Stop Asking for Permission to Do Your Best Work

Real stories of people who skipped the gatekeepers to get what they want out of life

Dear subscribers,

Have you ever caught yourself thinking:

“If only I can get into this [company/role/school], then I can do great work.”

I spent most of my life stuck in this mindset. But I’ve come to realize that you don’t need anyone’s permission to do your best work. So let’s talk about:

1. Why chasing credentials is ultimately a dead-end

2. How to land your dream job with no credentials

3. How to build a business that skips the gatekeepers

4. How to raise kids to seek the permissionless path

I wrote this with Jeston Lu, a 19-year-old exploring his own path. Give him a follow 🙂

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Why chasing credentials is ultimately a dead-end

Credit Linda Zhang for the graphic

I’ve spent alot of time chasing credentials:

• Degrees from Brown and MIT

• Jobs at Meta, Reddit, Amazon, and other leading tech companies

• Countless hours spent on getting good grades and prepping for interviews

Don’t get me wrong — fancy credentials can open doors. But chasing them blindly will ultimately lead to an unfulfilling career because:

1. You stop following your curiosity. I wasted years in consulting because that's what the other "smart" kids wanted in college. I wish I had spent that time chasing my real interests instead.

2. You don’t build real skills. Getting perfect grades and memorizing PM interview frameworks takes time away from developing real skills like building, selling, and writing.

So, how do you land your dream job and build a business without permission? Let’s cover some tactical tips and real examples next.

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How to land your dream job with no credentials

If you don’t have brand name credentials, it’s easy to get your job application filtered out by resume software and recruiters. The solution:

Reach out to the hiring manager directly with undeniable value.

Let me show you three people who did exactly that:

1. How Jay became Head of Growth at 18 years old

Jay Yang is a 19-year-old who worked for two successful founders before college.

He landed his first job by emailing Tyler Denk, founder of the fast-growing newsletter platform Beehiiv. Here’s the exact cold email that he used to land his job. Note how he makes a convincing argument for Tyler to hire him in just three bullets: