Episodes

  • 414 The AI Future with John Donovan of AT&T, the Man who launched the iPhone

    414 The AI Future with John Donovan of AT&T, the Man who launched the iPhone
    Oct 27 2025
    In this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we are treated to a rare dialogue with John Donovan, renowned technology executive and board member, whose career has spanned transformative eras at AT&T and who continues to shape the strategies of some of the world’s biggest companies. This conversation moves from leadership lessons around innovation and timing, through the current AI revolution and its economic implications, to personal reinvention in the face of relentless technological change. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. Leading through Technology and Perfect Timing John Donovan shares candid insights about what it truly takes to lead technology for corporations at massive scale. He highlights that while choosing the right technology is challenging, selecting the right time to invest and deploy is even more crucial. Drawing from his stewardship of AT&T during pivotal events, including the company’s exclusive deal with Apple for the first iPhone, Donovan explains the delicate balance between being too early, which leads to overspending, and being too late, which risks losing market leadership. He stresses the necessity of a structured process and assembling trusted teams to ensure efficient and impactful execution. This approach, he maintains, applies as much to revolutionary events of the past like the smartphone era as it does to today’s accelerating world of artificial intelligence. The New Industrial Revolution: AI’s Economic and Organizational Impact A major theme of the conversation revolves around the unprecedented buildout of infrastructure and investment occurring in AI. Donovan sees AI as the dawn of a new industrial age: one that, for the first time, is manufacturing intelligence itself. He explains that the billions being spent on infrastructure, real estate, and hardware underpin a transformation with no real historical precedent. With AI attributed to fueling a significant portion of current GDP growth, Donovan believes that while the hype is justified, it’s still early days. Like the early years of the iPhone, when supporting infrastructure lagged behind exponential demand, today’s rapid investment in AI is setting the groundwork for productivity and business model innovation across industries. The conversation touches on how traditional organizational roles and entire sectors are preparing for disruption; category leaders are poised to emerge quickly, and those companies that cannot adapt may not survive. Reinventing Leadership and the Rise of the Creator Capitalist Donovan offers a personal take on how the pace of change is shifting what it takes to be a successful executive. He predicts that in the near future, the average age of top industry CEOs will drop significantly, as the new environment favors younger leaders who are native to emerging technologies. Experience, he suggests, is being surpassed in value by competency and the capacity to continually self-educate and reinvent oneself. Expanding on the evolution of work itself, Donovan aligns with Christopher's view that we are moving beyond the traditional "knowledge worker" into an era where net new knowledge creation and leveraging AI to build new value will define career success. This creator-driven approach requires not just technical skill, but also imagination and the courage to challenge existing processes. As AI increasingly automates repetitive and procedural tasks, human creativity in integrating and orchestrating these new tools will become the key differentiator across all fields. To hear more from John Donovan and the man who launched the iPhone, download and listen to this episode. Bio Retired Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Communications, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. John Donovan served as CEO from August 2017 until his retirement in ...
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • 413 How to Future-Proof the Next Generation with Ted Dintersmith

    413 How to Future-Proof the Next Generation with Ted Dintersmith
    Oct 20 2025
    If you’ve ever wondered why so many high school graduates seem ill-prepared for life in the real world, you aren’t alone. On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we have a powerful conversation with education innovator Ted Dintersmith where the broken state of America’s education system is laid bare, and a refreshingly practical vision for the future is explored. The discussion, centered on Ted's new documentary “Multiple Choice,” makes a compelling case for reimagining high schools as launchpads for life, not just college admissions. As Ted puts it, “Imagine if the purpose of school were to prepare kids for life instead of standardized tests.” It’s a simple idea with revolutionary implications. