I’m less motivated by extrinsic goals than by a drive to do what I can with what I’ve got. What I call ‣
My first startup Warsaw Insider, a print magazine thrived on a classic media business model: creating content that attracted readers to subscribe (B2C), while generating 95% of revenue from advertisers(B2B).
Likewise, this guide serves both individual users and corporate clients, similar to how many platforms (e.g. Dropbox) gained traction through individual users expensing services on corporate cards.
Years after selling Warsaw Insider (+ another successful partnership), I launched a similar magazine in Buenos Aires with a long-time friend & colleague. Despite our previous collaboration (he trained my sales staff, I interviewed bands signed to the label he licensed from, + other int’l work travel together) and years more of maturation, as business partners we clashed almost immediately. Eventually this destroyed both venture and friendship. Later, I found out others predicted the incompatibility that we both missed.
This made me "once bitten, twice shy" for years. And I suspect this is why many entrepreneurs become soloists or carefully limit deep collaborations – often for subtler reasons than mine.
This guide embodies what I call the Band Aid & Switch: Sell Shallow, Deliver Deep model: offering an immediate, tangible benefit (better working relationships) while delivering a deeper, transformative solution (self-knowledge).
The act of communicating self-knowledge inherently deepens it. As we articulate our working styles, preferences, and patterns, we discover new insights about ourselves. This creates a virtuous circle where expression leads to understanding, which enables better expression.
This work builds on my long-standing practice of creating personal / self knowledge graphs (e.g. this WIP site + my Syndex) for myself and clients. AI now makes these graphs both easier to construct and more valuable by:
Helping identify patterns in our behavior and thinking
Making connections between different aspects of our self-knowledge
Enabling deeper analysis of our working styles and preferences
Providing a foundation for continuous personal growth and professional development