Welcome to EP #3 of “Just Built Different”

🎨 Art Loading (1 min) - A canvas for creativity. This week I’m featuring a friend who is elevating New York cityscape.

🌊 Surfing the Web (1 min) - Your weekly curated dose of internet gold.

🚀 Big Marketing Energy (2 min) - The T Minus Studios Evolution.

🧠 Rational Optimism (3 min) - The future of education is almost here.

🎂 Mindset Loading (2 min) - Every year around my birthday I reflect on what I learned this year.

🎬 Just Wrap It Up (1 min) - Life is gooooooood.

Open Air Museum for New York City

My friend Cyrus is an innovator. Since I met him circa 2013 he has been doing truly disruptive stuff.

• Was part of the inspiration behind ShopGLD.

• Built the first 1 click pizza delivery as a kid.

• Launched downtoshop (a hybrid of TikTok Shop and hollywood produced shorts) years before TikTok Shop existed.

• Created the first debit card that builds your credit.

And now?

Cyrus and his team are turning New York City’s overlooked canvases into open-air museums for everyone.

Visit Facade Foundation

I’m curious to see how this kind of creative expression gets adopted in New York and other metro areas. This is a movement I can get behind.

• 📖 Personal development: If you read one thing this week, read this tweet thread by world-class executive coach, Joe Hudson. Looking forward to working with you Joe!

• 💿 Music of the week: I’ve listened to this set by FKJ more times than I can count. The coolest part? He improvised most of this set using the landscape as inspiration.

• 💬 Quote I’m integrating: “If You look at the people in your circle and don’t get inspired, then you don’t have a circle, you have a cage."

• 🎭 Comedy: If you know me, you know I don’t mess with the big screen, unless at least 3 people recommend it. That’s my rule. Andrew Schulz: LIFE has cleared that bar (and then some). I haven’t watched it yet... is it all hype, or should I cancel my weekend plans and commit?

• 🤖 Silly Ai Prompt: Ask the AI you use most often (important!) to roast you. Feelings hurt? Good. Now tell it to hype you up. (S/O Ian K)

The T Minus Studio Evolution

Nearly a decade ago, I launched T Minus Studios as a startup incubator. It happened organically. My last company had just been acquired, and peers started asking if I’d spend a day with them. One day turned into a week. A week turned into a monthly retainer. And before I knew it, I’d spent the better part of a decade consulting founders, C-suites, and boards from fast-growth startups to brand-name companies.

I had a front-row seat inside nearly 100 companies. I was a part of massive wins, made some lifelong friends, and learned a hell of a lot in the process.

But there was one problem...

I was trading time for money.

Even operating at peak performance, it capped my income, drained my energy, and left little room to build long-term equity.

Working onsite with George P and Robert W

Finding Clarity

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my Ikigai. Looking back at a decade of work, I started asking better questions:

Which ventures energized me? Where did I feel proud? What drained me? What created real freedom? Where were the incentives most aligned?

Intuitively, I’ve always known the answer. The writing was on the wall from the beginning.

The most fulfilling work I’ve done has always been joint ventures or productized services.

Deep down, I knew. But sometimes you have to slow down, dig in, and take inventory to get to the truth.

Around my 32nd birthday, it finally clicked.

Visit New Website

I'm shifting to:

• Joint ventures (JVs), revenue share, and equity plays with aligned partners

• Scalable assets: turning my expertise into digital IP, tech-enabled services, or SaaS

• Building tools, systems, and communities that grow without constantly needing me in the room

I'm moving away from:

• Transactional relationships

• Trading time for money 1:1

• Working with clients I don’t deeply align with

The core idea is this: put my energy into assets that compound, with great people I’d be OK getting stuck in an elevator with.

My Ask for the JBD Community

Do you know a business that...

• Is doing $500k–$10M annually and wants to grow faster, without the guesswork?

• Is looking for a partner to build and run their full-funnel growth engine, from A to Z?

• Wants to position for acquisition or private equity within 2–5 years?

If so, share my website with them or make an intro: Justin@tminusstudios.com so we can explore if there’s a mutual fit.

