MADEXXX
MADEINC
came in contact with my previous
work at Nike when they see Super
Heroic. It’s also being in pursuit of
providing wonderment and joy and
feeding people’s curiosity. That’s
what Michael is as a human being
and as an athlete.
READY TO LAUNCH
Jason Mayden Shares His Best
Advice On Starting Your Own
Apparel Collection
Have a reason to do it besides it’s
cool and you want to talk about it
on Instagram. Because at a certain
point that reaction from the people
who follow you is going to fade. It’s
just you, your laptop and your empty
sketchbook sitting there on a flight
to China in coach trying to figure
out, “Why the hell did I make this
decision to build this product at this
time?” You need more than the social
uplift you get when you announce
what you’re trying to do. You need
a why. You need a real reason to
want to build something. Because
it’s significantly hard, it’s boring, it’s
taxing, its challenging but it’s also
invigorating and exciting when you
know you have a reason to do it.
Make sure you identify your why and
lean into that daily because that’s
what going to keep you on your feet
when you want to quit.
Nothing worth doing comes cheap.
There’s a cost to everything. There’s
a financial cost, there’s a time cost,
there’s a relational cost. You have
to be willing to accept whatever
that cost is. A lot of people assume
they can dabble in this and say
“I’m a designer/DJ/hair stylist” –
there’s no slash. Either you are a
founder or you’re not. Either you’re
in it or you’re not. I think people
feel real good announcing they’re
an entrepreneur. The act of an
entrepreneur is to be obsessed over
solving a problem. That’s the core
nature of entrepreneurship. You’re
obsessed to the point where you’re
going to start a company to solve
this problem. So realize that there is
a sacrifice, there is a price to pay but
the upside of that is great. I’m not
talking about the financial upside.
I’m talking about the experiential and
the spiritual upside, knowing that
you at least tried in your life, is the
greatest feeling in the world.
Don’t worry about the critics,
don’t worry about what people say.
There’s always somebody that’s
going to love your what you do.
Lean into the love. Ignore the hate.
Because those one or two people
who love what you’re doing, they
know three or four people who
also love it. So lean into the people
who love you. Tell them that you
appreciate them and show them
gratitude. Don’t try to be one person
online and try to be another person
in public because that’s fake. People
want to experience and consume
products from people they actually
feel like they can hang out with and
people they look up to. So in a world
where telling the truth is abnormal,
that’s the best strategy. Because
everyone expects you to lie so why
lie when you can just tell the truth
and never have to worry about being
exposed. So just be yourself and
lean into the people who love you
and let that be your currency if you
value whether your wealthy or not. I
guarantee you’ll be hella successful
compared to your peers because if
they’re playing the short game of I
need to get in this video with xyz
celebrity and post like we’re friends
vs I need to get in the lab and create
my future, then you’re going to see
that the outcome is very different for
you. So just have fun. This is the best
moment ever to be creative because
we can do everything we always
dreamed of.
INNOVATION ISSUE
49