About

Hello there, lovely to meet you.

I’m Coco. I’m a designer turned founder based mostly in New York. I take sojourns around the world as my self-taught Masters in Modern Humanity.

Most recently, I co-founded a digital special economic zone in Nigeria. There, we built an ecosystem of global companies doing business in Africa, along with building a 30,000 sqm tech district.

Previously, I founded a social initiative and brought together thousands of strangers from different walks of life to share a conversation over tea.

I spend most of my free time reading and writing. Writing is my way to make sense of the world, such as this experience On the Modern Silk Road, or this musing on No More Bad First Dates.

At the moment, I’m exploring writing stories in effort to bridge the East (China specifically) and West with my friend Cam. The way we think, is different: from unapologetically copying the rest of the world to a spirit of ruthless efficiency. China and the US are like my mom and dad. I want to tell this story.

Always love to meet like-minded friends. Reach me @cocobliu or drop me a note at cococoliu@gmail.com.

About the Newsletter

When I started this newsletter in 2020, the core theme was “how architecture and the built world affect who we are.” Today, instead of writing about a specific topic, I write because I feel.

Often you’ll still find that architecture flair behind a lot of my writings. I can be quite opinionated about our physical environment: the height of the window sill or the temperature of the lighting. We are shaped by our physical environment. So to become the best version of ourselves we must curate our built environment to the smallest pixel.

Other than that, I try to live a cinematic life, the kind that compels me to write stories—such as building a city in Africa, battling with the pressure to find a “stable” job, and loving courageously.

I hope you enjoy. And do leave a comment to say hi, would always love to hear from you.

Paid subscription

Honestly, I love writing so much that all posts will remain free (for the foreseeable future at the time of this writing). It’s my honest expression and ensures creative freedom that way.

There is a subscription tier ($8/mo)—mostly to show support and it funds my coffee shop writing sessions. And it very much helps me in letting me know that someone out there believes that my writing is worthwhile.

Thank you for reading :)

Coco

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Some of my favorite posts