Category: Your Business is Your Brand
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Kalshi: When Perfect Framing Masks Missing Ownership
A Note Before We Begin: I’ve been watching Kalshi’s journey closely. Following Tarek and Luana’s social media, studying their regulatory victories, and seeing how they’ve built something genuinely innovative. The work they’re doing, fighting for three years to secure CFTC approval, creating a new category, and democratizing access to markets, is impressive. Deeply impressive. This…
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Bryan Johnson: The $60 Million Bet on Algorithmic Immortality
A Note Before We Begin: I’ve been watching Bryan Johnson and Blueprint for a while now. The work is remarkable. The commitment is undeniable. The transparency is rare in an industry full of promises and empty claims. I wrote this because I find the intersection of business strategy and personal identity fascinating. How do companies…
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Why Companies Buy Software They Can’t Use
The $1.2 Billion Question Nobody’s Asking Microsoft says 70% of Fortune 500 companies bought Copilot. Salesforce announced $1.2 billion in AI revenue. By any measure, these companies are crushing it. But here’s what doesn’t make sense: Salesforce’s CEO admitted in October that “the speed of innovation is far exceeding the speed of customer adoption.” Translation:…
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Bumble: When You Make Your Position Optional
A Note Before We Begin: I wrote this because I admire what Whitney Wolfe Herd and Bumble have built. Watching their journey (the social content, the advocacy work, the mission) has been genuinely inspiring. There’s something rare about a company that tries to change not just how we date, but how we connect. This analysis…
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What Brad Jacobs Is Actually Teaching (And Why You’re Missing It)
Before We Begin: Four Questions WHY does this matter to you? You’ve listened to successful founders describe their practices. You’ve made notes. You meditate now, or you tried for a week. You read the psychology books they mention. You ask better questions in meetings. But something’s off. You’re doing what they say they do, but…
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How GONG Owns Certainty While Selling Intelligence
A Note Before We Begin: I’ve been watching what you’ve built at Gong for a while now. The thought leadership you and your team put out. The way customers talk about what you’ve done for them. The trajectory from that “quarter from hell” at SiSense to defining an entire category and capturing 75% market share.…
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Why the best positions are never stated
Explicitly Implicit, Implicitly Explicit. The Burj Khalifa doesn’t say “we own eminence.” You feel it when you stand next to it. You feel it on the skyline. You feel it when someone mentions they went there. The position is implicit. Eminence is experienced, not claimed. And that’s precisely why it works. The positioning paradox Here’s…
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Why Your Tribal Signals Need Something to Signal
You can’t build a tribe around nothing. Black Flag tattoos work because Black Flag owns rebellion. Fair trade coffee signals because Fair Trade owns ethics. Supreme drops create frenzy because Supreme owns authentic streetwear culture. The moment you try to create tribal belonging without semantic content (the real concept or meaning behind something) underneath, the signal fails. Everyone wants…
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Perplexity: The Curiosity Machine That’s Actually a Trust Engine
A Note Before We Begin: I wrote this because I genuinely admire what Aravind Srinivas and the Perplexity team are building. I’ve been following their work closely, reading interviews, watching social media content, and tracking their product evolution. The technical execution is remarkable. The team is world-class. The growth trajectory speaks for itself. But I’m…
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37signals: The Company That Owns Control (And Doesn’t Know It)
A Note Before We Begin: I’ve been following Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s work for years. Their books changed how I think about business. Their writing is consistently sharp, honest, and useful. I watch Jason’s posts on X not because I’m looking for flaws, but because I’m fascinated by what makes certain businesses connect…
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When 95% Self-Awareness Meets 53% Stock Decline: The Chip Wilson Identity Crisis (Autopsy)
The Delusion Everyone Shares Tasha Eurich’s research team discovered something unsettling: 95% of people believe they’re self-aware. Only 10-15% actually are. This isn’t about people being stupid. It’s about the gap between what we think we know about ourselves and what’s actually true. Most of us walk around convinced we understand who we are, what…
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How Wynter Owns Clearance (And Why They Don’t Know It)
A Note Before We Begin: I’ve been watching Peep Laja’s work for a while now. The rigour he brings to marketing, the anti-BS stance, and the way Wynter has grown are impressive. His LinkedIn content consistently challenges lazy thinking, and I respect that deeply. This piece isn’t a critique. It’s an attempt to read Wynter’s…