Matt: We're back.
Me and Brian breaking content.
Today's show title, which Brian doesn't even know
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Nope.
Matt: it's expectations.
I figured we kick it off with what our expectations are.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Oh boy.
Matt: From our content, from ourselves this year, you literally publish
your first two videos, you were just checking the stats, you pushed our
meeting out by an hour so you could squeeze in some more recording.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: That is true.
Matt: What's
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: And I got them in.
I, I recorded, the third and fourth video today, which hopefully
I'll get out by next week.
Matt: You are, so how are we thinking?
What's the expectation for 2024?
You've settled in.
We'll get into the tech stuff and the bumps and bruises because
before, when we last recorded, you didn't have any of this stuff.
I think you were just setting up, your framing.
You were just getting up some sound dampening material.
Now, when we, I'll link up the channel in the show notes, you can go and
you can see a fully produced, fully framed, lit, audio checked Brian.
What are the expectations heading into kicking this all off, in 2024?
What's your 30 day, 60 day, 90 day outlook for today,
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: outlook expectations.
So yeah, we're starting January.
So, as of now, I feel like I'm up and running.
I'm, there's still like a lot of, prep and building stuff.
Like right now I'm actually working on the website, for.
and by the way, I changed the brand name that I'm going to be going with.
it's, I'm no longer, I'm, I'm going to be ditching the name instrumental products.
And, just two days ago, I settled on a different name,
which is full stack founder.
And, I got full stack founder.
co.
I inquired about the.
com.
We're going to see about that.
and.
Yeah, so that's, that's the new name that I'm working on and that's the website
that I'm currently working on launching.
But other than that, I, I have started like the production
cycle of, of YouTube videos.
I recorded two like in the last week of December and then I got
them, I learned the editing process.
We can get into that, through editing those first two videos.
I'm still learning, but, I, I learned a lot.
I finally had the guts to hit publish on them last night.
they sat finished on my YouTube channel for three days and I had to psych
myself into actually publishing them.
and then,
Matt: Did you have to psych yourself into it because you had,
a different, let's say, expectation for where you were mentally?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: that's a good question.
All right.
I, yeah, I, I think I sort of, and this is totally the worst way to think about it,
but I thought that like the first video.
That I made would be like the cover video on the, on the channel, like the
most important, like pillar piece of content and having done it now, like
it's probably going to be like one of my worst videos that I've done.
and, so I, I just have to remember to embrace the idea of, my, my friend, Sam
Salikoff told me this, like every video, you just got to focus on, improving by 1%.
Find, find one or two things to improve.
And I've already had like today when I was recording, there were like little
things that I, that I knew I didn't do so well in the first two videos.
I wanted to sort of correct on the, on these.
And, and that's just going to be the process going forward.
and so, so my expectation, I mean, I had a bunch of expectations for the very
first two videos, which is The whole purpose of them was a just to get to
legit videos up on the channel like on topic like I spent a lot of time writing
those scripts and And figuring out what those first topics should be and then I
knew that I was also going to use those first two videos to really learn so many
things about the process from My room set up the lighting the camera that was
a whole I mean multiple days of just test shots You know, just figuring out
lighting and framing, a lot of work there and I'm still sort of figuring that out
and then, and then the pain in the ass stuff that the transferring from the
camera to the computer, the workflow, the, oh, my thing ran out of memories.
Now I got to record only half of it and do the other half later and all this.
And then, and then in the editing, I, for the first time
started using DaVinci resolve.
I don't know how familiar you are with that.
Matt: Yeah, that's what I use.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Oh, you do.
Okay, cool.
Um, uh, so that's totally new to me.
I, you know, I'm doing YouTube video after YouTube video of
tutorials and, and so, and this is my process for learning anything.
It's like, all right, just try to start using it.
And once I.
Hit a roadblock of what I'm trying to do YouTube it and find the answer
and then keep going, you know?
so I learned about like color correction.
