THOUGHTS

Two weeks ago, a friend from Dubai called. He wanted to chat about the situation.

More than that, he shared that he is struggling.

With over 25 years of experience, building and selling big businesses and now working as a consultant, nothing prepared him for war.

The brain fog, the uncertainty, the worry, the lack of energy and motivation.

And he said, “You guys are used to it, and I know it’s not the same, as they are targeting your homes, but we are struggling.”

He went on to compare which of us might be having a harder time.

I explained it’s subjective, and sadly, we are used to these things.

What struck me is that we have both been to all those boardroom events, meetings, global conferences. We took the same courses about resilience.

“No matter what you throw at us, we keep going. We will find a way. We will not break.”

But you cannot teach that in a boardroom.

Resilience is about going through it, putting yourself out there, or simply being exposed to it.

As business owners, leaders, and managers, we got used to having an easier life.

War, AI, oil prices. The world is moving faster than ever.

Uncertainty is the only certainty we might face in the coming years, and resilience is about learning to live with it.

Whatever we thought was true is no longer guaranteed.

Believe in yourself, your ability. Build to last, and hope the storm passes over your head.

But for most, it’s coming.

If you want to win against all odds, you must welcome the storm.

Leaders are born in action, not by taking pictures of a slide deck in a conference room.

Building in Public

Keeping healthy by the computer

Over 75 hours sitting at my desk this week.

Eight startups, three full pitches created. Total amount being raised: $147 million.

That’s impact.

My girlfriend told me I’m one of the only people she knows who gets excited when overworked.

One company had just eight days to prepare, and with a very long and messy pitch, we set out to rewrite it, going from 12 minutes to just under four.

During one of the calls, she thanked me for the hard work and said the version was still a bit long, but it would do.

Twelve hours later, on our follow-up call, the version was 15% shorter, tighter, and punchier.

She said: “I’m so happy you are here, and part of the team.”

Another startup, three seasoned partners, going into a market against beasts.

Through my pitch process, we discovered a blue ocean, a new business model, and a whole new champion to sell to.

A reminder, I do not change the idea, the tech, or the amount being raised. I change the story we tell.

And the story takes the brand in completely different directions.

Next week, I will focus on two things:

1. My cue card app. I have to say, I have been stuck on big decisions like how complex it should be. Is it part of a bigger plan or a standalone? Should I build it with SEO in mind, and what will the marketing look like?

My decision is to move fast and break things. I want to launch it and focus on marketing.

2. This might sound crazy, but I need to focus on resting. I feel the stress here has impacted my well-being, and it’s time to slow down.

Planning a day at the spa, to chill, read a book, and not focus on work.

Just For Fun

Gif by CaptainBNB_bsc on Giphy

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This Storyletter was created while listening to this 2-hour mashup, bringing Daft Punk and Justice together
👉 🎧 Listen

🤖 AI is coming for you
This 1957 movie predicted the AI job crisis
👉 🤖 Watch

✈️ Landing on a moving train
This crazy Red Bull team does it again
👉 ✈️ View

Ceasefire.

From 0 to 100 in a heartbeat.
Asking us to go back to work, kids to school, being creative again.

Funny how the world thinks it works.

We want peace, we want to enjoy, learn, grow.

It is never easy to face daily challenges, let alone war.

Since Oct 7th, we have been fighting madness on top of our daily lives.

Asking for help is hard.
Having accountability buddies is great.
Asking yourself what’s one thing you can do better tomorrow is how we grow.

The world might change forever or stay the same. It’s how we act, react, and respond that will define who we are in the near future.

THOUGHTS

Over the last ten months or so, I have noticed many entrepreneurs have the same problem.

I like to call it the accountability gauge.

Put in simple terms, they want to achieve a lot, are not willing to put in the work, and the gauge moves between “I don’t know what to do” and “no one is doing what I’m asking them to do.”

These entrepreneurs focus on blame instead of creating.

Too many AI tools, too many meetings, the team isn’t working hard enough.

One thing is apparent. We forgot to ask ourselves, as entrepreneurs, one simple question:

What if I am the root cause, the problem?

On the other side, I meet entrepreneurs and managers working hard to help their teams succeed. Instead of an AI tool frenzy, they choose a few and call it their 2026 AI tech stack.

A few of them ask their team what they can do to help them reach their goals.

And a select few even do what they promised their team they would do.

Accountability is a great tool to make sure we get things done.

I have asked a few good friends to hold me accountable for the next few months.

Why?

Because I said I would write more.
I said I would launch another tool, and I didn’t.
I promised myself I’d go back to running and even reading books.

We say, we don’t do, and there is always an excuse, always a reason.
And that reason has one main problem: myself.
And it might be the same for you.

Find a friend. Give them three lines of accountability. Specific goals and timelines. It has to be a success/fail concept.

You want to become better?

Own it. That you are the problem, that you have the solution, and that people around you are happy to help you unlock your potential.

Building in Public

My Current Tech stack

This week’s section is a short update, hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you do.

Sales
My new discovery call structure is so good, I am amazed how well it’s helping me close more deals.
I have built the whole flow, from the new Hebrew website, to the discovery call, and now the materials shared with prospects. It’s already generated over 10K in the first month.

Marketing
I’m creating new content, and with over 20 new shorts ready in the pipeline, I hope to attract more clients.
The “Business Storyteller Show” will have a launch date soon (you know how it is, scheduling with the war and all). We also hope to announce a main sponsor.

Tech build
I have finished migrating my website to a new database, and I have to say, it was harder than building the whole platform. They say AI is so simple, until one thing breaks.

April 20th, I plan on launching my first mini app. I had to learn how to build a whole new architecture for SaaS platforms. I have probably spent 60 hours during the war last month learning, writing, and teaching myself new things.

My goal is to soft launch and have a paid tier by mid-May.

War is a shitty thing, my friends, but I might as well make the best of my time in the shelter.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This Storyletter was written while enjoying the Tiny Desk’s De La Soul concert
👉 🎧 Listen

🎬 Who made Putin?
Jude Law in this epic film, coming out April 17th. The story of the man behind the strategy
👉 🎬 Watch

🔥 Cop Wastelands
Not sure if this is a joke or a real movie, but had to share it. Mad Max on a low budget maybe
👉 🔥 View

Freedom.

We often talk about what freedom means.
Financially, mentally, and physically.

Passover is tonight.

A Jewish celebration of the time when the Hebrew people left Egypt to find the promised land.

This year, in Israel, we will be celebrating under missile attacks, with our airports shut.

Is this freedom?

It’s a matter of perception. We will celebrate as best as we can.

No matter what comes, we believe in our freedom and the right for peace all over the world.

Here are some ideas about freedom for you.

THOUGHTS

A good friend of mine runs an agency.

With about 30 staff, he feels he needs to work harder.
To pay salaries, to get more clients, to scale.

He works late nights, moving from meeting to meeting.

Is that freedom?

I guess if it made him rich, maybe we could call it a golden cage.
So much money, you can’t walk away.

But agency life is more like a mouse wheel. You just can’t get off.

Because after so many years, what will you do?

Go back to working alone? As a freelancer? With a small team?

I’m here to remind you, without written goals, you might be working as hard as you can, but still be stuck in exactly the same place.

Believe you deserve to be free.

Have a plan. Write it down.
Add a timeline.
Execute, and never look back.

The Jewish people thought they could never escape the wrath of Pharaoh.

Until one person came and said it could be done.

It might be hard.
It might take time.

Whether you are an employee or a business owner, write your plan.

Rewrite your exodus, or make tomorrow a bit better.

Building in Public

A run by the beach between sirens

This week is my chance to bring freedom closer.

I was supposed to be sitting on a beach in Thailand, sipping coconut and enjoying the sun.

But on the 28th of February, a war started. Everything changed.

Sadly, we are used to fighting, to seeing war. But after a few weeks, it’s no longer “war.”

It becomes routine.

Stuck in Tel Aviv, the airport is pretty much closed.

In life, we can choose to look at things as positive or negative.

My mom always says, think positive and it will be positive.

So this holiday, as we spend a lot of time in shelters, this is my chance to focus and build.

Data from Anthropic shows Israel is leading in Claude token usage.

We have time. We have ideas. And we want to build a new future.

My plan is to launch another solution by the end of this holiday, probably mid-April.

Enjoy your freedom.

We will stay in the shelter, stay safe, and keep building a whole new future.

Think positive. It will be positive.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This special edition was written while listening to the news, but really wanting to listen to this Shibuya playlist
👉 🎧 Listen

🎩 Who doesn’t like a gentleman?
👉 🎩 Watch

🦸 It’s a plane, it’s… Supergirl?
Great trailer, let’s hope the movie is better than Superman
👉 🦸 View

This might have been the hardest Storyletter to write since I started this about 80 weeks ago.

