40
Most people experiencing a mid-life crisis buy a Dodge Hellcat or a 30-foot Bayliner.
I decided to create a startup and do a 180-degree turn on how I typically did business for 17+ years.
Cue Kid Dynamite’s cover of “Birthday.”
I mean, I can’t take all the credit. My business partner Torrey was completely game.
You see, we’ve taken the typical route that most creatives take when making art into a career:
- Find clients to make stuff and get paid
- Find more clients to make more stuff more consistently…and get paid
- Realize that you never have 100% complete control over the output
- Rinse and Repeat.
As I suspect many others have tread a similar path, we did a bunch of micro-pivots along the way to seek the projects that we really wanted.
In all fairness, it’s been a wild ride, and we’ve made some great stuff in our careers, but it never felt like enough.
So, you cling to whatever last strand of control you have.
- Pushing back on client notes
- Pitching ideas that will never see the light of day
- Getting upset when someone asks “Can the logo be bigger?”
Maybe it’s ego; perhaps it’s the fact that you can see what the result “could” be and have trouble articulating it to the client.
But let’s be honest: It never truly benefits either party. Great things emerge from true collaboration, and as much as I hated hearing it, David C. Baker and Blair Enns said it best: “There is never a true partnership when the client is footing the bill”.
I’m paraphrasing here, but essentially, it’s true. There will always be that power imbalance between you and the client.
And rightfully so, too. Whoever the client is has certain expectations on how your creation will generate revenue. (This is one thing that many creatives overlook)
So, last year, I asked myself:
“How can I be a better guide?”
and
“Can I be doing something more to have a greater impact?”
(Torrey and I have worked so well together over the years. We always end up thinking the same things at the same time but in totally different ways.)
It was a hard pill to swallow, but maybe I was not suited for “Traditional client-work” anymore. I moved beyond it. To grow further, I needed to switch up how we helped people.
We both knew that we could affect more businesses if we “enabled” people rather than doing the work for them.
I can still remember our conversation, which we had while pacing around the dining room on the phone (as both of us tend to do).
“What if we went client-less in one year?” I asked.
Understandably, he wanted more elaboration on the “How” rather than the “What.”
A few ideas were thrown on the table over the next few months after that, but we always felt it true in our hearts that we wanted to make our own IP. That was the plan going back to COVID-era, but nothing seemed worthwhile at the time.
Fast forward to 2024; I had made this little AI script generator a few months before. It worked well, but it was just a little weekend project. It sat for four months until Torrey suggested we create an entire app based on it.
…To create an entire SaaS brand in our style, with features we knew could help people…and guide them throughout the process.
Thus birthed Epicly AI.
Since last month, we have been working on it full-time, developing the app and developing features that we both know will benefit many people struggling to get seen in a crowded marketplace.
You could always argue that you will always have someone to answer to.
That is a perfectly reasonable argument, and I’m OK with that.
We’re essentially trading traditional clients with customers and investors, but the underlying thing that gives me peace is that we have full control over the success of the output.
Today, I’m entering my 40s, and I am thankful for the opportunity to continue doing what I love. I still have the fire to “Create,” and I hope this will ease the restlessness I’ve felt for far too long.
“I’m not gonna retire ’cause I’m still young at heart. And time will tell in the future, who has done their part. And if you don’t agree with me, well then you can sit home until your grave. Because, at any age, we’ll be on this stage playing fast, smart, strong, and brave.” — Kid Dynamite (Token Entry)
