The Art Of Becoming
The collision of the real world and the metaverse caused unexpected side effects for me
Genesis moment
I think it started at a party in the summer of 2019.
It’s Craig Clemens 40th birthday, and we had just arrived at his house in the Hollywood Hills. To everyone else in the world, Craig is known as “The Billion Dollar Copywriter.” To me, he’s been my best friend for twenty years.
“Hajing!!!” He excitedly called out the same nickname he’s used for me since 2001. “Come here! I want you to meet someone.”
He pulled me around the corner and introduced me to an older gentleman.
“Randy, this is my friend Mike. He’s also a bass player.”
The man shook my hand and lit up at the mention of bass. “Oh, that’s fantastic.”
I laughed it off, modestly. “Yeah, I play bass badly in my spare time.” It got a chuckle.
We talked for a couple moments, then he moved on to another guest. Out of earshot, I whispered to Craig, “Randy who?”
“Jackson.”
I made my way out to the patio. There were trapeze artists and fire dancers and bars set up everywhere. The owner of Prince Street Pizza in Manhattan was making pizzas for the guests — Craig flew him out for the event. Shortly after this party, the famous New York pizzeria would have an additional location… in Los Angeles.
Nearly every single guest was an accomplished business person, best selling author, media personality, or massive influencer. And then there was me — who was none of those things.
I wandered around meeting guests — they were all approachable and welcoming. In between familiar faces and old friends I’ve known for years, I’d meet someone new.
“You’re the writer!” they exclaimed. “Man, your stuff is so good!”
I was taken aback. “Thank you! Where did you see it?”
I hadn’t actually published anything.
“You tagged Craig in some of your posts on Facebook. And I just keep seeing your name. You’re really good!”
I found myself unable to respond. Did I make that much of an impression? Is my writing really that good? They all seem to think so. I don’t know what to make out of it, but I keep hearing it over and over again. They looked at me with as much enthusiasm as I looked at them.
I shuffled amongst the partygoers, until I settled on a man named Jin Yu. There was a certain kindness and sincerity about him, and he took a deep interest in me. He wanted to know everything.
I liked him immediately. I imagined my circle becoming that much better with him in it, and I wondered how I could do the same for him.
We must have talked for an hour. I learned he was the cofounder of 3 tech startups, and one of them was just starting to blow up. But the conversation veered away from him and back to me. He wanted to know everything. And yes, he’d seen my writing and wanted to see much more. I pulled out my phone and shared the outline of the book I wanted to write. He loved every bit of it.
“Each chapter heading is poetic. Like a song title!” he told me.
I hadn’t thought about that.
By the end of the night, we had exchanged phone numbers. It felt like a lost form of communication, in a world in which you keep in touch by giving someone your Facebook or Instagram. Phone is much more intimate — for people you actually intend to call.
Serendipity
That December, I stopped back in LA for a friend’s birthday. I visited Craig while I was in town, and watched him shoot an episode for his show.
I met Nicolas Cole, the interviewee. A successful online writer, I learned he was already familiar with me — he was impressed with one of my Facebook stories he happened to see because Craig was tagged in it. I told him of my aspiration to become a writer, and he suggested I begin writing on Medium.
As I watched the taping, it occurred to me I could not have picked a better time to visit. This was exactly what I needed to hear.
As I watched the taping, it occurred to me I could not have picked a better time to visit. This was exactly what I needed to hear.
I became a Medium writer the next day.
Social proof
A year went by. It’s now January 2021. The world had been ravaged by COVID-19. And in our restlessness and our need to be social, Clubhouse emerged at the exact right moment.
To me, it was like a virtual version of the party I attended back in Hollywood. Once again, I was surrounded by all sorts of brilliant people, and since we were cooped up in our physical space, we could connect and interact in this virtual space.
And at the forefront of it all was Jin Yu, who was known to everyone by the moniker WolfxLion.
He was ubiquitous. At any given moment, Jin would host rooms interviewing Paris Hilton, Adrian Grenier, Snoop Dogg, Edward Snowden, and too many more to mention.
And anytime I showed up, he’d bring me onto the stage.