We are tired, with sirens and missiles falling not far away.

Last night, a missile hit exactly where a previous one had already damaged an area close to where I live.

There was a 59-year-old guard there, making sure no one took anything from the site.

He didn’t make it in time to find shelter.

He died from a direct hit.

This Storyletter is a small tribute, out of respect for a man who tried to do what’s right and paid with his life.

THOUGHTS

I have been doing the speaking circuit here in Israel, and the last month has been very interesting, with most sessions happening online while the war is still raging.

Many startups are looking to raise funds, but as the market keeps shifting, the need to show traction is becoming crucial.

While talking to most founders, I get a long list of external accusations or excuses explaining why they are struggling to close deals or even secure design partners.

The market is always hard, or else everyone would win.

The need to pitch and sell means we are all competing on who has the better story, but most founders only have one scene, or maybe one good chapter.

It’s time you control the whole process.

1. How do your leads arrive?
   Word of mouth? A recommendation? What can you do to make them feel special from the first moment?

2. Do you have anything planned before they meet you for the first time?
   If not, you are missing out. Most startups send a few slides. Nothing special. Nothing memorable.

3. What do they expect?
   Are you creating excitement, certainty, clarity? If not, you are creating the opposite, and your chances are declining before you even begin the sale.

4. What do you say, and to whom?
   Write your discovery call. From plan to pitch, from closing to next steps, or you might miss out.

5. How do you follow up?
   Sending a thank-you email is nice, but it won’t get you there. Make it personal, interesting, and compelling in a way that makes them want to get on the next call.

People write code.
People build brochures.
People film videos.

But they forget to write the story they will tell their client.

And the sales part of your story?

It starts long before you ever meet that potential client for the first time.

Let me know if you are struggling with your sales and growth.
I am actively looking for some interesting use cases.

Building in Public

Working on some new visual identity for my website

100% closing rate since launching my new site.

A new customer journey, a new pitch, and a new discovery call structure.

I feel excited seeing everything I teach coming into play in my new business, and the future looks bright.

Would love to add a few more hours of sleep, but that might be a luxury.

Right now, the focus is on routine. Morning coffee, writing, getting back to running, and improving my diet.

Next step is to overdeliver for every client in my portfolio.

The third step is building more tools to help me scale the business.

These are small tools to improve storytelling techniques. They will serve my clients and eventually become my next project, selling SaaS at scale.

But what I really love here is that I can sell two things:

Software as a Service — my platform on a monthly subscription.

Or

Service as a Software — you pay to get my service through the platform, bringing more value to more companies while maintaining a high profit margin.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was written while listening to the Gotan Project playlist
👉 🎧 Listen

💔 Do you believe in romance?
Or at least in a good British romcom? Because I’m a sucker for these
👉 💔 Watch

🎬 The Savage House
All these posh old folks… funny and sad at the same time
👉 🎬 View

We can get used to anything.

But it’s routine that keeps us going.

If you want to make a change, it’s about priorities and routine.

Right now, here, it’s not easy.

Sirens. Running to the shelter. Breaking the flow.

And still, we keep going.

So the question is simple:

What are you hoping to achieve this week?

This week’s idea came from a sales session that went slightly off the rails.

THOUGHTS

Helping is the best form of modern marketing.

With the help of AI, we are seeing more noise than value.
People are screaming their offers, masking them as value, as something they have learned.

I believe AI, together with social networks, is our opportunity to see the real players outperform the rubbish people call content.
It is a great chance for professional executors to show loud social influencers who is the real deal.

When the question of founder-led marketing came up in a WhatsApp group of almost 1,000 entrepreneurs, the answers varied. Most either wanted to avoid it or didn’t know how to do it.

I think it’s fair to say that most people understand it’s needed and that it could help them.

It was interesting to see the different opinions, but here is mine:

You must do it.

Do it now, before it’s too late.

While using my consulting to scale my work, I’m seeing how my brand is actually helping me scale my services.

You need to think about your craft as something that can help many people. So why not share your knowledge with others? Especially if it can also help you get more clients.

I am offering more Q&A sessions, live online talks, and using that to create content that amplifies my offering.

AI tools are just helping me do it quicker, better, and more efficiently.
It used to take a team of five people in my agency to run something like this. Today, I’m doing 3X without anyone, and it feels fun and easy.

But you are still not sure how to start?

Here’s exactly what I’m doing:

1. Ask AI (I found the best answers on Gemini) to find relevant questions in your industry.

2. Use Wisprflow to record answers in your own style. It will transcribe your answers. Do it back on the AI tools.

3. Ask for a concise 120–200 word reply. Make sure to ask for short sentences that you can reuse.

4. Use Riverside to record and edit (just delete the sentences you didn’t like).

5. Use these replies on your social media channels and see what happens.

For me, it’s been a game changer. Focus and fun, helping others. I am now replying to real questions from my audience.

The goal? Getting to 100 answers in video format.

And if you do that?

Your marketing will change, forever.
Your personal brand will change, you will enjoy helping others, and your business will benefit from more leads.

Not sure what to do? Ping me, I’ll help.

In the link below, I’ve added a great story about a founder who decided to sleep in his office until they reached 1,000 new paying customers. He documented the entire process, and based on their sales cycle, it was a six-month project.

Building in Public

A new podcast, in Hebrew, but it’s good

Building in public has a lot to do with compounding.
Keep writing, testing, improving.

Over the past few months, I have had short-form videos running all over the socials, and it’s starting to pay off. With another strong interview and three live sessions, all of a sudden I’ve seen a spike in DMs, reach-outs, and more leads coming in.

In terms of my Lovable journey, my Hebrew website has seen its first 100 visits in a few days, and almost 25 people downloaded the lead magnet (it’s in English, feel free to reply here and I’ll send it over).

Another interesting change has been my sprint offering. With three sprint options, the pitch, messaging, and customer journey, I am seeing a few leads this week. The calls are great, people get the offer, understand the value, and like the pricing.

This week, I’ll be focusing on launching the new Streetwise Agency site with the complete offers.

I feel things are really coming together, even with the war waging outside. I am proud to say that I’ve finally, this week, found my rhythm and routine again.

Stay strong, stay safe, no matter where you are in the world.
And if you need anything, please let me know.

Just For Fun

Rest in Peace

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This Storyletter was written while listening to this New York Workday Vibes playlist
👉 🎧 Listen

⚽ When the World Cup goes wrong
How did they even come up with this idea?
👉 ⚽ Watch

🎬 It’s the CIA
John Malkovich is back, this time creating problems for the Chilean government
👉 🎬 View

As a huge Formula 1 fan, watching the Chinese GP is a reminder that even the best brands can screw up.

They plan. They spend millions, some up to a reported billion in investment.

And it still doesn’t work.

So they go back to the drawing board while racing.

They learn, improve, test again, race, lose, improve again.

A reminder that your race is also a long one.

Launch and fix on the go.
Plan and keep trying.

Stay safe out there, and go Ferrari.

This week’s idea came from a sales session that went slightly off the rails.

THOUGHTS

Are you an explainer or are you a hugger?

During a sales session with over 75 salespeople across 12 companies, one thing was very apparent.

The salespeople who had to shout and interrupt my session.

You know them. You might even be them.

The important thing for them was explaining why they did not agree with my methods or my experience.

One of my favorite parts of these sessions is kicking their ass a little and showing them they’re not doing enough. More importantly, showing them how much they can improve as salespeople.

If you are a professional who believes they know everything about their craft, you are wrong.

I’ve been doing sales and writing for over 20 years, and I still love learning new things. I crave new tips, ideas, rethinking what I thought worked and finding better ways to do it.

With technology changing so fast, it’s easier than ever to improve. But it also brought out the explainers.

The people focused on explaining why they know best and why they should not change their ways.

I’m here to remind you to become a hugger.

Find new ways to improve your craft. Say yes and try.

Hug innovation.
Hug creativity.

So how do you do that?

1. If you are in a learning session, take notes and leave with at least 1–3 things you can implement. No matter how small, find something positive to take with you.

2. Before the weekend, write down one thing you learned or improved and one thing you want to learn next week. It creates a constant learning mindset.

3. During meetings, take a breath before replying when someone suggests trying something different.

When you become a hugger, life becomes more positive, more cheerful, and more forward-facing.

Always looking to improve.
Always looking to do better.

So what will you improve next week?

Building in Public

A family moment in the shelter

We think we know.

We believe we understand. Sometimes we even assume we know ourselves really well.

For the past two weeks, I thought everything was fine.

Until my body just shut down.

The last time I slept for 12 hours straight was probably when I was sick or after working 48 hours nonstop.

It seems the stress over here, with the war going into its third week, has taken its toll.

