1. My dear friend Tyler Palmer always posts good shit. His tweet earlier in the week got me thinking, as his tweets usually do. It inspired this piece.

2. You know who’s not dunking his face in a bowl of iced Saratoga water? Jeff Bezos. “I get up and I kind of putter…”. This is the way.

3. 

   And we’re off…

We're living through a golden age of optimization and efficiency.

My phone has my dinner reservation, and alerts me the second I should leave based on real-time subway schedules and updates. My shades open - automatically - at 6:45am, and the lights in my house turn on exactly 30 minutes before sunset every single evening that I am at home. I wear a device on my wrist that measures exactly how "ready" my body is, physically, and alerts me to the precise amount of exercise and movement needed to optimally meet my fitness goals.

These pieces of technology are human-made miracles that work for us, every day. I love them and I am happy they exist.

But in some very important ways, they have stripped life of its color.

I am a servant to my calendar, yet the days I love the most - the days that created memories, and shaped me - are the days I throw it out the window.

And this has made me believe, increasingly, that the most important thing we can do - for our careers, for our mental wellness, and our long-term strategic gain - on any given day, is waste a little time on purpose.

Here’s one for the LinkedIn Freaks: 

Poetic inefficiency might be the last place left where real richness hides. It's where a unique and interesting worldviews are formed, and where humanity - real humanity, not productivity - thrives.

The Efficiency Delusion

When asked, almost universally, people say that they value "efficiency" highly. Americans rank "efficiency" at parity with family, pets, and sleep as fundamental priorities. One of the last things we all pretend to agree on.

And I think - when it comes to our “love” of efficiency at least - we're all full of shit.

In a tweet from a few weeks ago, my friend Tyler posed a question that stuck with me:

I don't think people actually want efficiency. They like the idea of it. They enjoy having a supercomputer in their pocket. They feel cool when the lights come on automatically.

But I believe many would sacrifice all of that for more of the simple things whose inefficiency makes them special.

Care. Warmth. Surprise. Empathy. Suspense. Falling In Love.

These things are special because they take time, thought, and effort. They matter because there is the risk of failure, and - importantly - because they involve other people.

Efficiency minimizes unpredictability, but unpredictability is the spice of life.

Optimization Addiction

The sick addiction is everywhere you look.

NBA analytics departments have methodically executed the midrange jumper in favor of three-pointers and layups. Offenses have never been more lethal and efficient on paper, yet the league is plagued by accusations of staleness and boredom, and the historically low ratings back that up.

The Nasdaq recently announced it will move to (essentially) 24 hour trading by 2026. Will Rhind, CEO of GraniteShares, a global investment firm, sees it as inevitable: "A lot of investors have learned from the crypto world that now, if you've got access to an iPhone, you can be trading cryptocurrencies 24/7 anywhere in the world…" he told CNBC.

I'm sure this will no doubt result in happier, more evolved, more well-adjusted 23-year-old vest-wearing analysts.

I remember exactly where I was when I first heard an executive use the term "operational efficiency." Another exec leaned over to me in the board room and whispered "that means layoffs…"

You can't go a few paragraphs without seeing quotes from business leaders talking about all of the "efficiencies" that AI will bring to the workplace, and all of the shareholder value that will be extracted (or created, depending on your POV).

But efficiency as a highest order flies in the face good leadership and strong employer culture.

The Devil’s Bargain of this efficiency optimization is that it comes at the cost of something even more essential.

How To Build The World We Actually Want

The world we desire is not a world where efficiency is primary.

A world where I am my brother's keeper is not a world where efficiency is primary. Anyone who has worked in corporate America knows this.

A world where great stories are written and moving works of art are created is not a world where efficiency is primary. Anyone who has been on a production knows this.

A world where children are raised with empathy and elders are cared for with dignity is not a world of efficiency. Anyone who has loved deeply or grieved slowly knows this.

Inefficiency remains the last unclaimed territory where genuine human value resides. Where authentic perspectives develop and true memories are made.

Consider a practical example: I live in New York City, and - more or less - have two routes home from my office in Soho to my home in FiDi. 

Option A: The A/C Line of the NYC Subway. 1.5 miles, about 17-22 minutes depending on how cooperative NYC MTA is. 

Option B: Walking. An identical 1.5 miles, but about 30-35 minutes (or 55-63% longer in efficiency terms). The time difference is modest, but the experience gap is substantial.

Sitting underground, I might finish a third of a podcast episode or doom-scroll. I might get home to my wife and my dog 10 minutes faster. Within a half hour door to door I could be in sweats watching Netflix.

