Brand vs Process Power

Back in July, I predicted I would lose $100k or more attempting to create a "religion" of sorts. This has come true.

It's not quite a loss, more of an expensive lesson in a particular personal failure mode. My original approach was simply too esoteric:

"...for the LLC's owner to operate extremely transparently, with zero personal assets, and an explicitly stated goal to go bankrupt...content can be created and shared around these gift-giving actions and expenses..."

Writing out a new master plan took a step in the correct direction. Still, I've dragged my feet on fully pivoting to zLevels and sunsetting &U. It's time to officially declare that I was dead wrong.

Specifically, I tried playing with money in order to build a following. But it's not a good shortcut. People are not as fascinated as I am with incentives. And you can only use the "I'm giving away my money" hook once. Then it becomes annoying or flaunting rather than informative and inspiring.

There's also a big difference between a personal brand and a media brand. When strategizing at the beginning of this month, I didn't fully understand this nuance.

Take Seth Godin, for example. His writing is almost completely impersonal. Unless you speak with him to get a sense of his depth—or you're a mega fan like me who has built up a parasocial relationship over many years—you won't find him all that remarkable. Seth mainly used his philosophies as process power, which created a very special brand only after decades of intentionally focused labor.

A friend pointed out how the zScore concept might be better thought of as an internal tool for my own use rather than a storytelling vehicle. I should ponder this further. It follows from the same logic which says giving away money is more of a personal posture rather than a useful story for public consumption.

At the outset, I should have asked myself more thoroughly: "Who cares?"