I’m trying to focus on getting client work done and showing that everything is fine.

Nothing has changed.

For myself?

I’m writing and editing.
Building my content flywheel.
Improving little by little.

Vibe coding is a funny thing.

I’d rather spend hours fixing small bugs or design issues than writing.

A good reminder that writing is a commitment more than anything.

Writing turns ideas into reality.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was written while listening to Groove Hip Hop
👉 🎧 Listen

💃 Dance off
I love watching people play dancing games. This was a near-perfect run.
👉 💃 Watch

👽 Steven Spielberg and aliens
I grew up on E.T. and Close Encounters, so another one? Sign me up.
👉 👽 View

The world is in turmoil.

Second Saturday writing from the shelter.

Everything might change with this new world order.

Formula 1 season is starting, and already the war might see two races cancelled.

How is this impacting you, if at all?

Let me know what you think.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Brand to Win

• AI tools

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

The Formula

The race is on.

And the one thing no one will care about is whether you have more features.
They will only care if they can remember you.

And that, my friends, comes down to one thing: your brand.

As if tech and business weren’t hard enough already, the AI age means products that looked unbeatable just a few months ago don’t even get mentioned today.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.

You must start investing more in your brand.

And no, I’m not talking about your visual identity. I’m talking about resilience.

What do you stand for?
How do you react when things don’t go as planned?
Why should your team care?

Creating content that matters.
Sharing more on social media.
Meeting the right clients.

Your brand needs to be strong, and it needs to mingle.

You want to be known for something.

So decide what it is and go tell the world you’re there.

I’m meeting more and more companies that are seeing growth slow down, yet their marketing budgets are smaller than my ad testing budget.

Brands that are willing to lose good leads because they are not training their sales teams to become better brand ambassadors. Instead, they allow them to keep complaining about bad leads.

If your brand is curious, it has to show in everything you do.

If you care about the client, it has to show every step of the way.

Look at your marketing budget.

If it’s zero, start investing.
If you have some, invest more.

But be intentional about what you say, to whom you say it, and how you measure success for every dollar spent.

Build a brand budget.

Think of it as a “show up” budget for the first few months. Let people know you exist.

My personal example: I built a QA platform to answer questions about business storytelling.

That’s a time and budget investment.

But it will bring SEO, better YouTube exposure, and brand recognition in a market where I had nothing just 30 days ago.

Branding is about building reputation.

And reputation takes time and money.

You want people to remember you?
Give them a reason.

The companies that fail to build their brand will be the ones left behind in the next 24 months.

Need help? Hit reply with a question.
Happy to answer if I can.

Building in Public

The last pic for a workshop before the war

The most interesting hour this week happened in the shelter.

I was on a call with a U.S.-based company showing them what’s possible today with AI tools.

During the call, they mentioned an AI course they’re taking to expand their knowledge. I was intrigued, only to learn they are learning but not implementing.

So we spent the hour going through my toolbox.

Collecting Q&A from across the web using Gemini Pro.
Recording high-quality videos using OBS, Opus Clip, and ValueBot. Some edits are done with Riverside AI.
Design work using Canva and Nano Banana 2, which just launched last week.
Building landing pages with Lovable and creating SEO content using Toffu.ai.

The goal isn’t replacing people.

The goal is multiplying output.

Creating more content.
Testing more ideas.
Updating faster.
Measuring better.

We’ve been working with this client for a while, so showing them behind the scenes of everything I’m doing was fun and rewarding.

Over the past few weeks we’ve created multiple landing pages, a new website, redesigned the brand look and feel, and produced new content, guides, and social media carousels. The options are endless.

Instead of adding headcount, we’re building systems that allow the team to create and execute far more than before.

One tool I’m enjoying a lot right now is Wispr. It’s been incredibly helpful for capturing ideas through voice instead of typing.

👉 https://wisprflow.ai/r?NIR107

Spending more time in the shelter also meant more time building.

I finished a few new projects on Lovable and launched my Hebrew website.

Honestly, I’m having a lot of fun with this. The speed at which things can be built today is crazy.

What are you working on right now?

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was written while listening to Declaration of Dependence by Kings of Convenience
👉 🎧 Listen

🧜 Do you believe in mermaids?
I really enjoyed this trailer and, between you and me… I hope mermaids exist
👉 🧜 Watch

🎬 Silicon Valley meets Succession
This April, a new show about money, tech, and crazy people
👉 🎬 View

I almost didn’t send this week’s Storyletter.

We’re sitting in a bomb shelter.

But we keep going. That’s what we do.

This week also marks my first Inc.com article on why SaaS isn’t dead and where the real opportunity is for people like us.

Here it is:
👉 📰 Read

Let me know what you think.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Your brand is leaking revenue

• Vibe-Coding

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

We call it a sales funnel. A marketing funnel.

We measure what comes down at every stage.

100 leads.
5 interested.
2 closed.

If the numbers work, we’re happy.

But what if the problem isn’t the funnel?

A funnel sounds passive.
Things fall through it.

A pipeline is different.
A pipeline flows.

It’s connected.
It carries pressure.
If one section is blocked, the whole system feels it.

Most companies say they need better leads.
So they push marketing.
Or they push sales.

But they rarely check if the pipe is connected.

In one project, marketing delivered hundreds of qualified leads month after month. Closing rates were strong.

Then sales said they couldn’t handle the volume.

So we optimized creative.
More leads.
We improved automation.
More calls.

Still friction.

The real issue wasn’t traffic.
It wasn’t sales skill.

It was alignment.

The brand promised one thing.
Sales delivered another.
Customer experience felt like a third.

That’s not a funnel problem.
That’s a pipe leaking.

When we aligned how the brand talks, how sales sells, and how onboarding delivers, everything opened up.

We didn’t just get more leads.
We converted more of the right ones.

We’re on track to break sales records not because the funnel got wider, but because the pipeline got cleaner.

Ask yourself:

Where is your pipe leaking?
Where are two teams solving the same problem differently?
Where does the promise change along the way?

Funnels count.

Pipelines connect.

Growth comes from connection.

Building in Public

Learn your pitch by heart using these simple tricks

OK, I am officially addicted to vibe-coding.

I needed a website in my language. A landing page to promote my speaking and workshops.

Instead of paying someone, I decided to build it myself. So I did. It came out really nicely.

But how will people find it?

Let’s add an Ask Me Anything section.

If I reply to questions, I can promote long-tail content and drive traffic.

A few hours later, I had a full CMS. Pages per reply. Video added. Email marketing connected.

This would have been impossible for someone like me a couple of years ago. Even last year.

The site is connected to its own newsletter system that I created. Can I say built?

My second build, the cue card solution for speakers, is already live and was used during a competition in Mexico last week. I’m adding features and preparing to launch it everywhere.

Next is launching my new sprint platform. I’ll offer everything in two-week sprints.

What started as a landing page might become a full platform to run those sprints.

Marketing efforts

Great week.

Another workshop delivered, this time filmed for a speaker showreel.

We filmed 8 new shorts in my language. They’re the best we’ve ever made.

Sadly, the first attempt at a new ad campaign failed. Great engagement. Great comments. Zero leads.

I’m glad we tested it with a small budget.

I’ve been wondering whether I should start sharing more about my budget, content numbers, and real metrics.

Still thinking about it.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This Storyletter was written while listening to “Back to 1984”
👉 🎧 Listen

🤖 Tin Man
This whole song and video of Data from Star Trek is AI, and it’s epic
👉 🤖 Watch

🎬 Ready or Not
An 8-minute sneak peek of this crazy movie
👉 🎬 View

During a session this week, someone told me he can’t be taught anything new. He explained that he is the best sales guy out there. He knows everything.

One of the key traits of a good salesperson is the ability to listen and adapt.

People tend to think of salespeople as a negative thing. I see them as problem solvers. When you can’t listen and can’t improve, you “push sell” the wrong thing to the wrong person.

Stay hungry. Stay passionate.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Think long-term to close more deals

• My Birthday

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Sending proposals.
Preparing for another meeting.
Spending hours designing a slide no one will read.

Our weeks are full.

Client meetings. Delivery. Firefighting. Everything in between.

Then Sunday night comes and we ask,
what did I build this week that makes next week easier?

A scope of work should take minutes, not days.
Marketing content should be part of the workday, not a “when I have time.”
Improving the client experience should be planned, not reactive.

2026 is almost two months in. I made a decision to track something simple.

Two things move the needle: habits and scale.

Habits make you better.
Scale makes you bigger.

But neither happens accidentally.

Working with clients around the world, I see long-term goals getting less than 5% of attention. And that’s generous.

Most people are solving today’s problems instead of building tomorrow’s systems.

80% is delivery.
20% is scale.

