BTS
Every brand decision was deliberate, not drift
There is a common narrative about brands that break through: they got lucky. They stumbled into the right aesthetic. They...
Tag
format-long-form
Dark Culture
I worried therapy would take away my creative energy
I need therapy. I have only been listening to dark stuff for a while. But I am worried therapy will...
BTS
The red pill: why SLIST uses red
Every SLIST flyer, ad, and branded piece of content runs through a red filter. Not because red is a cool...
BTS
The 10% show rate disaster that changed everything
I gave out 200 guest list tickets. Twenty people showed up. A 10% show rate. Two hundred invitations sent into...
Dark Culture
How the only South Asian promoter in Bushwick techno built differently
Me as the only South Asian guy promoting techno in Bushwick. That sentence appeared in two separate conversations with two...
BTS
The first 15 events bled money
The first SLIST event at 494 Broadway in SoHo drew 60 people with a week of promotion. Total ticket sales:...
BTS
Solo operator: why I fired my team and kept the brand
In 2024, I tried building a team. Shared actual ownership. Gave collaborators real stakes in the operation. Every time SLIST...
BTS
Teaching kids to DJ: the tutoring business that trained a promoter
Before SLIST existed, before Mexico City, before the first rave, the business was teaching. Middle school and high school kids,...
BTS
The business partner split
Eight months. That is how long the business partner was involved before he tried to restructure the entire operation around...
Dark Culture
The cult started in New Jersey, not Mexico
Everyone assumes this started in Mexico City. The timeline supports that assumption — CDMX is where the first events happened,...