On the joys of publishing an illustrated novel with my best friend, plus a sample first chapter of our hybrid comic book adventure — Partnership Plenty I was born and raised an only child, which meant I didn’t have to fight for food at the dinner table, but never learned vital negotiating skills. Growing up essentially alone, I’ve always yearned for a sibling-type relationship, especially for creative projects.

The paradox of winning every media battle only to lose the war of popular opinion — The essential problem with the GOP right now is the simple fact that Donald Trump is a very entertaining fucking asshole, while Ron DeSantis is a very annoying smarmy douchebag. I despise everything about both of them, yet would gleefully have pretzels and a beer or two or three with…

Creative people first tear down in order to build back up — but sometimes there’s nothing left — The Musk Learning Curve: Try to transform an industry by blowing it up, then putting it back together the way you think it should be. Then, when that doesn’t work, create a hybrid of old and new to eventually succeed anyway. He did that with Tesla, when his “Alien Dreadnought”…

Why Musk has such an uphill battle transforming Twitter — History Lesson: Musk paid $150 per active user for Twitter in 2022 ($44B / ~300M). Zuckerberg paid $44 per active user for Whatsapp in 20214 ($20B / ~450M). One dollar in 2014 is worth $1.24 …

The irony and paradox of Israel’s brewing civil war — The Israeli internal crisis is ironic and paradoxical. Ironic in that after decades of existential external threats, Israeli society is being cleaved from within. Paradoxical in that as a Democracy, the judiciary arguably has too much control of their government. In principle, Netanyahu is correct: the Israeli courts already over-reach…

Rewriting the rules of branding is for the birds — A product’s brand identity is how it engages with the world: its color palette, design, and logo. A good brand identity captures the product’s essence, and differentiates it within the minds of consumers. A great brand identity is also central to a product’s success in the market, and fosters growth. …

Completing and sharing a several year collaborative effort — Having a powerful and exciting creative vision is just the start, since ideas are easy, their realization hard. The delta between your thrilling vision and its first ham-fisted expression on the page is a painful chasm. Every iteration oscillates wildly between bridging that gap and extending it further into oblivion. …

He’s damned if he attacks Trump, and damned if he doesn’t — Politicians are no different than consumer brands, and their camapaign strategies must obey the Laws of Marketing. One of the most proven and powerful LoMs is for the close competitor in a crowded field to directly attack the leader. The goal is to grow market share by instantly and memorably…

Entertaining stories are more powerful than meaningful ones — The Titanic submersible saga has split people into two camps: 1) meme-sharers and shitgrinners; and 2) those triggered by the meme-sharing and shitgrinning. Here’s why I’m gleefully in the first group. Suffice to say that I have no problem with rich people doing exotic, dangerous adventuring. …