Neal O'Grady 🍉

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I have an extremely strange mix of skills/experience:

- Mechanical engineer
- Full-stack developer
- Serial entrepreneur ($25M+ in total revenue)
- Content creator/marketer (100k+ newsletter subs and millions of page views)
- Growth marketer (ran marketing companies for 9 years)
- Crypto nerd (20k+ defi transactions)

Which is why I run marketing at a scrappy and highly technical crypto company—I can do a bit of everything.

Co-Founder

Demand Curve (YC S19) creates courses, content, and events to teach founders and marketers how to grow companies. Our weekly newsletter goes out to over 60,000 founders and marketers.

New job title just dropped

In 2026, you can:

- Bet on how many tweets Elon posts this month
- Bet on whether Jesus Christ will return in 2026
- Bet on which country the US strikes next

It's honestly a bit absurd 😅 

With memecoins, you can bet on the cultural relevance of ideas and moments.

And now with Zora, you can mint a token on anything you think will trend — a tweet, a news event, a vibe — and turn it into a market.

Yes, even the topic of the day on LinkedIn.

We've been talking for a while about the Attention Economy and how creators like Mr. Beast have learned to capitalize on it, but now we, the social media-addicted consumers, can capitalize on it as well.

So, although this job post is a joke, trading culturally relevant content is already how some people earn their living.

To you, this may be a dystopian future, but sports betting is surging among Gen Z. 

$1.3B was transacted on prediction markets during the Super Bowl alone.

The appetite to put money where your opinion is isn't going away — it's expanding into every corner of culture.

Whether you think that's exciting or terrifying, the infrastructure is being built right now. Which is why Codex Data Inc is excited to power Zora's token data.

"Attention Economist" might be a joke today. But what else are we going to do when AGI comes? 😅

Neal O'Grady

Head of Marketing at Codex.io & Defined.fi

On a mission to become a better writer, thinker, and entrepreneur • Ex-dentist, now building an internet business (at ~$500k/year)

When I was 16 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and broken neck.

Doctors found them by accident during a scan. Without surgery, I'd be disabled by 30. I'm 32 now.

It was the best thing to happen to me.

Let me tell you why.

I came out of that period wanting to make an impact. That's why I became a dentist.

I enjoyed helping patients, but I didn't enjoy the lack of leverage. I wanted to make a difference on a broader scale.

The problem was I was working two jobs, so I had no space to think. 

Then I discovered the power of the Internet, and began writing in my spare time.

This was July 2020. I fell in love but I sucked. For 13 months, I created content  without crossing 1,000 followers. 

But on August 21st, I shared the story about my neck and it went viral.

 I had hundreds of DMs saying how my ideas had helped. 

I learned the most important lesson about writing that day: 

It’s not about the number of impressions. It’s about making an impression.

I quit dentistry 2 weeks later to go all in.

It was a rough start. I made my first dollar 18 months after my first blog post. But gratefully, over the next 31 months, I made $1,000,000. 

250,000 people read my content and 35,000 enjoy my newsletter.

My aim is to help you make more impact with your ideas. The Internet is our greatest gift to serve at scale and be rewarded well.

But there's a lot of noise, superficiality, and generic content out there. Especially with AI on the rise.

Which is why writing is so powerful. 

It is a magnet for opportunities. 

And the entrepreneur who builds the best bond with their audience best, wins.

I’ll help you grow your business through meaningful relationships. You’ll see how to sell without being sleazy. And how to write so that you can earn with your mind and not just your time. 

If we haven't met before, a few ways I can help:

1. Daily insights to sharpen your writing and grow your business
2. Deep-dive newsletter and free resources to build your system
3. Courses and coaching used by 3,000+ students, with occasional coaching programs for closer support

It's a pleasure to have your attention.

Kieran Drew

Last week, I went viral with a tweet about AI.

People flocked to the comments, calling me small-minded, ignorant, and elitist. They said that it’s not about how the thing is produced, just the end product. I was surprised, and wanted to see the other side of the argument. 

But I can’t.