Those 20% hours are where compounding lives.

For me, that’s writing my next book.
Thirty minutes a day.

Not exciting.
Not dramatic.
Just consistent.

So what are your 30 minutes a day?

Because short-term pays the bills.
Long-term builds the engine.

Building in Public

The talk went so well, we only got 1 pic from 300 people in the audience 😃 

Birthday week.

I’ve never been big on taking days off to celebrate, but this year I had to prepare for two talks the following day. It was fun and stressful at the same time.

Key learning: next year, I’m not doing anything work-related on my birthday.

This week had some great wins. Here are three:

1. We’re preparing a client for an investor session in Mexico. Dozens of investors will judge a competition and decide where to invest. I rewrote the pitch draft three times, and when we received the official criteria list, we were happy to see we hit all ten points. It’s about the story we tell. The right mix of data and emotion.
   This will be my third project with this client.
   

2. A random comment I left on LinkedIn led a friend to connect me with Fusion, an early-stage Israeli VC, and a last-minute invite to their B2B Bootcamp.
   I gave the closing 30-minute storytelling session. The reactions were outstanding, and I’m happy to work with such a young, hungry, passionate crowd.
   

3. A U.S.-based client is seeing real change in their customer journey. After two months of hard work, the team is starting to see the funnel convert. The message is clearer. The journey is easier.

If your brand isn’t building a real customer journey, you’re missing out on easier sales.

Last week I shared my sprint service, two weeks to create better messaging, pitch, or customer journey. I’m almost done building the funnel and happy to say it will run under Streetwise Agency.

This marks the return of the agency name I launched in 2011.

Happy birthday to me and to Streetwise Agency.

Just For Fun

When Brenada Fraser was just starting out

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This Storyletter was written while listening to Bella Becke’s playlist
👉 🎧 Listen

🎬 She Dances
I’m a sucker for these types of indie movies
👉 🎬 Watch

🎥 Brendan Fraser makes the hardest decision
One man made a decision that changed the outcome of World War II
👉 🎥 View

Writing always excites me just as much as it scares me.
A blank page. Everything to say, but what’s the first thing to write?

The biggest challenge is starting, not reaching the finish line.
Your business doesn’t even have a finish line.

It’s more of the same thing, so you might as well do it a bit better every time you try.

Writing the first line is a commitment to start.
A commitment to show up tomorrow.

And I made this my thing, every week, sharing my thoughts with you.

What are you going to start? Continue? Improve?

In today’s Storyletter:

• How close more deals

• Building in Public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

You do not have a sales problem.

Every week I hear the same thing:
“We’re too expensive.”
“Our sales team isn’t closing enough.”
“Marketing isn’t bringing good leads.”

Let me be very clear.

You do not have a sales problem.

On a recent call, we reviewed 730+ leads.
Same objection over and over: too expensive.

The obvious reaction? Lower the price.

Wrong move.

Before touching price, understand this: price is relative.
The human brain compares everything.

They compare you to competitors.
They compare you to other things they need.
They compare you to the outcome they want.

Here’s an example.

A founding team needs to raise $5 million. They struggle to get investors to say yes.

If I offer to help for $10K, that number only makes sense in relation to the goal.
If my service helps unlock $5 million, $10K is small.

But only if I position it correctly.

When I present my offer, I don’t just sell the service.
I sell the comparison.
I explain why the other options won’t solve the problem as effectively.

That’s not sales pressure.
That’s clarity.

When was the last time you worked on this with your team?

Simple exercise:

1. Where are we in the pricing-value landscape? What are our real strengths and weaknesses?

2. Compared to competitors, where do we clearly win?

3. What problem are we solving, and what is it worth financially to the client?

4. Why are the alternatives weaker?

Write it down.
Until you can see it.
Until you believe it.

Because when you believe it, your tone changes.
Your certainty changes.
And your closing rate follows.

From the next 737 leads, moving from “too expensive” to 2–3% closed deals could mean millions.

Still think it’s a sales problem?

Building in Public

I worked so much this past week that I literally burned my laptop’s motherboard and had to order a new one.

I promised myself I wouldn’t work this much, but it’s been a crazy run.

Two great talks delivered.
Four company pitch drafts in progress, helping clients raise over $147 million.

Two more talks booked for next week.
And I’m writing a new talk about why we are selling the wrong way and how to fix it.

One of next week’s talks will be for 70+ salespeople at a large B2B holding company that owns over 18 companies. I love the challenge of delivering high-level value.

The second session will be held three hours later for around 120 young B2B founders attending a two-day sales bootcamp.

Funny story. I commented on a post about this event, hoping something would happen. An old friend saw my comment, called me, and offered to connect me to the organizer. Two days later, after one coffee meeting, I was invited to join.

I love last-minute opportunities.

More than anything, it’s a reminder that we can influence our journey. If we push. If we help. If we connect.

So stop leaving empty comments and start engaging. Yes, that might mean respectfully disagreeing with the author of the post.

Lovable has been my go-to tool this week when I couldn’t do heavy work. I finished building a small household expense app. We’ll start using it this week.

Next up is my sprint offering for pitching and sales.

The plan is to offer two-week sprints for companies looking to improve their message, pitch, or storytelling.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This Storyletter was written while listening to this track
👉 🎧 Listen

🎬 Anime meets real life
I love this Sakamoto trailer with its crazy anime-style footage
👉 🎬 Watch

🎥 Max Cooper – A Sense of Getting Closer
A hypnotic collage of everyday life
👉 🎥 View

Would you do the same thing for 50 years?

The Rolling Stones, U2, and so many others do.
Same job. Same songs.

What if you could repeat what you love doing every day?

For me, it might be speaking, teaching, writing.
What might it be for you?
If you could do anything you want?

In today’s Storyletter:

• Why you should spend money on marketing

• Building in Public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Why do people fear paid ads?
Why is marketing such a vague concept?
Why is organic for everyone, but paid marketing is something we only do when we’re desperate for cash?

Here’s what I believe.

A business needs to scale to get better.
A healthy funnel is what allows you to choose the right clients and grow at your own pace.

Most companies treat marketing as something they have to do, instead of something they use to build the business.

When work is good, they stop marketing.
When work isn’t good, they expect marketing to save them.

That’s backwards.

Marketing is about spending time or money.
If you don’t have the time, you need to invest the money.

Marketing compounds, but only if you give it time.
And when you’re busy delivering work, it’s much harder to build.

If you spent $100 and doubled your sales, why wouldn’t you keep going?

The problem is that most people try for a month or two, hope it works, and when it doesn’t, they stop.
They look at marketing month to month instead of building something that works over time.

Small investment.
Long-term profit.

I had a call with a client who wants to scale but is only willing to spend $3K a month for two months.
The average sale is worth over $100K.

Another client makes $45K profit on each sale but has a $1K marketing budget.

You see the gap.

So make a list:

• What’s your growth goal this year?

• How many clients do you need?

• What’s the revenue and gross profit?

From there, define your minimum marketing budget, not your dream one.

Think in 3–6 month cycles.
Budget for both the work and the ad spend.
Build content knowing this is a learning curve.

Focus on two things:

1. Lower cost per lead

2. Better content

And for everyone proud of their organic lead generation, kudos. That takes work.
But when a company lacks brand power, paid marketing is the fastest way to build that equity.

Imagine scaling your marketing, building a real engine, and controlling your industry and location.

That’s how brands are built.
That’s how opportunities show up.
That’s how growth becomes predictable.

Building in Public

I live for moments like this.
Early morning. Coffee. My usual hype playlist. Setting up my office studio to give a talk.

Someone asked me this week how I’d rate my happiness level from 1 to 10. I said probably an 8. I’m happy and excited about what’s ahead.

But when I get to teach and speak about my passion for business storytelling, that’s when it shoots up to 10.

Thank you, Denzil, for inviting me to speak to your sales team. As I develop the Pitch to Win sales workshops, it’s great to see how much value can be delivered in a short amount of time.

Two new pitching clients joined this week, and I’m proud of what these founders are building.

My Lovable landing page for the new service is almost ready.
With two new speaking engagements booked, it’s been a great week.

On social media, with an average of eight posts a week, most of them shorts, I’m seeing a slight improvement. It’s a long game, so we keep going.

Book update: This week I plan to write the introduction chapter for my upcoming book and see where it takes me.

Next week, I’ll also focus on content creation in Hebrew to help my speaker agency promote my talks. My goal is to rank in the top three speakers in Israel by the end of 2026.

I’ll start with five blog posts around business storytelling.

Next up: filming a workshop on February 22 and having eight new shorts ready for promotion.

We’re also working on paid ads to generate more leads. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes.

Have a great week.
Keep sharing what you’re working on. I love hearing from you.

