What Happens When You Stop Waiting for Permission

Featuring a Q&A with Jay Yang, what I'm reading and learning right now — and a few things I’ve been building behind the scenes.

Author

Taylor Cromwell
May 09, 2025

In partnership with

I’ve been thinking a lot about the builder mentality — what actually separates someone who has a great idea from the person who goes out and does the thing.

There’s a level of agency, yes. But more than that, I think it’s rooted in belief. A belief that your ideas are worth building. A belief that imperfect action is better than waiting. A belief that you don’t need permission to start.

That theme has been showing up everywhere for me lately — in what I’m writing, what I’m building, and even in the opportunities that are landing in my inbox.

In the past few weeks, I’ve had some exciting developments:

  • A tech magazine here in London came across my YC deep-dive and asked me to write something similar — we’re working out a fresh concept now. (the magic of the internet feels serendipitous sometimes!)

  • I pitched a few original content series to beehiiv, and I’m starting to shape them into tactical, reader-informed guides — like how to design better landing pages and convert free readers into paid subscribers.

  • I’ve also been in the weeds on a couple ghostwriting articles for creators and thought leaders and learning a ton.

More on all of that soon — but this week’s issue is packed with things I’m excited to share. 👇

📓 In This Issue

  • A conversation with Jay Yang on building without permission

  • A tool I’m using to finally feel less scattered

  • What I’m learning from Key Person of Influence

Feature: You Can Just Do Things — A Q&A with Jay Yang

This week I published a long-form interview with Jay Yang, someone who embodies what I think the creator economy is really about: taking action, building your own opportunities, and showing up before you feel “ready.”

At just 16, Jay cold-emailed Beehiiv’s CEO and landed an internship. At 17, he sent Noah Kagan a 19-page pitch deck and was hired as Head of Content making $150K.

And now, as a college freshman, he’s published a book called You Can Just Do Things — which is quickly catching on with creators like Justin Welsh and Sahil Bloom.

We talked about personal agency, the builder mentality, and what happens when you stop waiting for permission.

I’m super interested in doing more of these types of long-form interviews with builders, creators, and founders. If that’s something you’d like to read more of — or if you have someone you’d love for me to interview — hit reply and let me know.

Some wisdom from Jay (ahem, Narrative Capital!)

🛠 Tool I’m Loving: Sunsama

I got this recommendation from Lex Roman, and I’ve been using Sunsama for a few weeks now. It’s been a SO helpful for organizing my brain.

What I love most is how it pulls in info from my Google Calendar, Asana, and Todoist — tools I already use but rarely in harmony. I can stack my day visually, track time, and plan realistically.

It also has a great daily wind-down feature, which makes it super satisfying to reflect on all the things you accomplished that day. If you’re juggling lots of tools or just want a calmer way to plan your day, definitely check it out.

If you want to try it out, I have a referral code that will give you one month free:

Claim your free month

Sign up with the link below to redeem your free month of Sunsama.

sunsama.com/share?refId=67fd140608ee6b00012a669a

📚 What I’m Learning: Key Person of Influence by Daniel Priestley

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been deep in Daniel Priestley’s world — binging his podcasts, highlighting half of his book Key Person of Influence, and thinking a lot about what it means to build authority in the creator economy.

And that’s the 7-11-4 rule in action. I’ve been writing about this for the past couple of weeks, but here’s a refresh.

The 7-11-4 rule = 7 hours of content, across 11 interactions, in 4 locations

Over time, this builds an audience, trust, and buying intent.

Here’s the core idea of his book: If there’s no more security in jobs and small businesses are constantly evolving, where do you go for security?

You go to your personal brand.

Everything I’ve been building lately — from Creator Diaries to my frameworks to the content I share — is about making the invisible stuff in my brain visible.

Packaging my experiences, my lessons, and my opinions into something useful for others. (spoiler alert: this is way harder than it sounds! but worth it!)

As Priestley writes, “You won’t be known for the place that you work. You’ll be known for the people you’re connected to, the ideas you’re immersed in, and what you care deeply about.”

This is why building your personal brand is the smartest investment you can make right now.

 If you’re trying to become the go-to person in your niche or want to position yourself so that opportunities come to you, this book is a must-read.

I’m super excited to partner with HubSpot for this week’s newsletter. A full-circle moment!

Your 2025 social strategy starts here

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That’s all for now — thanks for reading!

As always, I’d love to hear what resonated or what you’re building. Just hit reply.

Until next time,

Taylor

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