Marketing isn't a department (and other lies we tell ourselves)

Good to see some new faces here. If you're new: I'm Brian. Dad of three. Builder of things. I write about focus, momentum, and what actually works when you strip away the noise.

This newsletter is for ambitious people who refuse to choose between shipping consistently and staying energized while doing it.

Let's dive in.

Most companies think marketing is a department. The best founders treat it like a philosophy.

I recently finished the Founders Podcast episode on Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull's founder), and one line won't leave my head:

"The most dangerous thing for a branded product is low interest."

Not competition. Not CPMs. Not "awareness."

Simply ow interest.

Red Bull didn't try to sell a tasty drink. They created a category. Then built a culture that made the category feel inevitable.

Michelin did the same thing a century earlier. They didn't just sell tires—they sold more driving. They built guides. Road signs. Excitement. They created the conditions for demand to exist.

The question for you:

If you're building something, don't ask: "How do we promote this?"

Ask: "What world has to be true for this to make sense?"

Then build that world. One proof point at a time.

I scraped 630 LinkedIn posts from people I admire. The data destroyed everything "LinkedIn gurus" teach.

I took @BoringMarketer’s content system, ran it through Claude Code, and built a scraper that analyzed 630 posts from creators I respect.

Here's what the data showed:

❌ "Longer posts win" → FALSE
❌ "Use arrows and formatting" → FALSE
❌ "Always add CTAs" → FALSE

What ACTUALLY works:

✅ Ultra-short (200-400 characters)
✅ Simple (no fancy formatting)
✅ Bold takes

Simplicity dominates.

This confirmed something I've felt for a while: the algorithm doesn't care about your formatting tricks. It cares about whether people stop scrolling.

Be interesting. Be brief. And most of all, have a point.

Most progress feels pointless. Until it doesn’t.

This thought has been sitting with me lately.

Most meaningful progress looks invisible while it’s happening.
No feedback. No proof. No momentum you can point to.

Just quiet reps.

Then one day, it clicks.
And people call it an overnight success.

It’s coming.
I feel it right now too.

Keep going.

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I shipped MomentumOS last week.

I built it because I kept lying to myself about what mattered most.

I'd write several priorities in the morning. Then chase what felt urgent instead of what was important.

I realized I needed a system that made it harder to scatter than to stay on track.

So I built something intentionally simple:

That's it. No complexity. No productivity theater. Just: what are the three things that matter today?

If you confuse motion with progress (guilty 🙋‍♂️), this might help.

Who knows if this turns into anything. It's helping me. If it helps you too—heck yes.

And I believe in just shipping things.

Worth your time this week:

🎙️ Podcast — Dietrich Mateschitz built a business by creating the conditions for demand. The marketing lessons apply to everything you're building. [Listen Here]

🖼️ Momentum looks pointless right up until it isn't — There's this minimalistic image I saw about timing and momentum. Most progress is invisible until suddenly it's not. I'm feeling this right now. Things are happening. [Include image if you have it]

👨‍👧‍👦 On parenthood and time — This hit me hard as a dad of three:

"There was a night I carried my son to bed for the last time but I don't remember it. I'm sure he was tired since he fell asleep. I picked him up, placed him in his bed and kissed him goodnight. I would pay any amount of money to relive it—literally any amount."

My oldest is 7. This reminded me to enjoy it now.

That's it for this week.

If anything resonated, hit reply. I read everything. Promise.

— Brian

P.S. If you're building something and need a system to stay focused, try MomentumOS. It's free and stupidly simple.