I learned about the editing process using keyboard shortcuts and, and,
professional editing techniques, which probably doesn't look very professional,
but it looks, looks fine to me for now.
Matt: correction?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: no, instead I started, looking
at buying a better camera.
Matt: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That, I mean, because literally that's what I did.
I, I would
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Well, for the purpose of color correction,
Matt: Right, right.
Like, when I first started, I was, I did the same thing.
I was, let me get into the process.
Now, I knew a little bit about it already because my dad's a pro photographer.
And when I was running the agency with him, we also did
videography with a videographer that, that, that worked for us.
But anyway, the point is, is I knew about, these concepts.
But I went in it too close to the flame.
Meaning, oh yeah, you know.
Uh, color correction, you know, just everything that goes into like higher
end like video production Was always like in the back of my head, like I gotta get
this right, I gotta do this And I was like, fuck it, like I just need solid
lighting And literally just a better camera So that I'm not messing with it.
And then I just play with color, temperature aperture so that it's,
so that it's not so blown out.
And literally that's, that's where I leave it these days when
I'm actually doing something.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I mean, I'm, I'm using this Canon and 50 that I
got like maybe four or five years ago, which I also learned this past week
that like, that is like totally old.
It's like a dinosaur camera at this point compared to what's on the market.
and, Yeah, I mean, the other thing that I learned about color correction, I don't
know how much, how deep you go into this.
You probably know all about this is you know, like log footage, and the
Canon doesn't, doesn't support that.
So I just, I kind of crank the contrast and brightness all the
way down from the Canon and then, then I do the color correction in.
DaVinci resolve, which the before and after it's definitely better using
some color correction, but I would like to, when the business justifies
it, I will upgrade the camera.
That's, that's the plan there.
Matt: Yeah.
Because ultimately at the end of the day, and you already, so you
already know this as a creator and as a business person that.
What really matters is the content and the audience saying, yes, I want this.
Yes.
I want it again.
I'm going to hit subscribe because color correction really, unless
you're a pro YouTuber doing like product reviews or you're doing
stuff outdoors, like literally those are, you know, I'm just talking
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I don't know.
I, I, I might push back on that because the.
At least my first two videos, the next ones are going to be more like
showing code and stuff like that.
But the first two videos are just me at the desk talking
to the camera the whole time.
Matt: right?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: and, you know, it, it really
doesn't look great coming straight out of the camera, out of the
Matt: The, the, the first two that you uploaded, did you color correct those?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: yeah,
Matt: Okay.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: so it, it really looks pretty different
just straight out of the Canon.
it's just, and it's not even true to what the room looks like.
You know, like it, it's, it's like super, like Canon just,
just colors it itself, you know.
Um.
And, and so, um, but what, what I, what I learned and my goal in
learning DaVinci Resolve, especially with color correction and like the
titles and transitions that I use.
I try to just figure out what my go to settings are, like template
them, save them in whatever settings and so that and, and this happened,
like I, I, I spent days learning all that stuff for the first video.
And then when I did the second video, just pull up the same settings and throw them
on there and same, same title treatments, all that, just new content, you know,
so that, so everything that I'm doing, I'm trying to turn into templates that I
can crank out really quickly, you know?
Matt: Yeah, anyone who's listening who's, who's like a, a photographer
or videographer who's been doing this stuff is like, Oh, you gotta
color correct everything, but.
I learned, I, I just, and maybe you'll get there too, and obviously you already
said it, you're going to, you know, justify getting a better camera once,
and then people listening to that are going to go, well, it's also not about
the camera, you know, let's still, I get it, we get it, but like that, that
finished product, I'm with you, you want it dialed in, because an expectation
of myself is always, I'm with you.
I want the best looking thing.
Like I want the best quality, I want the best looking thing.
But then at the same time, the other half of me is fuck it.
Just get it going.
Just ship it.
Just get it out there.
And I leveled up.
