@JasonShen's Top Tweets of 2022

Using Twitter analytics, I embedded my top 4-6 tweets per month based on engagement (and some personal faves) and here's the end result. I might do this annually to keep track of what I'm sharing and to inspiring future content.
January
Let’s make 2022 the year you:
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) January 1, 2022
📚 Write that book
💻 Ship that code
🏋️♂️ Lift that weight
📈 Start that company
🪙 Buy that coin
🏃♀️ Run that race
💘 Shoot your shot
Life is too short to keep waiting.
Comments on my USA Gymnastics 🇺🇸🤸🏻♂️ Junior Nat'l team bio from when I was 15:
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) January 3, 2022
- Piers Anthony is an author not a book? 📗
- Techno is now EDM & I'm still a fan 🎵
- The Matrix & Jordan both aged well 👌
- Never made the Olympics but majored in bio & work in tech so 🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/jveXUrqxu5
Been playing with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) from @Levels. It's truly gamified eating in a way that I've never experienced before. Fun to experiment with what spikes your blood sugar and how quickly you can bring it back down.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) January 13, 2022
After messing with Notion and Obsidian for a few months/years, I’m very tempted to just go back to Evernote for everything
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) January 20, 2022
February
I’ve known @bilalmahmood for 15 years and I couldn’t be more proud of his incredible campaign to represent SF in the CA State Assembly. It’s time to #VoteBilal pic.twitter.com/BxiiB73OuQ
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) February 8, 2022
The mane is coming in pic.twitter.com/uGagmatCOz
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) February 12, 2022
Turned @rockpapercynic's achingly beautiful piece on resilience, AND WHEN YOU SURVIVE THIS, into an audiogram. pic.twitter.com/RvXXV7vaXt
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) February 13, 2022
You can call this a crime if mental illness but even the mentally ill have a rationale for choosing their victims.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) February 14, 2022
The roots of Asian hate are embedded deep in the fabric of this country and will take much digging to weed out. https://t.co/7QfJR679ey
Sometimes getting screwed over due to trust is just the cost of having a humane process.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) February 18, 2022
March
This has been the most rollercoaster work week I’ve had since joining the company.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 3, 2022
This is why I don’t believe that PM’s should be “shit umbrellas”.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 5, 2022
I help my team understand weather patterns and suggest ways we can all avoid getting soaked. But we’re all going to get a little dirty. https://t.co/exOyWze1Qd
A short poem by me on the dangers of chasing merit badges. Art via @jamesjyu's https://t.co/tzsVLFznQq pic.twitter.com/XY9xaQknrf
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 8, 2022
It's live! As part @0xFoster's 1st Season of writing, I'm sharing my nearly decade-long journey of struggle and resilience from my first failed startup through till today.https://t.co/W2EsAlObqy pic.twitter.com/KE8NWUNf9Z
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 17, 2022
Having a lot of fun building stories with the Story Engine by @rockpapercynic pic.twitter.com/FWN1JF1ssc
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 17, 2022
Kara’s father was a loyal Corp employee and his good salary and rich benefits provided for Kara and her mother. But one day, he fell ill from a strange condition that puzzled doctors and he never recovered. pic.twitter.com/o59BdijtW2
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 27, 2022
We can’t make things better without know what went wrong. Thank you for speaking up and making it safe for others to do the same
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) March 29, 2022
April
This is a fun creativity test you can do in less than 3 minutes and yes I'm going to share my results with you because I'm vain and want you to know I'm creative. pic.twitter.com/SG1DsoJ1Rm
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) May 3, 2022
Fuck competition.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) April 14, 2022
I don’t want to be better than everyone else at what I do.
I want to be the only one who does what I do.
Really good thread by ex Reddit CEO on the nigh intractable problem of enabling free speech on social media platforms. https://t.co/MvqC6Fq08l
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) April 15, 2022
Should I YOLO my tech career and become a personal trainer at @Equinox? pic.twitter.com/1V87PdNkk7
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) April 18, 2022
Huge congrats to 16 year @UMichGym veteran Yuan Xiao for taking over as head coach! pic.twitter.com/JEWglKX5Sw
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) April 26, 2022
May
This is a fun creativity test you can do in less than 3 minutes and yes I'm going to share my results with you because I'm vain and want you to know I'm creative. pic.twitter.com/SG1DsoJ1Rm
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) May 3, 2022
I thought it was called the hospitality industry? Maybe restaurants should also stop asking people how they’re doing this evening or if they have any questions with the menu.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) May 5, 2022
It might seem stupid, but legitimately one of the best ways to counter burn out is to get a hobby. (Not a side hustle!)
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) May 5, 2022
When you don't understand someone's behavior, it's probably because they're playing a different game. pic.twitter.com/jzEsKGdupx
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) May 6, 2022
June
I turned 36 last month. Per my annual tradition, wrote down 12 things I've learned about building, persuading, and leading. A 🧵
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) June 2, 2022
Excited to kickoff the 75 Day #CreativeDoing challenge!
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) June 6, 2022
Every day for the next 11 weeks @Elisa_Mala and I will follow one prompt from @HerbertLui’s amazing book on unblocking your creative potential. pic.twitter.com/hK3AVdKuGU
This is the business version of MAGA. A return to the glorious past that worked well for a subset of people and not the rest. https://t.co/xA1KZSLaqY
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) June 18, 2022
Almost a year ago I started working with @every on a guest post on resilience.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) June 21, 2022
It grew into a full-on mini-series on how we navigate disruptive change & turn setbacks into comebacks. 12k+ words at this point.
