#not related but this being recorded pre the announcement is always bittersweet to me bc they all think it will go smoothly and i so wish to

[tasty-littl-snack]

I was watching that new interview video with Steven Lim and he talks about starting watcher and how he asked Ryan to start a company with him for about a year but Ryan was very hesitant until one day he said sure but then asked to bring Shane like I’m not normal about this. Ryan could not part with partner in crime. 🥺

It's almost like they are a package deal and have a bond that can't be broken (all Ryan's words)

This is a great interview that really tells so much about Steven and his thinking. I think this is the most bts we got on how they came up with the idea to start their own company, aside from making watcher but that's more yknow calibrated for camera so they don't say everything. This podcast and TJ's podcast from last year with Shane as a guest really is more relaxed settings (both people they talk with are their friends so they are a bit more honest than the curated story of how it all came to be) and it going to rotate in my brain forever. It's really luck and circumstances and stars alligning that these people even met and then decided to take a risk like that together. (even more so from Shane's perspective who thought he got the internship at buzzfeed and then it turned out he didn't but he already moved to LA by that point. Like if this isn't fate then idk what is)

What strikes me is that it's Ryan asking if Shane can come along as if it wasn't obvious from the start, and Shane obviously thinking that it's a risk and being the last one to agree. From Steven's interview it seems like Ryan and Steven started working on it only the two of them and then Ryan asked if Shane can join them which changes the perspective of it all to me. For some reason I thought maybe it was Ryan's idea and he asked Shane first, so this changes a bit their dynamic to me because it really shows that Steven and Ryan are good friends who would take a risk like that and then there's of course Shane who Ryan can't imagine to not cowork with I guess. Idk.

This inteview is also good for the background of travel season preparation and how Steven also had to convince Adam and Andrew to come to Watcher which I find very fascinating in itself. But while he lasted a bit longer doing stuff without them Ryan and Shane simply could not be separated for that long and it really shows that they are not normal about each other. Much to think about.