Eric Koester

Author of 7, Father of 3, Founder of | Professor @Georgetown | Join Our Exclusive Community of 2,500+ Modern Authors & Writers

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

Exciting day -- the launch of The Pennymores, a novel created with my daughters. This began during the pandemic as a collaborative bedtime story and turned into a full novel. It was like trying to bottle childlike imagination -- the hardest & most fulfilling book I've done.

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

Back when I was building Zaarly, I discovered someone had copied our startup and launched it in China.

I found out through a Google Alert.

Which was a pretty strange way to discover your company had apparently expanded internationally.

Especially when you hadn't actually expanded internationally.

Zaarly was a startup I co-founded in 2011. We launched at TechCrunch Disrupt, raised $14 million, and got a lot of attention as a new marketplace connecting local buyers and sellers.

And somewhere along the way, someone took our idea, adapted it for China, and launched a company called Jieqoo.

People asked if I was furious.

Honestly?

Not at all.

We had plenty of work to do making Zaarly successful in the U.S. We weren't exactly packing our bags for China.

But the experience changed how I thought about copying.

We tend to treat copying as the opposite of innovation.

I'm not so sure.

In studying more than 150 successful companies and products, I kept seeing a pattern I started calling Copycat with Constraints.

Take something that's already working.

Put it in a different market, industry, or customer environment.

And figure out what needs to change to make it work there.

That's where things get interesting.

Because copying an idea doesn't mean you can copy the conditions that made it successful.

Different customers.
Different resources.
Different expectations.
Different problems to solve.

Those constraints force you to adapt.

And sometimes, the adaptation becomes the real innovation.

It's why I've become less interested in asking whether an idea is completely original.

And more interested in asking whether someone has found a better way to make it work for a particular group of people.

Looking back at that Zaarly experience, I don't think of Jieqoo as something we lost.

I think about what it taught me.

We weren't ready for China.

But someone else was.

Sometimes you're the originator.

Sometimes you're the echo.

And sometimes the most interesting innovation happens when an existing idea meets a completely different set of constraints.

#Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Startups #CreativeCapacity

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

“So what are you hoping to do more of?” I stopped asking "what do you do?" and replaced it with a question that let people be more aspirational.

Here why that question has led to much richer conversations. A thread 🧵

#tweet100

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

Innovation isn't always about inventing something new.

Sometimes it's taking an idea that already works and adapting it to a different market, customer, or constraint. That's where creativity gets interesting.

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@elizabethbcox @DrTiffanySpicer Leading by example makes encouragement meaningful. Love seeing authenticity inspire others to grow! 👏🙌

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@MsHaleyDean @HoldsworthCentr Personal growth strengthens leadership from within. What a meaningful experience for this cohort! 🌟👏

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@ChrisjBarksdale An inspiring journey from humble beginnings to leadership, showing students what's possible! 📚❤️

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@BlancaCruz444 Thirty years of dedication leaves a lasting legacy. Wishing Mr. Galvan happiness ahead! 💙

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@HHealyTV College football never disappoints with surprises! Always exciting to see unexpected performances shake things up. 🏈🔥

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

I thought $60 was a reasonable budget for running shoes.

My friend Paul thought that was hilarious.

Here's what happened.

When I first got into running, I made myself a deal.

No new shoes until I knew I'd actually stick with it.

Not after one good week.
Not after a few motivated mornings.

I wanted to know it was a real habit.

Eventually, I hit 42 runs in 60 days.

Okay. This was officially a thing.

So I started shopping for shoes, figuring $50–60 should do the trick.

Then I asked my friend Paul, who's a serious runner and cyclist, for advice.

He laughed.

“Triple your budget. You're not paying for comfort. You're paying for health.”

Then he said something that stuck with me:

“Athletes don't pay a premium for gear. They pay a premium for consistency.”

And suddenly, I was thinking about a lot more than running shoes.

Because the same idea applies to so many things we try to get better at.

Coaching.
Communities.
Software.
Systems that make our work easier.

When you're just experimenting with something, it makes sense to start small.