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. Ted Dintersmith on the Cost of Standardization In today’s high-pressure academic environment, schools have become laser-focused on standardized testing and college prep at the expense of real-world readiness. Ted Dintersmith is unflinching in his critique: “You hold people accountable to test scores. What are they going to do? They’re going to do test prep. And I think it’s damaging the futures of millions and millions of kids.” The impact is startling. Curiosity, creativity, and a sense of purpose are “crushed”, replaced by a relentless treadmill of test drills and application padding. What’s more, society has paradoxically managed to “make people less capable at older and older ages.” Where previous generations might have been working, serving in the military, or starting their own ventures in their teens, many of today’s young adults struggle to launch. The root, according to Ted , is a model of schooling stuck in the late 19th century, one designed for a world of rote tasks, not the dynamic, creative economy of today. “We’ve gone from 99% of the jobs being ‘here’s your assignment, do it’ jobs to basically close to 0%. Now we need people to create and invent their path forward,” Ted explains. But our schools, he laments, “put that into a meat grinder” that discourages independent thought and problem-solving. Winchester’s Innovation Center: Real-World Learning for Every Student Perhaps the most hopeful moment in the conversation is Ted Dintersmith’s description of the Innovation Center in Winchester, Virginia: a school that’s rewriting the rules. There, every student, regardless of their academic track, participates in hands-on, career-oriented learning. From carpentry and welding to health care and artificial intelligence, the center offers a real taste of practical skills and modern technologies. What sets Winchester apart is that this isn’t a program for a select few. “Every kid is spending healthy amounts of their high school time in there, in the Innovation Center,” Ted shares, highlighting how this all-in approach bridges the gap between vocational and academic pathways. Importantly, college-bound students benefit, developing resilient, adaptable skills alongside their career-focused peers. “If a kid was at a school and they optionally took welding instead of AP chemistry, an elite college would turn them down… But here, because that’s what all the kids do, they say, ‘Oh, well, they kind of had to do it. I can’t really ding them for that,’” - Ted Dintersmith The results are telling. Students who might have once been written off as “suboptimal” are thriving. College applicants stand out with compelling stories of real achievement. And, perhaps most importantly, the community is united in supporting all students, regardless of their background or political leanings. “The school sends a message to the community that we respect all paths, and the community comes together irrespective of where they are in a very broken country, politically. Those political views don’t matter. It’s like,
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • 412 Fighting In Gaza & Lebanon: Through an IDF Tank Commander’s Eyes with Benaya Cherlow

    412 Fighting In Gaza & Lebanon: Through an IDF Tank Commander’s Eyes with Benaya Cherlow
    Oct 13 2025
    On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we sit down with Captain Benaya Cherlow, an Israeli-American army officer, strategist, and veteran of both Gaza and Lebanon. In the aftermath of October 7th, when the world witnessed astounding levels of violence and heartbreak, conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have often focused on the political, religious, and strategic dimensions. Yet, beneath the headlines are deeply personal stories of loss, identity, and the moral quandaries faced by those on the frontlines. This dialogue traverses the emotional aftermath of tragedy, the complexities of identity in a region at war, and the indelible lessons learned amid chaos, with the hope of peace as a guiding light. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. Bearing Witness to Evil and Wrestling with Identity Christopher opens the conversation by acknowledging his own pain in the wake of October 7th, having lost close friends to acts of violence and identifying deeply with the Jewish community through family and lifelong friendships. This sense of shared heartbreak becomes the backdrop for his discussion with Captain Cherlow, a man whose background embodies the intersection of cultures and conflict. Born to a Lebanese-Jewish mother from Beirut and an American father, himself descended from Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans, Captain Cherlow describes his upbringing as a “crisis of identity.” Fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, he straddles the worlds of his ancestors, fighting on behalf of one homeland in the land of the other. The experience of entering Lebanese villages as an IDF officer—aware of his maternal roots and hearing echoes of his family history everywhere—is a stark reminder of how personal the region’s turbulence becomes for those with ties on both sides. Captain Cherlow’s ability to speak Arabic and understand the culture gave him insights into the threats posed by Hezbollah, but also led to moments of profound irony and unexpected kindness even in the midst of war. Moral Decisions on the Battlefield and the Human Cost of War The conversation takes a raw turn as Captain Cherlow recounts experiences from the frontlines in Gaza. With the war dragging on, he describes the sheer exhaustion experienced by Israeli soldiers and citizens alike, each hoping for peace but aware of the tenuousness of any truce. It is in recounting a harrowing night, when he was faced with choosing between saving fellow soldiers or responding to a possible