Create for Yourself, Validate Without Fame
Build from genuine taste, then seek identity-blind proof
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 96%
Osman says his strongest television formats and books began with something he personally wanted to watch or read, supported by years of close attention to mainstream culture. He contrasts this with programmes his powerful company could sell despite weak internal conviction: they were difficult to make, attracted little care, and did not return for later series. Reputation creates a second problem because insiders may approve work for commercial reasons unrelated to quality. For his first novel, Osman therefore finished the manuscript, asked an agent whether she would represent it if he were not on television, and looked to interest from Germany, where he was not known. Once the product earned identity-blind evidence, he felt justified in marketing it aggressively.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Personal taste can guide creation when the creator deeply knows the medium
- 02Work made without conviction is harder to execute and sustain
- 03The product must be strong before promotion becomes the focus
- 04Evaluation from people unmoved by status offers cleaner evidence
- 05Marketing is easier to embrace when the creator is proud of the work
How to run it
- 1
Start with genuine demand
Choose a work you personally wish existed and can describe specifically enough to make. Ground that taste in deep familiarity with the medium.
Pro tip Name the existing alternatives and the experience you want that they do not provide.
Watch out Personal taste is a weak signal when you barely know the category.
- 2
Build before leveraging status
Create enough of the real product for an evaluator to judge its quality rather than approving a pitch built around your name.
Pro tip Use a complete manuscript or working experience when a small sample would receive automatic courtesy interest.
- 3
Ask the counterfactual
Ask a trusted evaluator whether they would support the work if your reputation and audience were absent.
Pro tip Choose someone with relevant taste who can afford to say no.
Watch out The answer can still be biased, so do not treat one friendly opinion as conclusive.
- 4
Find identity-blind evidence
Seek interest from a buyer, market, or audience that does not know or value your existing public identity.
Pro tip Look for a concrete commitment rather than praise alone.
- 5
Promote from conviction
Once the work and external evidence justify belief, use sales and marketing to help it travel as far as possible.
Pro tip Frame promotion as distributing something you are proud of, not repairing a weak product.
Watch out Strong promotion cannot guarantee that a creative work will become a hit.
In the wild
Osman recalls that Endemol became powerful enough for broadcasters to buy some ideas he did not fully believe in. He says those programmes were hard to make because the team did not care, audiences did not respond, and the shows failed to earn later series, where the business made its money.
→ Easy access to a buyer produced sales without durable product success.
Osman completed his first novel in secret and asked an agent to judge it as though he were not on television. A German buyer then acquired the book before publicity, despite Osman saying he was unknown there. He treated that purchase as evidence that the manuscript itself had value.
→ A concrete commitment from a market unfamiliar with Osman increased his confidence in the product.
Common mistakes
Making what you think people want
Osman says second-guessing the public can produce work that does not come from anyone's genuine interest.
Treating access as product proof
A buyer may accept work because of a creator's reputation or a supplier's market power rather than the work itself.
Selling before earning conviction
Osman's sequence is to become proud of the product first and then pursue the marketing process energetically.
Is it for you?
Best for
Established or visible creators who need to distinguish genuine product quality from attention attached to their name.
Not ideal for
Safety-critical products or unfamiliar markets where personal taste cannot replace user research, technical validation, or expert review.
From the transcript
“I wrote books that I would like to read”
“you have to be proud of it”
“they bought the book just on the strength of the manuscript”
From the episode
Richard Osman: The Untold Story Of A TV Legend's Addiction