As soon as I know that something is AI-generated, my mind switches off. I lose all emotional connection. Why? Because there is no context. The lessons mean little when the thing producing them hasn’t struggled or suffered. It feels like learning from someone else’s shadow. 

I find that a big turn-off. 

I don’t think I am alone in this. I only have so much time to spend reading, and want to spend it with real people who tell real stories. I like writers with weird quirks, worldviews, who put time and thought into their ideas. 

This group is getting smaller, which is good if you’re on the right side of the equation. 

As more creators succumb to the temptation of producing easy content, the demand and reward for the human touch will increase. People will feel drawn to the brands that feel most real, and won’t trust those that don’t.

I’m not suggesting do not use AI in your business. It is so exciting to see what we can achieve as normal people plonked behind a computer. 

But keep the writing 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 

You won’t notice the effect day to day. But the relationships you build as a result will make the effort worth it.

On a mission to become a better writer, thinker, and entrepreneur • Ex-dentist, now building an internet business (at ~$500k/year).

I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and a broken neck at 16 years old.

They found it by accident.

If they didn’t, I’d be disabled by now.

I’m grateful for many reasons. But the most important?

You appreciate how fragile life is.

You get one shot on this planet, and you don’t know when it will end. 

And yet we waste so much time doing things we don’t enjoy to impress people we don’t know. We sit on our phones and admire strangers and wonder why we’re discontent. We never create, build, or think because we’re ‘too busy’ doing pointless stuff.

Life is meant to be lived.

Push yourself. Take big risks. Form great relationships. Explore new places and people. Change your mind. Make an impact.

Do exciting shit and stop worrying so much.

You might get one shot at life, but you can take many within it.

Make it count.

**
P.S.

I attracted over 250,000 readers and built a multi-six-figure business through writing online.

I built a simple 4 step system showing how I did it (and how you can do).

You can grab it here for free: 
https://lnkd.in/gXumngMC

Social media gurus are lying to you.

You need more than a platform presence.

It is easy to get leads from social media when you sell how to grow on social media and all you talk about is growing on social media.

That is not your business.

Trust me. You don’t want it to be either.

You need a place to reach your audience on a deeper level.

You need an asset that isn't dependent on algorithms.

You need to build your business on something that lasts.

The answer is email.

Your list is where the magic happens.

For reference, I have 250,000 followers on social media and 35,000 newsletter subscribers. 90% of the revenue I make comes from email.

And every email is so much fun to write.

Social media is not the end goal. It's the start.

I once heard a popular writer say that writer's block ain't real.

… Which is a bit like an athlete saying that being fat is not real—a complete lack of empathy (which I love to see from my competition).

Here’s my take:

Writer's block

I've written almost every day for over 5 years.

I'll keep writing till the day I die.

There are three reasons I'm obsessed with the skill (and why you should be too):

𝟏. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

The more you write about an idea, the clearer it becomes. And if you haven't written about it, you haven't thought about it.

In a world of almost infinite leverage and noise, thinking is the most important skill.

𝟐. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭

Writing online is a magnet for opportunities.

You don't need permission. You don't need qualifications. You can go online, share what excites you and attract people who feel the same.

Not only does this help you build a business…

But when you earn an audience's trust, you build a reputation.

And this opens many doors. I've hopped on calls with some of my favorite entrepreneurs/thinkers just because they respect the audience I've grown.

The key is to focus on quality.

Size means nothing if the attention is empty.

𝟑. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞

Despite what some of my competition will try to sell you…

Writing is hard. Bloody hard.

It's challenging. It takes time. And it exposes how little people care.

That's precisely why it's so important.

Writing is the most beautiful creative skill for deep thinkers. You will never feel more alive than when you're wrestling with words.

And nothing will excite you more than seeing your ideas make an impact.

If you haven't started writing, now is the time.

And if you have, double down.

Every word pays off.

The biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs make:

Waiting for the perfect idea.

One day, I sat in a room with 10 entrepreneurs making $150k-1.5M/year.

Not one obsessed over a revolutionary concept.

Instead, they started by solving specific problems for specific people. Problems they personally faced.

It's how I got started, too.

March 2022: I struggled with writer's block. Ideas died in drafts daily.