I, I'm, you know, I had Fuji, I still have Fuji for like photography, but
then I was just like, Hey, I'm sick and tired of messing around with lighting.
I'm sick and tired of messing around with, Uh, uh, Fuji, which has a smaller
sensor, then I just went full frame Sony and it just looked fine out of it.
Looked fine out of the box.
Lens lighting dramatically changed because full frame can
just absorb much more light.
And when you're working in a home office, you, you actually have a nice office.
I'm in an attic and the ceiling is only high, like right here.
People can't see this, but the ceiling is only high, right above me, and then
it like dips down in these other areas.
So I can't put my big, light that I have at my office, my co working
space, and all this stuff, so.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Yeah.
I, I got a huge light over there.
And, but like the, And that's another like amazing thing to me is like how
different the room looks compared to what the camera, at least the Canon captures.
And everything is darker and, you know, and, and Canon just
sort of like colors itself.
but, but you know what, the other thing I, I also.
Push back and this is like a general thing with all products is like the idea
of MVP I think has been taken too far in a lot of cases I think there's I think
it's important to to have somewhat of a high standard when it comes to quality
like There's a point where where people can like just ship Yes, the content might
be fine might be good but there has to be it has to be packaged in a way that is
That that meets some standard of quality.
I think that's especially what audiences have started, have come to expect.
it's not, the quality alone won't get you there.
Of course, it's about the topic and the content.
But, for me, like creatively in this whole business is about being a creator.
I think it's, I think it's worth the effort to try to up, up my game, but
at the same time, how can I achieve a level of quality and streamline it
and make it repeatable and content?
So I'm like, I'm really trying to spend a lot of time getting the
keyboard shortcuts down, getting, getting the templates all figured
out and, and all that kind of stuff.
I mean, eventually I would, I would love to also outsource the, the editing.
but for now I'm learning it and doing it myself.
And once, once the business can support hiring an editor, I hire an editor.
That's, that's the plan.
Matt: yeah, the best, the, yeah, listen, I'm, by no means, obviously, a
videographer, a professional videographer, but DaVinci, as soon as you start to
get more, down with, keyboard commands, which, which I'm not that person, I'm
not a text expander person, I'm not a macro person, I'm never, I'm never that.
I'll type, I'll move my hand around, I will repeat
everything over and over again.
But in DaVinci, I've come to realize that, man, the shortcuts for, you
know, cutting, clipping, moving around the timeline, zooming in,
zooming out, moving the playhead.
if you can do all that with the keyboard, like you're
saving yourself oodles of time.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Yeah.
I I've been that way for a long time and I come from a background in audio
production, you know, working with like pro tools and logic and stuff like that.
And it's, it's very similar.
It's keyboard shortcuts.
everywhere to, to get that speed.
And then in software development, it's, it's also, I've become obsessed
with, stay as much on the keyboard and touch the mouse as little as possible.
And actually in recent years, like in the last year or two, just from
back and arm and wrist issues.
like when I have a session, like usually when I'm designing stuff,
which is very mouse heavy, my arm is killing me the next day.
and, and now it's out of.
Pain that I'm forcing myself to get really good with, with keyboard shortcuts.
So.
Matt: So how do you feel, let's just process like internally.
the expectations of yourself from when we last chatted early December or end of
November to where you're at right now.
Happy?
Satisfied?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Yeah, I'm, I'm satisfied that I'm finally
producing videos and publishing, a couple of weeks later than I
hoped, but, it's up and running now.
I want to get the website launched, so there's like a lot to do to, to, to
get the new brand launched, but I am.
I learned a ton already about production.
I'm going to keep learning, keep doing that 1 percent improvement on every video.
I could definitely already see how time consuming even a single video
to produce is, I'm trying to even do two a week as much as I possibly
can to try to get like a, a cue of.
Of stuff kind of out, out into the calendar.
it's still a challenge cause I'm also managing clarity flow and
other business alongside this.
but, but right now, like my top priority, my top focus is full stack founder,
this new brand and YouTube channel.
