The Week A Grandmaster Knew My Name

Hey Beyonder!

Hey Beyonder,

Last week was one of those weeks I keep saying I'm blessed to have.

And I mean it every single time.

He Knew Who I Was

Let me tell you about Sethuraman.

He's a chess grandmaster. The first person to win a bronze medal for India at the Chess Olympiad. The 11th grandmaster in Tamil Nadu. He's played with world-class players. He's defeated world-class players. He has done things for this country that most people don't even know about.

I walked into our meeting a little starstruck, honestly.

And then he looked at me and said, "I've seen your content. You're doing really great."

I didn't know what to say.

This guy has a career full of wins and medals and moments I can only read about. And somehow, he found time to watch what I make. That made me so happy.

Here's the thing I keep coming back to: validation feels good. But what made this moment feel special wasn't the compliment. It was the reminder that what you put out there travels further than you think.

You never know who's watching.

Something Bigger Is Coming

Meeting Sethuraman GM wasn't random.

We're building something. A documentary on chess. And while you're reading this, I'll already be sitting across from another grandmaster and an under-10 world champion.

I won't say more than that for now. But I'll say this: there's a world of stories inside chess that most people have never heard. The strategy, the sacrifice and the years of invisible work that nobody claps for.

That's the kind of story I want to tell.

Stay tuned.

A Podcast That Nobody Wanted to Cut

We also recorded a podcast with Kishore, who goes by Kisthenics.

It's the kind of episode that's hard to explain until you listen to it. There's no big framework. No top 10 tips. No grand lesson you'll screenshot and share.

It's just honest, deep and personal.

When we sat down to edit, nobody on the team wanted to cut anything. That almost never happens. Usually we're slashing 20 minutes minimum. This time, we sat there looking at the timeline and just... didn't want to touch it.

That's how you know something landed.

Sometimes the most valuable conversations aren't the ones where someone teaches you something. They're the ones where you feel genuinely less alone. This episode is that.

It's coming soon. I think you'll feel it.

I Tried Rock Climbing

Okay. I have to be honest about this one.

I thought I would be good at it.

I wasn't.

Rock climbing looked so manageable from the ground. You grab the holds. You pull yourself up. How hard can it be?

Very hard, it turns out.

I got maybe a third of the way up and my arms decided they were done. My brain was still confident. My body was not listening.

I failed.

But I also laughed the whole way through. There's something freeing about trying something new and being genuinely bad at it. No pressure or no audience expecting results. Just you and a wall, figuring it out.

I'll probably try again. Maybe I won't. Either way, I'm glad I showed up.

A Video I'm Actually Proud Of

I posted a video this week that I think is genuinely useful.

It's about credit cards.

I know, I know. Not the most exciting topic. But hear me out.

Most people either avoid credit cards completely out of fear, or use them without actually understanding how they work. Both end up costing them.

I don't think anyone has made a proper detailed guide on how to actually use credit cards well. So I did.

If you have a credit card, watch it. If you're thinking about getting one, definitely watch it. And if you have a friend who keeps making expensive mistakes with their card, send it to them. They'll thank you later.

What This Week Reminded Me

There's a kind of week where nothing goes perfectly, but everything feels right.

You fail at rock climbing. You record something you're proud of. You meet someone who's done extraordinary things, and they treat you like you matter too.

That's what last week was.

I don't think we appreciate those weeks enough when we're in them. We're already thinking about the next thing and the next deadline.

So I'm writing this down. Saving this one.

Weeks like this are why I do what I do.

Over to You

Tell me about it. Hit reply. I'm genuinely curious.

See you next week.

Cheers,

Epaphra