You Can Just Do Things

Now is the best time in history to build permissionless leverage (4 real-world examples)

Dear subscribers,

If you’re feeling stuck in your career or life, remember that you can just do things.

I feel so strongly about this topic that I made a 5-minute video breaking down:

1. What to do if you’re feeling stuck

2. 3 examples of people who skipped the gatekeepers

3. Why agency is the only moat in the AI era

Watch this first, then come back to read the rest of the post.

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AI has unlocked permissionless leverage

Naval has talked about three forms of leverage:

1. Labor: Other people working for you

2. Capital: Money working for you

3. Code and media: Products working for you with zero marginal cost

The first two—labor and capital—require someone to say "yes" first. People must choose to work for you and give you money.

But the third one—code and media—doesn’t need anyone’s permission. You can start creating right now. As Naval puts it:

"Coding, writing books, recording podcasts, tweeting, YouTubing...you don't need anyone's permission to do them and that's why they're great equalizers of leverage."

Now is the best time in history to pursue permissionless leverage. With AI, anyone can hire an “army of robots” to help them create content and write code.

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Four people who skipped the gatekeepers

To bring this to life, here are four people who built permissionless leverage:

1. A marketing student who got Shopify COO’s attention

Link

Julia is a Waterloo student who posted a video highlighting her marketing skills to Shopify. A few hours later, Kaz (Shopify's COO) responded with, "You are hired." I love seeing people like Julia skip the gatekeepers to land a great job.

2. An 18 year old founder who built a $30M ARR app

Link

Zach is an 18-year-old founder who got rejected from 15 colleges despite building a $30M ARR app that lets people track calories by taking a picture of a meal.

To be fair, his personal essay could be improved, but Zach doesn’t need college. Real users don’t care about admissions essays and Zach is creating actual value.

3. A father of three who left Amazon for a $3.6M exit

Daniel’s income statement for Small Bets (link)

Daniel was an Amazon engineer who felt trapped doing work that he didn’t enjoy:

I was leading an most important project with many stakeholders and complex goals. But what I could do was always bound by my ability to convince everyone.

He decided to quit in 2021 and launched a few projects before starting Small Bets, his community for indie hackers.

Four years later, he sold this community to Gumroad for $3.6M. Daniel's approach is refreshingly simple: start small, validate quickly, and let the market guide you.

4. A dad who found global impact after a personal struggle

My friend KP experienced every parent's nightmare when one of his twin boys was diagnosed with a rare heart condition that required open heart surgery in 2024.

Thankfully, his son recovered and left the hospital this month. Rather than easing back into his career slowly, KP saw the vibe coding movement and tweeted:

Link

This single tweet caught Eric's (Bolt CEO) attention. Now, they're running a global hackathon with $1M+ in prizes, renowned judges, and worldwide events.

KP didn’t apply for this job online. He simply tweeted what he wanted to see in the world and made it happen.

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Have the courage to just do things

"Life shrinks or expands according to one's courage." — Anaïs Nin in 1939

That statement is more true today than ever. With AI democratizing skills that once required labor and capital, agency is the only moat left.

So the next time you catch yourself waiting for permission, remember:

1. You have the agency.

2. Nobody can tell you no.

3. You can just do things.

Watch my video and ask yourself: “What will you create this week?”