hostage situation, that the moral complexity of war is laid bare. Cherlow refuses to divulge the decision he ultimately made, insisting instead that listeners sit with the impossible pressure of those few seconds, a pressure for which neither military training nor life experience truly prepares anyone. The story of using a hospital as a base of operations, only to discover women and children being used as human shields by Hamas combatants, adds another layer to the moral maze soldiers must navigate. Christopher and Captain Cherlow both focus on the humanity amidst chaos; whether that is in giving snacks to Gazan children or improvising medical care for wounded comrades. Through all this, Cherlow reflects on the importance of conveying these complexities to decision-makers in Congress. The reality of urban warfare, he emphasizes, is not the relentless heroics dramatized on television; it is long stretches of hunger, confusion, and impossible choices, punctuated by moments of both tragedy and grace. On the Precipice of Peace, and the Weight of History A theme running through the episode is the flickering hope for a different future. For what may be the first time, a coalition led by the United States and Israel has assembled nearly all the major Arab and Muslim nations,
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    1 hr and 41 mins
  • 411 The Prime Minister of Subscription: Tien Tzuo and The Art of Category Making

    411 The Prime Minister of Subscription: Tien Tzuo and The Art of Category Making
    Oct 6 2025
    The business world rewards those bold enough to bet on seismic shifts; those who don’t just ride the wave, but fundamentally reshape the tide. In a fascinating conversation with Tien Tzuo, legendary founder of Zoura, we get a rare look into category design, entrepreneurial persistence, and the mindset required to rewire an entire industry, as Tzuo did for the subscription economy. As technology continues to accelerate, with AI now setting the stage for yet another major leap, this dialogue holds powerful lessons for anyone seeking to lead, not follow. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. Building Enduring Category Leaders: Evangelism and Timing Legendary startups aren’t created by chance. As Tien Tzuo describes, successful category creation starts with seeing a shift others overlook, then boldly evangelizing that vision. "Part of the category is to say, okay, there's a shift that's happening with this new technology. It's a significant, meaningful, profound shift." - Tien Tzuo Tien Tzuo’s journey with Zoura began well before “subscription” was a buzzword; when Netflix mailed DVDs and Wall Street scoffed at recurring revenue. He and his team endured blank stares and skepticism, proving that timing, storytelling, and the relentless ability to communicate the new reality separates mere participants from true category leaders. The Relentless Power of Story and Persistence Distilling complex ideas into a market-moving narrative is as important as technical innovation. Tzuo credits much of Zoura’s momentum to persistent storytelling: on stage, in books, and across every communication platform available. “What I saw was good storytellers…talk about a big, big trend that’s happening all around us…the market, the world.” Writing a book, he admits, was hard but necessary. "The only person that can tell your company story is you. Right, because it’s your idea, it’s your vision." For founders, being ignored or doubted isn’t a sign to pivot away; it’s a signal to refine and hammer home the message until the world is ready to hear it. Tien Tzuo's Advice for Category Creators in the AI Era Today, the pace of change is faster than ever. Yet the recipe for winning new categories remains strikingly consistent. Tzuo counsels entrepreneurs to begin with their unique insight into a megatrend, not with the category label itself: “Don’t start with a category. Start with…what gives you a right to exist?” - Tien Tzuo The logic applies in AI as much as SaaS: massive investments will be lost by those chasing what’s already established, while the next category-defining companies will stay close to their customers, listen relentlessly, and focus on the transformation they alone can catalyze. As Tzuo puts it, “With every new technology shift, there's an opportunity to displace an incumbent.;” if you have the courage to shape, not just surf, the future. To hear more from Tien Tzuo on the art of Category Making, download and listen to this episode. Bio ChatGPT said: Tien Tzuo, acclaimed author of Founders, Keepers, is a visionary entrepreneur and respected thought leader in the subscription economy. Best known as the founder and CEO of Zuora, he has helped redefine how companies build recurring revenue models, drawing on decades of experience at the forefront of technology and innovation. In Founders, Keepers, Tien shares powerful insights on leadership, culture, and the enduring commitment required to build companies that last. His writing blends practical guidance with stories from his own journey scaling global businesses. A sought-after speaker and mentor, Tien inspires founders to stay true to their mission while adapting to change, fostering organizations that thrive for generations. Links Connect with Tien Tzuo! Zuora Website | LinkedIn | Medium
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    57 mins
