STORYDec 28, 2022

Here's my best of 2022 list

Firstly, I’d like to thank each of you for giving me a slice of your attention and trust this year.

I finally restarted this newsletter in Sep 2022 after many many false starts over the years and this is the first time I am able to stick to long-form writing and build a streak.

Context: This edition is the 17th consecutive weekly edition since my new start.

I wouldn’t be writing this if I wasn’t getting such joy and positive feedback from you.

My secret? I stopped worrying about writing this as a ‘writer’ and decided to embrace the identify of a teacher. I want to teach what I know from my authentic personal experience and help readers like you make excellent progress. That did the trick for me and keeps me going each week.

Since we are in the last week of 2022, I wanted to reflect on this year, document and share my top content pieces, lessons and memories with you. Let’s rewind the clock!

Without further ado, here are my fav 3 picks across each category:

Top 3 podcast episodes:

Top 3 guest appearances:

(where I appeared on other people’s podcasts/shows)

Building in Public with Karthik "KP" Puvvada | Founders Found Here 005 (by Jake Hurwitz)
Every founder makes this mistake - The Road to 1000 Users (App Development) E21 (by Jon Melo)
Building in Public and Power of Twitter Ft. KP (by Roohi Kazi)

Top 3 essays:

Top 3 tweets:

Top 3 threads:

Highlights and Memories:

Winning ‘Community Member Of The Year’ award from Product Hunt
- It taught me to NOT focus on rewards and just be heads-down busy helping people and the community at large. I never expected any awards for my PH contributions so this was a pleasant surprise.
Losing my job at On Deck
- It taught me to never take anything for granted and be resilient for bumps in the road. In hindsight, my departure was a stunning shock to me because I was a model employee and gave all in .. but I am proud of how I bounced back. And grateful for all my friends and relationships I’ve built there.

Finding another amazing role at Day One
- It taught me how finding the right fit isn’t that easy and you should keep looking. I think I spoke to 40+ founders before this perfect opportunity manifested itself. I loved working with Andrew, Rahul, Jake and team. Although this was a brief chapter in my career, it was fun and memorable.
Starting my Youtube channel
- It taught me to be bold enough to put myself out there. For years, I didn’t publish videos of my podcast content.. out of fear and perhaps laziness. I decided I want to be more present 'in the arena’ so I changed my mind. Youtube is a long-term commitment and there are no shortcuts to building an audience. Just like Twitter.
Created “The Founder Hotline”, an Internet show
- It taught me how to create marketing campaigns and build buzz through adding tremendous value in the market. Here’s the back story.
- I pitched Mark Cuban, Brene Brown and Alexis Ohanian to be guests.
- Interviewing Gary Vee as a guest was so much fun too!
Hiring an EA
- I was reluctant and fearful of hiring an executive assistant and getting help with my thousands of weekly tasks. Until a few months ago when I finally gave it a shot. My whole productivity quadrupled — thanks to my EA Waela who’s also one of my biggest cheerleaders and supporters who keeps my spirits and my inboxes/calendars in order.
Hiring a productivity coach
- I also reluctantly hired a coach to keep me accountable across all my creator projects and output. Thanks to my coach, Bassima who’s been outstanding, I feel 10x better and more at peace. She helped me work through a lot of my limiting beliefs I had like “I suck at long form writing” versus “I am not strong enough yet, and that’s OK because I am learning and growing”.

Output:

I’m so proud of my creative output for 2022!

I did the following while navigating being at fast-moving startups and also being a new dad:

Tweets: 5,500 tweets. 50 million impressions.
Podcast episodes: 29 episodes, crossed 8.2k downloads
Essays: 17, ~7.1k subscribers

Transformations:

Below are a list of the top personal transformations I’ve had from Jan 1 to today:

I am way more secure and confident about my path and who I am as a founder
I am way more fearless in trying new projects/businesses and nuking them without shame/guilt if they don’t work out
I am way more fearless and bold in picking my clients who I work with and rejecting those who don’t match my energy
I am way more patient with my imperfections and struggles
I am way more abundant-minded about finances and wealth creation
I am way more curious and inquisitive to learn and master skills like sales and content creation
I am way more confident that I am inherently a much better leader than many of my heroes who I saw up close and … that meant I should stop fawning over them and focus more on building my own legacy over decades

Intentions for 2023:

Accelerate my written content journey (newsletter and Twitter)
Accelerate my podcast journey and 10x my audio/video content output
Build recurring and profitable businesses that net over $1m in income
Help early-stage startups with GTM and community through consulting and advising
Have a brilliant year with family time, fun memories, plenty of opportunities to feel loved and offer love to others and grow as a human

So friends, that’s it. This was a recap of the top lessons and memories from 2022. Thank you for reading this and supporting my journey.

Hit reply and let me know if you have any questions/comments.

Wishing you a happy and abundant 2023!

Originally published on KP's Column · Dec 28, 2022