The Futur with Chris Do

Latest Episodes:

201 - How to make content that goes viral — with Brendan Kane Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

Brendan Kane is a bestselling author and influential marketing advisor to celebrities, pro athletes, and major brands. He’s helped clients like Taylor Swift, Paramount Studios, Vice, and IKEA make content that consistently goes viral.

Despite how it may feel, the algorithms are not working against you. They are one of the keys to making viral content. In this episode, Brendan walks us through his process for creating quality content that appeals to a broad audience and makes our algorithmic adversaries happy.

Want to know the secret to social media success? Effective storytelling. The best content comes from stories that resonate with people on many levels. According to Brendan, there are six different ways people perceive content. We can use that information to tell better stories with context that matters to our prospective audience.

Brendan also dispels myths and outdated advice for how to “beat” the algorithm. For instance, unleashing a consistent torrent of content will not yield better engagement results because crappy content is still crappy.

If you want to improve your content, be more strategic with social media, and connect with a wide range of people, listen closely to this episode.

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200 - Making sense of data — with Neil Hoyne Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

Neil Hoyne is an author, researcher, and marketing executive working at Google as Chief Measurement Strategist. He is also a senior fellow at The Wharton School and an advisor for Capital G.

Neil specializes in building strong customer relationships by analyzing data like customer lifetime value (CLV) and consumer psychology.

In this informative conversation, Neil and Chris discuss the power and pitfalls of relying on data to make business decisions. They start by defining what “data-driven” means and how awkward current marketing tactics are when you think about it.

It’s easy to get caught up in data analytics, which is why we like Neil’s advice: you don’t have to be the best; you simply need to be better than the alternatives.

If you are confused by your customer data, this episode will help dispel some of that analytical haze.

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199 - From Gangster to CEO — with Ryan Blair Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

Ryan Blair is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and most importantly, a dad.

He is the founder and CEO of Alter Call, a multi-faith spiritual community that helps people accelerate personal transformation. Alter Call members value living a life of service and measurable impact.

But before the philanthropy and fatherhood, Ryan had a very different life.

After surviving an abusive childhood living in poverty, Ryan’s ability to adapt led him to join a gang. Though he thrived as an illegal entrepreneur, the lifestyle was taxing and dangerous.

Miraculously, Ryan was able to leave that life and transition into legitimate entrepreneurship. And through hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance, he built a successful life for himself as a CEO several times over.

Ryan lived that luxurious life, pleasurable vices and all until he couldn’t any longer.

In this special episode, Ryan shares his incredible story and offers guidance for finding your way out of the wilderness and into a better life.

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198 - Navigating the Creative Industry — with Susana Chen Jul 20, 2022

Show notes

Susana Chen is the founder of the Asian Creative Foundation (ACF). ACF is a community organization that helps entry-level creatives find opportunities, navigate their career paths, and help make the creative industry a more inclusive place.

Roles get flipped in this episode. In this conversation, Susana interviews Chris for an ACF-hosted virtual event called Asian Creative Festival. And they cover a lot of ground. Like what inspired The Futur’s mission to teach 1 billion people, how Chris manages stress and the story of how Chris first learned about graphic design.

The two also discuss an important and divisive topic: design school. If you’re new to the creative industry (or considering joining it), then you’ll enjoy this conversation. And if you’re not so new to it all, don’t fret. Chris offers advice for you too.

Sponsored by

The Angry Designer Podcast

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197 - Build Your Personal Brand — with Daniel Priestley Jul 13, 2022

Show notes

Daniel Priestley is an entrepreneur (several times over), but you may know him best from his book Key Person of Influence. Over the last decade, Daniel noticed a trend in successful businesses: visible (and often outspoken) leadership.

Steve Jobs. Richard Branson. Elon Musk.

These CEOs leveraged technology to wield influence and change how we think about the world and their products. In short, we buy into the people behind the business before we buy from the business.

You may not aspire to be the next Elon Musk, but you can apply the same approach and hasten the growth of your own small business.

In this episode, Daniel and Chris discuss the benefits of being a person of influence and study the five common things you need to do to become one.

But before you start that process, ask yourself this: what kind of dent do you want to make in the universe?