  • 410 Founders, Keepers: Rich Hagberg & Tien Tzuo on the Data-Backed Truth About Entrepreneurship

    410 Founders, Keepers: Rich Hagberg & Tien Tzuo on the Data-Backed Truth About Entrepreneurship
    Sep 29 2025
    When it comes to startup success, few voices are as insightful as Rich Hagberg and Tien Tzuo. On this episode of “Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different,” these two innovators unveiled the complex tapestry of traits, behaviors, and pitfalls that define great founders. With decades of psychological research and hands-on experience in the tech ecosystem, they’ve distilled their findings in their new book, Founders, Keepers: Why Founders Are Built to Fail and What It Takes to Succeed. This lively, honest conversation goes far beyond the usual business platitudes, aiming to equip listeners, whether aspiring entrepreneurs, seasoned founders, or investors, with tools for self-awareness, adaptability, and ultimately, building companies that last. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. The Double-Edged Sword of Founders: Why Strengths Can Be Weaknesses One of the core insights that Hagberg and Tzuo bring forward is the “double-edged sword” nature of founder psychology. Successful founders often possess massive vision and creative drive, seeing the future before others do and inspiring teams with almost evangelical zeal. Yet, these very strengths can morph into ticking time bombs as companies grow. Founders are frequently high in vision but far less gifted in execution or relationship building. Hagberg’s decades of data, including 50+ measured personality elements and 46 leadership competencies, reveal consistent patterns: founders often struggle to manage and scale companies beyond their own shadow. As Hagberg observes, those strong on visionary skills can be “allergic to structure,” resisting the very systems and processes that enable growth and stability. Tien Tzuo, drawing on his own journey as a founder, recounts the moment when his company started unraveling as it outgrew his initial hands-on approach. The culture suffered, teams fragmented, and productivity declined. Only by honestly confronting his own leadership shortcomings and seeking help from coaches like Hagberg, was he able to pivot and build an organization beyond himself. The lesson is clear: self-awareness is not optional; it’s the foundation for sustainable success. The Critical Role of Self-Awareness, Adaptability, and “Recovering Founders” Delving deeper, Lochhead, Hagberg, and Tzuo discuss a trait that repeatedly separates successful founders from those destined to “blow up”: brutal, reflective self-awareness. Hagberg’s research shows that founders who actively seek feedback, reflect on both successes and failures, and are open to learning are dramatically more successful than their peers. It’s not just about innate curiosity; it’s about the willingness to recognize weakness, hire complementary strengths, and genuinely adapt as the organization matures. This journey often requires what the guests jokingly call becoming a “recovering founder,” someone who learns the hard way that vision alone won’t scale an enterprise. The most successful founders are those who create adaptable organizations, listen keenly to advisors and employees, and deliberately build processes for collective decision-making. They reserve their opinions in meetings, choosing instead to solicit diverse viewpoints before weighing in; a counterintuitive move that leads to more honest conversations and smarter strategy. The inability to adapt, on the other hand, is lethal. Data from Hagberg’s cohorts shows that unsuccessful founders are consistently more egotistical and stubborn, craving to be right over being successful and cultivating environments where disagreement is stifled. This leads to what Hagberg terms “sunflower bias”; teams that simply turn to follow the founder, rather than challenging assumptions or uncovering blind spots. Building Teams, Accountability, and the Myth of the Asshole Genius
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    49 mins
  • 409 Slow Dopamine: How To Build A Career That Lasts By Losing Yourself In The Work With Monroe Jones | Creator Capitalist Conversations

    409 Slow Dopamine: How To Build A Career That Lasts By Losing Yourself In The Work With Monroe Jones | Creator Capitalist Conversations
    Sep 22 2025
    On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, in an unfiltered and deeply human conversation with Christopher Lochhead and Eddie Yoon on their Creator Capitalist Conversation, Monroe Jones traces his journey from the experimental studios of Alabama and Nashville to working alongside icons like U2, Stevie Nicks, and David Crosby. Through stories of uncertainty, obsession, and unlikely breakthroughs, Monroe offers a blueprint for building a life and career powered by authentic passion and “slow dopamine.” If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to create a meaningful, enduring legacy in the music business, or any creative field, legendary Grammy-winning producer Monroe Jones offers a masterclass in the transformative power of obsession, generosity, and self-forgetfulness. