon his friends began inviting him to speak at their companies as they were under pressure and stress.

He started a YouTube Channel too.

Two years late, @ariannahuff came across Jay's videos and invited him to be the Host of @HuffPost Lifestyle in New York.

That's when things started to take off...he created his own viral video agency, grew his brand and bagged awards.

🎙Podcast On Purpose

In 2019, with a motive to make wisdom go viral, Jay started the OnPurpose Podcast. He brings interesting conversations with insightful people in the world.

The podcast had 64M+ downloads in one year and became the #1 health podcast in the world.

https://twitter.com/jayshetty/status/1281348670156349443

📖Writing a Book

In 2020, Jay released his first book Think Like a Monk during the pandemic.

The book offers advice on reducing stress and improving focus, based on his experiences from the ashram.

Within no time, it was Amazon's best-selling book & sold many copies globally.

https://twitter.com/jayshetty/status/1181758699964129280

🥳 Build a life, Not a resume

Jay also MCs events, runs coaching programs, gives free online masterclasses and produces motivational videos for his 11.5M Insta followers, 4.46M YT subs, 345.4K Twitter and 28M FB followers.

Lately, he officiated @JLo and @BenAffleck's wedding!

https://twitter.com/moviesndtv/status/1561918692304232452

Jay always encourages people to:

1. Find what you're good at.

2. Get really good at it.

3. Match it with something you love doing and you're passionate about.

4. And figure out how can you serve the world.

So follow him and explore more about him on jayshetty.me

Jay Shetty's

#Discover100Creators

From having $50K in debt to having his blog read by over 40 Million people, @jeffbullas became the #1 Global "Digital Marketing Influencer" in 2016.

He has built his business from scratch with content marketing. Here is his inspiring Journey: 
🧵

Before we move ahead, let's know more about @jeffbullas.

Jeff is a digital entrepreneur, marketing blogger, keynote speaker, digital strategist, consultant and author.

His blog receives 5M+ visitors a year and has spent most of his career in infotech, telecom and online.

 🤔 The shaky beginning

Jeff graduated from school without any clear idea of what he wanted to do.

He enrolled in an accounting degree but soon despised accounting. He didn't want to pursue something he didn't enjoy and quit midway.

Jeff then started out as a teacher. Soon he lost interest but continued working to keep his parents happy.

After years of suffering, he quit and switched to sales in the computer industry.

He worked for a decade or so...

🌪 Silver lining in dark times

But by 2008, Jeff had a snowballing debt of $50k, and was having a rough time in his relationship.

He happened to notice people's obsession with Facebook and the way it connected people.

Meanwhile,@tferriss' 4-hour Workweek fascinated him and he read @HubSpot's article on blogging.

He signed up for social media and noticed people's obsession with @facebook.

He bought a domain name for $10 in March 2009 and blogged about social media and its growth.

He started writing and creating content regularly. He didn't make any money but enjoyed it.

At the same time, he started working full-time in a digital agency building online stores.

Fast forward to date, his blog has millions of readers.

💲 First dollar online

About two years later, he received an email request for running a workshop in New Zealand.

There was no looking back since. He was paid to speak around the world. His blog traffic had reached 5M visitors a year and he gained massive amount of followers.

🎙 Starting a Podcast

Jeff wanted to find out stories behind successful entrepreneurs and startups.

In March 2020,he started his own podcast called 'The Jeff Bullas Show'.

He invites CEO’s, CMO’s and founders of businesses that are succeeding in the digital world. 

Today he has recorded over 123 episodes. Dive into the success  stories here 👇🏻

jeffbullas.com/podcasts/


🧠 Mindset

Jeff often insists on three things:

1. Have purpose with what you're doing.
2. Be passionate about your topic and what you're pursuing.
3. Simply doing it for the money is going to get you nowhere.

Follow @jeffbullas for more ideas and knowledge on creating online.

Jeff Bullas

#Discover100Creators

Adversity took @rajshamani from Rs 10K to Rs 79 Million.

An entrepreneur, a keynote speaker, an early-stage startup investor and a social media influencer, Raj is one of the most influential creators in the country.

Here’s his creator journey🧵

Who exactly is Raj Shamani?

From selling soaps to building an enormous business, Raj is one of the youngest Indians to represent India at the United Nations.

He is positively influencing people through his speech and simplifying the world of finance for millions.

👦🏻Rough Start

As a young boy, Raj lacked academic brilliance and was often referred to as the useless kid. But he was driven to achieve more.

Things took a turn for worse when he was 16. When his father suffered from a diabetic attack, the family business started to fall apart.

His family found it difficult to meet their daily needs and healthcare expenses.

That's when Raj decided to venture into business. He borrowed Rs 10K from his father and bought raw materials.