So, also, I spent a lot of time like writing, the scripts
and for, for all these videos.
So each of those is at least a half a day of work.
Matt: doing it off the cuff before writing the script?
You're a script guy.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I am a script guy, I guess, because you know
what happened is, yeah, I, I scripted, but even, so one of the videos that I did
today, I think it was the fourth video, the second one today, I did just a super
rough bullet point list and then, and then talked off the cuff and, and that
was sort of fine, but even then, before each line, I ended up like, Writing the
sentence and then saying it, you know, so it's either way, I'm going to script it.
either, either I do all that scripting work separately now, or, or I do
it when I'm looking at the camera.
I'll just script it line by line.
but yeah, I, I would like to get more off the cuff.
My challenge right now is I take, I do so many takes.
It's ridiculous.
yeah.
And I'm trying to get better at the muscle of just read a line, say a line, maybe
do a second take and then just move on.
Currently I'm doing like 5, 6, 7 takes.
It's ridiculous.
Matt: Are you using a teleprompter?
A
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: No, I just have my laptop right in front of me
off camera and I just look at Notion and then I look up at the camera and say it.
Matt: teleprompter will probably help.
Will definitely help.
It helped me.
because my next question, because I watched the, I watched the first video,
I think I, it posted last night, and I think I was up late, I couldn't sleep,
and I saw you in the feed, I was like, oh, Brian launched his, launched his
videos, and this is the first time I've seen you, being the guy that performs.
So what's, what is that?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: so it's so
Matt: So analyzing yourself and what's that?
Cause this is the first time that, I mean, not that
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: dude like editing these is like I'm
just constantly looking at myself.
Matt: hundred percent.
So that, that's what I want.
so has that expectation changed?
Like you get into this content thinking like one thing last year, last year,
but at the end of last year, you think I had, this is how I'm going to do it.
This is what it looks like.
But here we are now, 45, 50 days later, has that changed?
Now that you have, you filmed it and uploaded it.
is that where you still, what you produce, is that where you want to be?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I Definitely
Matt: I'm not saying anything wrong with it either, I'm just,
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Yeah, no, I hear you.
I, you know, especially the first one, really both of them.
I, you know, a little bit of like the way that my body
language worked and everything.
I, a little bit cringy.
but, overall, I think it's fine.
took a little bit of And I haven't even really promoted these, all I
did was publish them on YouTube.
Only people who happen to be watching my YouTube video, my YouTube
feed, happened to find them today.
I didn't tweet them.
I didn't send them to a newsletter yet.
I, I want to get four or five or six videos out before I do a more public
launch, but it's been, it actually been, has been really cool to see and
interesting to see, if I just published a video on YouTube, how many viewers is
YouTube going to send me like that is.
Incredible to watch actually, but the, yeah, in terms of my presence on camera,
you know, it's actually, I, not many people in the web industry sort of follow
my, my background here as a musician.
And, I, I used to really focus a lot on producing music,
recording music, editing music.
And that's a lot of, so, so I think, so I, my brain works very much the
same way when I'm recording a YouTube video on camera, it's there's a certain
rhythm to it, I need to deliver a line and a rhythm so that the audience
can, can digest it and then get onto the, so I, I sort of liked that.
I've always been really fascinated actually with, Watching like marketing
campaigns or like politicians speak and we can, we can hate politicians or
whatever, but I think it's fascinating to see how they craft speeches, how they
deliver speeches, because the rhythm and the timing of, and, and the, and the word
choices and the, And how they wrap up a concept in a, in a one or two liner.
I think, I think it's like copywriting really, but it's delivered on camera.
Um, uh, I think that's pretty interesting.
what I need to do in the upcoming videos is less of me actually on camera.
Maybe I'll still speak, but more B roll, more, more footage, more, more other
things to look at than just, just me.
on those first two videos, it was more like theoretical concepts.