Walking above ground there are dozens of art galleries, restaurants, bars, and shops along that route that I could venture into. There are conversations waiting to be overheard that will spark new ideas, or strangers to meet that might change the way I see things.

These moments aren't efficient. They are the direct result of choosing inefficiency. 

And I argue this isn't merely a romantic lifestyle philosophy. The highest-value elements of human experience don't scale. They resist optimization by definition.

So this becomes a strategic advantage for an age of diminishing returns. These inefficient choices make you, human, you…

If we outsource everything to efficiency-optimized systems - AI summaries, algorithmic recommendations, standardized workflows - we risk a cognitive monoculture that is as useless as it is cold. A landscape where everyone accesses identical insights, framed identically, from identical tools. 

Our last defense against this cold and overly structured world are moments of beautiful inefficiency that color the prism through which we understand data, these tools, and the world we share.

Machines don’t take the scenic route. But we can.

The Action Plan

Here's the actionable insight for you LinkedIn Freaks:

Be inefficient, deliberately. Every day. Do it on purpose. Think harder, longer. Try one more iteration. Be three minutes late to the meeting because you were talking to a co-worker. Read a book. Walk. Be bored. Send a handwritten letter. Call your mom.

Strategic inefficiency is the answer to transcending algorithmic averages. It's how you maintain originality, perspective, and competitive differentiation.

And in a marketplace relentlessly trending toward uniformity, that might be the only edge worth having.

-JMO

I guess “Big Balls” isn’t a baseball fan.

Maybe it’s a generational thing?

Mark my words, this cultural and social sickness *will* be overcome by the deep and incredible pleasure of procuring dirt cheap eggs!

I remain thrilled by the prospect of our egg-filled future.

—JMO

This Thanksgiving finds me in a reflective mood, fresh off the whole wedding thing(s), spending time as a plus-one at Mallory’s company all-hands, and just a few days before hosting the Major Futures Partner Summit. Basically just acutely aware - and insanely grateful for - those invisible threads of community that bind us together, and the relationships that matter.

It’s also gotten me thinking about the paradox that would be almost laughable if it weren't so deeply troubling: we're more technologically connected than ever, yet loneliness has become an epidemic. The numbers are brutal. What was 1 in 3 adults feeling lonely in 2021 has now ballooned to nearly 40% of Americans.

More than one in five report that loneliness is a daily reality, and I believe it to be - even as someone who identifies as an optimist - one of the leading contributors to the cultural darkness and global chaos that we find ourselves in.

So… if we can’t just, ya know, *get married* every month to feel community, what can we do about it?

Thinking About That Whole Remote Work Thing

In my time consulting with other leaders, and helping run Major Futures, I've watched this paradox play out in real-time, particularly in the remote work landscape. Exploring that connection - between remote work and company culture / employee engagement / general happiness / etc etc… - is not new (and I won’t do it here), but it is worth surfacing, because it's something that we've championed.

Major Futures would not exist without the cultural acceptance of remote work. It allows us the ability to recruit and sell globally, keep real estate costs basically non-existent, and offer the flexibility and freedom that we can. But it’s not without cost.

Remote workers as a group report feeling lonely almost twice as often as on-site employees. We've optimized for efficiency, but are we contributing to that chaos and darkness?

Now in its third edition, our Partner Summit has become one of my absolute favorite weeks of the year. It's a rare moment when our distributed group is all together in person, in New York. Often the first time we've been in the same physical space all year.

What a privilege to facilitate and feel those moments of genuine connection that can never be fully replicated on a screen or through headphones.

As much as our Summit is a time to reflect on the state of the business and share strategy for the coming year — it's also a deliberate act of community building. It’s in the in between of the programming where the magic happens. A conversation over coffee. A laugh during dinner. A project spark during a break.

These are the moments humans live for, and it’s what technology can't replicate. It’s what transforms work - or any context - from a transaction to a relationship.

Your colleagues don’t have to be your friends, but work should feel like a place where belonging matters.

The data backs up our intuition. A 2024 KPMG survey revealed that 91% of employees believe workplace friendships are crucial to mental well-being, and 80% are desperately seeking more authentic connection. This isn't just about making work more pleasant—it's about kindness.

Thinking About Why Community Matters

For Major Futures, combating loneliness isn't a side project. It's central to how we operate. If we want to be a home for top “free agent” service-providing talent, it’s arguably the most valuable challenge for us to overcome. Put another way: our competition in recruiting is freelancing.

