David Choe
During my time in the military, there wasn’t much to do for entertainment. We couldn’t leave the military base. We didn’t have personal cell phones. Access to the internet was limited to a computer room that was a mile away.
My only source of entertainment was a military-approved iPod Nano.
During my time off, I would go home to torrent a bunch of songs and podcasts for my iPod.
Although I would cycle through them (8GB of storage wasn't much), one Joe Rogan Podcast episode always stayed: The David Choe episode.
David Choe is the highest-paid living artist, largely due to the Facebook shares he received in 2005 for painting their office. The stocks were worth $200mm when the company went public. It’s now worth a lot more.
The episode is full of crude jokes about lobsters and escorts, which I won’t get into.
But what kept me coming back was the glimpse into the inner workings of an artistic maverick. His dedication was what created one opportunity after another.
(My favorite work from David Choe)
He spent his entire life practicing his craft.
His mindset was that he needed to put in as many hours as possible to get better. He used watercolor, oil, pastel, and torn pieces of magazine to express himself.
In between painting, he would go on a run at the local high school track. While running, he would repeat the names of his favorite comic book artists, “Miller, Burns, Lee. Miller, Burns, Lee”, as if they were a mantra. He was obsessed.
(One of the GOAT Korean Americans and David Choe's inspiration, Jim Lee)
Despite his lucky break at Marvel, it fizzled out shortly thereafter when the editors went with a different artist without even telling him. His stint at a movie poster company lasted about a month after he realized how much he hated working there.
Ironically, his foray into gambling led to an initial breakthrough in commercial success. With plenty of money saved up from blackjack, he could set the price of his art as he pleased.
He continued to increase their price, charging tens of thousands of dollars.
His life trajectory changed when, one day, he got a message from Sean Parker, President of Facebook, asking if he would be open to painting Facebook’s new office in Palo Alto. Rather than taking $60k in cash, he decided to take stock instead. Sean Parker and his company Napster were getting sued for $20B. He seemed like someone worth taking a bet on.
What stood out to 20-year-old Mark was David’s will to succeed. He had immense belief in himself. He was rejected so many times. His rage against the world continued to grow, but he would always get back up, believing in the inevitable success that would come his way.
He created a system for himself and stuck with it: Paint every single day, day in and day out. He trusted in the system and did it longer than anyone else.