Just For Fun

Giphy

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was written while listening to Classic 1985 music
👉 🎧 Listen

🏍️ When a motorcycle flies
👉 🏍️ Watch

🕵️ A young Sherlock Holmes
This is what happens when Guy Ritchie meets Holmes
👉 🕵️ View

I have this guy. I see him once a week.
He fixes my body. I like calling him my health mechanic.

This week, when I described my knee pain, thinking it came from running, he explained it was probably from a client, not from exercising.

All week, I kept thinking about how I feel when certain clients call or make requests.

I found the root cause.

My guy took care of the pain.
Now I need to take care of the root cause.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Words are free

• Building in Public - My weekly lesson

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Words are free. Actions are everything.

We love saying things that sound important.
We talk about who we are and what we stand for.
We have core values. Or we say we don’t have an ego.
Of course we listen. Of course we always have our employees’ backs.
Relationships are everything.

But actions speak louder than words.

Most people run long meetings that say nothing, but they love hearing their own voice.
Action: go short. Talk less. Run it like a sports play. Set a clear goal. Get closer to it. Debrief what can be done better in less time.

Websites are full of buzzwords. God forbid you didn’t say AI or strategy.
Action: review your messaging. Your website. Your internal and external communication. Simplify everything.

Most employees can’t recall the core values, let alone live by them.
Action: every quarter, lead with one core value. Measure it. Implement it.

When people need us the most, we forget about them. We leave them hanging.
Action: make sure they know you have their back, no matter what. Want to be mad? Not in front of the client. Help them grow, learn, and improve.

Words matter. They lead the way.

So where is your word list?
Your emotional brand?
How are you helping your team help your clients?

Building in Public

With our lovely host at CyberTech

What a lesson I learned this week.

I thought it was about contracts.
I thought it was about keeping your word.
I thought it was about relationships.

What I found out blew my mind.

It’s about how I choose my clients.
More than that, it’s about how I interview them.

Turns out I was taking on potential instead of building winning partnerships.

I’m now reworking my entire onboarding process and turning it into an interview.

What do you want to achieve, and in what timeframe?
Who on your team will own the work and make sure the method is implemented?
Is the budget already approved, or is it still a discussion?
How are decisions made when things get uncomfortable or unclear?
How much freedom will your team and I have to actually win?

I know what I bring to the table.
Now I need to know you can bring the rest.

Other stuff

Happy to share that I signed with a speaker agency in Israel.
Interestingly, the agency’s landing page about me ranked #2 on Google in less than 24 hours.

That tells me there isn’t enough relevant information about me, my work, or my experience in Hebrew. I suggest you check how you rank on Google and start building your brand as well. I’ll be writing guest blogs and adding more content about my work across different platforms.

This week, together with Tel Aviv City and Team8, a leading VC in Israel, I had the pleasure of doing mentor hours at CyberTech, one of the biggest cyber conferences in the world.

In less than two hours, six founders walked away with new messaging and marketing concepts. For me, it was a great reminder of my strengths and passion. One founder, a behavioral scientist, said that in ten minutes I gave more value than months of work with other consultants. Sometimes, we just need that good feeling.

My main struggle this week was writing. While I create a lot of content, lack of focus is holding back my book progress. I thought about flying somewhere to write, then realized it was just another excuse to avoid sitting down and writing.

My office and home desk are great. I just need to sit and write.

What about you?
How is your week going?
What is the one thing you’ll focus on this week?

For me, it’s getting my Israel speaking work fully up and running.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was written while listening to Bella Backe
👉 🎧 Listen

🎬 Lord of the Flies
A new BBC adaptation of the classic story
👉 🎬 View

🍿 Blades of the Guardians
Martial arts, swords, and action. This looks epic.
👉 🍿 View

On Thursday, I spent 14 hours in front of my desk.
I loved every moment, even the moments I didn’t.

It’s about passion. Building. Helping. Seeing things through.

What is your one thing?
What do you really enjoy in your job, and how can you do more of it?

When you figure that out, scale happens and success becomes easier.

In today’s Storyletter:

• You can funnel success

• Building in Public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Numbers will be the outcome if you focus on these things instead

People have pain.
They need help.
They search for a solution.
They find you.
They want to know more.

And then you create uncertainty. Why?

Your customer journey is meant to be simple, positive, and helpful.

We treated the click like the finish line.

But a click is not intent.
It’s curiosity mixed with doubt.

Most funnels don’t fail because of traffic.
They fail because the moment after the click isn’t designed to calm, reassure, and guide.

Fixing what happens once they click is cheaper than buying more traffic.
And it’s where most of the money is quietly leaking.

For this client, we didn’t redesign everything.
We didn’t change the offer.
We didn’t buy more ads.

We focused on four things:

• The language on the landing page

• The number of fields in the form

• The thank-you message

• The follow-up email

Each step had one job: reduce uncertainty.

The result wasn’t luck.
It was attention.

Over 200 clicks turned into a 1% conversion on the first run.
Now we know what to improve, what to test, and how to scale.

Small fixes.
Huge rewards.

Building in Public

Enjoying this newsletter? support the book and leave a review

I found myself sitting in front of my huge screen, split into four, with my laptop next to it with 26 tabs open.

Where do you start?

I have so many things I want to do this year.

Instead of choosing, I went for a run. It makes me feel good. Like I’m in control. Like I’m winning at this game of life.

When I got back, I chose the smallest thing with the biggest impact on my work and revenue.

The result?

I signed with a speaker agency.
My workshop content was ready.
A new landing page.
Even the flyer.

Even better, they already booked two speaking gigs.

Some frustration with a couple of clients this week. I want to work hard to win, not play politics. But it’s also a good reminder that I’m building on my own terms.

I’m thinking about a name for the next book:

• The Business Loop

• Revenue Loops

Would love your thoughts.

I also attended three very different events this week, from HR to marketing to an ideation-to-seed event. It was great seeing over 150 young people walking around with ideas.

Next week, I’ll be mentoring at CyberTech Week in Tel Aviv, one of the largest cyber events in the world.

After that, I’m working on a new Pitch to Win masterclass.
An in-person, three-session program where founders go from zero to a full pitch to raise capital.

I’m also considering hosting an online version, though that will take more effort.

On the personal brand side, I decided to invest around $2K a month promoting my local talks and workshops. This is my first time doing something like this, building brand awareness for myself.

It feels like starting again.
With experience.
With scars.
With clarity.

Exciting, scary, and it has to work.

Can I ask you for something?

I’m trying to get more 5-star reviews on Amazon for my book. Many of you supported my journey, and I’d really appreciate it if you could leave a positive review.

And if you haven’t bought it yet, please do. It would mean the world.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This playlist was created while listening to a 1983 playlist
👉 🎧 Listen

🤖 Is it really AI, or is it real AI?
This guy takes cool AI ideas and builds them in real life
👉 🤖 View

🎭 When you really want something
This actor looks like Robin Williams and is creating the role of a lifetime
👉 🎭 View

In six months, I went from being a digital nomad to having two physical offices.

And the thing I missed the most was Post-it notes.

Writing a book is all about building an outline, and Post-it notes on my wall help me stay focused.

I think focus has been lacking for me, and I want it back. Less WhatsApp notifications, fewer calls, fewer distractions.

2026 is about building, going deeper, and yes, I already have a Post-it ready with one word on it: focus.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Success is not about numbers

• A different type of interview

• Building in Public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Numbers will be the outcome if you focus on these things instead

Would you go on a treasure hunt without a map?
Would you cook a complex dish without a recipe?
Would you build a car engine just by guessing?

So why is it acceptable to do this with your brand?

During a client call, the chairman asked what our marketing and sales goals were.

I looked at him and asked if he could share the company’s business goals.
Silence.

He asked me again, and I replied, “Tell me where you want to go, and I’ll map it for you.”
How much? How often. Which platform? What message? And which key metrics.

One thing was clear.
Marketing wasn’t the main problem.

Making more money is nice.
Having growth metrics is great.

But what most of us lack is a customer-centric growth mindset.

I want my clients to feel something.

We want them to feel comfortable, safe, and assured.
We want to bring them more value, faster.
We want to remove doubt.

Now look at your business, and I guarantee you’re already seeing what can be improved or changed.

For that client, it was scope of work, response time, and simplified pricing.

Nothing to do with marketing.

Just these changes would have resulted in a 12% higher closing rate in 2025.

But we focus on the wrong things.
Focus less on numbers and more on value creation, and every one of your numbers will grow.

If you want to learn more, reply to this email.
Let’s chat.

Weekly Video

This week, I’m sharing a video interview recorded about 11 months ago, while I was living in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
It’s more personal, touching on my journey and how I see the world of entrepreneurship.

Building in Public

Testing some new website layouts. click on the image to see more

Four talks booked.
A new speaker agency in Israel signed me.

