Hi there 👋
I’d be remiss not to plug (one last time) our Oyster event taking place this week, Ascent: a one-day future-of-work conference happening online this Thursday. It’s free to attend. Check out some of the agenda topics with superstar guests from the world of remote work:
Building thriving teams across cultures, timezones, and markets
Tackling impostor syndrome, stress, and burnout in remote teams (sign me up ✌️)
How to create a successful fully-distributed company culture from scratch
How DEIB fits with your global team
ESG and impact-driven companies
We’ve got another event happening in a couple more quarters, specifically geared toward people interested in their next remote job (or their first remote job). I’ll be sure to let you know when you can register for that one, too.
Wishing you a great week,
Kevan
(ᵔᴥᵔ)
Thank you for being part of this newsletter. Each week, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world and my time at Oyster, Buffer, and more.
Say hi anytime at hello@kevanlee.com. I’d love to hear from you.
How I got here: A few thoughts on motivation, careers, and the Big Why
This week’s essay is a bit of a re-post. Around this time each year, I reflect back on how I first arrived into tech and the people who had a meaningful impact on my journey. One of those people was my dad.
Here’s a link to the story I wrote about him last year, which details some of the steps that led me to tech, which led me to Buffer, which led me to Oyster, …
I shared a bit of my story with my team this week, and I’m grateful for their openness and trust to allow me to do so. We went through an exercise recently at Oyster where we had to provide answers to the following two questions:
Why did you join Oyster?
Why does Oyster exist?
Why does Oyster exist seems somewhat like a brand and product marketing question. We have a pretty clear answer: Oyster exists in order to create a more equal world by making it possible for companies everywhere to hire people anywhere.
The Why did you join Oyster question was much more personal and unique. Everyone had their own story, obviously, but even so, many of our stories involved the appeal of the Oyster mission. When it came time to tell mine, I borrowed a lot from the newsletter I linked above: my dad died before I really got going with my career in tech (it’s been ten years this month), his loss made me focus on what I wanted from life and from my career. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the example he gave me of how he approached his work, his family, and his values.
This time of year always brings me back to those moments and decisions that put me on the path I’m on now. Ten years ago, it was not too late for me to switch tracks and make my career my own (it’s not too late for you to do the same either). Ten years later, I’m happy to say this is still the work I want to be doing and the place I want to be. Hopefully you can be encouraged to do a similar accounting for yourself and to take whatever steps necessary to switch things up if need be. Let me know what you find out. I’m here to help.
Misc.
Marco is a cool service for remote team events. The phone photography course looks cool.
Shopify’s memo about layoffs was really fascinating from a business perspective. Shopify made a bet, and it didn’t pay off. Rare and commendable to see a CEO take ownership like that.
I’ve really been enjoying Steve Bryant’s newsletter, Delightful. His voice and tone are outstanding, not to mention the content marketing insights.
About this newsletter …
Hi, I’m Kevan, a marketing exec based in Boise, Idaho, who specializes in startup marketing and brand-building. I currently lead the marketing team at Oyster (we’re hiring!). I previously built brands at Buffer, Vox, and Polly. Each week, I share playbooks, case studies, stories, and links from inside the startup marketing world. Not yet subscribed? No worries. You can check out the archive, or sign up below:
Thank you for being here! 🙇♂️
I’m lucky to count folks from great brands like these (and many more) as part of this newsletter community.