You don't need expensive equipment to figure out whether you enjoy running.

But once you've proven you're committed?

The calculation changes.

You're no longer just buying a product.

You're investing in something that helps you keep showing up.

That doesn't mean the most expensive option is always the best one.

It means the cheapest option isn't always the smartest one either.

I've started thinking about purchases differently because of that conversation.

When you're dabbling, go cheap. When you're committed, invest in consistency.

Sometimes the right equipment isn't just an expense.

It's what makes the next 42 runs a little easier to show up for.

#Consistency #PersonalGrowth #InvestInYourself #Leadership

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

“I sat shiva for 10 days. Then I started plotting.” Chills. Use your challenges to drive impact.

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

One underrated measure of a great company: What do its employees go on to build after they leave?

The best companies don't just develop products. They develop future founders.

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@KMadlock13 @DallasISDSupt @N_Bernardino @Region5_DISD Analyzing student work helps educators make informed decisions and strengthen learning outcomes. 📊👏

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@MrShannonAaron @BirdAlexElm @Region3DISD Small gestures of appreciation remind teachers their dedication makes a meaningful difference. 🥤❤️

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@MrFincherTMS @abrownelar @Karen26Harper @TravisMSBobcats Celebrating dedicated staff builds morale and reminds everyone their hard work matters. 🐾💙

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@DrReyC A clear vision, dedicated leadership, and teamwork make lasting school excellence possible. 🚀👏

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

@PrincipalBernal @JulianTSaldivar @SoniaLoskot @TJVT_Dallas Strong collaboration helps teams grow, share knowledge, and reach new heights together. 🙌✨

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

Having ambition and knowing what to do with it are two very different things.

You can have a clear vision of where you want to go and still struggle to make meaningful progress.

Sometimes the problem isn't motivation.

It's that we keep following familiar paths, hoping they'll lead somewhere different.

Through my research, I've found that one of the most useful things ambitious people can do is stop treating their goals as something they have to figure out entirely on their own.

Make your work visible. Invite people into it. Build relationships around what you're trying to accomplish.

That's often where unexpected opportunities begin.

I explored this with JV Crum III on the Conscious Millionaire Show in our conversation, "The New Science of Ambition."

Thanks again for having me, JV. Enjoyed exploring what it really takes to turn ambition into action.

🎧 Listen to the full conversation: https://t.co/UYcTZsrUIg

#Ambition #ProfessionalGrowth #Entrepreneurship

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

“Spend 2-4x the time on your notes, that you spend on the reading.” The best advice I ever received from a professor.

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

One underrated measure of a great company: What do its employees go on to build after they leave?

The best companies don't just develop products. They develop future founders.

[Eric Koester @erickoester]

I started writing before bed. And suddenly, my dreams got weird.

Really weird.

I've never been someone who remembers much of my dreams.

My wife? She remembers hers all the time.

Me? Almost never.

Never thought much about it until I started getting back into a nighttime writing routine.

After putting the girls to bed, I'd pull out my laptop and spend 30–45 minutes writing.

Nothing too serious. Mostly the fun, story-driven stuff I enjoy:

• Personal stories
• Backstories of innovators and authors for my newsletters
• Editing fictional chapters for Pennymores

Then I'd close my laptop and fall asleep pretty quickly.

And wowza.

My dreams became noticeably more vivid.

I've found myself in a Goonies-like adventure.

I've wandered through a maze that somehow existed inside our house.

And I've had some very strange conversations with my daughters as grown-ups.

Wild.

Now, I can't say for certain that writing before bed is what's causing it.

But the timing has been pretty interesting.

And honestly, it's made me look forward to those quiet writing sessions even more.

There's something fun about spending the last part of your day creating stories, then closing your eyes and finding your brain has apparently decided to keep going.

I spend a lot of time thinking about creativity while we're awake.

But this experience has made me curious about what happens when we finally turn everything off.

Maybe the stories we spend time creating don't always end when we close the laptop.

Anyone else notice their dreams changing based on what they do right before bed?

#Creativity #Writing #Storytelling #CreativeProcess