One Simple Way To Strengthen Your Network

And two new podcast episodes

By sending a Minimum Viable Emails also known as a “MVE”!

I send a lot of emails that:

• are short and sweet. Less than 10 sentences.

• are sent to people I appreciate. Think authors, content creators, friends, etc. You appreciate them too? Let them know!

• where the email usually doesn’t have a call to action. I often include something like “no worries about replying back. have a good week.”

I am now calling these emails Minimum Viable Emails or “MVEs.”

Sending a MVE is a simple way to strengthen and grow your network!!!

But do you actually do this, David? 

Yeah! This could be inaccurate but it looks like I have sent ~225 emails that have “quick thank you” in the subject line since July 2019.

That’s almost one per week for 5 years. Crazy, right?

You never know which MVE could lead to something cool, even though that’s not the main point. It’s just a nice thing to do! And even if someone doesn’t respond, they will likely see it and remember it!

Do you get emails like this often? They are rare, right? Don’t you remember the ones you have gotten though??? So…. send a MVE today and let me know did you by replying to this email only saying “MVE” and that’s it haha.

How You Could Apply This Approach Elsewhere:

A few ways to think about a MV… Thing:

• done > perfect

• sooner > later 

• low cost > paying more than you need

• it is ideally something that is repeatable and/or reusable

I almost see “minimum” and “viable” as strongly connected and intertwined like they are the same word “minimum-viable” in this context. Your definition of what Minimum Viable is personal too, which is hopefully empowering.

Here are a few more MVT examples:

One could say my podcast is a collection of mimimim viable parts (e.g. minimum viable episodes, etc). I only recently updated my cover art which was the same since 2018. The music has been the same since 2018 too!

I try to focus on what moves the needle or matters to me, and not much else.

I also created a Minimum Viable (Podcasting) Course too. Where I used a very simple tech stack that I was already familiar with. AND, I included Loom videos which felt human and more like me compared to other self-paced courses. That’s what made it a Minimum Viable Course to me. One that I was proud of and ready to share it with people like you.

My podcast website and personal website are also Minimum Viable Things too.

Want to learn more about this?

Check out Taylor Harrington’s Minimum Viable Gathering post and video and Seth Godin’s Minimum Viable Audience blog post, who I also learned about the “smallest viable breakthrough” from too.

I used to see a Minimum Viable Thing as a weakness, but now I see it as a positive. And maybe you will too!

What is the Minimum Viable Thing that you have done or do? Reply back and let me know! 👋

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🎧 Portfolio Career Podcast Episodes

#323: Leaving A Dream Job with Carrie Sun

Have you ever thought about your leaving dream job? What if asking for help…. didn’t work? What if more comp and perks couldn’t solve what you were experiencing at work? Carrie Sun was an assistant to a Wall Street billionaire and wrote a memoir about her experience.

Learn more in this episode about creating a life that you want, the importance of thinking about what you are signing up for with a new job, why we may need to change the work systems and incentives - so situations like this don’t happen, and much more!

#322: Learning a Language for Love and The Hard Part of Community Building

Ryan and Ruthie shared great stories! Check out their work too!

That’s it for now… with this Minimum Viable Newsletter 🤣

-David Nebinski, who hosted the 50th Podcast Mixer on Friday and my Mom was there for the first time. Life is crazy. Keep going!

PS: feel free to reply back to say hi and to tell me about the Minimum Viable Thing(s) you are doing!