So I created what I needed—a swipe file for better tweets.

I wasn't an expert. I was just someone who solved their own problem.

First launch: $5,000.

The money wasn't life-changing. The momentum was.

One year later: $140,000 in 4 days.

Three years in: $1,000,000+ revenue.

I stopped asking "What if I'm wrong?" and started asking "What problem can I solve?"

You don't need to be the smartest person in the room. You need to be the person who takes action.

Most people overthink their way out of opportunities. They worry about building something no one wants, so they build nothing at all.

But successful entrepreneurs know the truth: you learn by doing, not by planning.

The world is split between dreamers and doers.

Which side will you choose?

I've been using social media less recently.

The reason? AI.

Not AI-generated content. But AI-generated fear.

You can't scroll for 5 minutes without someone declaring the end of the world. I often find myself spending hours fretting about the future—worrying about things I 'should' be doing. This just takes me away from the work I care about most.

I don't trust anyone who pretends to know the future. And I certainly don't trust social media to present a clear picture.

The problem with buying into timely trends is you might spend thousands of hours on things that become obsolete within months.

Instead, take a leaf from Jeff Bezos's book and ask a different question.

Not what will change in the next 10 years. What won't.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

The more you invest in timeless skills, the more long-term leverage you build. Business gets easier each year because you don't need to rebuild at every gust of wind. Get good at what matters most, and you have incredible tools to amplify your impact.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 

We've been telling stories since we started grunting at each other. And unlike many skills that are disappearing, storytelling is only becoming more important. The more time we spend with robots, the more we crave human connection.

So if you're tired of deciding what to learn with AI—take a step back. Spend time on timeless skills. Let the nerds figure out the rest, and implement what survives the software war.

This way, you can't be wrong.

“I don’t have time to write social media content.”

My friend:

No one has time for social media. 

The key is to create systems.

I grow on 5 platforms at once in less than 4 hours a month now. And that’s with a daily long-form post.

You must:

• Reuse
• Repost
• Repurpose
• Redistribute

Your ideas. 

Start by writing ‘standard operating procedures’ to map out your process. Then use software and hire a VA to execute the system.

You are far too valuable to waste time on content that lasts less than a day.

Write smarter.

Make your words work for you.

When I started writing online, I was working two jobs as a dentist.

I was in the clinic 6-7 days per week.

Sometimes for 12 hour shifts.

But I loved to write (even though I sucked).

I knew if I could make it my profession, I would be the happiest man in the world.

So I made a commitment:

I’d begin my day by building my dream, not my boss’s.

I would write every day before work.

From 5.30am till 8am.

And I’d focus on output, not outcome. This helped with consistency. I didn’t chase the result. I just vowed to write every day.

If I missed one, I would never miss two.

I had no clue what would happen.

But I knew if I kept consistent, I’d figure something out.

It took 18 months to make my first dollar.

But on the 24 month mark, I’d made my first $10k online.

The lesson:

Nothing happens by magic. Set aside time for what’s important. Keep consistent. And expect results in 2 years, not 2 months.

The effort is worth the reward.

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I don't care about being the most viral writer.

I care about being the most valuable in my niche.

I learned this lesson the hard way. 3 years ago, I discovered how to go viral on repeat.

I thought the more followers you had, the happier you'd become.

But there's a difference between content that builds an audience and content that builds a business.

If you constantly chase impressions, you become bland, generic, and forgettable.

…A commodity in a crowded market.

Sure, you might get followers.

But followers don't pay the bills. Customers do.

And to create a customer, quality content is key.

Resist the temptation to hop on silly trends.

You will grow slower.

But what you build will be 10x stronger.

Play long-term games.

**
P.S.

I attracted over 250,000 readers and built a multi-six-figure business through writing online.

I built a simple 4 step system showing how I did it (and how you can do).

You can grab it here for free: 
https://lnkd.in/gXumngMC

I haven’t missed a day of posting content in over 5 years. 

It’s helped me grow to almost 250,000 followers and make over 7 figures through writing online.

The honest truth is, 90% of this game is brute force consistency.