I’m focused on building in a way that feels aligned—with who I am, what I’m best at, and where I can make the most meaningful impact. If you know someone on a similar path, I’d love to connect.

The Future of Education is Almost Here

Here's a confession: I want a LOT of kids someday. Like, enough to field our own basketball team. But whenever I think about this mini-dynasty I'm planning, there’s one thing I keep circling back to: how the hell am I going to school these future ballers?

Public schools drowning in bureaucracy? Private schools with their country club vibes and absurd tuition? Homeschooling and giving up on their social development? Montessori? Waldorf? Swiss Boarding school?

The System is Broken

Let's be real - our education system is fundamentally broken.

It was designed during the Industrial Revolution to turn curious humans into obedient factory workers. A system built to create cogs, not creators.

We spend the first two decades of life being programmed with an outdated operating system—then the next decade trying to unlearn it just to succeed in the real world.

The future belongs to problem-solvers, creatives, and systems thinkers.
But we’re still teaching kids like it’s 1923—not 2025.

The New Way: 2.5X Results in Just 2 Hours

Visit Alpha School

But here's why I'm actually BULLISH on the future of education - a new model is emerging, and the results are mind-blowing.

I recently stumbled across Alpha School, and what they're doing feels like a glimpse into a superior future of learning.

Their students:

• Learn 2.6X faster than their peers on national tests

• Score in the 99th percentile consistently

• Some achieve up to 6.5X growth compared to traditional schools

• Complete core academics in just 2 HOURS per day

The Alpha School in Texas has more students scoring 100% on standardized tests than entire school districts with 100,000+ students. And Alpha only has about 250 kids!

What Makes Alpha Different?

1) Mastery Learning: You don't move on until you've mastered the current level. Simple but revolutionary. Knowledge is like a Jenga tower - if you pull out crucial blocks at the bottom (like not really understanding multiplication), the whole structure eventually collapses.

2) Personalized Learning: Every student gets their own unique path based on what they know and how they learn best

3) Teachers as Coaches: Instead of lecturers, teachers become mentors, motivators, and coaches who build relationships. The tech handles the information delivery, and teachers do what humans do best - connect, inspire, and unlock potential.

AI Is About to Pour Rocket Fuel on This Fire

If these results are possible now, imagine what's coming with AI. We’re nearing a world where every child has a personalized AI tutor:

• It knows exactly what they know and don’t

• Adapts in real time to their learning style

• Never gets tired, frustrated, or distracted

• Makes learning feel like play, not punishment

This isn’t science fiction. As they say: “The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed.”

Why This Really Matters

The most untapped resource on Earth? Human potential.

Imagine a world where kids actually thrive in school. Not just higher test scores but deeper confidence, more curiosity, and the life skills that most of us had to figure out way too late.

That’s the kind of education I want for my future starting five. And for the first time, I’m genuinely optimistic we might get there.

15 Things I Wish I Could Tell My Younger Self

Every year on my birthday, I do a little reflection—less about celebration, more about lessons. Some of these are from this year. Some are from past birthdays. All of them, I wish I’d known earlier.

Personal Development

1. Get multiple mentors (online or offline) across different areas: business, health, mindset, etc. Be a mentor, too. Be the one you wish you had. Be unconditionally generous, but don’t shy away from being tough when it’s needed.

2. Unaddressed problems don’t fade, they compound.

3. Mastery of self is the foundation of everything. It’s the most important pursuit and the greatest achievement.

4. 99% of the time, the right time is right now. If you keep waiting for the “perfect moment,” you’ll blink and the moment will be gone. Stop spinning your wheels and over-optimizing. You already know the move. Make it.

5. The grass is greener where you water it

Life

1. Being KIND is a superpower.

2. Never complain and avoid people who complain like the plague.

3. Do random acts of kindness with zero expectations.

4. Learn how to make pasta from scratch sooner

5. Always leave something better than you found it

Career

1. Before taking a job, signing a client, or starting a new business, ask: “Would I sell this product to a close friend or family member?” If not, walk away.

2. Introducing two great people is an underrated superpower. Be the connector.

3. Buy more Bitcoin

4. Play the long game with other people playing the long game.

5. The boat you’re in matters more than how fast you row it.

👉 What do you wish you could tell your younger self?

