One of the most unusual practices I used as CEO was writing an internal blog called “Allen’s Thoughts” on Wattpad every day. My preferred form of communication is the written word, a key reason behind co-founding Wattpad.

Although it might sound time-consuming – and it is – blogging helped me tremendously in clarifying my thinking. More importantly, context matters. The 30-60 minutes I spent each day aligned and interacted with hundreds of employees, arguably making it the most effective activity in terms of leveraging time. Here’s what I explained on Allen’s Thoughts about why I needed to do this:

“Wattpad is an incredibly complex company. We are a tech company, a media company, a book publisher, an advertising company, an influencer network, an AI company, a movie studio, a social network, a community, and also an entertainment company that makes people happy.

What links us together is our common vision, mission, values, and culture. Allen’s Thoughts is less about the numbers and company updates, which you can get on Slack, email, Google Docs, or other channels. This blog is more about sharing the context, the whys, and the intangibles in a narrative that helps you navigate that complexity so that you can make the best possible decisions and do your best job.

This blog is one of my unique superpowers that connects everyone.”

I started Allen’s Thoughts in 2013 and stopped daily blogging after stepping down in May 2022. My final post, “IT’S THE FINAL CURTAIN CALL. A NEW STORY BEGINS,” was shared publicly on allensthoughts.com.

Do I miss it? Absolutely, yes. However, after writing half a million words, I became too mentally exhausted.

After a long break, I am fully recharged and ready to reactivate my public blog. Although the Wattpad story is well-documented, many challenges and triumphs weren’t shared externally. These backstories are valuable case studies in business, leadership, entrepreneurship, venture capital and even time management. Re-reading my old posts, I realized they are a startup treasure trove, offering insights from scaling from two co-founders to a scaleup with hundreds of employees and 100 million users. I plan to share these lessons, along with many new topics.

Of course, I will also share my perspective on the startup investment landscape, our investment thesis, and our areas of focus – i.e., AI, protocols, and sustainable computing – among other topics.

This material will be part of our “School of Fish” Masterclass Series, more on this later.

I don’t plan to write daily. Frequency is not the most important aspect; it’s more about when inspiration strikes. My goal is to share high-quality, high-leverage, and impactful content. I will use Allen Thoughts to think things through “in public,” writing for my own enjoyment and hoping it benefits many others. After a hiatus, I’m eager, hungry, and excited to do it again!

P.S. This blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You are free to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given.