Not just with posting…

But with:

• Learning (courses, books, mentors)
• Taking risks (because nothing happens by magic)
• Thinking (because decision making requires space—something most entrepreneurs never find)

If you're earlier in your journey, there's a long road ahead.

But have faith:

In three years, 50% of your competition will have quit. And 40% never took it seriously enough to break through the ceiling.

You're already in the top 10%.

You just don't know it.

Work hard and enjoy the journey.

The simplest ways to climb the ladder of leverage:

Productize your knowledge.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆:

• Reply to an email? Turn it into a tweet
• Send a newsletter? Post to your site
• Build a framework? Create a lead magnet
• Solve a problem? Release a product

Then automate, delegate, and systemize your processes.

The start of this journey is slow.

But the Grand Canyon began as a trickle. The more you build, the more leveraged and impactful your writing becomes.

And your income is just a by-product of your impact.

Make your words work harder.

It's 7 am, August 21st 2021.

My hands shake as I open my laptop. I double-check my phone:

"Go on Twitter."

It was from my girlfriend. She knew I never check social media in the morning. I'd been writing online for 13 months, squeezing sessions into bleary-eyed mornings before work. None of my posts was working. I still hadn't crossed 1,000 followers.

But last night, I shared my first personal story. I felt exposed, and expected the sting of another flopped post.

How wrong I was.

Thousands of likes. Millions of impressions. Thousands of new followers. I drove to work in a daze as the digital dopamine poured in (probably not the safest state to be drilling teeth).

3 weeks later, I quit dentistry to go all in.

Not because I went viral but because of what I learned in the DMs.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭

Hundreds of messages from people sharing their own struggles. One post sparked meaningful conversations with strangers across the world.

My mistake was thinking content was about sharing information. It's not. It's about creating connection. Without connection, content is pointless. You might get views—but not the trust you need to create real change.

Stories are the vehicle to make that happen.

𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 

Since that post, I've taken storytelling seriously. Almost every email I've sent is story-driven, hundreds of them, grossing over $1.4m. Every day I share a short story on social media. I've carved out my little slice of the Internet by being me.

Most importantly: storytelling has made business so goddamn fun.

So if you're sick of the superficial crap your competition is creating, double down on storytelling.

It's not the easiest skill, but it is something you can learn. And your audience will appreciate the effort. Especially today, when few creators try hard.

The best storyteller wins.

One of my deepest wants in life is to go on hikes like this all over the world. Jaw-dropping. Nature is better than anything a screen has to offer.

I often find myself comparing to people ahead of me. 

I look at writers like:

• James Clear
• Ryan Holiday
• Robert Greene

And think, "How the hell will I ever get there?”

But there are two problems.

1. Writing is not about the destination

It's about the journey. Sure, being a massive success would be nice. But the fact you're writing every day is what's special.

Comparison is a thief of joy.

2. You’re looking at the wrong lens

Every great writer began somewhere. Of course, you're going to feel overwhelmed when you compare yourself to someone with 20 years of experience.

The key is not to compare pictures, but movies. You're in a different scene, wrestling with different problems.

Don't feel inferior, feel inspired.

Look for their lessons. Repeat their behaviors. And sit tight.

Writing rewards the persistent.

Last month, I sent a story about getting robbed in Buenos Aires, leading to a horrible week of cybercrime. 

Hundreds of people replied. It was shared in private group chats with people I respect. And some of my favourite writers reached out to start conversations. 

It almost made the trauma worth it.

And I want to share an important lesson from the experience:

𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 

I wouldn’t have been ready to tell this story if I hadn’t been practicing. It would have just been a shitty experience. This is one of the joys of storytelling. Everything becomes material, leading to unique and useful content. 

…Which is precisely what your audience is craving.

I’m not suggesting you walk around South America with your phone out like a tit. 

Because sure, big stories stand out. But it’s the small stories that add up. It’s when you tie your daily experiences to your expertise that you become relatable. And that’s the key to storytelling for your business. 

People want to see themselves in you. 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞

Think of storytelling like building muscle. You don’t walk into the gym and deadlift 500lbs from day one (unless you want to leave in a wheelchair). You start small, learn the techniques, and add weight as you get good. 

