Helping businesses deliver impact by enhancing their visibility and reputation | Founder of arco.

I spent my early twenties collecting careers like stamps. Architecture degree, music production, entrepreneurship—each pivot made perfect sense at the time, but from the outside it looked like I couldn't commit to anything.

The truth was simpler: I had no idea who I was, so how could I know what to do?

I discovered this wasn't just my problem. Almost everyone I knew—smart, capable people with good degrees—felt completely lost about their careers. We'd been taught how to get jobs, but nobody taught us how to figure out what work would actually fulfil us.

That realisation changed everything. I saw that the real problem wasn't a lack of opportunities or skills. It was that most career advice starts at step 10 when people like us were still stuck at step 1: understanding ourselves.

Now I'm building tools and communities to fix this:

TrueNorth: An AI-powered career coach that starts with self-discovery, not job listings

MidWeek: London events bringing together people navigating career uncertainty

Still Wandering: A newsletter documenting the messy reality of finding meaningful work

I work with people in their 20s and 30s who know they want something more from work but can't articulate what that is. People who've tried following conventional career paths but felt like they were wearing someone else's clothes.

My approach is simple: you can't build a meaningful career until you understand what meaning means to you. Everything else—the skills, the networking, the applications—comes after that.

If you're tired of career advice that assumes you already know what you want, let's talk.

Alex McCann

The CEO of Anthropic just predicted a "white-collar bloodbath."

50% of entry-level white-collar jobs eliminated within five years. Unemployment potentially hitting 10-20%.

And the data backs it up.

UK tech companies cut graduate roles by 46% last year. They're expecting another 53% drop by 2026. I've spoken to people who've sent 300 applications and heard back from maybe five.

What gets me is the disconnect.

The people creating this technology are openly warning about what's coming. They're the ones sounding the alarm. Meanwhile, most of the advice young people receive still assumes the old system works. Get good grades. Build your network. Tailor your CV.

That advice was already struggling. Now it feels like teaching someone to be a brilliant switchboard operator in 1995.

I don't pretend to know exactly what replaces the current system. The honest answer is that nobody does, including the people building the technology that's reshaping it.

But I'm fairly confident about one thing: the gap between what's happening and what people are being told is getting dangerous.

When the CEO of Anthropic is more worried about entry-level job destruction than most of the infrastructure designed to help people find work, something has gone wrong.

Alex  McCann

Founder of Truenorth | Re-thinking Traditional Career Advice and helping people find meaningful work | Writer at Still Wandering Newsletter

He built a 20,000-person community. It didn't make him feel any less alone.

Two years ago, Charlie Rogers and AJ . told me to read 🌀 David Spinks's book. He co-founded CMX, built one of the largest networks for community builders in the world, had a successful acquisition.

Childhood isolation had made him hypersensitive to connection. He was brilliant at reading rooms, exceptional at bringing people together. The pain-into-purpose playbook.

But when I asked if that purpose had healed the original wound, he said no. If anything, it distracted him from healing it.

He spent fifteen years building something successful while struggling with anxiety and negative self-talk the entire time.

He calls it dirty fuel versus clean fuel.

Dirty fuel is when you're working to fill a hole, driven by fear or shame or the need to prove you're enough. Clean fuel is when you're already whole, driven by curiosity and connection and the work itself. Both look identical from the outside, both produce real results, but one burns you out.

Finding meaning in your suffering is different from healing from it. You can build an entire career on the former without ever doing the latter.

Full interview on my Substack. Link in comments.

The CEO of LinkedIn just called five-year career plans "a little bit foolish."

His words: "when you know technology and the labor market and everything is moving beneath you," mapping out the next five years makes no sense. You're planning for a world that won't exist by the time you get there.

I think he's probably right.

But here's what's interesting.

The school system rewards planning. University admissions reward planning. Job interviews ask where you see yourself in five years, and there's a correct type of answer. The entire infrastructure of career advice is built around the assumption that you can plot a trajectory and follow it.

Now the CEO of the platform that hosts most professional networking is saying the premise is broken.

So what replaces it?

