I think the business side of running creative studios is just incredibly unsexy compared to the work product. It's easier for a design studio to have a sleek website and a popular Instagram. There's this belief that a lot of creative professionals hold onto, that if the work is good enough the business side will just take care of itself because there will be a lot of demand. They're trying to solve a business problem with creative work.

There's certainly something to be said for 'learning by doing' but I agree with you. When I was in design school the students made it very clear that they wanted to learn how to do business. The class or seminar just never seemed to materialize.

Definitely. Mostly in the form of anxiety. I knew running a studio was a big goal of mine and I also knew that I had no practical skills in that area. Was it all just common sense? Didn't seem like it. So I started reading.

Both. The book is tailored to small 3-20 person creative studios, or anyone who aspires to be in that group.

Yes, a generous act of commercial altruism. No, I wrote it because I want creative professionals to start seeing themselves as business people. It can be such an intimidating subject and I wanted to lower the barrier a bit. There are simple things you can to do make your studio more efficient and profitable. When you, as a creative professional, embrace the business side of what you're doing it directly benefits you and everyone who works with you.

Don't Call It That is a naming workbook. One of the main focuses of my studio, A Hundred Monkeys, is naming. We name companies, products, product architectures, and once, a real medical condition. I wrote Don't Call It That to help people name their projects on their own. It's a workbook so the idea is that when you're done with the book, you have a name. I've been really impressed with the names people have come up with using the book.

The book will be for sale through Extracurricular Press out of San Francisco. You can sign up to be alerted when the book is available at runstudiorun.com.

I wanted to be a designer. One of the main reasons I went to UCLA was that I wanted a more diverse education than I thought art school could provide. At least that's what I thought when I was 18. I grew up around naming as my dad was starting A Hundred Monkeys. I definitely enjoyed it but in my mind, I wanted to be a designer. I did a lot of studio art and photography growing up. One of the things I really loved about UCLA was my ability to study more than just art and design. I spent a fair bit of time in the comparative literature department.

I was hired as a brand strategist working under Matt Rolandson who is now a partner at Ammunition. When naming projects occasionally came up I saw it as an opportunity to improve the process and set design projects up for success.

It's definitely a two-way street. We know what we're good at and know that we're wasting our time when we stray outside our expertise. We really value our design partners and put a lot of work into figuring out the best way to weave our processes together. Spending time in the design world helps me see projects from our partner's prospectives. It's a lot easier to have empathy when you've been there.

Projects are managed by two-person teams – one junior and one senior. Project teams are responsible for all client communication and presentation. There are no project managers or intermediaries. Teams are also responsible for briefing the rest of the studio so everyone's creative input is in line with the objectives of a given project. As far as technology we keep it pretty simple–mostly just Slack.

Mostly people asking to be added to the list. At this point, we only want to work with clients who are excited about working with us. No RFPs. No big pitches. If a potential client is more interested in working with another company, so be it. Relationships are mutual by definition. There's no point in pretending that there isn't competition out there. So the competitor list is just a way to make sure that the people who reach out and want to work with us really want to work with us.

I have always enjoyed working with my dad. He's very passionate about the work and it's contagious. I think one of the reasons that I ended up going into the family business was that there was zero pressure from him. He would have supported me if I wanted to be a lima bean farmer. He always enjoyed his work and was happy to bring me into it from a young age. He's mostly retired from A Hundred Monkeys at this point but he's working as hard as ever doing grassroots political fundraising with Airlift— www.airlift.fund.)

I grew up around naming. Once my voice was deep enough to be convincing on the phone I started to take freelance projects for clients who were looking for a cheaper alternative to A Hundred Monkeys. I was really lucky to have an opportunity to get a bunch of practice in early. I made my mistakes in low-risk situations. By the time I was leading bigger projects I had the experience to do so, even if I looked like I was about to go to junior prom.

Happy to.