Life’s been moving at 200 mph lately…but in the best way possible.

Epic Memorial Day weekend. Meditating daily. Building multiple AI apps. My incredible sister is getting married. Making it a point to learn something new every day. Nearly finished ghostwriting a book. Meats night is back with the boys! Directed my first video for a 10+ part mini-series. Supporting a non-profit with their marketing to further spread their powerful mission. Working with new clients I’m genuinely excited about. Back in the gym after a year-long injury hiatus. Dialing in my diet. Have five trips on the horizon. Connecting a lot of like-minded people who will do great things together. Learned how to make homemade pasta from scratch. Great sauna session with a mentor today. New whip. Pittsburgh sunshine. A lot of pickleball(Joe, Abe, & Ross I’m coming for the throne). A lot of quality time with friends and family

Life is good.

I’m not sharing this to flex. I’m sharing it to say: pause and count your blessings.

And if you’re in a season of stillness, struggle, or reset—that’s okay too. Seasons shift. Just keep showing up.

With gratitude,

Justin Edward Stephen Novak

Welcome to EP #2 of the “Just Built Different”

First, I want to thank everyone who engaged with EP #1 - your response blew me away. The energy is contagious and has inspired me to develop this into something bigger than just a newsletter (more on that later). Your support means more than you know!

In EP#2, we'll explore:

🌊 Surfing the Web (2 min) - Your weekly curated dose of internet gold, from inspirational podcasts to viral sensations that actually deserve your attention.

🚀 Big Marketing Energy (3 min) - Fresh strategies, unconventional tactics, and case studies that are reshaping how we think about online growth in 2025.

🛠️ Weekend Project (1 min) - A behind-the-scenes look at the side projects and experiments I'm building with AI, showcasing both the process and the potential.

🧠 Mindset Loading (1 min) - Evidence-based psychological insights, practical mental models, and proven techniques that help you level up your mindset and quality of life.

🎨 Art Loading (1 min) - A canvas for creativity where I share my latest artistic experiments and the stories behind them.

🎬 Just Wrap It Up (1 min) - A heartfelt thank you, some exciting announcements, and an invitation to shape what's next in this community of builders and creators.

• 🎧 Podcast of the Week: You will learn more about starting and growing a company from this podcast than you will in Entrepreneurship 101. Nick is a world class storyteller (the NZ accent doesn’t hurt) who runs a bootstrapped $2b+/yr business with 40%+ margins. Nick is #JUSTBUILTDIFFERENT. Listen here.

• 💿 Song of the week: Post Malone covering Smells like Teen Spirit.

• 🎥 Building In Public: These guys are live streaming themselves building in public for the next 90 days. Their goal? $1mm ARR. They have a solid track record building other successful apps including Cal Ai and UMax. Tune in here.

• 😣 Daily 9-5 Reminder: Hate your job? Trust me…it could be A LOT worse. Theres are billions of people in the world, literally billions that would trade their life for yours. Watch this viral TikTok channel next time you’re feeling uninspired about your life/job.

• 🖥️ Cool Website: Simply a master class in skeumorphism.

• 📚 Books: Just started “The 5 Types of Wealth” by Sahil Bloom. I met him in NYC circa 2021 and he left a profound impact on me. Will write a review in a future EP once I finish it.

Why You Need to Leverage LinkedIn Short-Form Video in 2025

Last week I briefly touched on my bullish sentiment about the future of LinkedIn (acquired by Microsoft in 2016) for short-form video content.

Due to popular demand, I’ll elaborate below why it’s a no brainer to build audience on LinkedIn right now.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: Short-Form Video is Eating the Internet

It’s no mystery short form video content has been the current digital content consumption trends for the past several years:

• Video content is projected to constitute 82% of all global internet traffic by 2025.

• 75% of consumers prefer videos over text for learning about products/services.

• People spend an average of 1 hour and 16 minutes daily watching short-from videos.

• Short-form videos receive 2.5x more engagement than long-form videos.

Microsoft’s $26B Bet: Why They Can’t Afford to Miss This Wave

The short-form video landscape is currently dominated by the big three platforms: TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Youtube Shorts.