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. The Art of Serendipity: Building a Life Through Obsession and Generosity From the earliest moments of the conversation, it’s clear Monroe Jones’ career wasn’t pursued with a perfect plan, but rather, navigated by an intense pull, what he calls “the disease” of creativity. Growing up in the South, Monroe was steeped in family, tradition, and, crucially, music; a world that intersected unexpectedly with architecture, marketing, and the showmanship of the British pop invasion. By his teens, Monroe was constructing makeshift studios, experimenting with reel-to-reel tape machines, and hustling his way through the yellow pages of Nashville’s Music Row. Resourcefulness was his secret weapon. For nearly a decade before his breakthrough, Monroe lived on a writer’s stipend, stacking thousands of “unseen reps” in the studio, all the while feeling compelled to create, regardless of circumstance. But perhaps what truly sets Monroe apart is not just the hustle or even the technical prowess, but his commitment to generosity and openness within creative communities. He recounts transformative moments: in dimly lit control rooms at A&M Studios or impromptu sessions with future legends, where serendipity and relationships created leaps of opportunity. “A lot of it is in a Forrest Gump sort of way,” Monroe laughs, describing chance encounters with the likes of Bono and Jimmy Iovine. Yet these “lucky breaks” were only possible because Monroe had prepared meticulously for a decade, learned every piece of new technology, and was always willing to show up for others, both as a collaborator and behind the scenes. “Creativity is freedom for me,” he declares. “If I can make something, boy oh boy. That’s it.” Design, Songwriting, and the Architecture of Lasting Craft One of the most insightful threads running through the conversation is Monroe’s unique perspective on the parallels between songwriting, architecture, and marketing. He attributes much of his creative worldview to both his father, a celebrated architect, and a college professor who urged him to pursue his true passion. The insight? Structure underpins all acts of creation, whether building a cathedral or crafting a pop anthem. Monroe sees songs as buildings, each with their own rooms (verses, choruses, bridges) and design principles, a blend of logic, beauty, and flow. This architect’s eye carries over to his work with artists at every stage, from the earliest demos to Grammy-caliber productions. Monroe’s obsession with “stacking reps”, hours spent learning, iterating, and failing, is the invisible scaffolding behind creative legends. He reflects on years in the studio as both exhilarating and grueling, emphasizing that the foundational investments of time and curiosity yield not just technical mastery, but an enduring inner capital of confidence, relationships, and creative assets. Slow Dopamine: The Bliss of Self-Forgetfulness and the True Creative Edge Perhaps the richest takeaway from Monroe’s journey is hi...
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • 408 Follow Your Exponentials: Ray Wang on the Coming Golden Age of AI

    408 Follow Your Exponentials: Ray Wang on the Coming Golden Age of AI
    Sep 15 2025
    On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we welcome back Ray Wang, principal analyst and CEO of Constellation Research, for a dynamic discussion on technology’s future. We explore the explosive rise of AI-native companies, the shifting global tech landscape, and the urgent need for U.S. manufacturing revitalization. Ray also highlights NVIDIA’s dominance in AI, the U.S.-China tech rivalry, and challenges facing Western innovation. The conversation addresses local governance, inefficiencies in public spending, and the importance of community-focused leadership. Insightful and timely, the episode offers a candid look at the opportunities and risks shaping tomorrow’s tech-driven world. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. Ray Wang on the Rise of AI Exponential Companies: Redefining Tech’s Competitive Landscape The tech industry is undergoing a radical shift as “AI exponentials” redefine how companies launch, scale, and compete. Coined by Christopher Lochhead and analyst Ray Wang, these ultra-lean ventures harness artificial intelligence to achieve extraordinary efficiency, often generating tens of millions in annual recurring revenue with only a few employees. ServiceNow’s rise to a $180 billion market cap illustrates the long arc of cloud innovation, but today’s startups push the model further. Sites like tinyteams.xyz track firms posting up to $20 million ARR per employee, while projects such as Turbo Learn AI, built by college dropouts using only ChatGPT, AWS, and Perplexity, show how minimal capital can now create high-impact software. This “atomization” of business echoes biotech’s disruption of big pharma: innovation emerges outside legacy giants, who increasingly serve merely as distribution channels. The next frontier may be one-person, billion-dollar enterprises, unleashing vast creative potential while reshaping society. Ray Wang on the White Collar Recession and the AI-Driven Future of Work Ray Wang warns that the world is entering the largest White-Collar Recession yet, driven by rapid automation and AI. Tech giants like Microsoft and Nvidia expect to double revenue without adding comparable headcount, transforming the workplace from a broad pyramid into a narrow diamond. This shift threatens entry-level and managerial roles, leaving young workers with limited opportunities and older professionals facing displacement despite valuable expertise. Rather