Shoot Your Shot

Every day before I start work, I send three cold DM compliments to people I don't know.

In practice that means scrolling twitter and linked in for about 20 minutes until I see something that I like or find cool. All I do is I drop a comment, or just a DM compliment that I like what they’re doing.

80% of the time it goes nowhere. But on the off chance that they repsond or say thank you, I’m now in their DMs. That habit gets you on their radar. Perhaps maybe in the future, that could land you some job opportunities.

That's how I:

• Got an interview with Wispr Flow, one of the fastest-growing consumer AI startups.

• How i got into Andrew Wilkinsons interesting people conference.

• Dexcom ended up partnering with OURA and Investing $75M into their series D.

Last week that habit got me into the Midjourney medical launch event. Which had some of the biggest tech giants and media personalities in the world.

• Dylan Field, the founder of Figma

• Bryan Johnson, the don't die guy

• David Holz, founder of Midjourney

• Sarah Guo

• Swyx

• A lot more people that I probably missed

I don't normally "fangirl" over being in the room with people like this. But I did have a moment where I realized "ok this is pretty cool." I didn't even realize how big of an event it was or how legit it was. I just saw David Holz's tweet about it.

I was like yeah, I'm a former hardware engineer. This seems cool. I'd like to come.

Next thing you know i get a DM from David. RSVP'ed and forgot about it. I didn’t know what it was about but it seemed like it'd be cool to be there. And per usual, i didn’t read the full Partiful description.

As we lead up to the event, i start seeing more and more people asking for an invite. So I start thinking, oh, is this going to be a big deal? I have a friend who runs special projects at Midjourney, who hinted that this was kind of a big deal. I just didn't know what they were keeping under wraps until i showed up.

The day of, I show up right at the start of the event to talk to as many people as possible (which is social suicide).

And next thing you know, right before they start funneling people in, I see Bryan Johnson walk in. Behind him? Dylan Field, the founder of Figma.

As we line up I'm standing next to a guy with a butterfly pin on his chest. I asked him what that's all about. Turns out he was invited by a company he works with called Butterfly Network. They do point-of-care ultrasounds. And that was when when I realized they were launching a medical hardware product.

On our way in I go say hi to Bryan Johnson’s girlfriend and business partner Kate, because my friend works for her, just to say hey my friend works with you!

So what was this event all about? David announced they were launching Midjourney Medical: a new division of Midjourney. A medical hardware product - a full-body ultrasound machine he says is faster than an MRI and just as accurate. Plus a full-blown spa facility in san Francisco.

After the event, I went up to Swyx and asked what he thought. His opinion was: "this felt like an iphone moment." As someone who has been a patient and engineer in the medical device space, it was pretty awesome to see a completely new scanning technology get announced.

These claims are certainly lofty, but seeing what David is capable of making with all the partners, like NVIDIA, Butterfly Network, and the crazy investors that were there, I think it is possible. They also mentioned that they were going to incorporate this into a 3-story spa facility, integrating it as part of the membership. If a completely new medical technology wasn’t enough.

This was one of those moments where i was like, "this is why i live in San Francisco." I get to be part of events and moments like this, be in rooms I never expected to be in, and see the future imagined right before me.

I didn't get an opportunity like this because I have massive clout or knew someone that wanted to invite me. I got here because i keep shooting shots, sending compliments, and on occasion asking for what i want.

In this case, it was an just invite.

So my friend, this is a reminder to keep shooting your shot. It might land you some incredible opportunities and make for a great story.

"shoot your shot… and ask for what you want" - Wayne Gretzky (maybe)

You’re Awesome,

Jared

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Things Worth Clicking

A few gems I found on the internet this week - no digging required

• The 7-year old playbook (that still works) for how Tyler Denk grew the morning brew newsletter.

• A deep dive on Rohan Kumar and how he make a killing after he interned for Mr. Beast.

• How to get a job with cold email from Ben Lang

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