With LinkedIn being Microsoft's biggest social network, they'd be leaving massive opportunity on the table if they squandered the chance to eat into this market share, especially considering the size of their existing professional audience. They have no chicken-and-egg problem compared to fledgling startups trying to build competition. They simply need to roll out features that compete with the big three.

That's why they introduced a beta feature offering a dedicated vertical video feed on their mobile app in 2024, with desktop video shorts allegedly coming soon. The beta test was a knockout success:

• Total video viewership increased by 36% YOY

• Short-form video is the fastest-growing content category on their platform

• Their success has inspired them to invest further, hosting workshops for their 500+ publishers and journalists to educate them on best practices.

This is all the traction they needed to validate their proof of concept & double down on making short-form video a staple of their platform.

The Creator’s Advantage: Breaking LinkedIn’s Status Quo

LinkedIn is simply stale in its current iteration: 99% play it safe because their next paycheck is tied to their current employer, avoiding posting anything meaningful or eye-catching.

Just because it's a corporate professional social network doesn't mean YOU have to publish corporate content.

Personally, I've noticed LinkedIn's algorithm heavily prioritizes video content over text-based or image posts. If you're a business owner, creator, or simply have a unique voice... use this to your advantage. This is an opportunity to stand out from the masses. While everyone zigs, you zag.

Furthermore, corporate America is increasingly attempting to be less 'corporate' and hiring creators to speak at events, conferences, create content, & more. This is a great opportunity to get in front of them and land new partnership opportunities.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

If you’re already publishing on one of the other big three platforms, I recommend you start repurposing content on LinkedIn as well. What do you stand to lose.

👇 TLDR and Key Takeaways

1. Short-form video will be responsible for 82% of global internet traffic in 2025, and LinkedIn's 36% YOY video growth shows they're positioned to capture this shift

2. Microsoft is going all-in on video features (mobile now, desktop allegedly coming soon) with their existing 900M+ professional audience—no growth from scratch needed

3. The platform's video-favoring algorithm + most users playing it safe = perfect timing for creators to stand out

4. Already creating for TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube? Repurpose that content for LinkedIn while competition is low

Weekends are for Building

Some of my most game-changing projects started as weekend side quests. Why? Simple - weekdays are chaos with day-to-day ops. But weekends? That's when the real building happens. Whether it's launching your first startup, writing that screenplay that's been living in your notes app, building your first website, or in this case, building software that's about to save our team from hundreds of hours of tedious work.

This weekend's mission: Building a low-code tool that automatically scans newsletter RSS feeds, parses them by section, reformats the content, and schedules it across all social platforms. Think of it as your content distribution system on autopilot.

Flow chart of the ominchannel distribution tool I’ll be building this weekend. Will share

At T Minus Studios, we help clients streamline their content distribution (ads, newsletters, social, you name it) to drive net new business. This tool isn't just a nice-to-have - it's about to be a crucial part of our tech stack for eliminating manual busy work for our team and our clients.

Starting as an internal tool, but who knows? If we keep iterating and building out features, it could evolve into a proper SaaS product for SMBs and creators.

👉 Key Takeaway: AI is turning what used to be weeks of development into weekend projects. If you aren’t learning how to build with AI, you’re simply going to fall behind.

Are you working on any weekend projects? Would love to hear what you have cooking…

Document Your W’s

Last year I started an experiment: documenting every win, ‘miracle’, moment of immense joy, and those can't-make-this-up serendipitous encounters.

But here's the thing - it's not just about collecting gooooood vibes. The science behind gratitude practice is actually WILD, which has been scientifically proven to improve physical and mental health:

• A meta-analysis of 70 studies involving over 26,000 participants found a strong association between higher levels of gratitude and lower levels of depression and anxiety.

• Individuals who regularly engage in gratitude practices report increased life satisfaction and happiness.

• Participants with higher gratitude scores had a 9% lower risk of developing hypertension over a four-year period.

• Engaging in gratitude exercises has been associated with decreased activation of the amygdala, the brain region responsible for processing stress and fear, leading to lower cortisol levels and reduced stress responses.