An anonymous team survey from earlier this year confirmed what we'd suspected: more collaboration and connection was the biggest thing our partners crave more of. Even in a world where communication takes just a few taps on a screen, it’s not enough. Genuine human interaction is more than an iMessage or a Slack channel or a Trello board.

And we preach this outside of our own walls. When we work with clients, we're not just delivering services. We're modeling (or, trying to… at least) an approach to work and to brand-building that prioritizes human connection and strong relationships.

In an era of increasing isolation driven by technology, we believe that the brands building for moments of relationship building - beyond what’s transactional - will win.

Thinking About What’s Next

Community doesn't build itself. Relationships don’t spin up out of thin air. It's the result of countless small, intentional choices to care, to include, to reach out.

I’ll admit, there are many times in the last decade where I’ve been too close-minded, too judgmental, too self-righteous. This is my mea culpa. This problem is too big to ignore.

In a world where 40% of adults are wrestling with loneliness, every act of genuine connection - of meeting people where they are - is a radical act of resistance.

This Thanksgiving, I'm profoundly grateful. Grateful for a team that brings not just expertise, but humanity. Grateful for a wife and partner who understands the power of community, and inclusion, and relationships. Grateful for all of you reading this, and for anyone trying to just be a little bit better tomorrow than they were yesterday.

Connections matter. Community matters. And in nurturing these relationships, we do more than just great work, we build longer tables.

And this tweet:

I feel seen.

The Show

Let’s just get this out of the way. We’re both annoyed that this - like so much of everything - starts with a story about Taylor Swift.

In May of last year, I found myself swimming in a sea of Swifties at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.  Her show was incredible in size, scope, ambition, and fun. An almost four hour set of nonstop, Springsteen-ian energy.

But leaving New Jersey in a haze of High Noons, I was sort of heartbroken.  

Because this for straight white, cisgendered, non-dad, male (there were only a handful of us in the audience), it was a night of almost anthropological observation, not just of the community that so many have written about and marveled at, but of belonging. Belonging with an earnestness and intensity that I had neither seen nor experienced before. I’ve been to hundreds of concerts over the years, many in small clubs, some in large stadiums. I’ve been to insane and rowdy and important games and matches. 

But amongst the 80,000 people dancing and jumping and making themselves known to both decibel meters and the Richter Scales, what was most palpable was a sense of safety and comfort to just express and exist, together. 

On that day, MetLife Stadium was the least lonely place on Planet Earth. 

Taylor was the centerpiece and ringleader, sure, but this was a group that policed itself: it had shared rhythms and rituals, values and norms. Tens of thousands of mostly young women and queer people who made the pilgrimage, exchanging bracelets and sharing inside jokes, and millions more following along at home, excitedly glued to TikTok; anxious to discover what songs she surprised the crowd with.

In the midst of an epidemic of loneliness, it was a profoundly un-lonely place.

The Data

Maybe I felt it more acutely because men, especially young men, are more likely to report feeling lonely, isolated, and disconnected from society. And it has big, real world consequences.

This is a very dense topic that many people have written about much more eloquently, (especially Richard Reeves’ “Of Boys And Men”) but to summarize, the data tells a pretty bleak story:

• In 2022, women were 9 percentage points more likely to be enrolled in college in the fall following high school graduation, a gap that has steadily widened in recent decades (AIBM)

• Men are also less likely to complete college than women: the four-year graduation rate at four-year institutions, for example, is 54% for female students compared to 43% for male students. (AIBM)

• There are gender gaps in enrollment and graduation across all major racial groups, but the gender gaps are generally wider for Black and Hispanic men. (AIBM)

• Men make up 75% of all “deaths of despair” (drug overdoses or death by suicide) (CDC)

• Single women own roughly 10.7 million homes, compared to 8.1 million for single men, according to a recent analysis from LendingTree that looked at 2021 Census data

• Thirty years ago, a majority of men (55%) reported having at least six close friends. Today, that number has been cut in half, according to survey data. And 15% of men reported having no close friendships at all, a fivefold increase since 1990

• Between 2000 and 2018, the percentage of U.S. men aged 18-24 who reported not having any sexual partners in the past year increased from 19% to 31%. (Archives of Sexual Behavior)

A pause, before I continue:

Because this is a nuanced and challenging topic: I am in no way in this piece blaming this reported male loneliness on the economic and cultural advances of women or people of color, and I am not advocating for anything that mitigates that continued advance. We must continue to lift up and invest in opportunities for those groups, while also recognizing that young men are particularly struggling in this season. Those two things can be true at once.

Anyway, back to lonely, scared, left behind fucking dangerous young men.

