#200: 1 Year in - The Map is Not the Territory
šŗļø My journey so far, reflections, what's next
For those of you that havenāt followed the personal side of my journey, I encourage you to read the following:
#1: Iāve Got a Feeling, WAGMI: My first piece that started it all!
#100: My Journey, Reflections, What's Next: My personal and public checkpoint 5 months into web3 full-time.
As my one-year anniversary of diving into web3 was approaching last month, I started to reflect on who Iāve become, the lessons Iāve learned, and where I want to go. For various reasons, I wasnāt ready to write about these thoughts yet and save them for my 200th.
In preparation for this piece, I blocked off most of my Saturday this past weekend to reflect and think:
Where are you at?
What do you want to do?
What do you believe in?
So without further ado, here is my 200th piece.
The map is not the territory
I came across this concept thanks to my friend Chris who writes at
. The concept may resonate with many of us and the respective journeys weāre on. For myself, it resonates deeply and simultaneously provides a sense of comfort.Many of these āmapsā have been drawn out for us, whether weāre entrepreneurs, professionals in specific fields, or content creators. There are established best practices, frameworks, and how-toās. However, the territory is the exciting, scary, and intriguing part of the journey, especially in web3 and Crypto.
While in a reflective mood last Saturday, I decided to head over to the high school I live near. The school sits on top of a hill, and though Iāve walked through and around the school numerous times, I never stopped to sit and observe the view.
This picture doesnāt do the view justice (itās not that great of a view regardless lol), but I noticed several things:
With some elevation, I could see what was behind the apartment buildings in the foreground. Itās hard to see, but thereās a golf course! Iāve been aware of the local golf course a short drive away, but I didnāt know that I could see it from my neighborhood with elevation
Iāve driven on this street hundreds if not thousands of times. However, Iāve never had a view where I could observe cars at this intersection. It was amusing to observe how drivers approach the stop signs, if they do a complete stop or, and watching the cars jerk slightly as they shift gears. I also watched a car struggle to parallel park in a large space over the span of a few minutes š
As I sat on the hill over a couple of hours, I was able to watch the fog slowly roll in as the afternoon pass by. It was a sight to see and made me appreciate the often foggy neighborhood I lived a bit more than I did before.
On a clear day, the visibility is great! I had a clear view of Sutro Tower which is several miles away.
So what does this have to do withā¦anything?
Maps act as a guide and assist us when weāre going from one place to another. However, maps donāt provide the personal context, experiences, and stories that we gain as we interact with the map.
Maps act as a description of the territory, but is not the territory itself. And itās our interactions, annotations and experiences of the territory that adds meaning to our personalized maps.
As Iāve spent more than a year diving in web3, Iāve taken maps provided by others and created my own version here at Web3 with TPan. In this map, Iāve pointed out various ālandmarksā and āpoints of interestā to my readers through case studies, frameworks, and concepts.
But at the end of the day, the territory is rich beyond any map makerās comprehension.
TPan: Web3 Spelunkerā¦and cat?!
One way Iāve thought about my role in this vast industry is as a spelunker.
I explore the various ācavesā of web3 and document them. These caves are vast, complex, and full of twists and turns and I do my best to make sense of them to a broader and non-technical audience.
As an example, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the worldās longest known cave system. Approximately 400 miles of the cave system have been explored, and there is another 600 miles and 200 separate cave fragments that remain unmapped.
Web3 and Crypto is like Mammoth Cave x1,000, and I am one of many individuals helping to map it out.
Another way Iāve thought of my role in this ecosystem is as a cat, inspired by my cat, Nara.
Nara spends hours a day on her cat tree looking out window observing the street I live on. A boring activity for us humans, she sits patiently paying attention to the minor movements of neighbors, birds, pedestrians, and animals within her field of vision. As she sees something that piques her interest, she perks up, following the movements. Sometimes she even dashes off her perch for a better view downstairs.
In a way, I am Nara. My field of vision is limited by the āstreetā I live in, but I take note of the local happenings as my eyes widen and ears perk up.
Where is TPan at?
I written 200 pieces including this one, and have almost 3,000(!) subscribers, but it feels like nothing compared to the large newsletters and groups that command a larger audience. Comparison is the thief of joy š
One of the largest struggles Iāve had over the past year has been with my professional identity. Iāve spent almost a decade in various Growth and Marketing roles at startups, yet Iāve focused on being a content creator (specifically through writing) in web3 for the past 13 months.
