If I could go back to 2020 and give myself one piece of advice, it would be this:
Stop learning. Start distributing.
That sounds strange.
Especially because the internet constantly tells us to learn more.
Learn coding.
Learn design.
Learn marketing.
Learn copywriting.
Learn SEO.
Learn AI.
So that's exactly what I did.
For years.
And it almost became a trap.
The Endless Learning Loop
In 2020 I became obsessed with online business.
I discovered stories of people building websites, software products, blogs, digital products and online brands.
Some were making thousands per month.
Others were making millions.
I thought:
"If I learn enough skills, success will eventually happen."
So I started collecting skills.
I learned website building.
I learned graphic design.
I learned content creation.
I learned marketing.
I learned advertising.
I learned SEO.
Every month I knew more than the month before.
The problem?
My bank account didn't care.
The Dangerous Feeling of Progress
Learning creates a powerful illusion.
It feels productive.
You watch a video.
You finish a course.
You read another article.
You discover another strategy.
At the end of the day you feel like you've moved forward.
But sometimes you haven't.
You have only moved sideways.
You gained information.
Not results.
There's a huge difference.
I spent years confusing the two.
Builders Have a Hidden Addiction
I think many creators suffer from the same problem.
Building feels good.
Launching feels scary.
Building is private.
Launching is public.
Building gives certainty.
Launching creates uncertainty.
So what do we do?
We keep building.
We keep improving.
We keep tweaking.
We keep redesigning.
We keep learning.
Anything except facing the market.
The Hard Truth
Nobody cares how hard you worked.
Nobody cares how many hours you spent.
Nobody cares how many skills you learned.
The market only cares about one thing:
Value.
Did you create something people want?
Can they find it?
Can they understand it?
Can they trust you?
That's it.
The internet is full of talented people nobody knows.
At the same time, average creators with great distribution often outperform experts.
That reality frustrated me for years.
Now I think it's simply the way the game works.
The Distribution Problem
Recently I built a collection of hundreds of Notion templates.
The product was real.
The quality was real.
The work was real.
The launch?
Almost invisible.
Why?
Because products don't distribute themselves.
I had spent years learning how to build.
I had spent almost no time learning how to get attention.
And attention is the currency of the internet.
Without attention:
No visitors.
No customers.
No sales.
No business.
For those curious, this is the project I've been working on:
This is the project I've been working on:
500+ Notion Templates for Developers
What I'm Focusing On Now
Today my priorities look completely different.
Instead of asking:
"What should I learn next?"
I ask:
"How can more people discover what I've already built?"
Instead of creating endless new projects, I'm trying to improve distribution.
Writing articles.
Posting online.
Building an audience.
Learning from founders.
Documenting the journey.
Because a great product nobody sees is still invisible.
The Most Valuable Realization
Success online is rarely one big moment.
It's usually:
- Showing up repeatedly.
- Learning publicly.
- Improving publicly.
- Building publicly.
Then eventually people start paying attention.
The creators we admire often look lucky.
What we don't see are the hundreds of days nobody was watching.
My Question
For founders, developers and creators reading this:
What was the skill that changed everything for you?
Was it:
- Building?
- Marketing?
- Writing?
- Sales?
- Distribution?
- Networking?
If you could only master one skill starting from zero today, what would it be and why?
I'd love to hear your answer.
Suggested tags:
- #startup
- #buildinpublic
- #entrepreneurship
- #career
This topic tends to get more engagement because it challenges a common belief ("learn more skills") and invites people to debate it in the comments.