The Question  

Late the night after the show, between delicious bites of Sticky’s, my mind wandered what our larger world might look like were more spaces like Taylor’s available to young men. More (or even just one) un-lonely, extremely safe place specifically for belonging - specifically joyful belonging - for dudes. 

Where could thousands of your average, run-of-the-mill-dude, feel that same version of Eras-Tour-Level-Of-Safety to exist, feeling totally safe expressing joy with reckless abandon?

Sports fandom is similar, but any joy is counter-programmed with some dark and combative undertones (See: any UFC fight, Football Hooliganism, the 2024 Waste Management / Phoenix Open, etc…).

Punk rock shows are also similar, and tap into an important (and beautiful) masculinity, but it’s a different, more aggressive flavor than “joy” (even while punk shows are filled with the sweetest and warmest humans).

So what’s the answer? Maybe church? Maybe AA or a type of group therapy? At their purest, maybe those are closer to what the TSwift show felt like, providing the safety and security of rhythms and rituals, values and norms. 

One person’s forehead ash is another person’s friendship bracelet.

I first arrived at a conclusion that maybe, by definition, it’s not possible. Since, as straight, white, cisgendered, males, and ya know, coupled with the whole patriarchy thing, I’ve been told that I am supposed to feel that level of safety and confidence anywhere. To not feel that safe and confident is a weakness. Ipso facto, spaces like the Eras Tour can only exist for other communities out of necessity; rebellion against the patriarchy and white male confidence. The uninhibited, shared joy I was seeing and feeling all around me in that space was maybe, actually, shared trauma: a release of finally not feeling unsafe.  

Either by happenstance or because this has continually been top of mind since then, the lonely and lost young man has started to intersect my daily media diet in a more meaningful way. It’s starting to get more and more attention online, amplified by brilliant people like Reeves and Scott Galloway.  

Who is giving young men, lost and confused, a place to belong?

By process of elimination, only one space remained.

An Unfortunate Answer

We liberals (🙋🏼‍♂️) view MAGA rallies as places filled with people and views we despise. We label them, we judge them reflexively, we use them as a baseline for all that is “wrong” in the world.

Because, quite simply, in my opinion it’s been earned. Many? Most? All? of the views that are espoused at those events are not just hateful, they’re bad for our country and the world.

But he built it, and they come. They drive from miles and miles away because at home or at the office, they can only whisper who they voted for, if they can say anything at all.  Because - accurately or inaccurately - they carry the shared trauma of being called a racist, or a sexist, or hateful, or just being told they are wrong.

He’s is a selfish narcissist but he’s also shown himself to be a ruthless opportunist, and knew - instinctively or otherwise - how to become a flame to the moth of the lost young man.

Next time you see a MAGA rally on TV, stop and take it in. Hate what it’s doing, but observe it. It’s the biggest party in town. A pilgrimage with people singing, laughing, drinking, dancing… buying and wearing merch both official and bootleg. The uninhibited, shared joy I see in that space on TV is shared trauma: a release of finally not feeling unsafe.  

Los Angeles, New York City, even Austin, feels foreign to large swaths of these people. But Friday night in Western Pennsylvania might as well be MetLife Stadium.

These men go home with a t-shirt or two, some memories, and maybe even a nice, Trump-accepting lady to hang out with.

For a night at least, they can finally be in a place they are told they are perfect, just the way they are.

Ok, so?

Ok, so what man. You just wrote hundreds of words on the two most famous people in the world, to what - make a point that a bunch of people like them?

Yes. And I’m going to continue.

The word Taylor Swift uses most often when publicly addressing an audience is “you.” She does this at incredible length in her songs and at her shows. In interviews and on social media.

She (Donnie does this as well) employs the language of cults (s/o Amanda Montell’s book Cultish — it’s so good.)

And I’m not saying Swifties are a cult, just as I would argue against people who say MAGA is a cult. (What you learn in the book is that cults and communities with loyal followings are a sort of blurry distinction without a difference.)

But these are leaders who have thoughtfully cultivated intense fandom by creating safety, and also - unfortunately - by manifesting villains. One person’s immigrant is another person’s Matty Healy.

Before the internet matured, a popular monoculture ruled. And with that came a shared set of understandings… rhythms and rituals, values and norms. It’s why Oscar acceptance speeches and big flashy Super Bowl advertisements and shows like “Will & Grace” mattered. The fewer pipelines of communication meant a shared existence that we were all included in, whether we liked it or not.

Remember “watercooler chat”? That was fun. It forced people to live in the same reality. Belonging meant together, in the same reality.