than simple layoffs, Ray sees an evolution of work. Experienced knowledge workers, equipped with affordable, scalable tools, are more likely to launch their own ventures than climb shrinking corporate ladders. Venture capital, built for slower, capital-heavy startups, struggles to keep pace as AI founders can bootstrap to profitability. The next two years, he predicts, will usher in a golden age of AI entrepreneurship. Yet this transformation raises urgent questions about mentorship, economic mobility, and how society will adapt alongside technological progress. Geopolitical AI, the US-China Cold War, and the Battle for Humanity’s Future Ray Wang casts the US–China tech rivalry as a defining struggle for humanity’s future: one fought with chips, algorithms, and influence rather than weapons. He contrasts China’s centralized, surveillance-driven AI model with the West’s ideal of decentralized abundance and freedom. This conflict, simmering for over a decade, now plays out in debates over chip exports, data sovereignty, and social-media persuasion wars. America currently holds a three-year chip advantage through companies like Nvidia, which dominate both hardware and AI software ecosystems. But Wang warns this lead is fragile: Chinese engineers are skilled, manufacturing capacity is world-class, and Europe risks irrelevance unless it chooses a side.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 407 The Enduring Power of Positioning with Laura Ries (Part 2)

    407 The Enduring Power of Positioning with Laura Ries (Part 2)
    Sep 8 2025
    On this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, we welcome back marketing leader and author Laura Ries for the conclusion of their two-part conversation. If you haven't listened to part 1 or would like to remind yourself where we left off, you can check it out here for a quick recap (FYD 405). Laura shares insights from her new book, The Strategic Enemy, emphasizing the importance of defining what your brand stands against. The discussion covers lessons from her father Jack Trout’s legacy, the power of positioning, and the role of visual storytelling in marketing. Laura has been on the frontlines of marketing for decades, carrying on the legacy of her father, Al Ries, and pushing the boundaries of positioning with her own punchy perspective. So what’s the real difference-maker in a market crowding with noise, AI, and everyone vying for a sliver of attention? It’s not merely being seen. It’s being distinct, thanks to the power of strategic opposition. Join us as we get into it and more with Laura Ries. You’re listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let’s go. Opposition over Superiority Laura puts it in plain English: “The mind understands opposition faster than superiority.” Translation? If you want people to quickly get why they should care, you have to tell them what you’re not. Chick-fil-A isn’t just for chicken lovers, it’s for people who are tired of burgers. In-N-Out doesn’t bother with chicken or vegan burgers; they double down on a simple, hyper-focused menu that stakes out clear territory against the bells and whistles of modern fast food. When brands define WHO or WHAT they’re battling, it’s easier for us to pick sides. Defining an “enemy” isn’t about trash talk, it’s about clarity. It sharpens what your business stands for, attracts loyal fans, and carves out space the competition can’t touch. Laura Ries on Finding Your Horse & Riding It This goes deeper than companies. The idea holds for personal brands, careers, even college choices. Laura recalls her father’s (now out-of-print) classic “Horse Sense”: don’t desperately try to do everything yourself; align yourself with the right “horse” (be it a category, a company, a person) and let synergy do the work. In a world of endless new tech and shifting industries, picking the right vehicle can be everything. Stop Chasing Attention. Start Picking Fights (the Smart Way) At the end of the day, nobody cares about your journey just for the sake of it. They care about how you make THEM matter, how you help them win THEIR battles, or fight an enemy they find worth taking down. So, next time you’re tempted to “go viral,” ask yourself: Are you actually useful, or just noisy? Have you defined your enemy? Because if your brand (or your career) doesn’t stand against something, it’s just floating in the middle… and nobody roots for the middle. Laura’s full-throttle approach: get clear, get focused, and don’t be shy about drawing a line in the sand. To hear more from Laura Ries and her thoughts on Strategic Opposition, download and listen to this episode. Bio Laura Ries is a leading marketing strategist, best-selling author, and global keynote speaker. She is the co-author of several influential books on branding, including The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR written with her late father and legendary positioning pioneer, Al Ries. Her new book The Strategic Enemy: How to Build & Position a Brand Worth Fighting For will be published in September 2025 by Wiley. As chairwoman of RIES, the consulting firm she founded with Al, Laura has advised Fortune 500 companies and startups alike on building powerful, enduring brands. Her expertise lies in positioning, brand focus, and creating category dominance in competitive markets. Links Connect with Laura Ries!
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    44 mins