The Futur with Chris Do

Humans are inherent copy machines. Emulation is how we learn to walk, talk and navigate the world. But when it comes to ideas—especially ones we deem “original”—things are different. We become hyper critical of imitation and resent anything close to a copy of our own. Obsessing over ideological ownership. But what we don’t do, is turn that critical lens on ourself. Copy, transform, and combine. Ac...

Picture yourself at the airport. You’ve just returned from a long, arduous flight and you are exhausted. The last thing you want is to get in your car and make the lengthy drive home. So you open a ride sharing app, hail a car, and moments later you are on your way home. And the car is driving itself while you nap in the back seat. Strangely enough, if you live in the metro-Phoenix area, you can d...

When you think of a design agency you might imagine a large, bustling office, with an open floor plan, teaming with creative people. And most of the time, reality would meet your expectations. But not all of the time. Because that's not what Philadelphia based agency, Superfriendly, is. It’s not even close. Superfriendly is a distributed design collaborative. Which means their team members reside...

What is a brand? What is branding supposed to do? And can you control your own brand? In this Clubhouse Q&A, Chris is joined by Dr. Christine Looser. You might remember her from episode 109. Dr. Looser teaches marketing and branding, and is the head of business, at startup school, The Minerva Project. If you have any kind of interest in branding, then save or bookmark this episode. Because you wil...

Mr. Ben Burns is The Futur’s Chief Financial Officer. You might recognize him as the bearded fellow on our YouTube channel. Though officially our CFO, Ben dons several more hats day-to-day. Self-taught designer, web developer, general steward of our company, and father of two. In this episode, we get to know to the man behind the mouse. His origin story, how he met Chris (and got his attention in...

This conversation comes from a live Clubhouse discussion. In the event you don’t know what Clubhouse is, it’s an invite-only social media app that fosters group discussion through live audio. In this episode, Chris joins photography rep, agent, and manager—Andrea Stern—in her photo business forum. The topic: what do you do when you’re stuck in your career? Andrea helps photographer get work and de...

This is part 2 of our conversation with struggling artist turned dice-making millionaire, Karen Wang. If you missed part 1, go back an episode and listen to that first. In part 2, Karen shares her experience launching her first Kickstarter—which ultimately lead to $2 million in sales. You’ll hear about how she got into dice-making, what she learned, and all the interesting mistakes along the way....

When you hear that someone is an “overnight success”, rarely did it happen overnight. But our guest in this episode is kind of the exception. Kind of. Karen Wang is the founder of Dispel Dice. A luxury dice-making business that was Kickstarted into existence. Over the course of her 30 day campaign, she raised over $2 million. All for her stunning, beautiful, and bespoke dice. And that first $1 mil...

To say that the advertising world is competitive, would be like saying that water is wet. People fight tooth and nail to land big clients. For every account that is won, another is lost. And missing the mark on a pitch you’ve poured your soul into can be heartbreaking. But advertising is also thrilling. You're given a unique problem and it's up to you and your teammates to solve it. Like group of...

“Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.” We love that quote from Mike Tyson. It encapsulates life so well. You can do everything right—even go above and beyond—and still be a fantastic failure. But as they like to say: failure is inevitable. It’s how you deal with it that matters. Pat Flynn is an acclaimed podcaster, author, entrepreneur, and Pokémon card collector. Yes, you just...

Why do you believe what you believe? How much of it was hardwired and how much of it did you inherit from other people? Like, for instance, your parents. This episode comes from a unique event that we like to call After Hours. It’s a raw, revealing, and open-ended discussion with Chris Do and some our friends from The Futur Pro Group. In this After Hours chat, we delve into how to reframe the way...

When it comes to talking about money, a lot of creative folk tend to get uncomfortable. Many of us believe that the work should speak for itself. And that the cost of something correlates with how long it takes to produce. But that’s not always true. There are plenty of ways to bill for your work. Hourly, daily, fixed price, value-based, and retainer. There’s even the good old barter system. Which...