One promise of the internet was your own little corner of the world to feel safe and seen, and that has borne out in some beautiful and positive ways. But the demise of the monoculture has created a sort of cold culture war between a million tiny in-groups and out-groups, providing the facsimile of community, while preying on the disconnect.

Until our broader culture helps more people feel safe, the grievance-identifying will run to their corners, more plugged in and powerful than ever.

Our culture is so fractured, so broken (or maybe: so comfortable?), that it takes real effort to reach into other spaces. If it’s that important to me, I can choose to never listen to a country music song, ever, if I don’t want to. I can choose to never converse with a Trump voter, ever, if I don’t want to. I can choose to worship Oprah, or never know who or what a Chip and Joanna Gaines are.

And all people want is to be included and to feel safe. And we have a horrible tradition in this country of keeping people from feeling that way.

The End.

I don’t know how to end this. There are no answers. In many ways this is just another complaint about what has become a very loud problem with no simple solution.

There are plenty of things to point at: phones or video games or bad parenting or social media or cutting budgets for arts programs or cable news or demagogues overprescription of drugs or water turning the friggin’ frogs gay or any number of things… but there is no magic bullet. There is no Kumbaya.

More should be expected of us as individuals to cultivate belonging. Just fucking be kind to people by default, I guess. But that feels too trite.

All I know is that the Taylor Swift show felt good and cathartic and peaceful, like an antidote to the cultural rut that young men are in right now, that’s being taken advantage of by bad actors, leading to real world consequences, and it seems like something we should be thinking about more. There, I just summed up hundreds of words into one, long, run-on sentence. I guess that’s the point of this place.

05.08.24 Library List:

• “We Want All Of It” - The Atlantic

• “A Martini Tour of New York City” - The New Yorker

• “The Diminishing Returns Of Having Good Taste” - The Atlantic

• “Anne Hathaway Is Done Trying To Please” - The New York Times

• This thread on Ernie Johnson and the NBA on TNT. - X

• “Alo Is Beating Lululemon At Its Own Game” - The Wall Street Journal

Today’s inspo: the stacked guitar tone and key change in “Goodnight Adeline” by Green Day off of their new record Saviors.

The Mea Culpa:

It’s me, hi.

Coming to you live and direct from my sixth city in the last two weeks. The same guy who, all the way back on January 4th, said, “yeah!  I’ve started a Substack!” 

StarteED. Past-tense. Such a bold and brash just-starting-the-new-year declaration… 

The same guy who then didn’t put anything out again until today. Like… mid-March.

I’m the problem, it’s me.

Even my fiancé said she wouldn’t subscribe until there had been two posts, because “one post isn’t actually anything…” 

In my defense, I did have an out at the end of my first correspondence.  “I’ll post when I can…”

That this is being posted March 12th as opposed to January 10th is not for a lack of desire.

I journal every day. It’s part of a small, daily routine I have stayed diligent about following this calendar year:

• Wake up (important first step)

• Pull two espresso shots

• Meditate (s/o Open)

• Write some pages

• Play the NYT games

But the thing about journaling is that it’s personal. It’s not for anyone else. And I love it. There are no rules: I can scribble endlessly, nonsensically – expression for expression’s sake.  

And as much as it doesn’t matter, the scribbles have value personally and professionally. The scribbles are cathartic. They help me make sense of the knots of thoughts in my head, how I organize the way I feel about things.

But this thing - the point of it - is that you’re here.  It’s not scribbles in a book on my desk. This is a choice, in ink, on the internet. And it doesn’t really change if it’s 5 of you, or 50 of you, or 500 of you, or 50,000 of you. An audience is an audience. And the data says that somewhere between 72-75% of all adults in the world fear performing in front of an audience. 

I say all of this because I’d imagine that the war going on in my head over the last couple months is fairly relatable.  

The Hangup:

The truth is that there is WAY too much noise in the world right now. WAY too many people, talking about WAY too many things that they have no credibility talking about, claiming to be experts. Opinions are like assholes, etc etc… you know the rest.  We humans aren’t wired to handle an onslaught of 6,000 tweets a minute.

And for so long, I’ve resisted being a part of that. It feels like by doing this, I become part of the problem. Just another man with a keyboard, a microphone, and a fast internet connection.

But what makes this whole thing complicated is this: my informed opinion is what pays my bills. For the last 15 years, I have advised successful and powerful people about what they should do to make their companies… better. (We’ll get into that in a few paragraphs.) And I’ve been told by peers who are much smarter than me that I need to get my voice out there. That I need to start talking or writing or sharing or speaking. That there are lesser people with larger followings and larger influence.

An inferiority and imposter complex is a hard thing to navigate.

