In 1999, I met Chad Muska at Slam City Jam in Vancouver. He was at the height of his popularity. His pro model was selling 10,000 units a month, and he was one of the first playable characters in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game.

But then, all the money and fame ran out.

"Right around the beginning of the pandemic," Chad says, "everything ended in skateboarding for me as far as finances go. My last check came in, and it was done."

So, what's Chad Muska doing now? He's building the Muska brand as an independent company and bootstrapping it just like you or I would.

I initially made this episode as a YouTube mini-documentary. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/14SLpQ-SsiM

Read more about Chad's story on my blog: https://justinjackson.ca/chad-muska

This is my 2022 year in review. I've been writing these every year since 2013. Traditionally, these have focused on my business highlights: what's happening with the podcasting SaaS I run with Jon Buda (Transistor.fm), thoughts on bootstrapping and startups, plus any other personal experiences I feel I can share publicly.

If you'd prefer to read the blog post version, you can find it here:
https://justinjackson.ca/2022-review

What happened in 2022 for Transistor.fm
With a team of four people, we were able to launch a lot more features than in previous years.

• Updated podcast website builder (and new themes)
• Multiple languages for podcast websites
• Free podcast website builder for non-Transistor customers
• Podcast achievement badges
• Multiple improvements to Dynamic Ad Insertion
• Episode timestamp links
• Multiple improvements to podcast analytics: episode comparison charts
• Guest, host, and creator profiles for podcast websites
• Cool MP3 chapter feature that automatically generates timestamps
• Remove email address from the RSS feed, so you don't get spam
• Added a few new Podcasting 2.0 tags (and joined the Podcast Standards Project)
• Big refresh to the Transistor marketing website

I spent the last few months of 2022 trying to improve Transistor's search results for terms like "how to start a podcast" (both on Google and YouTube).

Other links:

• Tatiana's community newsletter
• Matt Ruby's standup comedy special
• Why Sam Harris left Twitter

Top posts from 2022

• Working harder won't make you more successful
• Older founders do this better
• The Good Life
• Is Twitter done?

When looking at past mistakes, the positive action is to ask: "What did I learn?"

But when we're looking towards the future, we want to be mindful of the kinds of risks we're taking.

When you commit to the wrong thing, you risk burning out or getting crushed.

Watch the whole interview on Sharath Kuruganty's channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M-XsuHVxXM

Listen to the podcast:
https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/6

There are some people that think they need to be Twitter famous in order to start a business.

But I think fame is a trap; you should avoid it if you can.

If you're a band, and you can fill a room with a hundred people and play to those fans in multiple cities around the globe, you've made it. That's perfect.

The same is true in startups. If you can build a small, profitable business without becoming well-known, you should do it. It will bring so much more calm to your life.

Links:

• Fat Mike interview
• Tim Ferris: 11 reasons not to be famous

This clip was taken from my conversation with Brian Casel on the Open Threads podcast.

Listen to the full episode by going to openthreads.co/31

Listen to the full interview on the Indie Hackers podcast.