If you could go back in time and learn something new, what would it be? What thing would you study to better equip you for the world and you live in today? In the business world, designers now have a seat at table. They do more than just make things pretty. Their decisions and actions have a direct impact on the bottom line. Which means they have a responsibility to the business. Something that is...

What do you think it means to be a creative director? It’s not a trick question. Take a moment to think about it. What does a creative director do exactly? What skills do they need to do it? You might think that being a great creative director is all about honing your craft and having a creative vision for your work. In other words, it’s all about you and your creative decisions. But is that true?...

When you hear the term “side hustle”, how does it make you feel? Maybe you get excited and think of that one thing you’re passionate about. Or maybe it sends a cringe-filled chill down your spine. We ask because this episode’s guest, Herbert Lui, really hates that phrase. And he’s not alone. You may recall our conversation with Austin Kleon where he shared his own contempt for that same term. When...

Do you know the difference between a freelancer and a small business owner? We won’t spoil it for you, but there is an important mindset distinction. And it can change everything about the way you do business. In tis deep dive episode, we talk with former software developer and author, Jonathan Stark. If you’re a long time follower of The Futur, then you’ll recognize that name. Jonathan’s mission...

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.” This poignant quote from Mark Twain taps into the theme of this episode: grit. As in fortitude, guts, backbone Think about the most accomplished people that you admire. What drives them? What is that endless source of fuel that keeps their fire burning? Especially through the darkest and coldest of nights. Our guest today, Mar...

This deep dive episode comes from a livestream we held way back in 2019 on The Futur’s YouTube channel. Our guest, Michael Janda, is the author of the best-selling book Burn Your Portfolio. He’s also a seasoned ad agency executive who helps creative entrepreneurs make more money with less stress. In this episode, we aim our focus on pricing creative work. A topic that every creative professional h...

Have you ever heard someone say that an idea “has legs”? What they mean is that the idea can endure and stay relevant over time. Because that’s what good ideas do—they stick around. Jason Harris is the CEO and co-founder of acclaimed ad agency, Mekanism. They do fantastic and progressive work for some of the best clients around. Brands like Peleton, Jose Cuervo, and Ben & Jerry’s. As a seasoned ad...

If you’ve followed us for a while, then you’ve probably heard the name Blair Enns a few times. Blair is a business consultant, speaker and author of the acclaimed book, The Win Without Pitching Manifesto. And if you were to ask Chris Do what one book you should read is, it would be that one. We’ve had Blair on the show before, but we wanted to share this deep dive livestream with you because it’s...

When you hear the term “high performance” you might think about professional athletes. People who go through intense physical and mental training to prepare their mind and body for the game. Not to sound like a meme, but what if we told you that you could borrow similar training techniques to improve your creative performance? Well, according to Erik Korem, there are plenty of parallels between cr...

Dustin Lee is the founder of RetroSupply Co, a marketplace for retro brushes, textures, fonts, and more. Over the years, he’s carved out a unique position in the creative tool market. When you search for retro or vintage brushes for Illustrator, Photoshop, and Procreate you’re going to bump into his website. It's a great example of finding your niche. Dustin’s conversation with Chris centers aroun...

2020 normalized the concept of remote work. Many people were forced to take their office home and find new ways to do business and stay connected. Whether they liked it or not. But before the pandemic, remote work wasn’t all that common. Which makes our guest, Cameron Pierron, quite the anomaly. Cameron worked remotely before it was cool. Like, in 2001. And he worked with big names, like Kyle Coop...

This is part two of a two part series where we reverse the roles and have our beloved founder and The Futur CEO, Chris Do, answer the questions. If you haven’t listened to part one, stop what you’re doing and go listen to that episode first. In part two, we pick up where we left off. With Chris’ vision of what The Futur, both the company and the concept, looks like. He and Anneli discuss the power...

If you’re a regular listener of the show, then you know our format: Chris Do talks with an interesting guest while carefully poking and prodding them with questions. All in hopes of learning as much about their experience as humanly possible. But today, we’re flipping everything on it’s head. In this two part series, the roles are reversed. Our guest, and Futur Pro Group member Anneli Hannson, wil...