This kind of negative self-talk is something I’ve battled my whole life: I didn’t go to a prestigious university, I went to state school. I don’t have a fancy MBA, or any MBA. I am clinically depressed. I didn’t dream of having a company, I played in bands. I partied. I have anger issues. I was an Uber driver.

Typing this, I don’t feel like I deserve your eyeballs. 

But I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have mentors and colleagues who challenged and believed in me. I’ve worked incredibly hard, marrying an intuition and instinct about how people are emotionally motivated and incentivized, with a learned understanding of how strong and clear brands are strategically built and managed, and it’s afforded me a great career.

Put another way, my “day job” is to look at the world, try to understand it contextually, and help leaders make decisions within that context that will create deep relationships with people who will buy shit from them.  Or donate to them.  Or choose to work for them.

And that requires that I know a little bit about a lot, and thoughtfully connect the dots, see patterns, and build systems. That sentence is the only thing I am anything close to being an expert in.

It’s a practice that’s been honed over a decade at agencies filled with really smart people and incredible mentors; currently as co-founder of a strategy firm called Major Futures.

On Original Thought:

The beginning of my career coincided with the rise of social media and the ability to broadcast anything, anywhere, anytime. So mentors and teachers drilled into me, over and over, the importance of “original thought.” Of cultivating new ideas, or being a “thought leader.” I don’t think that was bad advice, but after a decade of the internet making everyone an expert, the reality is this: there are no* original ideas.

*with the obvious and glaring exception of professional research. Real, Professional Research, like, by acclaimed researchers, scientists, and academics (not some person on Twitter whose worldview supports yours).

Every angle, every take, every corner, every idea - with or without merit - has been expressed, by someone, somewhere… in an article, or on a blog. On a podcast (probably sometime between Rogan’s 5th and 6th hour), or from a GPT.  

The whole concept of publishing something worthy of an audience becomes daunting and stifling when instead of speaking authentically, you’re anxious with the hope that a line that hasn’t been used somewhere appears out of thin air, whether you believe in it or not. 

After all, there’s an audience to consider.  An internet that needs to be provoked.

What This Won’t Be:

What this isn’t going to be is a space for #Brand stuff.  I refuse. This will not be a place to find business hacks, or Top Five Tips To Get Noticed On LinkedIn. That shit is so boring, and so overdone. What interests me, and why I got into strategy and brand building in the first place, is the science of human relationships — why we love what we love. I just happen to practice it in a business context.  

Those dynamics: relationship building, identity, meaning, purpose, clarity… are what I find most interesting, and - if you can apply them to your life or your business - by far the most valuable.

What To Expect:

When I made the decision at the end of last year to start sharing more publicly, I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do, and specifically where.  I wish I could TikTok or X or Thread, but I’m not really that good at any of that bite-sized content, and it doesn’t feel like me. I’m much more comfortable talking late into the night, a few drinks deep with a few interesting people.

My whole life I have picked my spots, and gone deep. My style is thoughtful and loquacious. My desire is seriousness and intensity. Because that is what the world needs right now. 

And in a world where answers and analysis - even premium answers and analysis - become a dime a dozen, where substance is just a GPT input prompt away, style becomes a differentiator.

So I offer this as a manifesto of sorts. 

This space is for me. An addicted consumer of information and data, who knows a little bit about a lot; digesting it, churning it up, and spitting something out on a regular(ish) basis, so that I can make sense of it for myself. It’s the art of sampling, but for the written word.

This is not a business newsletter (but it’s not Not A Business Newsletter).  This is not cultural commentary (but it’s not Not Cultural Commentary).  This is not an arts or sports or commerce blog (but it’s not Not A — you get the idea). 

The pieces that see the light of day will contain multitudes, just like we all do. There will be pieces about the Lakers and the Rockefellers, modern masculinity and art in the MoMA, a run in at a coffee shop and what’s new on my Kindle. But the common thread (if there is one) will be an honest and thoughtful attempt to make sense of the things that intersect my world as a Professional Informed Opinion-Haver. It may reach many people, or it may just be me typing into the void. Either is fine with me.

Sometimes it will be interesting, and sometimes it won’t be. After all, this space isn’t called Shiny New Thoughts, it’s called Used Thoughts. There’s a lot of shit in that used bin, but occasionally you find a gem.

Each post, newsletter, whatever… will have some inspo, some used thoughts, and some recommended readings.

If you’ve gotten this far, nice. And thanks! They won’t usually be this long. Usually.

Peace & Love.

