Success Story with Scott D. Clary

Episode Title: Jay Yang – Author & Hormozi’s Secret Weapon | No Permission, No Problem, Six Figures at 19
Guest: Jay Yang (@jayanginspires)
Air Date: September 7, 2025

Overview

In this engaging episode, Scott D. Clary sits down with Jay Yang, the dynamic Gen Z entrepreneur, writer, and the so-called “secret weapon” behind personal brands like Noah Kagan and Alex Hormozi. Jay reveals how he built a six-figure business before turning 20, amassed over 200K followers, and became a bestselling author – all without waiting for anyone’s permission. They dive deep into creating opportunities, the Permissionless Apprentice mindset, embracing failure, actionable learning, and the unique rituals that fuel creative output and career acceleration. Jay also unpacks insights from his new book You Can Just Do Things and the mindset shifts that have shaped his path to early and outsized success.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Permissionless Mindset

• Core Idea: You don’t need permission to act, start, or reinvent your life.
  • “You can just do things. It’s the idea that you don’t need permission to change your life or to change your career. The best opportunities come to those who do things, not those who wait.” (A, 00:00; 01:38)
• Jay’s early story: During COVID at age 16, feeling unfulfilled and gaming for hours, he googled “how to make money online” and started a YouTube channel with no external approval. (A, 02:48)
  • “I started that channel with no one's permission at all. And by the end, I was able to impact and inspire people — that kind of opened my eyes to the world of content creation and creating things without permission from other people.” (A, 03:49)

2. Why Most People Wait for Permission

• Society conditions us to play it safe, follow rules, and value stability over speed or risk. (A, 04:21)
  • “We're ingrained to follow the rules, to wait our turn... Most traditional paths aren't designed for speed. They're designed for stability and stagnation.” (A, 04:33)

3. Sources of Drive & Navigating Non-Entrepreneurial Upbringing

• Not all ambition is inherited from parents.
• Jay’s drive came from feeling behind in basketball — learning to close that gap fueled his later ambition and willingness to “be different.” (A, 06:27)
  • “Throughout my career, it’s been this sense of inadequacy, of not being enough. And so when I felt that, I looked for inspiration outside the people around me... It’s okay to not feel enough right now because you can actually use those things as fuel to accelerate your journey.” (A, 07:13)

4. The Permissionless Apprentice Approach

• Confronting repeated small failures (failed channels, Instagram pages, businesses) led Jay to realize the fastest way to level up is “learning by proximity.”
  • “One of the best ways to overcome that was to go work for somebody who knew what they were doing... even if there’s no job listing.” (A, 08:21)
• Jay’s process: Picked his favorite company (Beehiiv), cold-emailed with custom project ideas, landed an internship.
  • “I put together three projects...cold emailed Tyler Dank [Beehiiv CEO]... he loved one of the ideas and that's how I landed my first internship.” (A, 09:04)
• Key Framework: Do the work up front; create value before you ever make an ask.

5. Is the Apprenticeship Route for Everyone?

• Personalization is key: For some, trial and error works; for others, working for/learning under someone accelerates “paying down ignorance debt.”
  • “There’s no right or wrong. But an underrated approach is to lower the ego and realize sometimes working for someone else... is a great way to learn.” (A, 10:57)
• Alex Hormozi’s “Ignorance Debt” concept: Every year you don’t know how to earn at the level you want, you’re missing out.

6. Big Lessons from Early Internships

• Customer Understanding:
  • “One of the key observations I learned from Tyler was his deep understanding of what his customers wanted and how he could then craft his marketing to speak to those people.” (A, 12:21)
  • Example: “Shh, please don't tell my boss” launch email that resonated with Beehiiv’s creative users.
• Working in Sprints: Adopted two-week sprints for productivity—a structure he still uses for major projects and writing. (A, 13:16)

7. Audience-Building as a Creator

• Jay began by crafting detailed avatars for his ideal audience, then shifted to “writing to myself two years ago” for authenticity and duration. (A, 15:33)
  • “I'm simply writing reminders to self... that's what resonates... because it's real, it's raw.” (A, 15:58)
• “If your goal is to reach and impact as many people as possible, it makes sense to write to yourself as a beginner.” (A, 17:10)

8. When to Move On: Diminishing Returns

• Jay left Beehiiv after 3 months — not because learning stopped, but because pursuing his North Star required building his own newsletter project. (A, 18:37)

9. More Permissionless Apprenticeships & Landing Hormozi and Noah Kagan

• Cold-pitched value to Jeremy Mary, who connected him to Noah Kagan (AppSumo). Jay constructed a 19-slide pitch deck + 9 ready-to-publish pieces of content, delivering massive value up front. (A, 22:38)
  • “You have to show number one, that you want the opportunity and number two, that you can do the opportunity. The best way to do that is to do the work up front.” (A, 23:26)

10. Working with Noah Kagan: Lessons in Growth

• Quantitative over Qualitative: Noah taught Jay to identify/measure growth levers and double down on what works.
  • “Before working for Noah, I was a qualitative marketer... he taught me how to be a quantitative marketer, how to identify the key metrics...” (A, 25:30)
• Redefining Success: Witnessing Noah shift focus to family helped Jay embrace the idea that there are many valid definitions of personal success, not just professional grind. (A, 26:18)

11. Mentorship and the “Golden Circle of Friends” Model

• Surround yourself with a mentor (ahead of you), peers (on your level), and a “student” (one step behind).
  • “That’s just a super helpful mental model.” (A, 27:52)

12. Managing Relationships & Alignment

• It’s important to accept friends have different roles—some “center” you, some drive you forward, and online communities (Twitter, Instagram) can fill your entrepreneurial needs. (A, 30:40)

