Two-Speed Creative Portfolio
Polish high-conviction work deeply and let lower-conviction work test cheaply
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 94%
Use two production speeds instead of pretending every idea deserves identical investment. Diplo says some songs produce a strong internal signal and justify prolonged revision, citing roughly a year spent on the production of Lean On and lessons from writers who would spend days on a verse. For other records, he describes making and releasing a larger volume because the market can elevate an unexpected track later. Selection does not end at production: a song judged worthy should receive focused promotion because a release has a limited initial opportunity to reach people. The model balances craft with uncertainty. Generate broadly, identify unusually promising or forward-looking work, polish those candidates intensely, release the rest with bounded effort, and reallocate attention when real audience signals appear.
Origin
Diplo contrasted the painstaking process used on records he believed could be significant with a second process of making many records and allowing an unexpected release to find an audience. He also described concentrating promotion on songs he considered worth the work.
Core principles
- 01Creative outcomes remain partly unpredictable even with experience
- 02High-conviction work earns painstaking iteration
- 03Lower-conviction work can be released without the same resource burden
- 04Promotion should be concentrated where the work justifies the effort
- 05Future relevance matters more than copying today's trend
How to run it
- 1
Generate a field of candidates
Create enough work to avoid treating the first idea as the only option. Keep early investment bounded while the candidates are still uncertain.
Pro tip Separate idea generation from the decision to polish.
- 2
Look beyond the current trend
Assess whether a candidate could still feel relevant after production and release delays. Prefer work that adds a direction rather than merely following one already visible.
Pro tip Judge against the likely release environment, not only today's feed.
Watch out Future relevance cannot be predicted with certainty.
- 3
Select high-conviction work
Choose the few candidates whose emotional response, composition, or unusual idea makes further effort defensible. Make the selection explicit before committing extensive resources.
Pro tip Record why the piece deserves the deeper lane so enthusiasm can be challenged later.
Watch out A strong feeling is a selection signal, not proof of commercial success.
- 4
Polish the selected few
Iterate closely on structure, production, and every contribution until each part supports the whole. Continue while revisions materially improve the work.
Pro tip Use specialist collaborators for the specific missing contribution rather than adding people indiscriminately.
Watch out Perfectionism without a selection gate wastes effort on average work.
- 5
Release the rest cheaply
Give lower-conviction work a bounded path to the audience rather than polishing every item equally. Leave room for an unexpected piece to find traction later.
Watch out Bounded effort does not excuse releasing work below your minimum quality threshold.
- 6
Concentrate the launch
Put meaningful promotional work behind the selected release so it has a fair chance to reach people. Continue monitoring all releases for delayed signals that justify renewed attention.
Pro tip Define the evidence that would cause you to increase or stop promotion.
In the wild
Diplo said he spent about a year on the production of Lean On, rejecting multiple versions because they did not feel right for what was coming next. He contrasted that sustained effort with the uncertainty surrounding which records will ultimately connect.
→ The record received the deep-production lane because he believed its potential justified repeated revision.
Diplo described On My Mind as a house record whose large TikTok response was not something he would have predicted. It illustrates why the second lane still releases work: an audience can identify value that the creator did not select in advance.
→ A lower-predictability release found a substantial audience signal after release.
Common mistakes
Polishing every candidate equally
Equal effort ignores uncertainty and prevents the strongest work from receiving concentrated attention.
Treating intuition as certainty
Creator conviction can guide allocation, but Diplo explicitly notes that unexpected records can become winners.
Promoting every release at full intensity
A constant maximum push is unsustainable. Concentrate promotion where the work appears to justify it, then respond to evidence.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for creators managing multiple works with uncertain and sometimes delayed audience response.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when every release carries high safety, legal, or reputational stakes that require equal review.
From the transcript
“my job is to predict the future”
“if you think a record is the big record you it's so painstakingly”
“otherwise just do a ton of records one of them is going to be good too”
From the episode
Diplo: College Dropout To World's Most Iconic DJ