Dan Koe was determined to avoid the 9-to-5 after watching friends and family trapped in unfulfilling jobs. In college at Arizona State, he tried everything — and failed at almost all of it.

6 Failures Before Finding What Works

First came a fitness YouTube channel. Then Instagram photography (2,500 followers before quitting). Then a Facebook ads agency (50 cold emails, zero clients). Then a rave clothing dropshipping store (one sale). Then two e-commerce brands — blue light glasses and minimalist wallets — both unprofitable. He lost about $8,000 total.

The Web Development Lifeline

He took an intro to web development course and fell in love with coding, teaching himself the curriculum in about a month. He started freelancing — web design, landing pages, service funnels — eventually landing 2-3 clients per month at $1,500-$2,500.

Writing Changed Everything

In November 2019, Dan joined Twitter and started writing daily about what he was learning. His content — blending philosophy, personal development, and digital business — resonated with creators, freelancers, and people trying to escape conventional careers.

He built a freelancing course with only 500 followers and made $3,000. That proved the model: write → build audience → create products that solve the audience's problems.

$3.3M/Year Through Daily Writing

By 2022, Dan was making $800K/year. By 2023, $3.3 million. His flagship product, The 2 Hour Writer, generated $6.9M+ in cumulative revenue. The formula was deceptively simple: write 2 hours per day, build an audience, and create products.

He now has 3.4M+ followers across platforms, 230K+ newsletter subscribers, and is building Kortex — a software tool for creators.

• Failed businesses: 6 (before finding the model)
• Revenue: $3.3M/year (2023)
• The 2 Hour Writer: $6.9M+ cumulative revenue
• Newsletter: 230K+ subscribers
• Social media: 3.4M+ followers
• Software: Kortex (note-taking + writing tool for creators)