JMO

03.12.24 Library List:

• “It’s Me, Hi, I’m the Problem. I’m 33. Meet the 1990 and 1991 babies, a massive microgeneration in lifelong competition for America’s economic resources, reshaping the world around them.” - New York Times

• “The State of Culture 2024” - Ted Gioia

• “Jay Shetty’s Backstory May Have A Few Holes” - New York Magazine

• “Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out” - The Atlantic

• “Kacey Musgraves Comes Back Down To Earth” - New York Magazine

• “Russians Keep Turning Up Dead All Over The World” - Wall Street Journal

I’ve always been partial to “This Year In Photos.”

Anyway. It’s 2024! And I know the people are clamoring, asking - nay - screaming the question: “WHAT IS HIS LIST?!”

Well… it’s late, ok? Blame it on a cocktail of holiday laziness, procrastination, a lack of appreciation for how long this shit takes to actually do (s/o people who post YouTube videos every day. When do you eat?), and just general list exhaustion.

So it’s January 5th and I’m just now getting around to it.

*Shrugs*

But there’s a twist with this list (that’s fun to say!):

Rather than spend all this time hammering away to look back at the year that was, I find it more fun to look ahead. To the stuff that is most exciting in 2024… because 2024 is sure to be a totally chill and normal year with nothing but smooth sailings and normal stuff happening within our totally functioning American institutions.

What’s not to be excited about?!

Ok… in no particular order:

• More SKIMS Men’s: My god I love this shit. I am head to toe in it right now as I type this. I mean I don’t look as good as Neymar or SGA, but it is a wildly comfortable, exceptional product — the tees, the boxers, the sweats… all of it is perfect. It’s especially great for the days when home is the office and you can get away with the newscaster fit. Make more stuff for dudes and take my money, Kim.

• Apple Vision Pro: Mallory and I already made a rule that due to our work, we are professionally obligated to procure one (1) Apple Vision Pro. We will not sit on the couch wearing them together. No way. But the hopes are high for both of us that Apple will once again delicately and brilliantly create a better human experience from what should by all accounts be alien. I - for one - am excited about what spatial computing could bring.

• Playing More Basketball: A few years ago, after decades of playing pickup ball regularly, I finally started feeling it in my knees. Turned out I had a slightly torn patellar tendon, and the only prescription was more cowbell. No, just kidding, I couldn’t play hoops anymore (or at least for a good, long while) - which was way worse. Since then I have finally started taking recovery seriously - nearly nightly knee icing and Hyperice massage gunning have made a huge difference. I’m not sure I’ll ever be back to 100%, but at least with better knees the only thing I’ll need to overcome come springtime is NYC court intimidation.

• Cohart: A little bit of shameless self-promo, but I am so excited about what’s in store for Cohart in 2024. Mallory and I started dipping our toes into art collecting in 2023, and it was an intimidating thing… not knowing how to talk about it or find value. But Cohart is changing all that, creating an art world that is accessible and fun - reshaping the way that buyers, collectors, and artists connect, engage, and transact. I had the privilege of helping Kendall, Shyevin and the leadership team with a few initiatives last year to solidify the foundations of their brand, and they are primed for success in 2024 and beyond. Mallory and I bought a commissioned piece through them at the end of this year, and have pieces from a few other artists who are on the site. If you’re an artist looking for a great tool to connect with buyers and sell pieces, or someone looking to collect new original art in 2024 - go to Cohart!

• The 2024 Olympics: The Olympics rule. Full stop. Can’t wait to get excited about a random javelin thrower from Battle Creek, MI overcoming some incredible personal struggle to bring home the gold medal. Also the music. Also, also, it means we can start the official LOS ANGELES 2028 countdown! (Assuming that society hasn’t completely collapsed by that point!!)

• Snow: As of this writing, it has been 690 days since the last measurable snowfall in NYC. As a native California kid who chose to move to NYC during the biggest snow-drought in history, this is tough. It’ll snow this year… right? Right?!
  *Aggressively refreshes NYC Metro Weather on Instagram*

• Delta Sky Lounges Being Less Crowded: Ok, I know I am in the minority on this one… my elite flyer status is showing. And I’ll start by saying the changes to the SkyMiles program overall are somewhere between disrespectful and abhorrent, but man… a chiller, less crowded lounge? You mean… No more disastrous salad bars with arugula and cheese strewn around like it’s an elementary school? No more awkwardly standing over other patrons waiting for a seat by a charger? No more 10-15 minute waits for a watered down screwdriver? No more LINES OUTSIDE LOUNGES LIKE IT’S A NIGHTCLUB? Yes. Yes please to anything that makes domestic air travel even 1% better.

