Introducing Long Reids

“All humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create and take control of our destiny is encoded in human DNA—and creation is the essence of entrepreneurship.”

Inspired by a Muhammad Yunus quote, I wrote the above line in The Startup of You because it has always encapsulated one of my deeply-held beliefs. The drive to create is innately human. In fact, since I last sent this newsletter in December, I’ve been working on a book, new essays (such as this one ), and a few podcasts, the first of which is live.?

Interestingly, what has made me a more productive human has been the almost human: artificial intelligence. Everything in the AI space has happened gradually, then suddenly. It’s had a major resurgence over the last decade, but nothing quite like the last few months. Our ability to generate and iterate on images or writing on any subject in any style is now simple, fast and accessible (as exemplified by the image and caption below). Every so often our insistent will to create is met by powerful, new tools.

Why am I sharing this with you in a newsletter centered on career development? I believe that these new AI tools are going to shape how we do work and build our careers—and, most importantly, how we create. I’ve already felt more prolific, creative and iterative in my work.

In this spirit, the next time that you receive this newsletter, it’ll take a new tack: instead of digging into lessons from The Startup of You, I’ll show you how I’m applying them—with and without AI—across my own career and interests, from technology to philanthropy, and from politics to entrepreneurship. I’ll periodically spotlight people in my network who are creating in novel ways. No matter the share, my hope is that there’ll always be something for you to glean with your own career in mind.

So, in the spirit of reinventing oneself on a periodic basis (a Startup of You tenet!), this newsletter will be renamed and called Long Reids next time. Even if long, I hope you will also find it entertaining and energizing.?

This month, I’ll be announcing two new projects in this newsletter. Of course, if you prefer to unsubscribe, you can at the bottom of this email or post, but I hope you’ll keep reading and give this new format a shot.??

— Reid