Today the first issue dropped & IMO it's a 🔥banger 🔥 https://t.co/SGnDq7dAJk
I could see low founder pay being correlated with having a comfortable financial cushion and/or family support.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) June 23, 2022
That would suggest that having a lot of privilege / wealth pre-founding the startup predicts success, which while prob true, doesn't make low salary a causal factor. https://t.co/hxPIN5AIv7
July
My most recent newsletter is based on advice I gave a young woman of color just starting our her career in tech. By starting with an audience of one, I was able to expand to something more widely useful: https://t.co/Y9ijm29HOm
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) July 3, 2022
We all have that special friend who never replies but is still part of the group right? Honestly sometimes its me.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) July 16, 2022
What do you do to for fun with your significant other that's not watching something on a screen?
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) July 22, 2022
“We still have to do our homework … To have any shot at mastery, he had to start with humility, courage, and curiosity. And is that not beautiful?”
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) July 24, 2022
- @NeckarValue’s lessons on Tokyo Vice (HBO)https://t.co/Wm26e2I6A9
August
10 yrs ago, @VanityFair took this shot of me & the @ridejoy team in a Telsa w/ the founders of @ycombinator & @Dropbox at South Park in SF.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) August 9, 2022
It's a badass photo—my brush with Silicon Valley royalty.
But it's also bittersweet—just a month later, my startup was in big trouble. pic.twitter.com/qmX2FadPjS
I spent 16 years as a competitive gymnast.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) August 12, 2022
~1,000 competition routines
~200 of those in national-level (Jr Olympic + NCAA) competitions
I learned how step up and deliver under pressure—not just as an athlete, but a founder & product leader.
Here's how: pic.twitter.com/nDArnCj5u0
I’m doing 🚢 @ship30for30 🚢 this August, focusing on startup pivots.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) August 13, 2022
You’ve probably already seen an uptick in my writing cadence. I’ll link to all my threads in the link below.
We’re just getting started! pic.twitter.com/6I2dShMTaE
Venture-backed startups are the modern day equivalent of 16th century expeditions.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) August 14, 2022
An enterprising leader requests resources from a wealthy benefactor to lead a crew on a dangerous journey into unknown lands, in search of riches and acclaim. pic.twitter.com/xezYXOe2PM
Security is a game of cat and mouse. either you catch your own issues and patch them before the bad guys exploit them, or it’s just a matter of time before someone does.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) August 18, 2022
September
Tuning into @ycombinator Alumni Demo Day Summer 2022.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) September 3, 2022
The 225+ companies in this batch got an in-person kickoff + the new $500k deal.
The last batch with @gralston leading as President before the new era of @garrytan
Too many founders don't understand the expectations of VC $$
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) September 5, 2022
When you take a check from an institutional investor (or raise over a few million in funding), you are signing up for a deliverable with a deadline.
Here's what I mean 👇
I strongly believe that your ability to grow as a person is strongly correlated with how willing you are to do things that feel “cringe”.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) September 7, 2022
I just hosted my first @interintellect_ salon with @HerbertLui on how to build your creative muscle and find your voice.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) September 9, 2022
Here are 10 practical strategies to steal 🔽
October
Except now IPOs are incredibly delayed and you still have employee lock up for months. It’s tough out there. Gotta be some folks trying to rest and vest at places like Stripe and Instacart
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) October 2, 2022
Starting a new series on YouTube called Push-Up & Ponder
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) October 2, 2022
Covering interesting topics while doing push-ups, planks and other exercises. Should be fun. pic.twitter.com/gOxhdWCEJd
In just 5 years, the founders of @brexHQ built a $12B fintech co providing startups with business credit cards and cash management.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) October 8, 2022
But when they got into YC in 2017, they were trying to build VR hardware w/o much experience or expertise and going nowhere.
So what happened?
Working on the next installment of my Reinvention Series and had to share this diagram which explains the rise of all the AI-powered writing tools.@sudowrite @Grammarly @copy_ai @heyjasperai and @every's Lex all going after the High Frequency + High Pain Problem! pic.twitter.com/iCJngTjb9Y
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) October 18, 2022
November
A video synopsis of the Doing Good / God's Work salon! pic.twitter.com/iB7pMqwTiq
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) November 2, 2022
Unpacking my thoughts & feels about upcoming layoffs at my job.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) November 8, 2022
Featuring: the Twitter layoff and the Etsy layoffs of 2017 pic.twitter.com/RuLycS3FN4
Speechless at how @paulg referred to investors as "bottoms" because they like when founders treat them rough. What a metaphor 💀 pic.twitter.com/k3CAUBbulY
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) November 12, 2022
A stagnant, 15 year old product that was taken private by an eccentric billionaire who laid off the majority of the staff, alienated advertisers, and has a $1B in interest payments on debt each year. https://t.co/I3FpfUUPfD
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) November 19, 2022
December
Here's a use case for Open AI's new ChatGPT that should help any jobseeker right now:
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) December 4, 2022
Summarizing your experiences for interviews.
It took my dictated word vomit about a past project and made it way more clear and succinct! pic.twitter.com/YR2MgZ68VR
We did it y'all. This account is now private for the indefinite future. Let's see how this goes.
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) December 11, 2022
Built my first no-code "product" with @zapier's new @OpenAI integration:
— Jason Shen (@JasonShen) December 10, 2022
A random story generator that creates fun synopses based on a few simple premises. pic.twitter.com/NQxm4QxhSS