The 25 Principles of Suit & Artist

Let me tell you a story that'll piss you off.

Basquiat's paintings sell for $100 million now. He died at 27, and the galleries that wouldn't show him when he was alive are making generational wealth off his corpse.

The art world made more money off his death than his life.

This is about every creative person who's been convinced that poverty is integrity. Every musician who signed away their masters for rent money. Every filmmaker who gave up their rights for "exposure." Every writer whose publisher owns their work forever while they can't afford health insurance.

The same people telling you "money corrupts art" are counting the money your art makes them. The same platforms preaching "community over commerce" are worth billions because you create content for free.

Mark Zuckerberg built a trillion-dollar company on your family photos.

ByteDance is worth $300 billion because you dance for their algorithm.

I wrote these principles after watching brilliant people die broke while mediocre people with better business sense bought yachts with the profits. After seeing Black creators invent entire cultures that everyone else monetized. After realizing that the "starving artist" is a business model designed to extract value from you.

These are the operating system for creators who've decided they're done being the product and ready to be the owner.

Some of these will feel like a slap.

Good.

You've been sleepwalking through your own exploitation.

Others will feel like the permission you've been waiting for your whole life.

Even better.

You're allowed to want money. You're allowed to own things. You're allowed to get rich off your own genius instead of dying so someone else can.

If you're looking for another "follow your passion and the money will come" pep talk, close this tab.

If you think wanting wealth makes you a sellout, go back to your TikTok comments.

If you believe suffering makes better art, enjoy your suffering because that's all you'll have.

But if you're ready to learn why Van Gogh sold one painting while gallery owners drive Ferraris off his legacy...

If you're tired of feeding your best work into algorithms that will forget you tomorrow...

If you want to write checks instead of begging for them...

Then memorize these principles like your life depends on it.

Because economically speaking, it does.

1. The Starving Artist Myth is Corporate Propaganda

Van Gogh sold one painting and died broke. Now his work sells for $100 million to hedge fund managers. That's a robbery your art teacher convinced you to participate in.

2. Learn Until You Die or Die Stupid

The moment you think you know enough is the moment you become a museum piece. Museums are graveyards with gift shops. AI is already automating entire categories of creative work. Learn faster than the machine or become obsolete.

3. Art and Commerce Are Having Sex. Get Over It.

Every cathedral was commissioned. Every symphony was sponsored. The Sistine Chapel was a paid gig. Stop pretending your rent is less holy than Michelangelo's.

4. Every Working Artist Runs a Business

If you make money from your craft, you're an entrepreneur. Act like it or start updating your barista resume. The sooner you embrace this, the sooner you keep ownership.

5. Know Your Numbers

Revenue minus expenses equals whether you eat. If math scares you more than poverty, you've already lost.

6. Revolutionary With a Rolex Is Still Revolutionary

Che Guevara wore a Rolex. Malcolm X wore tailored suits. You can want systemic change AND nice things. Poverty is poverty, not protest.

7. Analysis Paralysis Is Procrastination in a Suit

That 47-page business plan is worthless. Ship something. Fail fast. Data without action is expensive daydreaming. The algorithm rewards consistency, not perfection.

8. Business Isn't Evil. Exploitation Is.

Companies that won't pay living wages are evil. Profitable businesses that share the wealth are revolutionary. Be the second one.

9. Wealth Guilt Is a Luxury You Can't Afford

Feel bad about being rich after you're rich. Right now, your guilt about wanting money is keeping you poor. That's exactly what the platforms are counting on.

10. Your Pettiness Is Rocket Fuel

That ex who said you'd never make it, that gallery that rejected you—channel that spite into success, then hire a therapist with the profits.

11. 10,000 Hours or 10,000 Excuses

Mastery takes time. Either commit to the hours or admit you're a hobbyist. There's no shame in hobbies, but stop calling it a career.

12. Master the Rules Before You Break Them

Picasso could draw perfectly before he went abstract. Learn the fundamentals, then burn the rulebook. In that order.

13. Quantity Leads to Quality

Your first 100 pieces will suck. Your next 100 might not. Perfectionism is fear in designer clothes. Ship more.

14. Your Network Is Your Net Worth (Literally)

Find your people who get it. The ones who'll tell you when your work sucks and when it doesn't. Everything else is LinkedIn theater.

15. Money Is a Tool, Not a Master

Hating money is like a carpenter hating hammers. What you build with it matters.

16. Investment vs. Indulgence: Know the Difference

That $500 camera rental that transforms your work is an investment. That $5,000 camera purchase to impress other photographers is an indulgence. Be honest about which is which.

17. Exploitation Is a Business Model (Just Not Yours)

The "starving artist" narrative generates billions—for everyone except the artist. Recognize when you're the product, not the proprietor.

18. Non-Negotiables Are Your North Star

Decide what you won't do for money. Write it down. When someone waves a check that violates that list, remember: everything is negotiable except your non-negotiables.

19. Sales Is Love at Scale

If you believe in your work, selling it is an act of service. If you don't believe in it, why are you making it?

20. Systems Save Your Sanity

Creativity without infrastructure is chaos. Build repeatable processes for the boring stuff so your brain can focus on the brilliant stuff. Burnout is bad business.

21. Own Your Platform or Die on Theirs

Every follower on Instagram is building Zuckerberg's empire. Your email list, your website, your customer data—that's ownership. Everything else is digital sharecropping with better filters.

22. Technology Is a Lever, Not a Crutch

AI, automation, and digital tools multiply your force. But zero times anything is still zero. Create something worth multiplying first. Use AI as your assistant, not your replacement.

23. Know Your Walk-Away Number

Before any negotiation, know your minimum. The power to say "fuck this" is the only power that matters in business.

24. The Earth Doesn't Care About Your Brand

Touch grass. Grow something. Remember you're a biological entity on a spinning rock. Your creative blocks will seem adorable.

25. Your Gut Knows

That queasy feeling when you're about to sell out—that's your integrity dying. No amount of money fixes that. Trust your instincts about people, deals, and direction. Your body knows before your brain admits it.

These are survival tools for creators who refuse to be another cautionary tale about brilliant people who died broke while middlemen got rich off their legacy.

Winning looks like this:

You own your work.

You control your distribution.

You fund your next project without begging.

You say "no" to bad deals because you can afford to.

You build something your kids can inherit besides debt.

You create on your terms, not because the algorithm demands fresh content.

Print them. Live them. Or ignore them and join the 99% of creators who'll make someone else wealthy with their talent.

Your choice.

Choose wisely.

Your executed work is the only thing that matters.

Ready to stop being a digital sharecropper? Join 3,000+ creators getting weekly intelligence about building ownership instead of followers.