The $0 system behind clearer thinking and better decisions
How top founders sharpen ideas, cut noise, and drive smarter growth
Most startups don’t fail from lack of effort. They fail from misdirected effort.
Here’s how to stay focused on what actually drives revenue, trust, and traction.
Today’s agenda:
🗂️ A note-taking system that feeds your “second brain”
🧠 The psychology of trust: what founders can steal from spies
💸 How to budget for marketing in Year 1 (without wasting a dime)
💼 Briefly: 90-day shifts, feedback wins & browser wars
⏱️ Up & coming: The pause that makes your message land
📒 My most-watched video to date
As founders, we're idea factories. But without a system to capture and refine those sparks, even our best insights slip away. That’s why this video—where I break down Sam Altman’s surprisingly analog note-taking strategy—continues to resonate.
I originally posted this back in October. It's now my most-watched video ever. And honestly, it's becoming even more relevant.
The faster your startup moves, the more essential it becomes to externalize thinking, prioritize focus, and sync your “second brain” (Notion, Roam, whatever) with your real-world brain. Altman’s low-tech, high-impact method nails it.
👇 Watch the full breakdown of Sam’s system and how I adapted it into my own note-taking flow:
Key takeaways:
✂️ Tear, don’t archive: Sam rips out pages as he goes—so each note is discrete, portable, and ready for indexing or tossing. That one shift alone changes how you interact with your ideas.
🌀 Spiral > fancy: A cheap spiral notebook outperforms high-end journals when speed and usability matter. It lays flat, pages rip easily, and it's replaceable.
🖊️ Tools matter: Tiny preferences (like Uniball vs. MUJI pens) become part of your flow. The right tools reduce friction, which means more notes actually get captured.
🧠 Analog thinking = deeper insight: Writing by hand forces clarity. It’s not just note capture—it’s thought refinement.
🗂️ One habit improves all your content: This system has quietly improved how I write blogs, scripts, even how I structure strategy calls. It’s not just journaling—it’s foundational thinking hygiene.
Try it for a week and see how it changes things for you. Product links are in the video description.
🎯 Persuasion lessons from spycraft
Before I ever built a funnel or mapped a CRM, I worked in counterintelligence. That world of human behavior, timing, and trust taught me more about persuasion than any sales playbook ever could.
Founders, you’re persuading all the time: to hire, to raise, to close deals. Most just do it the hard way—pitch decks, logic dumps, product specs.
Real persuasion is surgical. And spycraft nails the method.
🕵️♂️ Here’s how to adapt it for your startup:
Stop broadcasting—start targeting: Precision beats volume. Know who you’re after, what motivates them, and which channels they actually trust.
Lead with rapport, not ROI: Real influence starts with connection. Mirror their language, reference shared context, and build trust before you pitch.
Time your ask to their emotional window: Use signals—recent challenges, content behavior, social activity—to strike when they’re open, not just available.
Appeal to identity, not just benefits: Make your offer feel like a step toward who they want to become—not just what they get.
Normalize the relationship: Regular, low-friction touchpoints (emails, check-ins, updates) build familiarity and commitment.
This isn’t theory, it’s a proven method to win trust where it matters most: fundraising, recruiting, and selling.
📈 Year 1 marketing: Spend less, learn more
In Year 1, you’re not trying to build a brand. You’re trying to find what actually works—before you run out of time, money, or attention.
So forget the 10% of revenue rule, the shiny tools, and the attribution dashboards.
💰 Here’s how I tell founders to think about early-stage marketing spend:
Buy data, not leads: Drop $1K tests into 2–3 channels. Each test needs a hypothesis, a timeline, and a kill switch. You’re not scaling yet, you’re scouting.
Back into budget from CAC goals: What can you afford to pay for a customer and still win? Work backwards. If the math doesn’t pencil out—cut or recalibrate.
Split growth from brand (but do both): 70% of budget should go to revenue-producing plays. 30% builds trust, founder visibility, and long-term leverage. Brand won’t show up in your CRM—but it will show up in the close rate.
💡 This is how you avoid burning cash and staying invisible. Fast feedback, clear benchmarks, and founder-led control.
👉 Wrestling with your marketing budget? Let’s talk. Book a quick discovery call now.
Briefly
🌀 CMOs spent H1 in wait-and-see mode—now budgets are tightening, performance is back in, and AI is the new excuse to cut headcount. Founders should think in 90-day sprints and treat volatility as a lever, not a threat.
🔁 Most companies collect feedback, then ghost their customers. Closing the loop—by actually responding—builds trust, reveals root causes, and prevents exec-level escalations. Start small. Prioritize key accounts. Even a quick “we heard you” can turn a churn risk into loyalty.
🧭 OpenAI may launch its own AI-powered browser—complete with a built-in agent that can book, autofill, and act on your behalf. This isn’t just UX flair; it’s a shot across Google’s bow and a glimpse at an agent-first internet.
🧠 It took this founder & CEO 20 years to turn a failed startup into a grounded, customer-first business. The difference? Clear vision, market validation, and co-founder alignment from day one. Founders: don’t just build what you believe in—build what the market’s ready for.
Up & Coming
AI can draft at lightning speed—but it can’t choose what matters.
This piece makes a sharp case for craft as the new trust signal. In a world where sameness is the byproduct of scale, founders who pause, edit, and choose with intention will win.
It’s not anti-AI—it’s the human edge that makes AI output worth consuming.