• Grass Clippings @ Rolling Hills: A couple of the homies from Phoenix, AZ are taking their golf apparel business to the next level, and after taking over an “executive” style golf course in Tempe, installing lights on it, and opening up a taco restaurant “club house”, they’re ready to make golf fun and competitive for everyone. Max Homa and Steph Curry have already dropped by to play rounds there since they started booking tee times in the fall, and I can’t wait to get out there next month. Thank Your Local Greenskeeper and #StayGrassy.

• Head of State / Mr. Bee: Another one in the category of dope people doing dope things… I met Mr. Bee when I popped into a reputable barber shop on the Lower East Side, needing a trim in NYC. I had been getting my hair cut by the same person for years in LA (s/o BY WEBB!), and desperately needed to find a new spot. As creative souls with an entrepreneurial tilt, Bee and I quickly hit it off, and not long after that he let me know that he was leaving the place I met him at to open his own space. Fast forward 6 months and Head of State is a thriving shop on Orchard in LES, where Bee and his team offer cuts, and has a creative vision for so much more. So pumped for Mr. Bee and what’s in store for this year… and if you need a cut, you know where to go!

• Shohei Ohtani & Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Dodger Blue: I mean… I haven’t stopped smiling in a while. How special for Los Angeles to be able to welcome two global icons for the next decade. I already have Dodgers / Yankees in The Bronx circled on my calendar for July…

• That A24 Civil War Movie: Well, we won’t dwell on this one for too long other than to say Alex Garland is one of my favorite directors. His direction (Annihilation, Ex Machina, DEVS) is beautiful and prescient and moving and I always look forward to what he does. Apparently, he has decided to make a movie about a hypothetical civil war in the United States of America that A24 is distributing. It’s called “Civil War” and it comes out in April. A24 + Alex Garland is a sure bet, so let’s hope it’s fiction!

• SNL’s 50th Season: If you have ever spoken to me for more than five minutes, you know how obsessed I am with all things Saturday Night Live. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for this show to be created and produced in a week. It’s an even tremendous-er accomplishment for that to have been done, 21-ish times a year for 50 years. Rumours are circling that it might be legendary creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels’ last season which will make it even more of a celebration of the cultural institution.
  ……………still….. waiting for my invite, entertainment friends…………………. :)

• AI Healthcare: This isn’t a predictions space, but throughout the second half of 2023 I was inundated with readings and conversations about consumer healthcare as one of the first major frontiers where the positive impacts of AI will be felt. In Major Futures work with the medical space, the promise of personalized medicine has always been massive… and with the exponential sophistication of AI at our doorstep, it feels like we are closer than ever to major impact that will accelerate innovation in the health space. Here’s to hoping that starts being felt in earnest in 2024.

• Friends doing cool things!!: I’m so proud of my friends and there’s nothing I love more than hyping them up. There was so much of this in 2023, whether it was Kyle Nicolaides releasing his book and starting to open up whole new sources of revenue, Katie Horwitch releasing her book (with a book launch Cabaret!!!), POLLOCK traveling around the world and creating amazing art, or Mallory continuing to help so many professionals have a real, true community to call home… it was so inspiring to watch everyone build longer tables, and I know there is so much more in store for 2024!

Other honorable mentions:

• More tattoos: I want to get more tattoos. Too much of my body is un-inked and I’m committed to changing that. Nothing else to add. NYC artist / shop recommendations appreciated!

• Getting better @ Notion: This one is pretty simple. As much as I love technology, I’m pretty stuck in my ways when it comes to my personal work flow and tech stack. I finally was nudged to use Notion in 2023, and loved it… so, plainly, I am looking forward to more Notion in 2024.

• Major Futures: Ok, this shameless self-promotion, but I am so stoked on, and so proud of everything that Jeremy and I and the rest of the Major Futures team has brewing. We’ve doubled in size each year since starting off in 2021, and entering year three, we couldn’t be more excited to take it to the next level. So much to share as things happen, but for now - more cool projects, more new opportunities, more new partners, more content, and more more more of all of it.

Ok - if you’ve gotten this far: you’re welcome for all the time and hard work and energy I put into this list of things to share with you! I appreciate you so much.

Wishing you and yours happiness, health, and blessings in 2024 and beyond.

Oh, and I guess this is the time that I’ll share that I’ll be writing in this space. Yes. Finally, and For Real. And like… often. Or as often as I can. Because like I mentioned, this shit takes tiiime. I mean I don’t even have a header on this page yet. Baby steps…

So sign up below and be on the lookout for more stuff all year long.

Joseph

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