Why I Write in Public

I’ve largely stopped doing one-on-one conversations. Not because I don’t care about people—but because I’ve realized that most of these conversations don’t scale.

The Problem with One-on-One

Every week, I receive requests for coffee chats, career advice calls, and “quick questions” that turn into hour-long discussions. Each conversation feels valuable in the moment. But when I step back, I see the pattern: I’m answering the same questions repeatedly, sharing the same insights, giving the same advice—to one person at a time.

This is a terrible use of time. Not just mine, but theirs too. They wait days or weeks for a 30-minute slot, when the same insights could be available immediately.

When I Still Do It

I haven’t eliminated one-on-one conversations entirely. Sometimes they’re necessary for effective collaboration, or for building relationships that genuinely matter. When I do have these conversations now, I think of them as charity—my small contribution to the community. A gift of time, not an obligation.

This framing helps. Charity is something you give freely, without resentment, without expecting return. It’s bounded and intentional.

The Alternative: Writing in Public

Instead of repeating myself in private, I now put my thoughts where everyone can access them—on this website, on social media, in public writing.

This approach has several advantages:

Scale. One article can help thousands. One conversation helps one person.

Permanence. Ideas written down can be referenced, shared, and built upon. Spoken words disappear.

Clarity. Writing forces me to think more carefully. The process of articulating ideas sharpens them.

Accessibility. Anyone can read at any time. No scheduling, no waiting, no gatekeeping.

Context in the AI Age

Here’s what makes this particularly relevant now: in an age of AI, authentic human context becomes irreplaceable.

AI can summarize, synthesize, and generate. But it cannot produce genuine human experience, personal judgment, or hard-won insights from actual work. When I write about my real experiences—what I’ve tried, what failed, what I believe and why—I’m creating something AI cannot replicate.

This is the new value proposition of personal writing. Not information (AI has that covered), but authentic human perspective.

The Invitation

So if you were hoping to schedule a call with me, consider this: whatever question you have, I’m probably going to write about it eventually. And when I do, that writing will be available to you and everyone else who shares that question.

In the meantime, feel free to email me interesting ideas. I read everything. I just don’t promise to respond to everything—but your question might become my next article.