So let me explain the Transformation Tie Back Technique.

Every morning, think back to the day before and write 3 ideas.

• What happened
• How you felt
• What you did
• Why your reader might care (tie it back to the transformation you teach)

I love this because it builds awareness, increasing your sensitivity to life. But it also helps uncover cool content ideas that reflect who you are. Your habits, worldviews, and actions. Begin posting one small story a day, and soon the problem becomes having too many to share. 

And when the big things do happen, you’re armed with a skill that can make a serious impact.

The biggest risk to your long-term freedom is the “Money Now Trap”.

This is where you get stuck chasing and fulfilling clients. You have no time to build assets that will grow your business for you.

For example, when I started online, my friends raced to 20-30k/months 10x faster than me.

But they‘re still there now. Hustling but barely moving. They don't have:

• An email list or engaged audience
• Systems, automations, and processes

They weren't capitalizing on the real online opportunity:

The army of robots at your disposal. 

Every word and automation will work tirelessly to build relationships and generate revenue.If you work hard 𝘢𝘯𝘥 smart, the output you can achieve is staggering.

Let me give you an example.

I run my business through Notion.

When I write, my VA uploads to Hypefury to post across 4 social media platforms.

Under these posts, we share assets in exchange for email addresses. ConvertKit automatically sends my best ideas, resources, and products.

When someone buys High Impact Writing, they enter a post-purchase email series.

For 4 weeks, they receive valuable content plus natural recommendations for my other products. My ‘offer ecosystem’ consists of ten assets that cost almost zero time to deliver.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀:

I can write a 2-minute social media post that leads to potentially hundreds of hours of content consumed, value added, and generates thousands of dollars of revenue.

You can take someone from a stranger to a follower to a fan just by sharing ideas you believe in.

You can create a lifelong customer without ever actually meeting.

Don't sleep on this opportunity.

**
P.S.

You don’t need to be a best-selling author to be a writer. You need a small group of people who love what you write and buy what you build.

I created a free guide sharing 4 simple steps to make this happen. 

You can grab it here for free:
 https://lnkd.in/gXumngMC

One of the most important qualities for online brands:

Authenticity.

People think the word is overused.

But let me explain why it’s so important (and why 99% of people fail to achieve it).

Authenticity means sticking to your principles.

It means behaving precisely how you want, without fear of judgement or taint of short-term reward.

It means being you, even if it comes at a cost.

And that’s where the problem begins.

Many writers start with good intentions.

But as your audience grows, so does the pressure to perform.

To please the algorithm.

And once you monetize, you have to constantly ask yourself:

Can I write about X topic? Even though I know it won’t lead to sales?

You build a prison for your creativity.

You lose your edge.

Suddenly you’re not authentic. Sure, your audience might think you are. You might tell great stories or be a bit vulnerable.

But you know deep down that you’re on the wrong path.

And that feeling shows in your content.

You turn flat.

Uncreative.

Uninspiring.

Authenticity is rare because it requires courage.

You have to be unapologetically you.

You have to not give a shit about the opinion of the crowd.

And you have step constantly into the unknown, carving your own path.

It’s tough.

But it’s where the real reward lies.

Every entrepreneurial writer needs to follow this idea:

Validate before you create.

You can’t afford to waste months building things no one wants. You can’t afford to run launches that make zero impact.

I shared a video showing how to apply this concept (you’ll love it if you want to build a great offer).

Check it out on my YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/gmi_m3nB

When I started writing 5 years ago, I made so many mistakes.

I spent months building a (terrible) website.

I wrote in-depth blog posts that no one read.

I sent a 2,000-word weekly newsletter with zero subscribers.

Do I regret it?

Nope.

Because the alternative was to continue overthinking—never producing. 

When you look back, you realise every mistake was just a bump in the road. And the lessons you learn lead you in the best direction.

So don’t be afraid of screwing up.

Trust yourself to respond well in the moment. 

You don’t get feedback without failure.

taplio

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Kieran Drew

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The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Kieran Drew

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Neal O'Grady 🍉's LinkedIn Performance

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