How I got a $150,000 job with Noah Kagan at 17

A few months after working with beehiiv, I sent a DM to Jeremy Mary.

He ran a podcast I liked, and at the time was Noah Kagan’s Head of YouTube. I wasn’t trying to get a job - I just wanted to say thanks. His podcast had inspired me to cold email Tyler Denk, which led to my internship at beehiiv.

We started talking. I told him a bit about my experience, how much I loved newsletters, and what I’d been learning.

Then he mentioned something almost in passing:

“Noah’s actually looking for someone to help with his newsletter.”

That was all I needed to hear.

I shut off my phone.
Opened a blank slide deck.
And didn’t stop working for the next 40 hours.

I broke down his email and social media funnel, created a new strategy, and wrote 9 ready-to-be-posted pieces of content. Then I sent the whole thing - cold - to Noah.

He loved it!

Six months later, I was working with him full-time. Since then, I’ve helped market Million Dollar Weekend (a NYT best-selling book), grow his email list by 35,000+ readers, and ship content to hundreds of thousands of people every week.

That’s what You Can Just Do Things is about.

The traditional playbook - wait your turn, follow the rules, hope someone notices - is broken.

The opportunities are there. But no one’s going to hand them to you.

You don’t need perfect timing, the best credentials, or anyone’s approval.

You need the courage to step into the unknown, the willingness to fail, and the resilience to try again.

Talk soon,
Jay

Ps. I didn’t write this book because I’ve mastered this mindset.

I’m still figuring it out.

I wrote it because it’s the book I wish I had when I was just starting out—trying to navigate a world where the traditional path didn’t feel like mine.

If you’ve ever felt the same, maybe this will help: https://amzn.to/4jxZLsL

Pps. Noah talks about the story on the Tim Ferriss podcast here