Just wrapped an episode of the podcast with Cristian Ionescu and he dropped a game-changing insight that every entrepreneur needs to hear: "If you're not ashamed when you launch, you launched too late." This is the 7-Day Startup Philosophy in action. Here's what this means for YOU: Stop perfecting. Start launching. We spent MONTHS building an AI tool, trying to make it "perfect" before launch. By the time we released it, the market was flooded with competitors doing the same thing. Cristian's approach? Launch fast, let customers tell you what they actually need (not what you THINK they need). The harsh truth he shared: - Henry Ford was right: "If I asked customers what they wanted, they'd say faster horses, not cars" - Your customers will ask for "faster horses" (incremental improvements) - BUT you still need to build the "car" (innovation they don't know they need) - The trick? Launch both quickly and iterate based on real feedback Bottom line: Speed beats perfection. Customer feedback beats your assumptions. Movement beats planning. Question for the community: What are you perfecting right now that you should just launch? Full episode below if you want the complete breakdown on AI, affiliate marketing, and why experienced professionals are struggling to find work right now.

Just audited the Harlequins Rugby Club after watching their game at The Stoop in London, and discovered a perfect case study in wasted potential. The shocking stats: → 292K Instagram followers (2nd largest rugby club in Europe) → 173K Facebook followers (largest in UK Premiership) → BUT: Getting crushed by competitors in website traffic The brutal reality: Northampton Saints (smaller social following) gets MORE website traffic than Harlequins. That's not a fanbase problem - that's a strategy problem. What I found missing: ✅ No Meta Pixel - I visited their site, got distracted, never got retargeted ✅ Zero post-game follow-up - I attended their game, never saw a season ticket offer ✅ Missed trending opportunity - Ellie Kildunne (England Rugby World Cup star) plays for them, 13K monthly searches, barely mentioned on site ✅ Video content sitting unused - Great TikTok content not being repurposed as paid ads The lesson for every business: You can have the biggest social following in your industry and still lose to competitors who understand the bottom of the funnel. Social media followers ≠ Revenue Website traffic + Retargeting = Revenue Quick wins they're missing: - Install Meta Pixel for visitor retargeting - Create Ellie Kildunne content hub (13K searches/month) - Retarget stadium attendees with season ticket offers - Turn TikTok highlights into Facebook ad funnels Bottom line: Having a massive social following means nothing if you can't convert followers into customers. Sometimes the biggest opportunities are hiding in plain sight.

I was in London and stumbled into what might be the best barber shop experience of my life at Hampton Gent Barbers in Twickenham. Espresso service. Head massage. Hot towel. Nose waxing. The works. 364 five-star reviews. Absolutely incredible service. And you literally can't find them on Google. This is the perfect case study in why amazing service alone doesn't cut it in 2025. What I found during the digital audit: ❌ No website - Just social media profiles that don't show up in search ❌ Google Business Profile exists but zero regular posts or optimization ❌ 146 Instagram followers with inactive posting (kills credibility) ❌ Customers sent straight to Booksy without seeing those 364 five-star reviews first ❌ Missing from local search - "Hampton Barbers" doesn't even show them The opportunity being left on the table: With just $2/day on Instagram ads targeting Twickenham locals, they could dominate their area. A simple landing page showcasing their reviews before the Booksy redirect would build instant trust. Basic Google Business Profile optimization would put them at the top of local searches. This applies to EVERY local service business: Your incredible service means absolutely nothing if customers can't discover you online. The barber cutting hair better than anyone else in Twickenham is losing clients to shops with worse service but better digital presence. The brutal reality: - Best coffee shop in town with no Google reviews? Invisible. - Incredible restaurant with outdated website? Losing reservations. - Top-rated contractor with inactive social media? Missing leads. Quick wins for local businesses: 1. Optimize your Google Business Profile (post weekly minimum) 2. Create a simple landing page showcasing reviews and services 3. Run small local Instagram/Facebook ads ($2-5/day changes everything) 4. Install Meta Pixel to retarget website visitors 5. Make booking EASY (remove friction between discovery and conversion) The lesson: Hampton Gent Barbers should be crushing it. Instead, they're relying 100% on word-of-mouth and walk-ins while competitors with worse service steal their potential customers.

I get 15 cold pitches every single day on LinkedIn. Every. Single. One. Goes straight to trash. You know what gets my attention? The person who authentically commented on my AI tools post last week. The one who had something interesting to say about the Harlequins' rugby match. The entrepreneur who asked if the Jays will win the world series. That's not selling. That's being human. I just published a new blog breaking down why cold pitching is dead and what actually works in 2025. Here are the key points: The Visibility Goldmine Everyone Ignores: Your comments on other people's posts are free real estate. When you drop a thoughtful comment on a post from someone in your niche, hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people see your name, face, and headline. But "Great post!" doesn't cut it. You need to bring something real to the conversation. The Familiarity Formula: My warm outreach response rate? Over 95%. Why? Because people already know who I am before I reach out. They've seen my content. They've engaged with my ideas. By the time I message them, it's not cold - it's continuing a conversation we already started. The 5-Step Play: 1. Post valuable content consistently (4x per week is my recommendation) 2. Engage authentically on posts from people in your space 3. Build visibility through thoughtful comments 4. Notice who's engaging back 5. Reach out with context - not a pitch The Time Reality: I'm at a point where I'd rather spend Saturday morning coaching my kids' rugby than sitting on a 3-hour sales call for "extra cheese." My Saturdays are for family. My time is non-negotiable. When you ask for a 30-minute meeting, you're not asking for 30 minutes. You're asking me to give up something I can't get back. That better be worth it. Bottom line: The relationship comes first. The business comes second. LinkedIn isn't a slot machine. You can't automate your way to relationships or cold pitch your way to trust. Drop your worst cold pitch from this week below. 👇

I just audited a digital agency that had a 'ghost town' social media presence (37 Facebook followers, months-old Instagram posts) while trying to sell social media services to clients. It got me thinking about my own blind spots...