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Discoveries #15 | The Pharrell Williams Career Strategy

Discoveries #15 | The Pharrell Williams Career Strategy

Welcome to Edition 15 of Discoveries. Each week, I share inspiration on design, product building, and what's next.

The Pharrell Williams Career Strategy

One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to reread three of my favorite books. I’m behind schedule (don’t judge), but I finally cracked open one: Smartcuts.

When I first read it in 2014, it completely rewired how I was thinking about my career. At the time, I was at a crossroads—stick with architecture or leap into product design?

The book makes a simple but powerful observation: most people spend decades climbing one corporate ladder, and if they ever change careers, they start again at the bottom of another. Brutal.

But the most prolific people? They “ladder hop.” They climb quickly, then—before hitting the very top—leap sideways, using their skills, network, and credibility to land halfway up a completely different ladder. Rinse and repeat.

Pharrell Williams is a gold-medal ladder hopper. Musician → record label founder → TV star → fashion designer and Louis Vuitton creative director → investor → artist → philanthropist. He’s pulled off ten career arcs before most people have finished one midlife career change.

Every time Pharrell climbed to a new ladder, he didn’t start from scratch. He brought along his hard-won lessons, deep network, and new creative unlocks. Each move stacked on the last, compounding into a sharper, more versatile problem-solver.

In reality, most “new” design breakthroughs are just clever mashups of existing ideas—and Pharrell thrives in that space. By constantly testing new industries and cross-pollinating concepts, he gains an edge over those stuck on a single, linear path.

I’ve been on my own (smaller) ladder hopping journey: Urban Planning → Architecture → Product Design → Professor → Founder. About ten years ago, I realized I didn’t have to start over every time I shifted focus—and that changed everything.

With every career shift, I carried forward the lessons, skills, and perspective from the last. Each role gave me a new lens for solving problems in creative ways. I’m a better founder because of my teaching experience. I'm a better professor because of my experience building products. And I was a better designer because I’d spent years in architecture. Each rung on the ladder sharpened the next.

Being a founder is by far the hardest, most rewarding ladder I’ve been on. Every day is different. The work is a constant mix of thrill and chaos. I get to learn from insanely smart, ambitious people. And I’ve had to do every job at least once—so when I hire, I actually know what “good” looks like.

I’m hoping to stay on this ladder for many years. But who knows? In the spirit of ladder hopping, maybe I’ll be a music producer next ;)

Product Inspiration

Future

Future ruined every other fitness app for me. You get paired with a trainer who crafts your weekly plan, and delivers it in one of the slickest apps I’ve ever seen.

What I'm Reading

Marc Andreessen’s 2025 Career Advice

Company stage:

  • Raw startups and massive corporations both have major downsides
  • Sweet spot are Series C to Series E companies
    • Best risk/reward ratio for career development
  • Why this stage works:
    • They’ve hit product-market fit (reduced risk of complete failure)
    • They’re on the knee of the growth curve (lots of opportunity)
    • If you’re talented, you can pick up new responsibility very quickly

Skills:

  • Be so good they can’t ignore you. Focus on getting excellent at your craft
  • Learn to break problems down to fundamental elements and reason up from there
  • Thinking in limits, optimization, and systematic analysis work in any field
  • Develop taste, having good judgment and taste is unquantifiable but critical
  • Don’t rely on meetings, build something that demonstrates your capabilities
  • Build a track record; consistent delivery of high-quality work creates compound credibility

Networking:

  • Silicon Valley concentration is real, AI has slammed everything back to Northern California
  • Better to have deep relationships with a few key people than shallow ones with many
  • The best way to build relationships is to genuinely help people solve problems
  • Participate in the ecosystems where your industry congregates
  • Early relationships and investments in people compound over time

Mindset:

  • Embrace chaos, high-growth environments are messy but provide the most opportunity
  • Be willing to take risks, the biggest career risks come from being too conservative
  • Choose opportunities that maximize how quickly you can learn and grow
  • Build for compound growth in skills, relationships, and opportunities
  • Stay curious, most successful people are interested in understanding how things work

Current landscape:

  • AI is the new platform shift, not just another software trend
  • Modern tech companies own the entire value chain, not just pieces
  • A few companies will capture most of the value; position yourself accordingly

Other Finds

IYKYK.

Have a great week,


Blake

P.S. I'm always looking for feedback. Reply and let me know what you think! (I reply to every email)

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