Now it’s about creating more value.

Moving into a new house and setting up a home office, I’m ready to dive back into writing my book.

As for YouTube, it’s been hard, but I’m recording on Monday.
Funny thing is, I feel like I’m not doing enough, yet eight Shorts went live just this week and brought in over 100 new connections. So I’m happy.

As for Lovable, I’m about to finish a new landing page for my Streetwise agency. The interesting challenge right now is pricing. As I work to scale the business, pricing is positioned on the higher end, but the lack of clear packages seems to make it harder for people to choose.

The agency will offer three services at a lower price point than working with me directly. Workshops will sit at an even lower tier, group-based.

Content generates awareness. Awareness generates cash. Cash allows us to promote more, create better content, and sell services. That’s the flywheel needed to get this business moving.

As for a SaaS platform, Lovable isn’t easy, but I think I have a solid idea. I’m building an app to help brands organize and manage their assets better. Another idea, which I actually built, is the cue card app I mentioned here four or five months ago.

Ideas aren’t the problem. Building the first 80% isn’t either.
I struggle with the last 20%.

What are you working on?
What are you struggling with?

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to super-rare 90s hip-hop
👉 Listen

🎬 MTV isn’t dead
Over 40,000 video clips waiting for you if you miss MTV
👉 View

🍿 100 years of Ford cars
How will they all drive when an F1 champion tries them out?
👉 View

The saddest week of the year is almost over, and you can still turn it around.

People love making New Year’s resolutions just before the new year comes in.

Some gyms see 300–400% spikes in signups.
But the second week of January is also when most people realize they won’t go to the gym, stick to their diet, or write that book.

So my only ask of you this week: choose the smallest thing you can and go get it.
Make the second week one to remember instead of one to regret.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Never run out of clients

• Weekly video: my interview with Shivani

• Full calendar

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Create your own blue ocean

Never run out of clients

For almost 13 years of running my marketing agency, Streetwise, we went through many phases, scaling our services, pricing, and the industries we ventured into.

For the longest time, I focused on getting clients before even vetting them. It was all about the next client through the door, the next deal, and making sure payroll was covered.

And it worked. With a price attached to it.

I was tired and exhausted, even as the team was growing.

I teach this lesson to my clients, and I think it’s one of the most important ones:

There is an endless number of clients.
We don’t need all the clients. We need the right ones.

So I stopped selling and started looking for the right clients.
Those who need my services, are willing to pay, put in the work, and understand the value of working with us.

While marketing people love using blue or red oceans as metaphors for competition, I think that’s the wrong thing to focus on.

One of my favorite clients probably has only 30–50 relevant potential clients a year, with fierce competition. They’re winning deals because we focus on value creation rather than selling at all costs.

And this comes down to one simple thing: connection.

Your marketing needs to be connected to your sales. Marketing should be relentless in creating content, opportunities, and enough value for the right people to show up at your doorstep.

Your sales team should look for mutual benefit and personal connection before pushing a sale no one actually needs.

Your sales team also needs to understand what the product offers, in plain English. Underpromise and overdeliver. But also know how to invite the client to be part of your journey, not just another vendor relationship.

Once we let go of the red ocean idea and understand it’s about how much bait we can put out there, we can grow. From a small fish to a white shark. It’s up to you.

The more content, budget, and exposure you have, the easier it becomes to choose and attract the right clients. Clients who will be happy to work with you and, more than that, will bring their friends along.

Weekly Video

This week, I had a great catch-up call with Shivani, my dear friend from Australia.
We talked about life, our books, and creating more retreats for her clients.

She also reminded me of an episode we recorded together a while back.
Thought you might enjoy it.

Building in Public

Working on some new materials and an updated website

The empty calendar era is over.

In 2024, I implemented an empty calendar policy, going with the flow and focusing on adapting to whatever came my way.

This week, following the previous one, was packed with meetings, ideation sessions, content creation, and pretty much everything I could fit in.

The main reason is the 2026 plan, going deep into my business storytelling services and product lines.

I’ve built this plan around a few assumptions:

1. Local market
   As the dollar keeps falling, my plan is to start and scale talks, workshops, and consulting locally. This week alone brought new leads for talks, book sales, and a few collaborations.

2. International
   Scaling both online and offline is key to bringing my ideas to a whole new audience. Video content, an updated website, and the YouTube show. A lot is moving forward, and it’s exciting.

Let’s talk services and products for a second.

What I plan to offer includes consulting, workshops, keynotes, book sales, online products, and specific sprint services.

To monetize this, there are two numbers I love talking about:

• 1,000 true followers
  I’m already seeing the impact of this and want to build a strong community. If you’re not familiar with the concept, having 1,000 true followers who buy your work is enough to build a solid business. As social clout matters less, it’s no longer about millions of followers but about the right people. I want people to buy my ideas as courses, community access, and books.

• 3,000 people paying $30 a month
  If 3,000 people buy your product for $30 a month, you’re a millionaire. I’ve always loved this number, and part of my 2026–2027 goals is building a SaaS product to support this.
  Right now, I’m working through a few ideas, looking for one simple concept to launch on Lovable and then improve and scale. I’m excited to share proper building-in-public updates, including steps, timelines, budget, and income.

Just For Fun

Every week, I collect things I enjoy online. This is my curated top three: playlists to work with, trailers, videos, or just fun stuff.

🎧 Music
This week’s Storyletter was written while listening to this indie playlist
👉 🎧 Listen

🎬 A Rave in the Desert – trailer
He went looking for his daughter in places he shouldn’t have
👉 🎬 View

🍿 The World Is Going to St**
“Please Don’t Die” says this trailer, and I like the concept
👉 🍿 View

How are those new year’s resolutions holding up?

Be kind to yourself, go out for a walk, write for ten minutes, or skip that one extra beer.

We all want bigger results in 2026.
But wanting more and doing enough are not the same thing.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Your No list

• Burn the sales playbook, my interview

• Building in public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Getting the no will make you superman

As 2026 landed, we all know we want more, better, bigger. We have goals and ideas. We have KPIs for our business. But during a call last week, I shared one metric that changed everything.

We often tend to hope for the best. We explain why it’s not us when things don’t work. But we struggle with facing the truth. We didn’t do enough, or we lack business honesty about our goals.

During our weekly call with a client, an eight-figure business with over 200 employees, the management team explained why they missed their targets. Excuses were flying all over the place.

When it was my turn to speak, I asked if they had a “NO” list. Silence on the call.

We love hearing a yes. We do everything we can to avoid the no. But what if we added how many no’s we got as a KPI? What if a no isn’t a door closing, but a new path opening?

I like to think about no’s in a few ways:

1. Make a list of clients who might be a stretch and go after them. If they sign, great surprise. If not, all you needed to do was reach out and try to get the first meeting.

2. If you want to partner, collaborate, or raise funds, go get 50 no’s and learn from each one. By the next batch of 50, you’ll be so skilled the no won’t even bother you. You’ll sound like a seasoned pro.

3. If you run a pipeline, you know how CRMs work. Lead comes in, interest, meetings, contract, yes or no, and out. But what if you had a NO pipeline? Every one of my clients now has a pipeline called the no list, where we track reasons and timing. It works like a charm.

A no is a yes in disguise. A practice opportunity meant to prepare you for your next big chance. Never skip the opportunity to get a good no.

So, are you ready to go back to the drawing board and start this list?

Weekly Video

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to connect with Marc Crosby, founder of Digital Rebels Consulting. It’s always great meeting people through mutual LinkedIn connections.

We thought it would be fun to record a podcast and discuss sales, storytelling techniques, and insights from my Business Catcher method.

Recorded on Riverside, here are some of the show notes the AI highlighted as interesting.

What you’ll learn

• How to craft a 70-word hook and a 3-minute trailer pitch buyers remember

• Toilet deck vs. Babylon deck: what to send, what to present, what to keep in reserve

• Why the brand is the hero and teams play supporting roles

• Turning “no” leads into revenue with a customer journey funnel

• Sales and marketing alignment that actually works in the field

• Startup vs. enterprise branding: what changes and what should never change

Building in Public

When it feels like it’s too much, it usually means we either took on too much or did too little. That’s how this past week felt.

I started working on my five-year plan, and a big part of it is writing. I think maintaining a 500-word daily average would be great.

On the marketing side, Hebrew and English are both a must, and I’m already feeling the difference. The funny thing is, no one really knows if writing in both languages on LinkedIn is better or worse, or whether I should focus more on my business page.

When I feel lost, I go back to one small thing and build from there. The first thing I did was make a list of areas where I need help.

My new team member, Rafi, will help with Hebrew content. The goal is to get my name out there for talks and workshops. We just had our kickoff call.

