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, often filled with people playing Starcraft.
My only source of entertainment was a military-approved iPod Nano.
Every two months, I would get to go home for a few days. I would torrent a bunch of music and download a few podcast episodes for my iPod.
Although I would cycle through the content each trip home, one Joe Rogan Podcast episode always stayed: The David Choe episode.
David Choe is the highest-paid living artist, largely due to the pre-IPO Facebook shares he received as compensation for painting Facebook’s office. The stocks were valued at $200mm at the time of Facebook's IPO. It’s now worth a lot more.
The episode was full of crude jokes about lobsters and escorts, which I won’t get into.
But what kept me coming back, besides the entertainment factor, was the glimpse into the inner workings of an artistic maverick whose unrelenting dedication to the arts created one opportunity after another.
(My favorite work from David Choe)
David Choe spent his entire life practicing his craft.
His mindset was that he needed to put in as many hours as possible into drawing and painting to get better.
Through this process, he discovered his biggest edge: speed.
He may not be the most artistic. His art may not fit into the traditional mold of what art should look like. But he could draw faster than anyone else.
He also tried many different media. Tagging walls, painting on wood, and drawing with a broom.
In between drawing and painting, he would go on a run at the local high school track. While running around in circles, he would repeat the names of his favorite comic book artists, “Miller, Burns, Lee. Miller, Burns, Lee”, as if it were a mantra.
(One of the GOAT Korean Americans and David Choe's inspiration, Jim Lee)
However, despite all the hours put in, his brief time at Marvel fizzled out as the editors went with a different artist. His stint at a movie poster production company lasted about a month after he realized how much he hated working there.
His dedication to his craft continued nonetheless.
Ironically, his foray into gambling led to an initial breakthrough in commercial success. With plenty of money in the bank from the money he made at the casino, he could set the price of his art pieces as he pleased.
He was no longer bound by the supply-demand curve. Instead, he set his own price and didn’t care if no one bought his art. He didn’t need the money.
He continued to increase the price of his art pieces, 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, whose previous company, Napster, was getting sued for $20B, seemed like a bet worth taking.
What stood out to 20-year-old Mark, who was stuck in this military base thousands of miles from home, was David’s will to succeed. His 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.
His love of gambling reflects his risk-taking ability, but it also represents his broader systemic approach to life.
His strategy was simple.
Double the bet with every new hand. As long as you had enough credit, it was impossible for you to lose.
With art, he had a similar approach. Paint every single day. Day in and day out.
He trusted in the system and did it longer than anyone else.