It’s been a few years. How are you? Remember this Substack? I started it in 2022, and the last post was in 2023. It was mainly a newsletter of things I would have shared on Twitter—before Twitter became, well, what it became. Back in those simpler times of 2022/23, I missed writing, and this newsletter kind of forced me to read more and write more. So much has happened since then, look around the world. I got a new job then, which isn’t so new now. And well—today, the newsletter is back. Sort of.
I'm restarting it now. Not sure about the cadence yet—probably every two weeks or so.
Who even are you—and why are you in my inbox?
Good and fair question. You must have signed up to this a while ago—promise. I mostly put together links to interesting things I read about digital culture, games, marketing, work, leadership, and all those properly saturated topics. I work in games, I’ve been around the block a bit over the last 20 years of my career, and I’m keen to push myself to write again. Lucky you.
I’ll probably have to add AI as a hot topic now—because if I don’t, is it even a newsletter? The joke is, I actually worked for an AI startup before it was cool, back in 2017. It failed—was it too early to market? Bad leadership? Well, not for me to say (both). I’ll also talk a bit more about product management, since that’s a big part of my job these days too.
So this is a hi, welcome back, this is your time to unsubscribe if you want to.
And here are some things I’ve read this week for a little teaser.
Quick guide to using AI now—by my favourite person on AI, Ethan Mollick. His book in 2023 was superb and still relevant today.
This is probably the buzziest (is that even a word?) piece of the week—on the shift in distribution and the rise of the next monopoly. Fascinating.
3. And finally, here’s an update from another person I always read
- while you’re there, this is incredible deck on strategy from her - pointed, deep I’d love to know what you think of it.
And that’s it for this first return, I think. I used to end with a TV or film suggestion, but since it’s been—checks notes—almost three years, I’ve got a few. Here’s what I’ve enjoyed recently to get back into the groove:
The Studio—episode 1 in particular—makes me feel something. Aren’t we all Kool-Aid?
Dept Q – silly script, and the main character acting is a bit meh, but I enjoyed it.
Your Friends and Neighbours – Jon Hamm playing basically what I’d imagine Don Draper would be. Did I ever tell you my idea for a Mad Men spin-off? It’s great. Ask me.
That’s about it. It’s hot—London hot. So I’m off ’til the next one.
All the spelling and grammatical mistakes in this Substack are on purpose to test you, actually. Well done. You got them all. No, I don’t need to know about them, you have that kudos.