This week, I also worked hard on bringing in new leads, closed a two-session deal for my new YouTube show, delivered a great speaking gig, recorded a new podcast, and even booked a new workshop with an early-stage VC.

I signed with a videographer to film next month’s Shorts, found a designer to help with a few one-pagers, and brought on a new intern to support customer journey work.

Next week, my website will also start improving. This is a long process, but I feel excited.

My plan to double the business by the end of Q2 is underway.

For 2026, I’d love to hear your ideas on what you’d like me to share. I’m still thinking about whether to start posting revenue or business goals publicly.

Just For Fun

Chill & Enjoy

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to Golden Manhattan. Enjoy the videos.
👉 Listen

🎬 The King of Color – trailer
A documentary telling the story of Pantone and the man who invented it.
👉 View

🍿 Cardboard short story
The internet is full of incredible talent, and this one is something else.
👉 View

Thank you.
Thank you for supporting, for replying, and for being part of my journey.

Buckle up. 2026 is going to be the year we build scale and legacy.
The chance to teach at scale.

In 2025, I’ve been to Thailand, India, South Africa, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Holland, Germany, and the U.S. With a short miss from the UK and France, it’s still been so good to be home.

Let’s keep building a better world together.

In today’s Storyletter:

• Small actions, big wins

• Long Island coffee talk

• Building in public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

The new year is all about big decisions.
Huge goals. Things we always wanted to change.
Yearly plans, new KPIs. The game is on.

But what if the biggest goal requires the smallest decision?

Building a huge following starts with one follower. Then a hundred. Then a thousand.
Running starts with leaving the house.
And a seven-figure business starts with the first sale.

Big change needs a big goal, but without small tasks and actionable steps, goals tend to stay far and unreachable.

For 2026, I want you to break big ideas into the tiniest tasks. Reverse engineer your business until it feels almost too easy to believe it’s possible.

For example, if I plan to sell courses teaching founders how to pitch, and my goal is to have 1,000 students go through the course, with 25% successfully raising capital, that sounds like a lot of work, right?

But we can all agree I’ll need a one-pager, a lead magnet, a curriculum, and either ads or strong connections.

So this week, I’m focusing on creating that one-pager. That’s it.

The same goes for my show and my consulting. The bigger plan is much larger, but this approach lets me focus on the task at hand, achieve more, faster, and without everything feeling overwhelming.

If you plan to grow by 20% this year, all you need to ask is

• How many clients do you need to add?

• How much are you selling for?

• What is your upsell?

What if you just get one more client to buy more?
Or raise your price by 5–10% this year?

To do that, all you need to do is talk to your clients and past clients. Don’t sell. Just ask.

If you want more clients, write ten reasons why someone should hire you or buy from you. What makes you different?

Write each reason from two or three different angles, and just like that, you have a marketing plan.

When we write, we become intentional. We can see it, measure it, and improve it.
When we do this, it becomes easier to aim, adjust, and reach our targets faster.

What is the smallest thing you plan to implement next week?

Share your goals and plans with me if you feel like chatting. I’m happy to reply and discuss.

My big goal?
A ten-million-dollar business storytelling company.

My small goal?
Write and design a one-pager for The Business Storyteller show.

Next smallest goal?
Share it with 20 VCs.

See you on the other side, in 2026.

Weekly Video

Weekly video - The Long Ilsand Talk

vimeo.com/1149067572

When the team at Cause of A Kind invited me to give a talk to their network in Long Island, I couldn’t say no. We first connected after I hired them in 2019 to help me build a small newsletter feature, and we’ve remained friends ever since.

We meet every time I visit, but this time we took it to the Long Island tech community, where I had the chance to share a few ideas about pitching and storytelling.

Hosting an intimate 20-person session in a coffee shop was exactly what I wanted, and the audience was superb.

Enjoy the show.

Building in Public

It’s been 13 months since I left everything to embark on a journey to change my life.
And my life has changed.

I went from feeling like I needed a break from life to coming back hungrier than ever.

Looking back, I’m reminded of how much impact we can have when we take the time to write our goals and dreams. I’m now writing the next chapter, a five-year plan to scale my business into something bigger.

It needs to be bigger than me.
It needs to help people all over the world.

Looking at my passions, writing and teaching, I see how much good these ideas can do. But ideas also need a plan.

So I started asking myself:

• What would it take to build a company that teaches business storytelling?

• What would it take to generate ten million dollars in revenue over the next five years?

• What would it look like, and who should be on the team helping me build this brand?

I’ve been writing the plan, and I’ll be happy to share more over the next few Storyletters. For now, here are a few principles guiding my decisions:

1. It’s not about me. It’s about teaching.

2. Simple enough to implement quickly.

3. Train the trainers so we can reach more people.

4. Share content with those who can’t afford it.

Sounds easy enough.

I know my travel schedule of 250–300 days a year will need to change, and teaching will likely happen in a different way.

I want courses and workshops happening all over the world, regardless of my location.

Writing should help simplify ideas and help more people become better storytellers at work, in their startups, and in their businesses.

To make this happen, I’ve built a plan based on my abilities, time constraints, and the budget required to scale.

Fun fact: if you write 500 words a day, you can end up with drafts for roughly four books a year. I’m going to try to complete two drafts this year:

1. The Business Catcher: why we are building brands the wrong way

2. The Newsletter Compilation: 52 small tweaks to fundamentally change your business

The second one, which I thought would be easier, is proving to be harder. I’ve taken all the lessons I’ve shared here each week and I’m working on turning them into a single book, something you can improve from week to week. I think it will be very useful.

Next steps include marketing the new show, writing daily for the books, and launching a new workshop.

I feel 2026 is going to be a great year to build and scale a business.

Will you help?
What are you building?
Let’s connect.

I’m considering starting a weekly 30-minute call to share updates on my work and hear what others are building.

Just For Fun

Chill & Enjoy

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to Uncle’s Midnight Lounge
👉 Listen

🎬 Cycling through Prague
Urban downhill at its best. I couldn’t stop watching.
👉 View

🍿 She Became the Chair
This trailer is so strange, I had to include it.
👉 View

This week marks the end of my 12-month plan.
It was a huge success personally, in business, and in revenue.

Do you have a plan?
You need to have one.

In today’s Storyletter:

• You are the obstacle to success

• Content pillars

• Building in public

• Some fun, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

Working hard isn’t working better.
Adding more isn’t always smart.

But looking at ourselves is usually the hardest challenge when running a business, a brand, or a project.

Our management style is directly tied to our character, our brand, and the story we tell ourselves along the way. We tend to believe we are the most important part of the story. The main character.

Forget about it. You are a minor character in the brand’s story. Your role is to help propel the plot forward.

Yet for most people, a sense of importance and ego gets in the way. Our excitement about shiny new objects yes, AI, I’m talking about you or our inability to delegate leads us to impose unnecessary work on the team. We create chaos, hurt the brand, and generate negative impact instead of positive momentum.

Let’s change the story.

1. A leader helps others lead with grace
   Help your team succeed. Be invested in their story. Use your skills to make them look good.

2. Guide the brand
   Create consistency instead of chaos. Stop doing a million things or adding platforms your friends showed you. Ask yourself how we can move forward faster and better.

3. Your ego is hurting your brand
   Your emotions are not relevant here. You eat, you sleep, and you handle things that must be done, even when they are not on your schedule, yet you ignore your brand.
   Make time to nurture it. Treat it as your most important client, and you will see it grow.

When you become obsessed with serving the brand, your team will too.

It’s time we tell ourselves a different story. We are here to support the brand, not the other way around.

Let’s talk content, shall we?

In this episode, I share a simple way to choose your content pillars. This method helped me write better content, create more focus in the business, and gain the clarity I was missing.

Let me know what you think of the video and what your content pillars are.

Building in Public

Meeting my friend Effie who is visiting from the Seattle

After two weeks in the U.S., jetlagged and tired, I landed back in Israel only to realize I had nothing left to give. I needed a break.

And I took it. Sunday on the couch, a few walks, meeting a few old friends. My battery was drained, and I couldn’t find the energy.

Thinking about it, I realized it was all due to not listening to my gut feeling.

In 2019, I made a decision to avoid clients and employees who are negative or hard to work with. These energy monsters took too much of my time, livelihood, and passion. They left me exhausted, unhappy, and hurt my relationships with my team.

Sadly, I was working on a huge six-figure project and allowed my brain to convince my gut that we were fine. Until we were not.

It’s never an easy thing to do what’s best for ourselves, but I’m trying to, and I hope you are too.

With some free time to walk the streets and think, I started working on an updated five-year plan. The 2025 plan was such a success, personally, in business, and in revenue, that I feel I must create a new, longer version.

