Never Let Them Know Your Next Move

Things are getting kind of crazy in the Mycopreneur / Ego Death Universe.

I’ve had a niche demographic of fungi entrepreneurs, mycophiles, and friends as my primary audience for the majority of the 1.5 years I’ve been hosting Mycopreneur Podcast. In the last 2 months, that audience has expanded considerably with the popularity of the satire videos I’ve put out. The satire videos have commanded well over 500k views between Tik Tok and Instagram since January of 2022, and a number of those people have stuck around. This week alone, the videos netted 220k views on Tik Tok, growing my audience from 2,000 followers to 7,000 and counting. These are relatively small potatoes in the world of social media content, and social media followers and engagements are not what I’m interested in.

I’m interested in creating a platform for fungi entrepreneurs. Since the get-go, the North Star of Mycopreneur Podcast has been “Fungi Diplomacy” - building a network of inspired mycopreneurs around the world who want to leverage the power of mushrooms to radically transform and uplift themselves, their communities, and society at large.

It’s a strange phenomenon to experience virality like this. I’ve been creating video and media content for around 15 years now, going way back to a late night TV show for the University of San Francisco original programming schedule that a group of friends and I made in 2008. As a student in the Media Studies department, I had front-row tickets to the first wave of YouTube creators, before Instagram or Tik Tok even existed, and before Facebook had video enabled. I sometimes wondered why our course load included Experimental Cinema, 16 mm Film Production, Media Theory and Criticism, Media Law & Policy, and other seemingly arcane and anachronistic pedagogy.

Now, as the content I’m making has found a broader audience, I realize that these learning experiences and the peer network I’ve grown alongside have enabled me to create trend-proof content supported by a foundation that draws from the masters of media and self-expression. Regardless of the popularity of content, this is my guiding principle: make unabashedly compelling and well-executed media that helps prop up and scale the Mycopreneur and Ego Death platforms.

The widespread attention that the recent satire videos have commanded is uplifting for sure, and it’s brought a considerable number of celebrities, tastemakers, and public figures into the Mycopreneur audience. All of a sudden I’m being invited to speak on panels, moderate conferences, contribute to projects, and jump on other people’s podcasts and platforms. I find myself on calls with venture capitalists, established serial entrepreneurs, public figures, and all sorts of other people. It’s a new experience for me to navigate these waters as the primary draw - I’ve been around celebrity and mogul culture pretty extensively for years, but always as a +1 or a background character. Things I’ve never seriously considered before are now appearing as opportunities and challenges; legal frameworks, haters, investment opportunities, broader public opinion. Shits crazy dawg, and I’m in for penny, in for a pound.

I’ve also started reading and writing again in earnest. I used to write *all the fucking time*, from a young age. It’s what got me through college and into employment opportunities I was under qualified for. At some point, I simply stopped reading and writing. The world got its hands on me.

The inspiration to write has been rekindled, and it’s shaping my course of action in both the physical and digital worlds. A recent conversation with a dear friend (and published author / celebrated academic) left me with some words of wisdom that help guide this reconnection -

“Writing is careful thinking” — and if we need one quality at large in the world today, it’s ‘careful thinking’.

Okay, here are some things on the horizon for the Mycopreneur and Ego Death Platforms:

I’m moderating a panel(s) and producing content at the California Psychedelic Conference in Los Angeles later this week. This will be the worlds largest gathering of fungi cultivators, and a shitload of other activists and mycopreneurs are pulling up.

I’ve also been invited to moderate a very interesting panel with some extremely well-known psychedelic entrepreneurs for the Microdosing Summit on May 27th.

I’m producing satire content and also a deep dive course on psychedelic media production for the Tam Integration Jam May 20th - May 22nd as well.

As I’m writing this, I’m gearing up for my first podcast I’ve ever done as the guest rather than the host.

And I’ve been invited to speak for a psychedelic coalition in Miami.

All of this shit and more has popped up as a direct response to the visibility and impact that the recent satire videos have had.

But the aforementioned activities are only a small part of what’s on the horizon for Mycopreneur and Ego Death Magazine -

We’re getting ready to kick off a 2 month Middle East diplomacy tour starting in Baghdad, Iraq in early May. The trip will take us through around 20 different parts of 5 countries and 1 autonomous zone. I’ll be producing content with a number of regional partners and friends along the way.

Things are heating up, and the roasts I’m dishing out left and right are helping to dial up that thermostat. My parting shot to you today will be a quote:

“Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge”

Hit me with some feedback, opportunities, or ideas by replying to this email or shooting me a DM