Feeling Stuck? Stop Asking For Permission to Do Great Work

Yang says people often assume a prestigious company, role, or school will let them do great work. Degrees from Brown and MIT and jobs at Meta, Reddit, and Amazon opened doors for him, but he argues that chasing credentials blindly can distract from curiosity and skill building. He says time spent on perfect grades or memorizing interview frameworks could go toward building, selling, and writing.

Yang describes Jay Young, who became head of growth for entrepreneur Noah Kagan at 19 after presenting a deck of newsletter growth ideas. Kagan hired him over candidates with stronger credentials, and Young later started his own business. Yang also cites Waterloo student Ashar, whose campus study spot app went viral on Twitter and drew Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke’s attention; Yang says he confirmed Ashar got a Shopify job.

Yang says he left growth work at a credit card marketplace that he did not enjoy and started a newsletter about creators and consumer products. Years later, more than 100,000 people read it each week. He connects this approach to software, media, and AI tools that can help people create and solve problems without waiting for traditional gatekeepers.

Yang encourages solving real customer problems instead of prioritizing approval from admissions officers, recruiters, or hiring managers. He says he wants his children to pursue curiosity and independent thinking rather than fill their schedules with activities aimed at college admissions. He advises people to stop chasing the same schools and jobs or relying on former titles, and to seek validation from customers willing to pay for solutions.