As my reputation has slowly grown in the space, Iāve fortunately received more inbound requests for consulting and writing. Earlier on, I was resistant to these opportunities. I wanted to write in my voice and for myself, and I was committed to the craft.
Iāve gradually come to accept with my newfound identity (a growth-oriented content creator and a growth generalist), Iāve become more open to these opportunities. Especially if theyāre a good fit with my skill set.
What does TPan want to do?
Keep creating content of course! But thereās more to it. In its current state, my content doesnāt pay the bills (yet?).
Premium Content
Iāve had a premium subscription available since my last personal update 8 months ago, and I havenāt made much progress since.
My experience at ETH Denver a couple months ago served as an inspiration and helped me identify the framework for building a Premium experience, but I havenāt made much progress since then either.
So what has held me back? Intention (more on that later).
Iāve been so plugged in, staring and Twitter and Discord all day that Iāve lost the bigger picture of why Iām doing what Iām doing. Iāve fortunately built up the habit of writing to the degree where itās second nature, but thatās where it stops. Additionally, as someone that is not as natural of a builder as others, Iāve struggled with the momentum needed to push beyond just writing.
Time to build. In my own way and with intention.
Supporting founders and startups
In my last full-time job, the leadership team I was a part of participated in Patrick Lencioniās Working Genius exercise. We answered a series of questions and identified our areas of Working Genius within the WIDGET framework.
My areas of Working Genius were Invention and Galvanizing:
THE GENIUS OF INVENTION:
āThe natural gift of creating original and novel ideas and solutionsā¦ People with the Genius of Invention thrive on creativity. They are naturally drawn to coming up with ideas, seemingly out of nowhere, to solve the problems or address the needs that they or others identify.ā
THE GENIUS OF GALVANIZING:
āThe natural gift of rallying, inspiring and organizing others to take actionā¦ People with the Genius of Galvanizing bring energy and movement to an idea, project or function.ā
These two types of working Genius resonated with me and helped me realize that thereās something there.
Iāve had a knack for creating frameworks and providing insights in ways that I donāt believe many others in the space have done. I personally find it fascinating that Iām able to get some of these ideas āseemingly out of nowhereā, but I usually say that I āpull it out of my assā š. Hereās a few recent examples of that:
Iāve also been gifted and cursed as someone that wears my heart on my sleeve. As a Working Genius, this helps when it comes to other non-writing mediums:
Revolutionizing Growth Marketing in Web3: The X to Mint Formula with Web3 Academy
Deconstructing Bored Ape Yacht Clubās Dookey Dash with Naavik
I want to help Web3 founders and startups with my areas of Working Genius. Exactly how? Iāll need to have some exploratory conversations first š
And of course, this doesnāt preclude other types of work engagements (eg: currently working with the Ethereum Foundation on some projects at the incubation stage, and a member of Myosin).
These are two areas that Iāve identified I want to build towards and focus on long-term.
What does TPan believe in?
This brings us back to the piece around intention, more specifically the mission of my content and why the hell I even spend a disproportionate amount of time writing and thinking, leading me to the Web3 with TPan mission:
Provide Web3 insights that you canāt get anywhere else.
This doesnāt mean that I have all the insights, or that every insight canāt be discovered by others. However, I believe I have the background, Working Genius, and desire to build towards this mission and make it more defensible than most.
And this will be the fuel thatāll continue pushing me, as Iāve felt like Iāve been at that stop sign longer than I needed to be.
The best part is regardless of my work situation, I can continue working towards this mission.
Thank you
As always, there are so many people to thank for supporting me along this anxiety-inducing yet rewarding journey. A short and incomplete list since Iāve gone into reflection mode in preparation for #200:
My fiancĆ©e A who has supported me every step of the way. I still owe you a Porsche, one day š
Terry: Youāve been a mentor that has provided thoughtful guidance as I blabber out my stream of conscious. The 3 questions you asked me helped provide clarity and the structure of this piece!
My fellow writers: Chris, Kairon, LG, Eliot, LJW, the WW3 community and so many more. Please remember (and as a reminder to myself): You are not alone.
The map is not the territory.
See you Thursday.
Awesome post! I very much feel like I'm still trying to figure out where I belong in the web3 space and what it is I'm meant to do. It's great to hear this from someone who's also exploring themselves.
"Web3 and Crypto is like Mammoth Cave x1,000" that is no joke! Yesterday I was lamenting the lack of time to explore even a fraction of what I'm running across.
I'm yet another person trying to figure out how/what to share in my web3 journey.