Neal O'Grady 🍉

Demand Curve | 93,000 founders get 3 startup growth tactics in their inbox each week. Join the Growth Newsletter below.

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.

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

I just crossed my first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube!

The most important lesson so far: 

Just get going.

I wanted to do YouTube for years. I knew it was a smart bet, but I´d always tell myself stories about why it wasn´t the right time. I thought my videos had to be great, so I was waiting for the perfect conditions to begin.

But if you wait until you are ready, you might wait forever. 

You don´t get good from doing nothing. You get good by getting going. If you´ve been thinking about starting something for a long time, stop waiting. Accept you’re going to suck. Enjoy being a beginner. Post consistency and improve gradually.

It doesn´t have to be perfect. It has to be published.

Thanks for subscribing 🥂

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

If you want to be more productive and creative, here’s an interesting experiment:

I’ve recently been trying to optimise my writing performance. 

You can only write for so long. It’s important to use that time well. I’ve been messing around with diet and exercise stuff, but there is one decision that leads to the biggest change:

Do you check your phone before you work?

I realised that when I do, even if for 20 seconds, my mind is elsewhere during my morning routine. And the urge to check again is 10x stronger as I write, especially as I get tired. So now I’m fighting my mind instead of working with it.

I tried airplane mode, but I’d still switch it off.

So now, I throw it under the sofa before I sleep. 

Because when I wake up, I’m tired. I know going on my phone is just a dopamine craving, but I can’t resist it. When you get on your knees to search for your phone, it is so obvious you are addicted. You look so pathetic that you’d rather just leave it there.

I do 3 hours of deep work, then reward myself with the phone instead.

Writing quality = much higher.

Focus = much stronger.

Happiness = much better.

Performance isn’t about adding more. It’s about taking away.

**
P.S.

Do you want to grow your brand and business by writing online? You’d love my YouTube channel. I share videos twice a week to help you make an impact with your ideas.

https://lnkd.in/gmi_m3nB

A harsh truth:

Scrolling short-form videos is the same as smoking cigarettes. 

It feels good in the moment, but it is terrible for you long-term. 99% of content makes you feel like crap, like there’s something wrong with you, or that you need to do more. 

You stop thinking for yourself because an algorithm is deciding your direction.

You don’t remember any of it, so it is a complete waste of time. Time you could spend actually doing something interesting or useful in your life.

And it makes you boring too, because you have nothing to talk about except other people’s shit. 

The only solution is to get this crap off your phone.

I have never been on TikTok, never will. 

I only go on social media on my laptop, and it’s blocked for 18 hours of my day.

Protect your attention. It is your most valuable resource.

**
Think your writing sucks?

You’d love my free copywriting guide. It takes 5 minutes to read, 2 minutes to use, and it’s guaranteed to make you more persuasive.
Send a DM and I’ll send it for free :)

Social media is destroying attention spans.

Fewer people are reading.

You’re likely feeling the pressure to write less long form. 

But smart people will always read.

Your audience isn’t getting worse. They’re just getting less dumb.

But if you start catering to the crowd, you will end up losing your best readers. You get stuck with the rest of the commodity creators chasing trends and writing low-thought content with AI. 

Instead, if the world chases breadth, compete with depth.

Write essays. Follow your fascinations. Show how obsessed you are.

When everyone zigs, zag.

AI is incredible.

If you want to do great work, there’s never been a better time.

For example:

After finishing the second draft of my book, Magnetic Writing, it needed a tonne of work. But I didn’t know where to start.

So I created an AI-writing partner with Claude. 

I framed it as an expert, giving it the role of reading what I upload, calling me out on my BS, helping with restructuring, exposing blindspots etc. Each morning, I upload the next few sections and we begin tearing it apart together. I use voice transcribe, so I’m just having conversations as I edit the copy. 

The leap in quality from draft 2 to 3 is insane. And was much faster than if I did without.

Next, I´m creating an ideal reader avatar. This will help edit through the eyes of the person I am trying to serve most.

Build an editor for conciseness and keep repeating.

I am anti-writing with AI because writing is thinking, and outsourcing it is dumb.

But using AI to think with you is incredible. 

What a time to be alive.

Last week, I had my first experience with breath work.

