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# Brand vs Process Power
- URL: https://andys.blog/who-cares/
- Published: 2025-12-18T09:59:47.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-18T09:59:46.000Z
- Author: Andy Trattner

Back in July, I predicted I would [lose $100k or more](https://world.hey.com/tratt/i-m-starting-a-new-religion-this-is-not-a-joke-e8505f8a?ref=andys.blog) 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](https://andytrattner.com/alignment?ref=andys.blog) 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](https://andys.blog/plan/) took a step in the correct direction. Still, I've dragged my feet on fully pivoting to [zLevels](https://andys.blog/zlevel/) and sunsetting [&U](https://ampersandu.com/?ref=andys.blog). It's time to officially declare that I was dead wrong.

Specifically, I tried playing with [money](https://andys.blog/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](https://trattner.github.io/giving-what-we-can?ref=andys.blog)" 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](https://andys.blog/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](https://andys.blog/zscore/) 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?"