• Christina Costa speaks at TED about how gratitude rewires your brain.

But here's the real secret sauce: On those days when you’re just feeling mehhh…simply pull up your collection of wins. Scroll through those W's. Step back into those moments and relive them. Let them remind you just how far you've come…

How it Looks in Practice

I'm already using this gratitude hack for the newsletter. Because I know there's gonna be days when writer's block hits or imposter syndrome tries to enter the chat.

For those moments? I've got screenshots on deck of all the support you day 1’s blessed me with after EP #1.

⚡️ My challenge to you? Start documenting your W’s - watch how your life begins to unfold in new ways.

Polychromatic Conversations

I was hyped to see all the positive feedback about the art segment in EP #1. Originally, I wasn't sure about including it, but your responses convinced me to keep sharing some of my passion projects.

This piece, "Polychromatic Conversations," was inspired by those magical moments with the right people - you know the ones, where time melts away and hours feel like minutes.

Mediums: acrylic + joint compound + spray paint + oil pastel + iridescent tint

🎨 I’m thinking about professionally digitizing some of my art - my iPhone camera just isn’t cutting it. Reply with your address and I'll send you a print of your choice, or maybe even an original if you're lucky ;)

Before I go - a genuine thank you to this incredible community. Your comments, ideas, and DMs have shaped where we're heading next. This newsletter is evolving into something bigger than I imagined, and I'm stoked to reveal some of the collaborations and features we've got cooking.

👉 Want to be part of what's next? Hit reply if you're building something innovative, have insights to share, guest post, want to highlight something you’re creating, or simply want to get involved at some capacity. We have exciting plans and I’d love for my early believers to be apart of the movement.

With gratitude,

Justin

EP #1 of the “Just Built Different”

If you're reading this - congratulations, you're early! Even better, if you're receiving this (currently private) newsletter, it means you've made a meaningful impact on my life. I'm grateful our paths have crossed, and I'm excited to share this next chapter with you.

What's in store?

This newsletter will reflect my core obsessions while embracing my ever-changing interests: startups, technology, Ai, marketing/sales strategy, financial markets, health & wellness, spirituality, mindset, travel, art, books I’m reading, sports, & more.

My promise? To share what I'm learning and let you run with it however you see fit.

With Optimism,

Justin Novak

Headlines, Markets, and 🏄‍♂️ ing the Web

• 🏈 Super Bowl Ad Costs Hit Record High: A 30-second commericial spot during the 2025 Super Bowl commanded an average price of $8 million, marking an all-time high.

• OpenAI Hostile Takeover SZN: Over the past year OpenAI has faced significant public scrutiny after converting from a non-profit to a for-profit organization. This was further exacerbated with Elon Musk’s(who was previously oust by OpenAI) most recent bid to purchase controlling stake of OpenAI for nearly $100B. Sam Altman shot back by offering to buy Twitter/X for $9.74B. Will be interesting to see how this saga plays out…

• 🤖 Bloomberg’s $10B+ Terminal Business Faces AI Disruption: After decades of dominance with their $25k/year terminals (~85% of revenue), OpenBB emerges as a potential threat to the Bloomberg legacy. This new AI-powered financial terminal pulls from 400+ sources and includes AI assistance - all at a fraction of Bloomberg's cost.

• 🎥 LinkedIn Shorts the Next Big Opportunity: LinkedIn Shorts are THE blue ocean opportunity right now. Video viewership jumped 36% last quarter, and the platform is going ALL IN on the format. Missed the TikTok and YouTube wave? This might be your second chance to catch lightning in a bottle...

The Real Secret to Marketing Success: Living on the Edge

After a decade+ of building and operating startups at T Minus Studios, I've learned one crucial lesson that hits different:

Or in marketing speak: "Net new revenue is realized at the edge of your marketing function's comfort zone."

So - what does pushing past your comfort zone really look like?

Let's start with what it's NOT:

• Arts & crafts branding exercises

• Posting on social media

• Press releases

• Marketing plans that look like last year’s with a cheap facelift and a 20% budget increase

• Boosting a post

• Chasing vanity metrics

Don't get me wrong - these are table stakes. You should have them in place. But they won't take you to the promised land alone. Why? By the time you're implementing them, market saturation has already eaten away at their ROI.

