Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Oz just showed that if your advisors are yes men, you’re bound to look stupid
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Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Oz just showed that if your advisors are yes men, you’re bound to look stupid

It’s painful to have people tell you you’re wrong. If you’re powerful, you can make sure everyone around you would never do that. That’s a good way to end up looking like a complete fool. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz both just showed us what a foolish decision looks like,…

Harassment marketing

Harassment marketing

Seth Godin wrote the book on permission marketing — the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them. You know, like a mailing list. Marketers have turned this on its head with a new kind of marketing: harassment marketing. Those are marketing messages that…

The client cascade

The client cascade

In January of 2020, nearly two years ago, I got an email from an executive at a large streaming entertainment company. Would I consider conducting a business writing workshop for the company? Sure, I said. He asked for details and references. I sent the prospect — let’s call him Oliver — my one-page writeup for…