So there wasn't a whole lot to show.
in these more, in these upcoming videos, I'll show actual code and
projects and things like that.
Matt: Why'd you change the name?
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: It was funny.
I was, writing copy for the new website, which was going
to be instrumental products.
and I started, I've, I've been, I, in all of my content that I've been thinking
about and writing and scripting, it's been like teaching you, the viewer, the
reader, how to be a full stack product designer, a full stack developer and
creator of products and full stack.
Designer developer and founder.
And then once I started writing the copy on the, for the new homepage, I started
using the term full stack founder.
And then that just it sort of clicked with me.
I can't, I can't believe I hadn't even put those three words together before.
and then it just made total sense throughout the rest of the copy for that
page to, to frame it all around, like helping you become a full stack founder.
And, and the con and the idea of, so the, the headline that
I'm working with on the new site.
is, full stack founders are the new superheroes.
Matt: Mm hmm.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: and I think that a lot of folks in our
industry, they look at these people who can do the design, the development,
the marketing, the shipping, the, the talking to customers, the sales, the, the
people who can do all of those things.
I think there are a lot of founders who can only do half of those things
or one or two of those things.
Well, and they need to outsource the other pieces or partner for the other pieces.
I think they look at these full stack founders as.
People who have these like unfair advantages.
Um, uh, I don't look at myself that I, I, I do from a product perspective, but
maybe the marketing stuff, I feel a little bit weaker, but the, the, so that's the
whole framing of the whole site is like helping you gain that unfair advantage
of becoming a full stack founder.
and that's where, that's where it clicked.
And then I started, it is, and then I did the whole process of searching for,
No, you know what, then what I did was at first I thought it was just a term that
I was going to use in the copy and then I mentioned it first to a business coach.
And then to another person in my mastermind group and both of
them without even me prompting them, they, they both like really
responded Oh, that name is perfect.
That's, that's awesome to frame it that way.
And then, I started searching for the domain and seeing if anybody has
a business around this name already.
And it doesn't seem like they do.
although somebody does own the.
com, so I'm seeing about that and that's
Matt: Yeah, when you put instrumental products against
Fullstack Founder, I definitely like the sound of Fullstack Founder.
And then it actually made me realize, like Instrumental products could like
when somebody searches for it could literally be like instrumental products
like a good Yeah, like instruments and I honestly hadn't made that connection
until until you until you said that
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Yeah.
Yeah.
When I did instrumental products, it was like, yeah, I have a background in music,
but it's, it's supposed to be a little bit of a play on words like instrumental, like
important, but then there, I did see that there is a company that has instrumental.
com.
not that I was going to get that domain, but like they have a whole
brand around the term instrumental.
and, but the, I, yeah, I think full stack founder speaks so much more
to what I'm building here and, and it works in so many ways, right.
It can be, it, I got the name on, on YouTube.
I have YouTube slash full stack founder.
so it could be the name of a YouTube channel.
It'll be the name of the website and the newsletter.
It could be the name of a course or a line of courses.
It could be the name of a book sometime in the future.
My other podcast currently called open threads podcast.
I plan to rename that to be the full stack founder podcast.
I think it just sort of works on all, all the levels, you know?
Matt: so you're you're You're tracking exactly what sounds like you're
tracking exactly where you want to be Starting off, kicking off the new year.
I mean, I'm sure there's always more, but from like when you sat back and
thought about that launch in 2024, you feel like you're in the right spot.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Yeah.
I mean, it's not a business yet, so there's a lot of work to get it to.
First of all, just get, get it put together and launched and then,
and then the effort of actually building it as a real business.
that's gonna take me the whole year.
But, I
Matt: You're planning, you're planning a whole year.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I'm, I'm planning multiple years.
Yeah.
This is,
Matt: But I mean,
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: my thing.
Yeah.
