Stop Playing the Refs
We are not nearly as vulnerable as we feel.
Most of what we fear isn’t real; it’s rehearsed by algorithms and adrenaline. We still have agency — just not in the places we’ve been told to look.
Damns Given: Nick Richtsmeier
We've spent a generation obsessing about efficiency only to realize the inefficiencies were load-bearing. For ventures to thrive they are going to have to rediscover the business of trust.
Talk to mePodcast
The Mass Decline of Digital Marketing and What It's Gonna Cost
Podcast Ep. 116: We live in a post-trust, post-authenticity world. Tactics continue to fail. Corrosive cultural forces are reshaping trust, commerce, and identity, scrambling what it even means to “market” something. Now for the good news...
"We weren't built for this" with Alexandra Pasi, PhD
Podcast Ep: 115: What if the reason work—and life—feels so off is because the very mediums we communicate through are bending us into shapes we didn’t choose? AI founder and mathemetician Lexi Pasi asks the big questions.
Newsletters
Mar 26
Do Not Recommend
We've let the internet decide how we decide on nearly everything for two decades now. It's not working for consumers, and it's not working for your business. Here's what happens next.
6 min read
Mar 25
Organic growth fails on purpose
There are only two business plans left for growing RIAs: Build to Sell or Build to Buy. And for all the firms not doing either, they are counting on running out a clock that is moving faster than even the most cash-sheltered RIAs can imagine.
7 min read
Mar 11
Planting seeds of discontent
You cannot critique something well unless you love it. Once something is in your veins, like marketing and finance and education and the internet are in mine, passion for the possible feeds a holy discontent. One worth fighting for.
5 min read
Feb 20
How legacies actually get made
To steal the infamous words from Hamilton: a legacy is planting seeds in a garden we'll never see. As a very amateur gardener, I think about this often. Even when you are going to see the seeds grow, you're often very, very wrong about the outcome you're going to get.
5 min read
Feb 13
Communication is not the goal
Some combination of the internet's meltdown, media failures, and falling reading skills are killing communication. It's time to reset your sights: communication is not the goal, understanding is.
4 min read
Feb 09
They decide with their eyes first
Trust-dependent ventures must think like designers. From visual layouts to client experiences, from lobby layouts to website UX, it’s imperative to your trust-based growth that you bring a design mind to the party. Featuring Guest Contributor Laura Sorensen
5 min read
Feb 06
Breaking rules and techno-fantasies
Big trends are made by category incumbents, held up by media, and monetized by the masses who are desperate to feel connected to the newest, hottest thing. This collusion of the willing puts up barriers to entry to producing value and growing marketshare. This week we recognize the signs.
6 min read
Jan 25
Finally! Fewer CMOs (but more bad rashes)
Fewer CMOs is good news, more Jon Stewart is not, and how to read better to think better.
6 min read
Dec 22
The Good List 2023
2023 has been a whirlwind of a year.
From the headlines, books, media, and trends, we bring you 24 good things that came from this year... and a few hints as to what may happen next.
11 min read
Dec 18
Is "Fund-and-Fix" the new model for RIA Growth?
Minority investors are finding what we’ve found in our years of working with RIAs: The ATT Trifecta (Acquisitions, Talent, and Tech) is not sufficient to produce scalable growth, and in the wrong hands it makes things worse. New entrants are trying to "fix" that.
7 min read
Dec 11
AI quiet quits and trust comes back in fashion
Looking back, 2023 did a good job of making us believe that shiny objects, fancy AI gadgets, mass-produced content, and general internet tomfoolery would grow businesses in scale and trust. Turns out they were wrong, again.
5 min read
Dec 07
Seven marketing predictions for 2024
Growth in 2024 will not be for the faint of heart. We are one year further into the unraveling of the digital marketing panacea. 2024 will accelerate the fracturing of digital marketing, and the strategic gap between marketing and strategy has to be solved.
6 min read