Brewed From Within

Cyberspace

The Internet linked our planet. It ignited an information age and now supports our connected era where humanity’s collective intelligence dials into boundless potential.

The vast, yet connected nature of cyberspace is what makes knowledge accessible to anyone. It makes communication instant, gives founders an ability to scale, and helps anyone find their tribe. As artificial intelligence (“AI”) taps into the treasure trove we’ve been building since the 1960s, we’ve seen how quickly technology can advance thanks to the endless contributions of generational leaders worldwide.

Heightened connectivity will take us into the deep future, but be wary of excessive consumption. With everything at our finger tips, it’s easy to get lazy. This can degrade our mental fitness with isolated ideology confidently misguided by algorithms. We may be the last generation to know what life was like offline. This enshrines a calling to embrace emerging technologies, but also to preserve the communal code that nature, experiential wisdom, relationships, and eccentricity uploads into the human experience.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Digitized Consciousness

Would you choose to live forever? Most say no. There’s something precious about the finite nature of life.

That said, making an impact, life extension, endowing loved ones, and leaving a legacy are innate ambitions.

As humans merge with machines, digitizing our life’s body of work can, technically, already be done. To illustrate this, the average human generates around two gigabytes of data per day. This data culminates from the text, audio, photos, video, and other creative expressions we create. Nanotechnologies may reduce the storage space needed, but even without that multiplex, if we generate 730 gigabytes of data each year and live 75 years, that equates to only 54,750 gigabytes, which is less than 55 terabytes. Everyone generates different types and levels of information, but storage is not the issue.

With storage negligible, the creation of authentic content, verifiable ownership, data management, lasting security, and personal privacy will always present concerns. Barriers are built to be broken, but information alone is unlikely to represent the enigma of one’s consciousness. The totality of one life’s output will present signals, but if those who follow are to interact with a digitized consciousness, how might the experience need to be supplemented to feel organic?

Interfacing with the brain will unveil depth in the human mind, but will that be enough to paint how consciousness is felt though the soul of our existence?

Replicants with your digitized consciousness may never fully represent the original, but that won’t stop such a resource from being appreciated. Humans thrive, thanks to a historic desire to pass our experiences on to future generations—whether through stories told, wisdom shared, or just a voice to comfort our descendants. As we continue to digitize the world, the option for mind uploading seems inevitable, and content creators have a head start.

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Consumption expires.

Create to live beyond time.

Let’s assume advancements in brain-computer interfaces, neural networks, and quantum computing unlocks the ability to effectively digitize consciousness. Who might activate it, and how would such an asset be portrayed, owned, and managed after the human dies?

Navigating this reality will require a combination of legal, ethical, and philosophical frameworks, but eventually the digital interaction becomes easy. It gets weird as this digital asset becomes a part of the physical world. What might a digitized consciousness paint on a canvas? Why not mix sounds into music? Could it run a humanoid robot?

Further down the road, what are potential risks and benefits of creating a digitized consciousness that is capable of self-improvement and adaptation? Final alignment may be needed before the human dies, so tiny details could be refined. Even with final tweaks to support transcendence, software gets stale, but updates could alter the asset.

It feels important to evolve elements that keep such an asset functioning, but the ideas, insight, perspectives, and overall interaction with such a digitized consciousness would need to be unscathed to remain true to the original source. If an uploaded mind was altered, a kind of digital entropy would fragment the asset away from its original purpose.

A transforming heart may keep this asset in vogue, but the identity of the human it represented would be lost. Any digitized consciousness will become outdated over time, but perhaps that will be part of the charm.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Storytelling

Humans are innate storytellers. We use (sequenced) stories to enjoy life, relay ideas, and network experiences. Passed over generations, the willingness to tell stories has helped our species survive. When collided, shared understandings then summon diverse environments connected to thrive.

As we narrow the narrative into an entrepreneurial lifestyle, the values of storytelling are felt as we learn, create interest, unite, and act beyond the shared moment. Over a brew, in the office, at events, out with friends, or on-stage, leaders must be able to translate the story of a business.

The environment, industry, audience, and format affect how a story is told. The sentiment should be consistent, but your story won’t sound the same each time. Agility, preparation, and awareness will keep a story genuine, truthful, and engaging. Preparedness also boosts our confidence to share our stories in any situation.

Internal storytelling between owners, co-workers, mentors, advisors, and customers is guided by listening, curiosity, data, transparency, and all that’s found in the Team chapter of You Don’t Need This Book.

Let’s expand the repertoire with a focus on storytelling with strangers. This is done by playing with styles and tinkering with creative formats for the story.What’s your style? How casual can you make it? How nerdy can you go? What feelings do you evoke?

Alongside different styles, timing also helps to format the story. One sentence is a sharp conversation starter. 42 Seconds is ideal for networking events and in small groups. 6 Minutes delivers details to support a valuable Q&A. 10+ minutes creates space for more depth, but don’t numb the audience. 45+ minutes is leading event sessions and keynote speaking.

Along with talk, relatable assets bring a story to life. Such creation uncovers flow for a story. So embrace branding, social media, website development, slide decks, one-pagers, and endless types of physical and digital materials that connect storytelling with an audience that cares.

No matter the situation, honest understanding, energizing enthusiasm, practice, transparent vulnerability, intellectual humility, and concise simplicity will serve you well. Nothing pushy, but pops of persuasion curate attention along the way. As a remarkable story comes together, feedback will sharpen the business and help tweak the transmission.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Momentum Mountain

From the moment we decide, a force is required — strategic action that is geared to find and then maintain momentum.

