David Beats Goliath
1 Goliath. 1 Stone. 3 Insights. Every week.
Invisible Story #7: "I’ll Start Once I’m Certain"
Why do we sabotage ourselves? Read time: 3 minutes Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for founders who refuse to live small stories. Dear Founders, Clarity is a trap. In 1975, a Kodak engineer built something strange. It was the world’s first digital camera. It weighed about eight pounds.It captured black-and-white images.And it took 23 seconds to record a single photo. The engineer proudly demonstrated it to Kodak executives. Their reaction? “Interesting… but don’t tell anyone.” Why? Because...
“If I’m Not Exceptional, I’m Nothing”
Why do we sabotage ourselves? Read time: 2 minutes Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for the self-made, not the silver-spooned founders. Dear Founders, There’s an invisible story many founders carry: “If I’m not exceptional, I’m nothing.” Average equals invisible.Ordinary equals failure. So we compensate. Perfectionism masquerades as ambition.We tweak the deck again.We wait to publish.We delay the launch.We “strategize” instead of ship. Because if the first draft isn’t legendary… …it shouldn’t...
"I Am What Worked Before"
Why do we sabotage ourselves? Read time: 4 minutes Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for founders who refuse to live small stories. Dear Founders, Tony likes to say, almost proudly: “I’m not book smart. I didn’t even graduate high school.” It’s his armor. Here’s what most people don’t know: Tony finishes one or two dense books a week.Heavy ones. Philosophy. History. Biographies.He reads more than many Ivy League graduates I know. Tony is smart. But somewhere along the way, he decided: I am just...
"I Missed My Window"
Why do we sabotage ourselves? Read time: 3 minutes Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for founders who refuse to live small stories. Dear Founders, This is #4 of a 12-part series. We're exploring the invisible stories that quietly kill momentum and prevent startup founders from succeeding. If this isn’t helpful, you can tell me.(I won’t stop. But I do listen.) Let’s go. "I had a chance. I didn’t take it. Now it’s too late." Stories help us make sense of our lives. Some we consciously tell...
The Algorithm Decides
Why do we sabotage ourselves? Read time: 3 minutes Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for founders who refuse to live small stories. Dear Founders, Thinking the algorithm controls your future? If so, you don’t have a business.You have a superstition. In every generation, people invent invisible forces to explain why they feel stuck. We used to blame the stars.We used to blame fate.We used to blame bad luck. Today, we blame the algorithm. “It’s saturated.”“The algorithm hates me.”“I guess the...
"I Need Permission"
Why do we sabotage ourselves? Read time: Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for founders who refuse to live small stories. Dear Founders, This is #2 of a 12-part series. I’m sharing the invisible stories that quietly kill momentum and prevent founders from succeeding. If this isn’t helpful, you can tell me.(I won’t stop. But I do listen.) Let’s go. Invisible Stories, Part II: “I Need Permission.” Most driven people think they’re being responsible when they say things like: “I should probably get...
"I'm behind"
Invisible Story #1 Read time: 3½ minutes Welcome to David Beats Goliath—for founders who refuse to live small stories. Dear Founders, Over the next 12 weeks, I want to share something I’ve been thinking about (and pressure-testing) for a very long time: What actually makes founders succeed? Over the coming weeks, I want to surface the invisible stories I see running founders and business leaders every day. I’ll start with the negative stories—the ones that quietly sabotage momentum. If it’s...