Here's the truth: Any jr marketer can execute these cozzzy evergreen strategies. The real magic? It happens when you step into the unknown and tap into cutting-edge marketing strategies before the masses catch on.

Being an early adopter gives you access to juicy arbitrage opportunities with massive ROI potential. Think:

• Google Ads (early 2000s)

• Micro-influencers (mid-2010s)

• Dropshipping + White labeling + Shopify (mid-2010s)

• Buyer Intent Signals (2015 - current)

• Zero Party Data Collection to deanonymize web traffic (2022 - current)

• Self-perpetuating content ecosystems (2022 - current)

• Synthetic Media Marketing (2023 - current)

• AI-Powered personalized outreach at scale via Clay (2023 - current)

• LinkedIn Shorts (The time is RIPE)

So the billion-dollar question is...what's the new cutting edge? 👀 

👉 Respond to the email and let me know - would love to hear your perspective on where the puck is heading!

Also, I’ve been experimenting with some new strategies which I plan to share in future newsletters. Stay tuned!

Are Smartphones Our Generation's Cigarettes?

I fear smartphones & tablets will be our generation's cigarettes. They CAN'T be good for you... or am I drinking too much Kool-Aid? Not in a carcinogenic, lung cancer-producing way, but perhaps in a way that's even more damaging.

Just think about it: endless screen time, blue light blaring in our eyes before bed, non-ionizing radiation, warning messages when wearing AirPods too long, and most importantly, how phones are shredding the social fabric of society.

Is it too late to go analog?

Stop Worrying, Start Winning

Had a major revelation that transformed my outlook: I was spending massive energy worrying about hypothetical problems that might never happen.

The breakthrough? Redirecting that same intense energy toward the goooooood happening right here & now, in the present moment. We've all been guilty of barely acknowledging wins before moving on - seeing your startup’s first viral post, having a belly laugh with a best friend, a special moment with a loved one, landing a new client or bonus, or crushing that gym PR you’ve been chasing for months.

Instead of letting these moments slip by, I started intentionally dwelling on them with the same intensity I used to give to worries. The impact? Transformational.

⚡️Your challenge: Try this for one week. When something good happens, don't just acknowledge it - really sit with it & celebrate it! Give it the same obsessive energy you'd give to that 2 AM thought spiral. Watch how it shifts your entire perspective.

Reflecting on my adolescence, there were truly only 4 subjects that I enjoyed in school: gym class, art, creative writing, & math.

And yeah, I already know what you’re thinking(my teachers said it too) - ‘art is just a hobby that dies on the altar of real career building. NOT THIS TIME SATAN!

Art has been an integral part of building businesses online the past decade. Between scroll stopping creative for paid social, designing high converting landing pages, building memorable brand identities, and now AI powered media - the creator economy is eating the world. Being able to think visually isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore, it’s becoming a superpower for builders.

Furthermore, these past few years, art's become my secret weapon for shutting down the monkey mind. You know that feeling when you're so locked in that time just... disappears?

Speaking of getting lost in the creative zone, here's a little collection I whipped up for my mom this holiday season.

Holly Berries (one of my moms favorite plants)

“Winter Wonder Land”

Hello Pittsburgh 📍

Back in Pittsburgh full-time-ish. This is the first time I've truly laid roots here since 2016. These past few years, I've been splitting time between California, the 'Burgh, and digital nomading.

Cool tool that documents your travels: https://beeneverywhere.net/

Moving back to Pittsburgh has taught me a valuable lesson about relationships: no matter how long you go without seeing and/or talking to your real friends, you always pick right back up where you left off.

Long-overdue reunion with my high school boys at Josh's wedding

Feels like it's just a matter of time before the travel bug bites again. But for now, these salt-of-the-earth yinzers are keeping me grounded.

This newsletter is a living, breathing experiment I’m building in public - and your takes actually matter.

Want startup stories? Marketing sauce? AI tutorials? Spicier takes? Travel content? Mindset? Or something completely different? I'm all ears.

👉 Drop a reply and tell me which section resonated most.

Thanks,

Justin