“This is my good friend Mike Goldberg. Absolutely brilliant writer. Mike, I’d like you to meet Keith Grossman, the president of Time Magazine, Peter Girr, the CEO of Wise Token, and Chris Mattmann, the CTO of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory…”
“Now I know you have a lot of experience with investing, particularly in the realm of real estate,” he continued. “What are your thoughts on decentralized finance?”
I was completely caught off guard and totally out of my element. I tried to say something that made me not look like a complete idiot.
“Well, um… I think this is a really revolutionary idea. And if we were to approach this, let’s say — from a layman’s perspective, I’d like to ask the panel, where do you think the threshold is for mass adoption? When does this go from an idea that sounds great in theory, to — you know, the point where we all accept this as the standard?”
An awkward moment of silence. Did I blow it?
Peter Girr jumped up enthusiastically. “That’s a really great question… let me address that.”
I’m not really sure if they figured out I didn’t have even the slightest idea about how decentralized finance worked, but at least I gave them an opportunity to shine.
In the next couple moments, I got a follow notification from Keith Grossman. And then Peter Girr. Then several dozen others. Then they scoped out and followed my Instagram and Twitter.
I guess that interaction went well.
Early adopter
And then BitClout happened.
Something amazing was developing around March 2021 for those who were paying attention. A massive expansion of new technology and ideas, aided by the cultural change as a result of not only COVID, but issues of decentralization and the emergence of blockchain. Maybe it’s all coming together. Perhaps this is the moment.
One way or another, the metaverse is inevitable.
I made the decision to not sit on the sidelines and watch. Either nothing would come of this thing, or this is a massive opportunity that will change everything. All I knew was there’s tremendous upside for being an early adopter.
I joined BitClout in those early first couple weeks, and because I was a published writer, I became verified.
A blue check changes everything
Ignore anyone who says that a blue check doesn’t really mean anything. Let me be completely straight up with you when I tell you it’s an instant game changer.
First, anything you say gets treated with great importance. You get retweeted. Massive likes. A lot of mentions. The follows pour in. Especially from big names. People act extremely friendly to you. You get invites to events. You’re a name now. You have a tremendous amount of influence. Promote anything, and people will follow it.
But you also get a lot of asks. People message you all the time, asking you to promote their product. Or invest in them. Or collaborate on a project.
And that’s where things started getting weird. Not one person actually asked who I really am, or what I did.
I was experiencing imposter syndrome — hard. I didn’t deserve this. Any minute now, somebody would figure out I wasn’t who they thought I was, and it would all come crashing down.
But it never happened. Not only did it not happen, it didn’t matter. It was decided I was somebody of elevated importance, and that was that.
I got a phone call from a music producer. He managed the band Echosmith (who were also his kids), and he was creating a record label on the blockchain. BitClout was his in. And Seal was onboard.
This was the wild west, these early days of this exciting project. And while we didn’t know exactly where it was going to go, the possibilities were limitless.
The attention on BitClout and Clubhouse led to someone giving me an invitation to be a guest on a podcast. That was so well received, I was invited back 3 more times, and I’ve been offered a monthly guest spot.
The connection from that podcast got the attention of the editor in chief of a Maxim style magazine, who loved my writing and invited me to write for the magazine. Now I have a regular column. And my name on the cover.
Accepting the truth
I‘m still working through it all.
I’m glad to be thought of so highly by so many people. But it all feels surreal and sometimes I just don’t feel like I’ve earned it. I don’t have a product. And I haven’t put in the blood sweat and tears of those who have earned it. I need my 10,000 hours.
I need to write the book.
But the more this happens, the more I wrestle with imposter syndrome and reality itself.
Either they’re all wrong about me, and somehow Keith Grossman, Carole Baskin, Pamela Anderson, Jeffery David, Nicolas Cole and all the others mistakenly decided I was somebody I’m not…
Or maybe they saw something in me I haven’t seen in myself. I’ve connected with them in such a way they realize I have something special. And they’re anxiously waiting for me to deliver on what I can be.
You have our attention, kid. Let’s see what you’ve got.
I know what I need to do.
So I’m becoming.