Jake Nickell – Coolest Dude on Earth

Prioritizing your hobbies

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:27:31 -0500

Every major thing I’ve ever done that’s affected my career has been the result of my hobby taking over whatever other thing I’m currently doing. When I was 14, I taught myself HTML by clicking “view->source” in my web browser. I started making little websites for things like the bunion surgery I had or a Korn fan site. Ha.

Then my hobby became my job when I started doing front end web development for our town’s local dial-up internet provider. I started writing graffiti as my hobby. When it came time to go to college I started looking into computer science as it made sense for me to pursue this computer career. But instead I went to art school because that was what my hobby was, the thing I was excited about at the time.

While in art school, I was working another job as a web developer. On the side I started teaching myself databases and server side scripting so I could do weird things on the internet. The first real project I did with that hobby was Threadless… I created a little system where people could upload designs and score them. Then that hobby turned into my career. Threadless has definitely been my longest lasting hobby, but I’m still making room for other ones like building forts, making snowboards and learning new programming languages.

The future (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:37:46 -0500

The future (Taken with instagram)

tonymoore: I’m helping these guys with their first comics/beer...

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:12:15 -0500

tonymoore:

I’m helping these guys with their first comics/beer collaboration, called 6-Pack Stories, teaming up with one of my best friends who happens to be one of the best writers in the industry, Jason Aaron. Please check it out, and if you can, help support the cause on Kickstarter!

-T

arcadebrewery:

We are excited to launch our kickstarter! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/417753817/arcade-brewery Please spread the word and help us reach our goal to bring you awesome beer! Some amazing rewards from our friends Tony Moore, SEIBEI, Logan Hardware, Jill Thompson, Cliff Chiang, Martin Atkins, Menton3, Renae De Liz, as well as cool swag, tastings, and custom arcade cabinets! We can’t wait to share our love for beer, comics, and video games with you!

Great story (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:41:51 -0500

Great story (Taken with instagram)

Photo

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:01:47 -0500

Kickstarter - Arcade Brewery

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:16:47 -0500

Kickstarter - Arcade Brewery:

Back this!

Massive fire with my dad and brother :) (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:43:30 -0500

Massive fire with my dad and brother :) (Taken with instagram)

Make yourself afraid NOT to start something

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:19:13 -0500

Yesterday I did a 3 hour long interview session with Virtual Speaker Series. Two 90 minute sessions with a 15 minute break in between. I was terrified because that is an incredibly long time to talk but the host, Michael Simmons, did a great job of keeping me talking.

Anyway, I found myself saying one thing in particular that was pretty new and might be helpful to others. Seth Godin talks a lot about “the lizard brain.” (Click the link to read an excerpt about it from one of his books, Linchpin.)

Lots of people who want to create things – entrepreneurs, artists, writers, developers – are often afraid to start making their ideas real for some reason or another. Maybe they don’t know if it’s going to work, don’t want to take the risk, don’t want to look stupid, whatever it is.

What I did to overcome this is flipped my fears. I started Threadless 1 hour after coming up with the idea by posting a thread in a forum asking for people to post designs for t-shirts and promising to print and sell the best ones so we could all have them. I had no idea how I would print them, ship them, charge credit cards, start a real business, etc. But by taking that first public step saying that I was going to do it, my fear flipped from being afraid to starting something to being afraid of NOT starting something and letting everyone down.

Kickstarter is great for this too. If you put your project out there and get a ton of people to support it, you kind of have to make it happen… Your lizard brain won’t let you not do it.

Minimalism Challenge 3!

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:49:00 -0500

Minimalism Challenge 3!:

Love this time of the year on Threadless :)

Obsessed much? Cc @tomsshoes (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:13:47 -0500

Obsessed much? Cc @tomsshoes (Taken with instagram)

Prepare yourselves, C2E2! (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:48:44 -0500

Prepare yourselves, C2E2! (Taken with instagram)

Runway. @cshimala (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:04:52 -0500

Runway. @cshimala (Taken with instagram)

Threadless IPA … 1 Pint (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:11:56 -0500

Threadless IPA … 1 Pint (Taken with instagram)

Amazing.

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:36:16 -0500

Amazing.

Daddy and Arli by shondi on Flickr.early intro to screen...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:15:48 -0500

Daddy and Arli by shondi on Flickr.

early intro to screen printing :)

We’re

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:00:25 -0500

We’re

threadless: We think anybody can get behind this message!...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:58:32 -0500

threadless:

We think anybody can get behind this message! Check out Do Shit That Matters by Georgia Hill.

Read more about this tee in this blog!

Why does Threadless exist?

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:46:05 -0500

Why does Threadless exist?:

Just posted a blog on Threadless I’ve been wanting to write for a while. Great things happening!

"Instead of saying…"

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:40:00 -0600

“Instead of saying…”

- “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don’t want to. But other things are harder. Try it: “I’m not going to edit your résumé, sweetie, because it’s not a priority.” “I don’t go to the doctor because my health is not a priority.” If these phrases don’t sit well, that’s the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don’t like how we’re spending an hour, we can choose differently.

Laura Vanderkam

(via dustinhenderlong)

I hope to read this when I can find the time.

Taken with instagram

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:19:24 -0600

Taken with instagram