Social media, AI, and building what you actually love

Executive overview

Followers no longer determine reach. Algorithms now distribute content based on interest, not social graph — a shift Gary Vee calls interest media. The platforms are moving toward pure interest graphs, and creators who understand that are already winning.

Building a large audience is secondary to building the right audience. Volume of views means nothing if the audience has no purchasing power or brand alignment.

The shift from social media to interest media

• Follower counts have been declining in relevance since 2019; the algo now drives distribution
• Content reaches people based on what they're interested in, not who they follow
• TikTok accelerated this; creators who missed Instagram had a second chance there — many didn't take it due to ego
• Ideal future product: a toggle between a pure interest feed and a curated close-follow list of 150 people
• AI is fast enough now to detect interest shifts and update your feed in real time

When to go all-in on a viral campaign

• A viral mechanic (like cash giveaways) drives volume but often attracts low-value audiences
• Ask: would you want this to be your entire brand identity in five years?
• Campaign energy and business energy are different — don't confuse a spike with a strategy
• The real asset is the owned channel (email list, text community) built off the back of the campaign
• Use AI to research what happened to everyone who ran a similar campaign before you

Not all views are equal

• 50 high-value customers outperform 500,000 low-value ones in most business models
• Audience quality matters: consider wallet size, not just size
• A text community of 5,000 primed people is more valuable than 500,000 passive followers
• Before scaling any format, ask: what brand positioning does this create?

Knowing when to walk away from something profitable

• Opportunity cost is the frame: time spent on a $50K thing you hate could generate $100K on the thing you love
• Use the smoke-and-fire model: first you feel a nagging doubt (smoke), then it crystallises into certainty (fire)
• Act when you hit fire — not at smoke, but don't ignore the smoke
• The timeline from smoke to fire varies: days, months, or years
• Self-awareness is the prerequisite — you can't act on signals you can't see

Selling out vs. selling in

• Selling out means abandoning your passion for maximum money; selling in means choosing the intersection of passion and profit
• Knowing upfront that you're leaving money on the table removes the resentment later
• Many people — teachers, cops, creatives — voluntarily leave money on the table because the work itself is the return
• Honesty with yourself about what you want is the only mechanism that makes this sustainable

AI as a mandatory daily practice

• Treat AI like the gym: either you're using it every day or you're not doing it
• Spend time daily exploring new tools — not reading about them, using them
• Use AI to prompt-engineer research: upload context, ask what happened to everyone who tried this before
• Creators and entrepreneurs who don't engage with AI daily will fall behind those who do
• The threat is real (AI-generated podcasts, AI influencers), but the response is to take the sword, not fear it

Money, materialism, and defining your own happiness

• Money buys happiness only when you define happiness on your own terms, not someone else's
• The safest financial principle: live below your means — happiness comes from the gap, not the income level
• Materialism is a problem when it's performative: buying status signals for others, not genuine enjoyment
• Self-awareness determines whether a purchase serves you or serves your insecurity
• Pattern recognition and contentment improve with age — hunger doesn't disappear, it deepens

Reach and revenue both follow from knowing exactly what you're building and for whom.