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“Inspiration is perishable —  act on it immediately.” – Naval Ravikant

Meaningful momentum is awakened in endless ways. Early momentum might mean showing up at an event for the first time, researching the competitive landscape, testing an early hypothesis, leaning into customer discovery, considering potential co-founders, building product, and eventually activating a launch sequence.

Once a project is launched, the need for momentum gets stronger. It only becomes more important. There are a world of examples, but growing the business, achieving milestones, and celebrating progress are all forms of valuable momentum. Even in later stages of a company, momentum drives activities like succession planning, navigating exit paths, and considering how your human, financial, cultural, intellectual, and network capital can be recycled back into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

If momentum is maintained long enough, the result can be a flywheel effect that feeds on itself. Most things you want to grow require attention, but with less friction, momentum delivers bonus time and valuable understanding. Space for new activity emerges and that keeps things interesting.

The tough reality may be that if momentum is melting, it’s difficult to recapture. Once something melts, it’s never quite the same. These dips are moments to consider when and what to quit. If there’s enough energy to keep going, there may be a way to keep building.

Like the opening quote reminds us, inspiration is perishable. The longer stagnancy lingers, the further you get from momentum. Tactics to maintain kamiwaza, even when momentum is melting, start with communication.

Honest communication adds clarity and is the easiest way to appreciate the realities of slowness. Reducing the weird by exposing the why, also keeps different stakeholders on the same page. By reducing the tension that quietly brews in silence, teams may be able to run at lower speeds, even during lethargic times. If left unattended, however, this can devolve into a lack of urgency that brings another set of challenges.

At lower speeds, perhaps less movement is needed to regain the sense of shared momentum? That’s a real thought, but a tad boring. When it’s time to thrive, not just survive, sparks fly as initiative is taken.

Tactics for climbing a momentum mountain include:

  • Connecting within startup communities
  • Traveling and learning something new
  • Saying “yes” to unlock adventure
  • Saying “no” to create space
  • Revisiting customer discovery
  • Building a new feature
  • Considering a pivot
  • Onboarding new customers
  • Adding to the team
  • Have fun, then staying centered on a climb down
  • Whatever else generates joy in your own life

    Momentum is crucial to playing long-term games with long-term counterparts. Find a good pace by exploring the momentum you’ll need at different stages of the quest.

    This awareness helps you quit chasing momentum and sets us free to forge better art at a sustainable speed. Continue to multiply mass and velocity, which equates to momentum when, where, and how it’s needed to stay wild.

    By Ben McDougal, ago

    Isochronal

    Repetition builds clarity for the stories of our quests. Isochronal means uniform in time or occurring at regular intervals. Let’s think through why recurring reminders are needed to motivate awareness, action, and steadfastness.

    The starting state is what makes it hard to get anyone to do anything. Motion requires force. We don’t know what we don’t know. The dance of an entrepreneurial lifestyle takes time, and action calls for commitment.

    That’s a heavy ask, and attention is scarce. Finding people who care, garnering feedback, and attracting customers will build momentum, but maintaining thrust calls for creativity.

    Along the way, play with specificity to make any narrative feel less intimidating. These distinct, recurring pieces of the puzzle act like stepping stones. The distance between each stone can be short at first, but bigger obstacles will soon require longer leaps. Scaling a story is demanding, and activating even a small audience is challenging.

    This is because such consistency requires sacrifice. When it comes to business, consistency is what most people want. Passion is fine, but are you healthily obsessed? The sacrifice is worth it when discipline makes business an authentic experience. It can almost become a hobby that pays. We enjoy hobbies, and it’s easy to be authentic when you enjoy something. No act required. It’s easier to be consistent when authenticity feels normal. When consistency is then united with discipline, perhaps we find our own isochronal.

    Your own version of isochronal is thoughtful repetition that helps to deliver on whatever the promise may be. True fans can stay in-tune, then steadfastness catches fresh awareness along the way. What’s your smaller, more specific target audience? It’s a moving target, but how can nimble calls to action resonate with the smallest viable audience?

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    When it gets repeated, the story grows.

    To create intrigue alongside consistency, combine personal touch with true understanding. Humans can say less when something is understood, so tighten your vocabulary with fewer words. It must maintain reality, but fewer words can make things easier to remember.`

    When anything becomes worth repeating, the motivators of a mission can be passed to future leaders. This is critical for long-term quests with ongoing rotations of participation. New leaders who keep innovating on what works can revitalize a team, add healthy succession in an organization, and keep dots connecting for the community. Without clarity, the fresh energy of future leaders can be misguided and may fracture progress.

    Any story will always be evolving, which means clarity on a foundation of constants will fuel momentum.

    For external communication, sequencing keeps each touchpoint lighter. Conciseness allows first impressions to be impactful, then content that rhymes over time can guide more isochronal action without hesitation. Repetition brewed with the staying power of sequencing keeps the narrative consistent and therefore transferable. Transferability helps make onboarding newcomers sustained, bold, honest, and efficient. Isochronal sequencing also bridges dips in clarity among different segments of existing stakeholders.

    It’d be nice if recurrence wasn’t a part of the equation, but it’s loud out there! Attention is hard to earn and harder to maintain. We also know endless reminders are annoying, yet the weight of too much at once is daunting. This makes communication that guides lasting enrollment an art form. Be isochronal with a strategic cadence, trust-building consistency, perceptual learning, and patience for sequenced storytelling.

    By Ben McDougal, ago