With intense research, YouTube and his father's guidance, he made a liquid dishwasher.

Today, the company manufactures a wide variety of detergent gels and soap and are sold in 23 cities across India.

It is estimated that the company’s net worth is $1 million and they have sold out more than 100 million units.

🎤Becoming a (Digital) Speaker and a Creator

Despite his difficulty speaking in public, Raj had a knack for storytelling. 

Initially, he started creating content to improve his business and expand the business range. He also offered free seminars in colleges across the country.

But he soon realized giving seminars alone was not enough to reach millions. That's when he thought of becoming a digital speaker.

Initially, he started creating content to improve and expand his business presence. He then started creating 5-min videos and reels.

Soon he expanded his content and began talking about finance, sales, and finding opportunities, on social media.

He kept it real, showing the real side of the struggles of being an entrepreneur and the sacrifices that need to be made to build an empire.

Fast forward to date, Raj has spoken across more than 20 countries 200+ times, not just on building a business but branding, entrepreneurship, and even mental health.

Moreover, he has 1.1 million followers on Instagram, 228.9k fans on Twitter and 473k subscribers on YouTube.🚀

🎙Becoming a podcaster

Over the years, Raj kept exploring different platforms. In 2020, he recorded his first podcast and posted it online.

He did it with the aim not to preach but to figure out every opportunity and move- achievements and mistakes.

https://rajshamani.buzzsprout.com/

Today, the podcast has over 100 episodes and was featured in Top 10 Business Podcasts in India by Itunes.

🚀Way forward

Raj wants to bring out the real side of businesses and entrepreneurs to the world. He wants to do this not just through his content but also through investing and helping startups.

He is also focused on building a community.

Raj has a dream of becoming a Creative Unicorn with his b2b company, clothing line, investments, and upcoming book.

So, follow @rajshamani to join his journey of building dreams and hopes of budding young entrepreneurs.

Raj Shamani

#Discover100Creators

You may know her as Superwoman or you may know her as a comedian, you may know her as the first woman of colour to host a late-night talk show in the US or you may know her as an actress.

With 14.7 M+ subs, here is @Lilly's inspiring journey to the top 🚀

Not that we need an introduction but here's a bit about Lilly:

Lilly Singh was born and raised with Sikh traditions in Canada.

She is a YouTuber, best-selling author, businesswoman, singer, actor, talent show judge, and a former late-night talk show host.

From battling anxiety in her early 20s to performing in front of a hundred thousand people and getting over 3.47 billion views on YouTube, she has made her mark online while exploring different fields.

Here's how she did it...

👧🏻What's in a name?

Lilly was a tomboy as a child.

She enjoyed listening to songs. When she was eight, she picked Superwoman as her nickname from @THELILMOSHOW's song.

Little did she know the world would recognize her by that name.

🦸‍♀️ Becoming Superwoman in reality

Lilly was in her third year when her grandfather passed away. She had a strong bond with him and was unable to cope with the loss.

Though she was in severe depression, she managed to graduate with a psychology degree from York University.

Lilly lost interest in everything and took a year off, not knowing what to do with life.

That's when she found YouTube. She decided to give it a try and started a channel IISuperwomanII.

Meanwhile, she also got a job at a collections agency but she hated it.

🖥 Exploring 'creator' as a career

The creator world fascinated Lilly. She started making videos around her Indian heritage and background. This was her way of fighting depression.

She decided to take a leap of faith, quit her job and make a living off creating YouTube videos.

A year later, she launched her second channel “SuperwomanVlogs" to share her daily activities and BTS.

She also branched out into comedy and created parody sketches of her parents. And by 2013, she'd built a solid fan base across the globe and hit 1 Million subscribers.

🌎 World Tour

In 2015, Lilly toured across the globe to meet her fans and performed for them live.

Her 27-city world tour was turned into a feature-length film “A Trip To Unicorn Island”, which documented the entire experience, and showcased Lilly’s rise to fame.


🌟 Getting recognized

Soon Lilly began receiving recognition for her work & landed her first MTV Fandom Award and a Streamy Award, back in 2015.

People Magazine featured her on their list of “Ones To Watch". She also made it to the Forbes List of Top-Earning YouTube Stars 2015.

https://twitter.com/forbes/status/808134532926939137?lang=en

🎤 Stepping into voice acting

Post the awards, Lilly landed her first voice acting gig for Ice Age: Collision Course. This paved the way for many future roles.

She went on to lend her voice for 'Riverdance: The Animated Adventure' and 'Pickles' too.

✍🏻 Becoming an Author

Lilly wrote a self-help book "How to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life".

The book made it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list and she won the “Best Non-Fiction” at the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards.

