Arcade just turned 4 years old!

This month has marked a pretty significant milestone for me.

Arcade just turned 4 years old.

It feels both impossibly long and impossibly short at the same time - like most meaningful things in life, I guess.

4 years of helping the best (and nicest) 7 lads take on the world.

4 years of working alongside some of the very best in the game.

Since we started, we've:

• Launched 6 business ventures

• Grown from 1 to 40 full-time employees

• Held 3 Charity Matches raising over £8 million

• Created a #1 Netflix documentary & a #3 ranked TV series

• Released a #3 Christmas single

Not forgetting the TON of "this is never going to work" moments that somehow turned into "I can't believe this actually worked" moments.

It’s been the ride of a lifetime so far, and I am so thankful to everyone who’s pitched in along the way.

Particularly of course, Sam and Aaron (my co-founders) and Victor our fire ever hire for the Sidemen.

So now that I've gotten all sentimental (sorry not sorry), let me share a few things I've learned along the way that might actually be useful to you…

Honestly, the single biggest lesson I've learned is that there is simply no substitute for showing up, day after day, and doing the work.

Success compounds slowly, then suddenly all at once.

For those building your own thing right now (whether it's a content business, a brand, or a side project) know that the timeline is always longer than you think, but the rewards are worth it if you care about what you're creating.

I mentioned Sam, Aaron, and Victor - and I can't emphasise enough how crucial having the right people around you is.

When you're building something meaningful, you need:

• People who complement your weaknesses

• People who will tell you the truth, not what you want to hear

• People who care as much as you do

• People who make the journey enjoyable

I see too many creators and entrepreneurs trying to do everything themselves, thinking they can't afford help or aren't ready for a team.

The truth? You can't afford NOT to find your people.

Even if it starts with just one collaborator, one accountability partner, one person who gets what you're trying to build, that relationship can be the difference between giving up and breaking through.

And look, I'd love to say I planned all of this perfectly from day one with some genius master strategy, but honestly?

Half the time we were just figuring it out as we went along - fancy way of saying we were winging it but with extreme confidence. 😅

Hitting this milestone has made me reflect on what the next 5 years might hold.

Not just for Arcade, but for the creator economy as a whole.

For the businesses being built by people like you.

The landscape will change dramatically.

New platforms will emerge.

New opportunities will appear.

But the fundamentals will remain the same:

• Value creation over vanity metrics

• Consistent action over sporadic perfection

• Community building over audience collecting

• Purpose-driven work over trend-chasing

So I'm curious - what are you building right now that you want to be celebrating in 5 years?

What's the milestone YOU want to be reflecting on?

Because I guarantee, whatever you're working on that feels impossibly hard right now, if it matters to you and creates genuine value, it's worth sticking with.

The days are long but the years are short.

And before you know it, you'll be looking back on your own 5-year journey, amazed at how far you've come.

Remember, the creator mindset is all you need to grow 🌱

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