Building your own luck with memes

Sup nerds

I’m Jovian Gautama, the VP of Memes slash Child Labor at Memelord Technologies, and I just got back from America.

How did I end up becoming a VP of Memes?

It all started with memes and cold DMs, just like any Shakespearean love story.

I quickly became his podcast editor, all-around marketing guy, and was groomed to be his potential work husband.

Then the fateful day happened: this mf went all in on Memelord Technologies.

That was September last year since we started scheming all in.

Fast forward 9 months later, I found myself making memes with Jason halfway around the world: New York City.

Here’s a quick rundown of the two weeks I had in the Land of the Free.

Day 1

Welcomed to America with a bang: a fucking $7.25 cup of latte at San Francisco airport.

I landed in Newark, New Jersey instead of JFK because Jason wanted me to “learn self-defense” and “familiarize myself with the Italian-American community”

A pigeon almost attacked me while I was waiting for my luggage. Welcome to New York, bitch.

Finally met the meme king and queen, Jason and Erica Levin, and the good boy Ron for the first time.

Tried matzo balls for the first time as my anointment ritual as an honorary Jew.

Talked about how crazy it is that I’m now in New York City.

Grind to midnight, took a picture and made a shitpost on LinkedIn about startups and explosive diarrhea. It went viral.

Day one done. Hello America. Goodnight America.

Day 2

Woke up early, still fighting jet lag.

Jason and I went to Equinox to lift and box. Almost saw Jason’s penis in the steam room. Heard they call it the “Manhattan Munchie.”

We then threw some balls in Central Park while spotting celebrities. Found a couple of Timothée Chalamet lookalikes.

Screamed NEW YORK FUCKIN CITY while wearing NEW YORK FUCKIN CITY t-shirt.

Did Meme Stream in person for the first time, cracked some jokes about Adobe and how shitty the company is.

Met our new engineer for the first time. In awe by how chill and normal but also cracked this guy is. Imagine a hillbilly Jack Reacher. That’s all I can say for now.

We really are cooking some insanely cool stuff in Memelord Technologies.

If you haven’t tried it, check it out for free!

If you don’t like it, please harass Jason. I have his home address.

Day 3

Discussed startup ideas and all the cool shit we’re going to add on Memelord Technologies with our new engineer.

Turned it into a shit post once about how we only recruit engineers who can talk to woman (This is literally how we found him btw)

Finally tried New York pizza for the first time. Bigger than I thought it would be.

Met a Memelord power user and my internet friend Jameson who I once freelanced for and now mostly talk shit about the Yankees with.

Jameson was also there supporting Jason when he quit his job to start Memelord. He’s the man.

Had another slice of pizza. Made another skit on how I use Memelord to look at Sydney Sweeney’s while the engineers are hackin’ it

Had the biggest burrito I ever had in my life. First reaction was “what the fuck” but then I remember: this is America.

The burritos are bigger. The pizzas are bigger. The dreams are bigger. The memes are bigger.

Day 4

Went to a Soho House in Chelsea which has this White Lotus combined with a Holiday Inn vibe

Spotted a beautiful classical looking building around the corner. Must be some kind of museum or something. Boom It’s a CVS. The American dream strikes again.

Met some of our incredible power users for product research. Wrote some bangers and another shitpost with my Soho pic.

Felt super energized after talking to our users. The first time where it hit me that “wow we’re really building something meaningful here”

It’s more than just a software. It’s a vibe.

Day 5

Visited the PromptLayer office for NY Tech Week. Jason gave a talk about memes and AI. Introduced myself as the “child labor” of Memelord Technologies. Got some laughs!

Also told the PromptLayer team that one of their office mural has a wrong spelling. I think they hate me now.

Our engineer is flying back to his hometown in bumfuck [location redacted]. Right after he left, I told Jason I’ll punch him in the balls if he failed to close him and officially recruit him.

He is now officially part of the Memelord team. We are gonna be so fucking good.

Day 6

Flying to Colorado. Got a “I Love NYC” hat from Jason. Grinding again in an airport restaurant.

4 hours flight. We're on the Meme High Club now.

Chamath was tweeting about his anaconda once we got onboard. Absolute meme material. I’m so glad I’m in the US timezone to experience the crash out. God is real.

Arrived in Colorado. One of the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Here’s a picture of it from a windshield plus a hint of Jason Levin’s foot

Again, feeling blessed. Can’t believe I’m in Colorado. Siri play “On The Road” by Willie Nelson

Day 7

Wake up and did a lil bit of grind. Soaking up the sun with the Meme Couple in Vail, Colorado.