Matt: no, no, no, but are you saying it's gonna take you a year
to get this thing off the ground?
And you're
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: Oh, okay.
No, my, all right.
So my, it's difficult 'cause I have two trip trips coming
up within the next four weeks.
But, my hope is to, my first trip is about two weeks from
now, and between now and then.
I want to have full stack founder.
co launched and public, like promoted, launched.
And, and along with that, there should be four to six YouTube videos published
by then, within the next two weeks.
And I feel like that is it's that's, that's go, that's, that we
start, that's the starting point.
once that's done, that should also begin a weekly cadence of newsletter every week,
at least one YouTube video every week.
and I also want to start to build out my system for like writing, it's all going to
start with writing the YouTube video and then that script turns into a newsletter.
That script should turn into a blog post.
That script should turn into a couple of Twitter threads, you
know, maybe a LinkedIn post.
I want to process around that.
so hopefully by the end of January is when that weekly.
Publishing schedule really kicks into gear and that should
go for the rest of the year.
And then, and then it's a question and then I don't know what the
expectations are in terms of what to expect in terms of audience growth.
Um, uh, it's, it, it, a lot of that depends on the topics and seeing
which topics resonate and which areas I start to focus on and which
areas attract the most audience.
In my mind, I would say a goal is by midway in the year, June, July of this
year, I don't know what the number is, but the audience has reached some
level and there's an, and there's some level of interest that I can start to
figure out what the first product to launch should be to this audience, it'll
probably be some sort of course I'm guessing is probably what it would be.
I don't even know what the course would be about yet.
Something probably around learn to code and build, but, it.
I hope that by June, July, I can start to really zero in on a product
that I could hopefully launch maybe by Q3 and, and then just keep growing
from there and see where we go.
Matt: So build the audience, build the routines six months within those six
months where evaluating like what people are saying, what people are asking for.
Maybe the people know that you're that you want to launch something.
So you're kind of like keeping those feelers open to say, okay, hey, if
there's if you got something and you want to tell me what it is,
go ahead and tell me what it is.
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I should mention that I, that I'm also
like, even right now, I'm, I'm, I'm starting to take some coaching and
advising projects with other companies.
and I'm actually promoting that, I will be promoting that through this new website.
So it's like currently.
I've got, there's a section on the homepage that that'll say three ways
that I could help you watch my YouTube videos, subscribe to my newsletter,
or let's work together and contact.
and then hopefully by second half of the year, there's like
a new way we can work together.
You can buy one of my courses.
Matt: got it.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, that makes sense.
That makes sense.
Yeah, man.
I mean, it sounds obviously from, you know, again, you're a
bit of a veteran in the space of building and launching, right?
Let's just call it building and launching.
but it seems like you've got, you know, all, you know,
everything's prepped, ready to go.
A couple of videos already launched.
and it seems like things are, are, are headed in the right direction,
brian-casel_1_01-04-2024_160247: I think the other thing that I would hope for
this year is not only, Growing the, I, I hope that growing the audience and
developing revenue channels allows me to hire, probably a video editor first would
be the first thing to get off of my plate.
Cause that's clearly going to be the most time consuming part of every week.
as streamlined as I, as I'm trying to get to, it's still several hours per video.
that'll probably be the first thing and then maybe some help
with publishing social media and blog posts and stuff like that.
Matt: Yeah.
Cool, man.
what we're gonna do is we're gonna, we're gonna parlay this topic into, episode two.
And, this will be episode one, your half, your half.
My therapy session's coming up next.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna kick that off into the next episode.
Everybody, thanks for, thanks for listening.
It's BreakingContent, BreakingContent.
co.
check that out.
We'll have all the links to, everything we chatted about today in the show
notes, wherever you're listening to this, or on the website, BreakingContent.
co.
Malcom (2): Thanks for listening to Breaking Content.
A limited series podcast.
Produced, edited, and recorded by Matt Medeiros.
Co-hosted by Brian Castle.
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