I signed up for a 3-day course in Buenos Aires.

5 things I learned:

𝟏.⁠ ⁠𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞

The course was 3 days long. There were exercises, explanations, and a 30-60 minute breathwork/meditation session. I had focused more on my breath in those 3 days than in my previous 30 years.

This is crazy considering how goddamn good it feels.

Each day, I felt super clear, calm, and creative.

𝟐.⁠ ⁠𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤

Everyone is looking for the next life hack.

But when someone tells you to spend 10 minutes breathing, it sounds ridiculous, so we don't do it. But one of the breathwork exercises leaves me feeling more energised than if I had gulped a cup of coffee.

It got me wondering:

What other things do we overlook because we think, "It can't be that simple?"

𝟑.⁠ ⁠𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞

I usually meditate for 10-15 minutes a day.

But it was great to go deeper in a structured environment. We would listen to a tape and follow the rhythm of breathing. It would get really intense, but the effect was incredible. It felt similar to magic mushrooms but without the visuals (and the need to take drugs).

It's crazy what you can do with just the body.

𝟒.⁠ ⁠𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐲 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜)

One reason I joined the course was that I'd been nomading for 3 months and not made any friends. I love writing because you don't need to talk to anyone, but it gets a little lonely.

That week, I decided to experiment.

I went to 3 different things. The first two were meet-ups in bars. While it was OK, I was pretty bored. I didn't have much in common and don't really care about half the shit people talk about (mostly politics).

But everyone in this course was awesome.

I think it's the shared purpose of going deeper. Of trying to connect more with yourself and the world. Of trying to understand reality.

I made some good friends.

If you're looking for community and interested in the mind, these sorts of things are great.

𝟓.⁠ ⁠𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮

Last lesson is slightly off topic: the entire course was in Spanish.

I've been learning for 5 months, so I didn't understand a lot. I felt like a tit because I was like a lost puppy asking what we were doing after every description.

But what I lost in understanding, I gained in perspective.

It was fascinating to watch my mind freak out every time I was asked a question. Or how tense I was overthinking what I would say when it was my turn to speak. Maybe because it was combined with meditation, but I realised how I can still be so focused on what people think of me.

By the end, I felt a big leap in self-awareness, especially dropping the desire to perform.

And hopefully, the Spanish was a little better, too.

Cheers,
Kieran

I made a terrible mistake when writing my first book.

Let me explain. 

I realised at the start of January that I had spent hundreds of hours on material that should not be in the book.

The problem? 

It was tactic-heavy. And tactics change. 

If your asset becomes out-of-date, it is unsellable. Which is especially important for a book. You might spend thousands of hours on it, so you'd better make sure you can sell it for decades. The longer it lives, the more popular it can become. 

I’d felt the pain of this mistake already. So much of my content has had an expiry date. After 5 years, I’ve begun to wonder what would be different if my body of work were evergreen. As I reflected during Christmas, one question I asked myself was:

“What mistake am I repeating that I am not thinking about?”

And that’s when I realised I was heading down the same track, just with a different tale. 

There’s an important lesson for all writers: 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞.

If the words exist forever, make them work forever.

"$500 for two social media posts?"

My friend nearly choked on his beer.

It´s summer 2022. We're enjoying the sun as I tell him about my first ghostwriting client.

We both go silent, thinking about what we'd usually do for $500 as dentists.

Needles, pain, blood, stress.

Someone just paid me to... write words?

Ridiculous.

Then I did something even more ridiculous.

I fired the client. 

Because I realized building someone else's brand would come at the cost of my own.

And I didn't become a writer to answer to someone else all day.

I wanted full creative freedom. I wanted to explore my curiosity and serve MY audience with MY ideas.

So I doubled down on creating my own content.

It was the best decision I ever made.

Here's what most writers get wrong:

They think ghostwriting is the only way to get paid. Sure, it's easier, but if you have a burning need to share your ideas and want a massive impact, you're wasted in someone else's shadow.

Build YOUR brand instead.

And think about it: if Justin Welsh or Dan Koe spent 80% of their time writing for others, where would they be now?

The secret? Become well-known for a problem you've solved yourself.

Free content builds an audience. Email nurtures them. Products to sell at scale. High-ticket items for customers who want to pay more.

