Trung Phan

Trung Phan is a Vietnamese-Canadian content creator known for “smart threads and dumb memes” on Twitter, where he grew from zero to 300,000 followers in a single year. His unique advantage sits at the intersection of comedy screenwriting, CFA-level financial analysis, and history, producing business content that genuinely makes people laugh. Before Twitter, he failed at pre-med, moved to Vietnam with $6,000, wrote a screenplay that Fox optioned but never produced, and spent 15 years reading voraciously before anyone knew his name. He runs the SatPost newsletter (64K+ subscribers) and co-produced the TV series “Early Risers.”

Key Patterns

His “overnight success” was built on 15+ years of invisible preparation across multiple failed paths
He creates from genuine curiosity rather than audience analysis, following Rick Rubin’s principle
Every content format serves a specific function in a deliberate funnel (memes for retention, threads for growth, newsletter for ownership)
He ruthlessly deletes underperforming content so his public profile only shows winners
His unusual skill intersection (screenwriting + finance + history) creates a moat nobody can replicate

Background and Pivots

Failed Pre-Med, Became a History Major — Failed pre-med at McGill and pivoted to history, gaining the storytelling instincts that power his viral threads Moved to Vietnam with $6,000 — Moved to Vietnam in his early twenties to stretch his budget, worked as an equity analyst while writing screenplays Fox Optioned His Script. It Never Got Made. — Fox International optioned his comedy screenplay but it died in production hell after two years His Great-Grandfather Was Vietnam’s Leading Independence Activist — His great-grandfather was Phan Boi Chau, Vietnam’s leading anti-colonial independence activist Screenwriter + Equity Analyst + CFA = Hidden Advantage — The intersection of screenwriting, equity analysis, and CFA credentials is the hidden engine behind his content 15 Years of Reading Before Overnight Success — 15+ years of reading history, economics, and business before any of it became content on Twitter

Content Creation Process

The Salmon Sashimi Thread - 24K Likes from a Podcast Episode — His salmon sashimi thread (24K likes) shows his formula: universally known topic plus counterintuitive twist Reddit Comments Are Gold Mines — He reads comments more than articles, mining Reddit for expert replies and counterarguments as content sources Smart Threads and Dumb Memes - The Barbell Strategy — A deliberate barbell: daily memes for retention, weekly deep threads for follower growth He Deletes Underperforming Tweets — He posts boldly but deletes anything that doesn’t land, so his profile only shows hits

Distribution and Platform

Hired at The Hustle Without a Twitter Account — Hired at The Hustle with no Twitter account, then grew from 10K to 300K followers in a single year The Content Stack - Memes > Threads > Newsletter > Product — A four-layer funnel: memes for awareness, threads for growth, SatPost newsletter for owned audience, products for revenue Permissionless Creation vs. Hollywood Gatekeepers — Twitter and newsletters gave him the “permissionless creation” Hollywood never did Failed His Own Audition for His Own TV Show — He produced “Early Risers” from his Vietnam material but failed his own audition and hired a professional actor instead

Authenticity

Rick Rubin’s Lesson - Create Without the Audience in Mind — He follows Rick Rubin’s principle: create from genuine curiosity because predicting millions of preferences is impossible