The focus will be on building my brand and starting to scale the YouTube show. With around 30 new Shorts coming next month, I feel confident.

I also finally started sharing the concept for The Business Storytellers show with a few VCs. The reactions have been very positive, and it feels like a strong product market fit. Something they like, need, and are willing to support.

The next step is to focus on improving the level of content and editing. What would you like to see?

One last fun fact: this newsletter has crossed 48,000 words in 2025, not including this one. That’s about 16,000 words more than my last book. Crazy, right?

Good thing I’m working on a book based on all these emails.

Just For Fun

Chill & Enjoy

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to a deep, groovy sunset mix
👉 Listen

🎬 Like American Pie, but with some mystery
What’s Your Name? Kevin
👉 View

🍿 Google’s new AI animation tool is insane
Pomelli is a new way to create amazing animated content
👉 View

Nothing beats meeting in person.

But time is an illusion.

Online is timeless, while in person is one moment, one memory, forever.

I love the mix, but this year I will focus on video.

And you? What will be your 2026 focus?

In today’s Storyletter:
• Simple makes more money
• Special interview
• NY and home
• Fun stuff, weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

What starts as simple often becomes complicated for all the right reasons. We want another feature, another line, one more option or service. Can we just add another paid tier?

During my New York visit, I met a fellow entrepreneur. She took me to the Starbucks Reserve, a fancy, posh coffee place. It looked amazing. The place was packed. But when we got to the cashier to order, it was so complicated we almost gave up. All we wanted was coffee and one tea.

She had to go through about six different questions, each with three options. It was just too much.

While we were waiting for our drinks, she told me about a Harvard case study explaining why Starbucks is struggling. Too many options. Complicated for clients, complicated for employees, complicated to run as a business.

People want fewer options, better ones, and simple decisions.

During a workshop I gave the previous week, the management team learned their current process was so complicated that in some cases a contract could take up to a month to be sent. Pricing was complex, legal and scope of work were separated, and reviews bounced between legal, sales, and product.

Four weeks just to send a contract.

We simplified the process into two files: scope of work and contract. Now we are working on a clearer process and a new pricing model. Just these two changes are expected to help close about 15 percent more contracts.

Simple is always better.

Review your process. Anything that is not a must can go. Simplify your offering, the number of price tiers, and the paperwork people need to review. Explain up front what is required, what will happen, and what the client can expect.

A tip. If your contract is complex, send the legal documents before you send the scope of work. It already puts everyone in a different mindset.

It took me years to simplify, but it helped me work less, close more, and become more intentional about what I offer and to whom.

Guest appearance: It’s your brand, dummy

In this special interview with Cause of a Kind founders Justin and Mike, we talked about their journey, maintaining profitability, why brands matter, and how to create customer journeys that actually make a difference.

It was a pleasure doing this Wayne’s World-style interview.
Please watch the episode and give them a shout-out in the comments.

Building in Public

The U.S. trip is over. I am back in Tel Aviv, so here is a quick recap.

Chicago was cold, but New York has a chilling cold you can feel in your bones.

Seeing my methods and ideas resonate with American management teams is exciting. One workshop, one keynote, two clients, and a few office hours.

Key learnings from the trip:

1. Cut it short where possible. While traveling is fun, I lost a few good working days.

2. Be more hands on every day. Some time was wasted on things that did not move the needle.

3. Reach out to three times more people. I could have filled my calendar with post trip meetings.

4. Charge more than I initially thought. Pricing models never fail. Keep going up.

5. Consider having a camera person for at least one day in each location.

It was also a reminder of a promise I made to myself in 2019, after dealing with passive aggressive clients in my agency. I said I would not do it again, no matter the bonus. I am still learning to hold myself accountable, but at least I stood up for myself.

Find people you enjoy working with.

Next up, let’s finish 2025 strong. Over 25 videos are on the way. I am focused on writing and launching my new show, episode six is already recorded, and the office setup keeps improving. I might even do a video about that.

During my last meeting, a successful VC asked about my business plan and how he could support me. I told him I am licensing my methods globally. He said he was happy for me and believes in my work.

He also reminded me that consulting is limited. Scaling requires structure.

With two book drafts on my laptop, a million ideas in my head, and so much to do, it feels like I am kicking off 2026 tomorrow morning.

Just For Fun

Chill & Enjoy

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to Air playing on Tiny Desk
👉 Listen

🎬 Tapawingo is here and it’s fire
Feels like Napoleon Dynamite made a comeback. I love this trailer.
👉 Watch

🍿 All of human history in one hour
Almost two million views in one week, and it is excellent.
👉 Watch

You can decide to fill your days.
You can decide how to fill them.
You can decide not to fill them.
But you can choose to fill them with time you enjoy.

Doing less, spending more time on things that matter, on things you enjoy.

From Chicago to New York, a great Storyletter awaits you.

In today’s Storyletter:
• What’s in the box?
• The Business Storyteller – Ep. 05
• My Chicago visit
• Fun stuff – Weekend vibes

THOUGHTS

People need boxes, definitions, titles, and buzzwords. Without them, how can we define things?

But what if the mistake is not about defining something, but about the words we choose?

We became lazy. Our vocabulary has been reduced to the same words, describing too many things.
With over 700,000 words in the English language, I would assume we can be a bit more specific.

But we want it fast, better, cheaper.
We expect the surface level to become our deeper level.

So instead of investing time to learn, to craft, to be specific about what we say or the words we choose, we just pick and go. And storytelling is the best example of that laziness.

I cannot recall the number of times people said, “ha, so you do storytelling,” referring to pitching, marketing, writing talks, creative work, books, or communication. It all gets pushed under one word, because why bother?

During a call this week, a CEO was trying to explain his business, not very successfully. When he described what I do, he did not take the time either. He simply said consultant and storytelling.
His inability to describe things meant he would struggle to sell more or market better.

Clarity sells. Confusion kills momentum.

During a masterclass a couple of weeks ago, I asked people to describe their startup in 70 words, then in 30, and finally in 6. Most people could not describe their own projects or their ideal client persona.
They all guessed it. Strange, right?

But what if we stop looking for definitions and start creating them?
What if instead of thinking outside the box, we work on improving the box?
What if we start looking for clarity?

If you cannot define it, no one can buy it.

Check your homepage.
Check your cold outreach emails.
Review your thank you emails.

Ask yourself two questions:

1. Is it clear enough?
   If you are using too many buzzwords, vague definitions, or unclear messaging, rewrite it. Go over it again and again until this side of the box feels clear.

2. Is it consistent with the previous and follow up steps?
   This will help create clarity in between. Think of it as the glue that holds the box together; brand, product, marketing, everything.

Sometimes, working on the box, finding the right words, describing things more precisely, is exactly what we need.

The same goes for your brand character, your customer journey, or your sales pitch.
We need to define the box better and work on small improvements. Not changing everything, but changing enough to take us forward.

During a workshop this week, all this became really clear to the management team. A lack of the right words meant people were describing things differently. They presented the company in numerous ways, nothing aligned with what or who they want to be.

A small example: I am an author, speaker, and entrepreneur.
It took me a while to figure out the order.

So, what are you? What will be your company box?

Let me know what you are struggling with, how you define your company, and your messaging.

Writing will make or break your business

In this episode of The Business Storyteller Show, I share some learnings from a startup accelerator session I did a while back.
Hope this helps you rethink your writing efforts.

Building in Public

This has been one of the best weeks in a while, and one of the coldest.

A whole week in Chicago dedicated to working with clients. It has been a challenge in the snow, with so many things happening while I was there trying to move projects forward.

But Tuesday marked a great day for me. My new workshop about the customer journey was a smash hit. A real proof of concept and an important part of the Business Catcher method.

Twelve people, the entire management team in one room, and we accomplished more than I could hope for. We went from raising issues to understanding the brand to understanding how the team operates, and we followed the process by building one flow of the customer journey.

We took a break to try some great Chicago-style pizza, then set goals, timelines, and task forces for each goal.

To make the day even better, I spent a few hours with another client getting to know the team while building a new marketing plan that should take us from almost 500 million closer to the 1 billion mark in the next 26 months.

And the topping on the cake was a dinner with YPO and EO members. We had such a blast, the food was excellent and the company even better. We laughed so hard.

Next up, New York, and I cannot wait to be there for some VC meetings, office hours, and my new talk on Tuesday. Same concept as the workshop, but this one is a flamethrower of information.

Yalla, I am ready for what’s next.

Just For Fun

Chill & Enjoy

🎧 Music
This week’s newsletter was created while listening to Back to 1987 – The Morning Glow.
Listen

🎬 If South Park Was Real
With the ability to turn animation into real life, this one is insane.
Watch

🍿 Did You Know Trees Are Dead?
A strangely interesting video about trees.
Watch