Apparently there’s a Celsius Festival. Why is it an American brand but it’s called Celsius? Doesn’t make any fucking sense. That’s why we were boycotting Celsius last week.

Met another internet friend thot leader queen Amanda. Told him I’m turning 33 soon and she said “what the fuck?” because I look like a kid

Shot a Silly Valley episode about Unhinged: the dating app for B2B shitposters and thought leader.

Turned myself into a meme. One of the best lines I’ve ever said in my life.

Watched the documentary about Osama Bin Laden’s manhunt. Go America.

Day 8 to 11

These 4 days everything was a combo of locking in, having fun, and enjoying God’s beautiful nature while peeing on a river stream.

We recorded another episode of Silly Valley about Nature-as-a-Service with me playing the role of an Asian billionaire, which is half true.

Also did another Meme Stream from a bunk bed to chat about engineers who can’t talk to girls, why Palantir is the meme coin, and talk shit about French people.

(if you are a French person reading this you know what you did)

Celebrated my 33rd birthday.

Had sushi dinner with the Levins which I believe is the most generous Jewish couple in America. Grateful for them.

Last days in America

Going back to NEW YORK FUCKIN’ CITY the greatest city on earth.

During our flight, two things happened: the whole internet went down.. except for the Memelord Technologies website. Oh and Israel bombed Iran.

The next day, we did another Meme Stream to monitor the situation

Went to a Mets Game. Singing along to Francisco Lindor’s walk-up song. Finally meet with another internet friend and my ex-work husband Shane Levine from Turbo.

If you’re building an app and looking for top designers, go find him!

After I went to this game, the Mets went on a 7-game losing streak.

Sorry Mets fans I love you.

Back home

Flew back to Taiwan from New Jersey again. Still didn’t bump into any Italian mafia.

Almost missed the connecting flight.

Locked in and edited the Nature-as-a-Service Silly Valley episode on a 16-hour flight.

Landed home. Feeling grateful and fired up. Couldn’t believe memes brought me to the best city in the world.

Just the beginning for Memelord Technologies.

Why am I sharing all this? Aren’t these just normal work weeks?

At this point, some of you might be thinking:

“How is all of this relevant to me? This is just a diary of a madman tbh”

Sorry, I forgot to tell you a bit about myself.

I was born and raised in Indonesia, which some of you have probably heard of, but have no idea where it is.

I had no internet at home until I was in high school.

English is not my first language.

I almost didn’t go to college because I didn’t have the money.

My first ever full-time job was out of high school and I was paid 165 USD per month.

Yes, that’s for a 40-hours-per-week, 4-weeks-per-month job. One hundred and sixty-five American dollars.

But here I am today.

Technically the path for an Indonesian living in Taiwan whose English is a second language to work on a meme tech startup that revolves around American humor and tomfoolery doesn’t really exist.

In a logical world, I’m shit out of luck.

But dear reader, here’s the thing I found out:

Luck isn’t made. It’s built.

My luck was built upon the silly memes I made on the internet. The DMs I sent to people online. The random curiosity that stemmed from “fuck it, let’s just see what happens.”

Me people-watching in Central Park for the memes happened in part because I just tried to have fun and make friends online.

If you’re reading this, you can do it too. You can build your own luck by being true to who you are.

That’s why I genuinely want people to be successful with Memelord Technologies.

If someone like me can build my luck with silly memes, you can do it too.

Most of you are probably smarter than I am. I didn’t even learn calculus in high school because I went to trade school.

Imagine what YOU can do.

Maybe you’re a startup founder trying to build distribution for your product.

Maybe you’re be a solo creator building a brand.

Maybe you’re a social media marketer sick of “data-driven marketing” and itching to do more creative stuff.

We’re building the tool to help you, with internet memes.

Of course, I’m already lucky in every way: I’m healthy, I have a lovely fiancée and amazing friends, and I am pathologically optimistic to a fault.

I guess what I’m trying to say is:

If playing around and having fun with memes online brought me friends and meaningful work, imagine how cracked you can be.

There’s always a way to do things the way you want and get rich doing it.

Don’t be afraid. Take risks. We’re with you.

Just the beginning

On the 4th day in Colorado, I was walking around town by myself.

The song “Days Like This” by Van the Man came on Spotify.

It’s really surreal thinking that posting memes online led me to these days where it feels like the parts of the puzzle are starting to fit.

Still a lot of work to do, new friends to make, new content to write, new memes to make.

I’m still building my luck. Thank you, memes.

Jovian Gautama, VP of Memes and Child Labor @ Memelord Technologies

Follow me for memes, shitposts, and occasional earnestposting @jovvvian 

Or we can connect on LinkedIn if you’re nasty.