Essays
Taste Is Not the Moat You Think It Is
Taste can win work without keeping competitors out. Why I think of it as alpha: today's distinctive design can become tomorrow's template.
On startups, brands, and making money online
Hi, I'm Sean Sun! These are my essays on startups, marketing, design, and running a creative agency. Start with the recent posts below: things I've tried, problems I've run into, and ideas I'm still working through.
Looking for a project to build? Browse my startup and micro SaaS ideas. For occasional emails, there's Variable Type.
Recent essays
Essays
Value Creation vs Value Extraction
Honor the outcome a client paid for, not just the deliverables. I use a bakery's email newsletter to show when fixing delivery belongs in the service.
Essays
My Microconf Experience
I arrived at MicroConf in New Orleans worried an agency owner wouldn't fit in. Small-group excursions and pricing conversations changed my mind about going without a sales agenda.
Essays
Opinionated Software Design: When Flexibility Becomes the Problem
Opinionated software design should reduce setup work. My argument: a consultant network that exists to simplify your product may be a warning about its UX.
Essays
Idea, Suggestion, Directive - How to Help Your Team Stay Focused
Label a thought as an idea, suggestion, or directive before your team acts on it. A CEO's casual Slack message can otherwise derail the week's priorities.
Agency Confidential
B2B Partnership Models: Become the Unofficial Standard Like McDonald's Coke
B2B partnership models for agencies: what McDonald's and Coca-Cola suggest about platform specialization, better delivery, and earning reciprocal referrals.
Essays
Is Dropshipping Worth It? Why Gurus Make Money and You Don't
A Shopify revenue screenshot doesn't show profit. My take on dropshipping's thin margins, course commissions, and why building a brand is a different business.
Agency Confidential
Same Service DNA: Why Running an Agency is Like Running a Restaurant
Prepare repeatable work before the client asks. Restaurant mise en place helped me think about agency templates, team capacity, and a menu of services.
Agency Confidential
Start Here
Use hospitality as a model for a service business that can run beyond its founder. This introduction explains who Agency Confidential is for and the operating questions I'll explore.
Start here
A few things I've written, if we're just meeting.
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Same Service DNA: Why Running an Agency is Like Running a Restaurant
Running an agency, through the lens of a restaurant.
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Opinionated Software Design: When Flexibility Becomes the Problem
A wrong turn in a Japanese train station, and a thought about product design.
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Scribble.sh
A startup idea I actually got around to building.
Who writes this?
I'm Sean Sun. I run Miscreants, where we do design and marketing for cybersecurity startups. Before that, I worked in security engineering and sales engineering. I write from that mix of client work, building things, and figuring out how to run a business.