5 years later, she released her second book titled "Be a Triangle: How I Went from Being Lost to Getting My Life" in April 2022.

With this book, Lilly put out her vulnerable self in a subtle way. She talks about growth, pain, healing and understanding peace.


🎥 On the screen

In March 2019, Lilly’s fame was taken to a whole new level with @nbc's "A Little Late With Lilly Singh".

@latewithlilly was on air for two seasons, from 2019 to 2021.

💫 Bright future ahead

Though Lilly took a break from creating content in 2018, new opportunities are knocking at her door.

She is set to star in The Muppets Mayhem for Disney+. She will also star in and produce the YouTube original series Mindful Adventures in Unicorn Island.

From creating comedy sketches to showing her skills in various segments, Lilly has come a long way.

It's been a while since she's dropped a video on her main channel but keeps uploading shorts from time to time. So make sure to follow @Lilly to hop on to Unicorn Island!

Lilly Singh

#Discover100Creators

@jasonfried ditched the traditional business philosophies and established new maxims for running a business successfully.

In 2010, he wrote one of the New York Times bestsellers 'REWORK', which resonates with people till today.

Here is Jason's journey:🧵

Before we go ahead, let's know Jason Fried better.

Jason is the founder & CEO at @37signals. He started the company back in 1999 and has been running the show ever since.

He believes and embodies that creating a great product or service is making something he'd want to use.

🌟 Where it all began

Jason was into selling stuff from the very beginning. When he entered his teens, he did part-time jobs at the grocery store, shoe stores and gas station.

Soon he started selling electronics equipment to his friends; stereo and cordless phones.

In high school, he'd collect CDs and tapes and loan them out to friends. But seldom he got'em back.

Being pissed about losing things, he made a music collection database called Audiofile using FileMaker Pro.

He did all this when the internet wasn't even a thing.

Jason thought of putting it on @AOL. He wrote a text file saying “Hey if you like this it’s $20”, uploaded it to AOL with a readme file and forgot about it.

One day, he received an envelope from Germany with a 20$ and a Xerox of the app.
https://twitter.com/jasonfried/status/5052012122

This incident taught him the biggest lesson of his life...

He'd built Audiofile as he needed it. Eventually, he understood other people would need it, too.

But he was okay if no one else ever used it. He figured, if he needed it, certainly someone else will.

🌟 Stepping out of College

Jason graduated college in 1996 and started doing freelance web design right out of school.

He did take a job but quit within 3 months and hasn’t been employable since. He also had a creative experience on an extended contract at Quokka.

🌟 Freelance turned into full-time

Jason co-founded @37signals,a web designing company in 1999. The company is famous for software tools like Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise, Ta-da List, Campfire and more.

In 2014, he changed the company's name to @basecamp focusing on 1 product.

A few years later, Jason launched the email service @heyhey.

He built an audience interested in data privacy and by launch, many were eager to try the product.

He used content as a communication channel and created a demand for an email service focused on data privacy.

Soon they reverted to their original name- 37signals.

Fast forward to date, they have about 16 employees but they have a big impact with over 3 million people using their products.

https://twitter.com/jasonfried/status/1521522879078141952


🌟 Writing online

Jason along with his 2 co-founders started writing a blog “Signal Vs Noise” in 1999 when they started 37signals.

It wasn't anything intentional but they did it cause they wanted to. They didn't measure the stats but showed up consistently.

On the blog, they wrote about:

• The industry.

• Things they discussed internally.

• Their point of view on various ongoing events.

Now, they have 100K+ subscribers and share thoughts on design, business, and tech.

🌟 Writing a book (accidentally)

Jason and his co-founders continued to write blogs over the years. At some point they realized, that they could compile most of it together.

They rewrote a bunch of blogs, updated a couple & edited the remaining so that they make sense together.

Together, they self-published Getting Real: The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way in 2006.

Similarly, he went on to write the New York Times bestseller 'REWORK' in 2010 followed by 'REMOTE: Office Not Required' in 2013 with @dhh.


🌟 Launching a Podcast

In 2020, Jason and @dhh launched 'The Rework Podcast'. They not only wanted to cut through the noise but share their unique perspectives.

Today, rework.fm has 2 seasons and over 150 episodes on better ways to work and run your biz.


🌟 Right Mindset

Unlike other entrepreneurs wearing sleeplessness as a badge of honor, Jason stands by Eight-Eight-Eight. 8 hours for work, 8 hours for life, 8 hours for sleep.

When it comes to business, Jason feels things are simple until you make them complicated.

His TED Talk ‘Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work‘ has 6M+ views.

And in his conversation with @tferriss ‘How to Live Life on Your Own Terms‘, they discuss:

• How to say no.
• Protecting personal time and attention.
• Using negative visualization to make prep and plan and more.

Typefully