13. Content Creation: Data-Driven Ecosystem

• Jay’s “idea testing” pipeline: Twitter (short form, raw ideas) → Instagram (medium form, tested structure/topic) → Newsletter (long form).
  • “If something pops off, I can be pretty confident it's the actual idea of the post.” (A, 32:52)
• Prefers writing, not video, as it clarifies thoughts, is less intrusive, and fits his personality. (A, 34:43)

14. Jay’s Five C’s Writing Framework

• Consume: Read high-quality, idea-rich content (esp. Twitter).
• Collect: Notate ideas that catch your attention.
• Connect: Analyze why content works—topic or structure.
• Copy: Hand-copy proven writing for style absorption.
• Create: Volume/reps are everything.
  • “A lot of great writing is a function of a lot of writing... It's just a ton of output and it's a ton of iteration.” (A, 41:39)

15. Resonance as the Secret Content Superpower

• Beyond educative, entertaining, and inspirational—truly resonant content sparks identification.
  • “How can I make people feel the same for feeling different?” (A, 42:10)

16. Rituals for Creativity & Output

• Reading: Teaches patience and focus.
• Daily writing: Thirty minutes minimum, every day.
• Exercise: Gym clears the mind, fosters subconscious processing.
  • “People often talk about the difference between quality and quantity, but the truth is quality comes through quantity.” (A, 45:35)

17. Learning Machines & Applied Knowledge

• Learning is behavior change, not just absorbing facts.
• Monkey Research Method: Trace your heroes’ heroes to build your “inspiration tree.” (A, 48:41)
• Project-Based Learning: Take action on what you learn through real-world projects. (A, 49:46)
  • “You'll learn a lot from reading a book, try writing a book—you'll learn a ton more from writing a book.” (A, 50:10)

18. Navigating Criticism & Identity

• Treat feedback as neutral data; not everyone is your audience and that’s good. (A, 52:53)

19. Sacrifices on the Permissionless Path

• The biggest barrier is fear of judgment—identify specifically whose judgment you fear.
  • “When you ask for support, you'll find that a lot of people are more willing to support than you first thought.” (A, 54:13)

20. The Energy Test: Finding (and Sustaining) Obsession

• 3 Tests for Obsession:
  1. “P test” — So engaged you ignore basic needs.
  2. Midnight test — Stays up from excitement, not stress.
  3. Energy test — Fascinated by what bores others.
  • “The activities you enjoy but others avoid—those hold the clues to your unique strengths.” (A, 56:02)

21. For Listeners Feeling Lost & Drained

• If the three tests reveal a lack of alignment, start by defining your “North Star” with specificity, and take small but directional actions toward it. (A, 58:50)
  • “Most people don't lack motivation. They lack clarity. Once you are actually clear on what you do want and what gives you energy, you’ll find it's a lot lower friction...” (A, 58:50)

22. One Big Idea from the Book

• Apart from “You can just do things,” the most vital message: Clearly define your North Star.
  • “What do you want? Not what society, parents, or teachers told you. The clearer you get on that, the clearer everything else will be.” (A, 61:04)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Learning is not memorizing information. It's behavior change.” (A, 01:06)
• “We need to put common sense into common practice.” (A, 25:30)
• "I'm simply writing reminders to self... that's what resonates... because it's real, it's raw." (A, 15:58)
• “There are more than one definition for success.” (A, 26:18)
• “If you want to think differently, you have to consume differently.” (A, 39:38)
• “Try writing a book—you'll learn a ton more from writing a book.” (A, 50:10)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:38 – Definition of “You Can Just Do Things”
• 02:48 – Jay’s motivation during COVID lockdown
• 08:21 – Leap from hobby projects to permissionless apprenticeship
• 10:57 – On working for others to accelerate learning (“Ignorance debt”)
• 12:21 – Key business lessons from Beehiv: understand your customer & work in sprints
• 15:33 – Crafting and evolving audience avatars; writing to your younger self
• 17:10 – Tactic: Beginners as a primary content audience
• 22:38 – Using up-front value to land Noah Kagan role
• 25:30 – Lessons from Noah Kagan: data-driven marketing, multiple definitions of success
• 27:52 – Golden Circle of Friends (mentorship model)
• 32:52 – Jay’s content creation ecosystem/testing pipeline
• 39:38 – The Five C’s of Writing Well
• 42:10 – Resonant content as the “fourth category”
• 45:35 – Creative habits and sustainable rituals
• 48:41 – How to bridge the gap between learning and action
• 52:53 – Handling feedback & criticism as a creator
• 54:13 – Overcoming the fear of judgment
• 56:02 – The Obsession/Energy Test–finding your calling
• 58:50 – Advice for those out of alignment: clarity, then action

Find Jay Yang

• Newsletter: jinginspires.beehiiv.com (51:23)
• Instagram: @jayanginspires (51:33)
• Book: You Can Just Do Things – Available on Kindle, Amazon, and most retailers.

Key Takeaways for Listeners

• Don’t wait for permission—action, not approval, leads to opportunity.
• Get close to excellence; permissionless apprenticeships can accelerate your growth.
• Audience resonance is built on empathy, authenticity, and creating for your “past self.”
• Test your ideas small and iterate; let data, not ego, drive your decisions.
• Find your North Star—clarity unlocks both energy and motivation.
• The best path is personalized: try, fail, learn, apprentice, and move fast.
• Sacrifices and judgment are part of the journey, but most perceived barriers are smaller than they feel.
• Channel obsession and energy for compounding growth; rituals of reading, writing, and fitness underpin creative output.

For those on the verge of starting, growing, or pivoting, Jay’s story is proof that you can—and should—just do things.