Notes from the work · Tag
Imagine sitting at a dinner party while someone else tells your life story — not just the highlights, but the details you’d rather keep quiet. You’re right there, but nobody asks you to speak. That’s what’s happening to your brand right now.
Picture this: you’re at a career fair. Tables lined with companies, students nervously handing over résumés, recruiters politely nodding while tossing half of them into the “maybe later” pile. That model has been broken for years—and Instagram just hammered another nail into its coffin.
Every week, there’s a new “state of social media” article telling you what’s changing. More short-form video. More creator collabs. More AI-driven targeting. And every week, brands eat it up—adjusting campaigns, hiring “content strategists,” chasing whatever the platforms want them to chase.
Remember Schlitz Malt Liquor? Once the second-largest brewer in America, they thought they could reinvent themselves with “new formulas” and flashy campaigns. Instead, they destroyed consumer trust, lost their identity, and never recovered. Fast forward to Bud Light.
When you start your business, your brand is you. Every blog post, every client call, every idea comes straight from your gut. You build your reputation one authentic insight at a time. People trust you because you aren’t recycling everyone else’s thoughts. You’re not trying to sound smart.
Entrepreneurs love to think of themselves as natural attackers. We start companies to shake things up, steal market share, and change the game. In those early days, you’re forced to be aggressive. You have no choice but to fight for every customer, every dollar, every bit of attention.
Entrepreneurs love to tell their story. The hustle. The garage startup. The nights were spent sleeping on the office floor. And let’s be real—people love those stories too. They make brands feel human. They make you relatable. That scrappy underdog image is powerful.
As entrepreneurs, we’re hardwired to dream. From the moment we start our business, we see possibilities everywhere. We fantasize about disrupting entire industries, taking down giants, and becoming unstoppable market leaders. It feels great. It’s exhilarating.
I read the headline this morning over coffee: “Microsoft, OpenAI, and Teachers Launch National AI Training Academy.” For teachers. Not coders. Not marketers. Not Big Tech employees. K–12 teachers. Read that again.
July 4th isn’t just fireworks and cookouts. It’s the anniversary of one of the most audacious startups in history. Thirteen disjointed colonies, sick of being a cost center for the British Empire, decided to launch a new product: The United States of America. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t polished.
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