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196 - Self Sabotage Part 3 — with Chris Do Jul 06, 2022

Show notes

In the final episode of our series on self-sabotage, we pick up where the conversation between Nidhi and Chris left off. If you missed the first two episodes, we suggest you go back and listen to those first.

At this point in the story, Chris is betting his future (and the future of his staff) on pivoting into a new teaching venture then called The Skool. But to do that, he must abandon his design agency.

Everywhere Chris looks, he sees doubt. Doubt from internal management, creative teams, and even his business coach. At the time, that doubt seemed reasonable. Why leave a business earning $4 million annually in favor of something that generated a mere $10K the previous year?

What everyone didn’t know was that Chris had a plan. And a quantifiable vision of what success looked like for The Futur.

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195 - Self Sabotage Part 2 — with Chris Do Jun 29, 2022

Show notes

In part two of our three-part series on self-sabotage, Nidhi speaks with Chris about his decision to abandon Blind and start The Futur.

Blind was Chris’s branding and design agency. He started it in 1995 primarily as a motion design studio. The company focused on creating design-focused video work like commercials and branded content.

But after two decades of growth, Chris noticed a decline in work. He saw the inevitable writing on the wall and had to make a decision: stay the course or pivot.

In this episode, Chris talks about how he made this life-changing decision. What he was thinking, feeling, and the uphill battle he fought to create what we know today as The Futur.

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194 - Self-Sabotage Part 1 — with Nidhi Tewari Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever worked so hard on something only to find yourself stuck and caught in what feels like a complete slog? At that moment, you may think: This isn’t working. It’s time to pivot.

But what if, on the other side of that discomfort, awaits everything you want?

More importantly: how do you know if it’s time to pivot or push through the discomfort?

Welcome to part one of our three-part series tackling the concept of self-sabotage. Why we do it, how we do it, and finding the right balance between hard work and self-care.

In this episode, mental health therapist Nidhi Tewari joins Chris to discuss the differences between an unhealthy grind and determined grit. While the two hold different perspectives on the path to proverbial success, they agree that many of us quit working before it gets good.

If you’re at a crossroads and deciding whether to press on or pivot, this conversation is for you.

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193 - What is copywriting? — with Neville Medhora Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

Neville Medhora is best known as a copywriter. But that doesn’t mean he just writes copy. According to Neville, effective copywriting means communicating a message from your brain to millions of other brains using the best technology available.

Hundreds of years ago, a carrier pigeon was the best option. Today, it’s probably a brief email that includes curated animated GIFs.

In this episode, we talk with the author and copywriter about why he dropped out of college, his direct approach to helping clients, and why he actively keeps up with marketing trends.

One universal tip Neville shared that might help you (and your business) is that familiarity ruins your ability to critique something. You can’t relive a first impression, so try introducing fresh eyes to your problem. It will almost always lead to better insights.

If you’re interested in learning how to improve your copywriting, you might like Neville’s copywriting course.

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192 - You Can’t Be Good At Everything — with Kyle T Webster Jun 08, 2022

Show notes

Kyle T Webster is an award-winning international illustrator. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, TIME, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Nike, IDEO, and several other distinguished clients. Acclaimed industry publications like the Society of Illustrators, Communications Arts, and American Illustration have recognized his illustration work.

Kyle also teaches at UNC School of the Arts and works for Adobe, hosting workshops and helping to make digital products like Adobe Fresco. But you may better know him by his best-selling Photoshop brushes.

The Origin of KyleBrush

As an illustrator, having a distinct visual style is a point of pride. But that's not something Kyle was interested in. He wanted to offer clients a range of illustrative styles. And to do that, he needed a range of flexible tools.

As a result, KyleBrush was born.

KyleBrush is a collection of thousands of high-quality digital brushes originally created for Adobe Photoshop. What started as a practical necessity transformed into a full-time business.

Kyle's products became an industry staple. You could find his digital brushes everywhere, from Pixar to boutique animation studios.

In 2017, Adobe acquired KyleBrush making all of his digital brushes available to anyone subscribed to Creative Cloud. They also hired Kyle to help their product team develop new digital drawing tools.

In this episode

We talk with Kyle about navigating the creative industry, price negotiation, overcoming anxiety, and the calculated career risks he took along the way.

Beyond that, Kyle also offers a variety of practical tips that you can apply to your professional life right now. In particular, a clever way to connect with seemingly unreachable people.

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