Suggestions
Wan-Chien Kao
Marketer, Entrepreneur, and Advisor
Wan-Chien Kao is a co-founder of Maven, a platform that specializes in cohort-based courses, which are designed to facilitate live learning experiences. Maven was established to address the challenges faced by course creators in building engaging and effective online courses. Under Kao's leadership, the platform has seen significant success, with over 20,000 professionals participating in its courses and instructors earning more than $14 million in teaching revenue.1
Kao's background includes co-founding the altMBA, a program developed in collaboration with bestselling author Seth Godin, which also focuses on cohort-based learning. This initiative grew rapidly, attracting thousands of students across multiple countries.1
In addition to her entrepreneurial endeavors, Wan-Chien Kao has experience in digital marketing and project management, having worked in various roles that emphasize strategic communication and operational excellence.1
Highlights
Many things that look intuitive and simple actually take huge amounts of work behind the scenes. I think about this every time I write my newsletter. My usual thought is, “I bet people would be shocked at how many hours this took.”
It’s whatever number of hours you think is a lot, then multiply that by three. I used to be embarrassed about this, and still kind of am, but am increasingly open about it.
Because here’s the thing: Excellence takes time.
As much as we want to rush it, there’s a certain pace with creativity and problem-solving that can’t always happen on demand.
I am tired of “professional managers” who have never built The Thing—whatever The Thing is: compelling copy, intuitive design, an engaging program, etc.
If you haven’t built it, it’s natural for you to think, “This looks simple. Why is it taking so long?”
This is why I believe player-coaches are so important. We need managers and leaders who have built The Thing themselves, because they recognize that things take time.
The uncomfortable reality in our speed-obsessed world is:
Quality takes time.
Getting it right takes time.
Craft takes time.
Developing insights takes time.
Connecting dots takes time.
Obviously, I’m not saying to spend your time indiscriminately, or to use this as an excuse to move slowly. And to be clear, you can spend time, and still create mediocre work! I don’t blindly equate time spent with excellence.
But when you see something really good, assume it took time. Don’t rush to judge yourself for being too slow. Don’t be disappointed when there’s no short cut.
You’re probably not too slow. You probably have unrealistic expectations about how long it takes to make stuff really good.
As a feedback receiver, I need to develop thicker skin.
As a feedback giver, I need to learn to frame feedback well.
Two things can be true.
I feel like whenever I post about one or the other, people freak out. "But the other side needs to be held accountable too!"
I completely agree. They should also be held accountable.
You deciding to improve yourself DOES NOT absolve the other person of their responsibility to also hold up their end of the bargain. I repeat: It does not absolve the other person.
Reflecting on how you're contributing to a situation and acting with intellectual honesty 100% benefits you. You have to be you, long after you stop working with them. It's low-agency to only insist that other people change.