Then you have a flywheel - the more you write, the more you earn.

Bet big on yourself.

Went to my first salsa night last night.

If I looked like a gringo before, just wait until you see my dancing.

Great fun though. Beats going to a normal bar that’s for sure.

Give me 6 months I’ll be competing 🕺

Over the past 5 years, I’ve gone from dentist to writer.

I’ve helped many clients make similar transitions. Some have scaled from zero dollars to multi-six figure businesses sharing ideas they love.

I put together an e-book to help you do the same.

I break down the 4 steps you need to take to grow and systemise your business through writing online. 

You can get it here for free: https://lnkd.in/geM4wTnZ

Enjoy 🥂

Making money writing online is great. But my favourite part? Sharing stories that changed your life. 

Sure, they don´t sell like classic marketing emails. But not everything that counts can be counted. When you make an impact with your ideas, you create a connection that unlocks many doors long-term. 

Share more stories. You won´t regret it.

Crossed 900 subscribers on YouTube!

I started posting consistently 4 months ago. 

I’m enjoying the steady growth. 

A lesson I learned from growing on other platforms: the more you obsess over metrics, the less you enjoy the journey. You start creating content for an algorithm, which stops you from sharing ideas you believe in.

My strategy for YT is simple:

• Record videos I enjoy.
• Tell good stories.
• Make them useful. 
• Gradually improve at communicating.

And most importantly:

Don’t overthink it. 

Because the key to any platform's success is consistency. That should always be your first goal. I’m 20 videos in now. The systems and habits are there. The next iteration is the quality of ideas.

Cheers if you’ve subscribed!

Everyone raves about the book ‘The Courage to be Disliked.’

But this is the best book I’ve read on living a brave life:

Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously by Osho.

It’s about how to carve your own path in a society full of fear.

A few banging quotes from it:

“The coward dies a thousand deaths; the brave only one.”
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest courage.”
“People are afraid of freedom, because freedom brings responsibility.”
“Society rewards obedience, not intelligence.”
"When death knocks at your door, all your certainties will be simply riddles and foolish. Don’t cling to any certainty. Life is uncertain—its very nature is uncertain. And an intelligent man always remains uncertain.”

I love my business, but sometimes feel trapped by it.

There's a tension between doing what is optimal and doing what you want. And often, the allure of marketing overrides the deeper meaning.

But doing what you want is what leads to the best long-term results.

Here’s the hidden cost of authenticity (and what to do about it)
https://lnkd.in/g_aNsXAF

With so much AI-generated crap online, here’s a truth about content:

The quality of your ideas will set you apart. 

So I recorded a walkthrough of 15 content ideas your audience is guaranteed to love.

You can watch it on my YouTube channel (link below):
https://lnkd.in/gmi_m3nB

A book that (genuinely) changed my life:

Awareness by Anthony De Mello.

I read it once a year. It’s one of those books that teaches you something new each time. 

Awareness is everything.

“You suffer because you are attached to things you believe are necessary for your happiness.”

P.S.

The Way to Love is seriously underrated, too. Both are incredibly insightful.

This week, I sent an email explaining why I think I’ve been writing the wrong book. 

It was hard to admit I’ve spent hundreds of hours going down the wrong direction.

But the 3 lessons I learned were invaluable.

You can read it here: https://lnkd.in/gHKyUjuu

My most popular YouTube video so far:

How I systemised my writing into 5 steps. 

This has helped me write consistently for 5 years (zero days missed with posting).

If you haven’t seen it yet, here's the link: https://lnkd.in/gmi_m3nB

I’ve coached hundreds of entrepreneurs to help write better online.

I use a dead-simple 3-step checklist to make any piece of content great.

I shared it on my YouTube channel.

You can watch it here: https://lnkd.in/gsxGu9TQ

Open video: This 3 Part Framework is Guaranteed to Set You Apart as a Writer on youtu.be

This 3 Part Framework is Guaranteed to Set You Apart as a Writer

Boy, do I have a painful post to share tomorrow 🙃 Keep an eye out, my suffering is your entertainment

taplio

The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Kieran Drew

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreKieran Drew's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

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);}Kieran Drew's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreKieran Drew's LinkedIn Performance