"Be adaptable" is true but useless. "Build transferable skills" assumes you know which skills won't be automated next year. "Follow your curiosity" works if you have the financial cushion to experiment, which most people don't.

The uncomfortable truth might be that we're in a transition period where the old frameworks have stopped working but the new ones haven't solidified yet.

Which is a difficult thing to tell someone who needs to make decisions about their career right now.

By 2026, one in five companies will have eliminated half their management layers.

Middle managers made up a third of all layoffs in 2023. Companies are advertising 42% fewer management positions than they were two years ago.

The theory is that AI can handle the coordination, the reporting, the communication that middle managers used to do. Flatter organisations, faster decisions, lower costs.

I've been thinking about what gets lost when you remove those layers.

Mentorship becomes a luxury. The people who translate strategy into action disappear. Someone has to notice when things aren't working and flag it before it becomes a disaster. Someone has to develop the next generation.

Deloitte found that fewer than 4 in 10 managers feel equipped for the people side of their jobs. Now there will be fewer of them, responsible for more people, with less time for the human elements that technology can't replicate.

There's a version of this that works out fine. Flatter organisations with better tools, more autonomy for individual contributors, less bureaucratic friction.

But I suspect what we'll mostly get is the cost savings without the investment in making the new structure work.

Fewer managers. Same expectations. Everyone stretched thin. Nobody with time to develop the people coming up behind them.

The generation best equipped to work with AI can't get hired.

Gen Z workers have the highest AI readiness of any generation: 22% score high on AI quotient measures, compared to 6% for Baby Boomers.

This makes intuitive sense. They grew up with the technology. They're more comfortable experimenting with it, more willing to integrate it into how they work.

And yet companies are systematically eliminating the entry-level positions that would let them into the workforce.

I keep coming back to how backwards this is.

The people most equipped to figure out how AI integrates into work are being locked out of work entirely. Meanwhile, the people least comfortable with the technology are the ones making decisions about how to deploy it.

Only 23% of organisations offered any AI training last year. Employees are mostly teaching themselves. The companies loudly declaring themselves "AI-forward" aren't investing in helping people learn how to use the technology. They're using AI as a justification for headcount reduction.

There's a version of this transition that could have gone differently. Where companies invested in training, brought in younger workers specifically for their comfort with the technology, built institutional knowledge about what works and what doesn't.

Instead we got the version where AI is primarily a cost-cutting story.

Eliminate junior roles. Expect remaining staff to figure it out on their own. Declare victory.

I don't know what happens when an entire generation is told their skills are needed but they're not allowed through the door.

55% of companies regret laying off workers for AI.

That number stopped me when I first saw it.

The pattern is this: companies fire people based on what AI might be able to do in the future. Then they discover the AI isn't ready yet. Then, rather than admit the mistake, they quietly rehire offshore at significantly lower salaries.

The prediction is that half of all AI-attributed layoffs will follow this exact pattern.

Here's what I think is happening.

AI will fundamentally change how companies operate. The type of work people do. The skills that matter. That part is real.

But we haven't figured out how to get there yet.

What this data reveals is that many companies are rushing the transition, making layoff decisions based on capabilities that don't exist, and then scrambling to cover the gap. They're optimising for the press release rather than the actual transformation.

The companies that get this right will be the ones that lay foundations first. That invest in understanding what AI can and can't do before restructuring around it. That treat the transition as a multi-year process rather than a single dramatic announcement.

2026 might be the year that separates the companies managing this transition intelligently from the ones who rushed it and are now quietly cleaning up the mess.

Luke Matthews

Co-Founder | Lifestyle Blogger |  Content Marketer | Storyteller 

I teach you how to write with AI (and win LinkedIn)

You don't fit in. You feel left behind and you can't play the social media game that other's tell you to play.... 

Well stranger it's true that the internet has changed. BUT not all is lost....

Yes, dead internet theory is alive and well, it feels like there are no humans on LinkedIn™ or any platform anymore doesn't it? 

BUT my dear rebel, you aren't alone. 

After marketing for over 10 years on social media, building over 250k followers across all my platforms and ghostwriting for some of the biggest personal brands in the world....

I quit social media last year. 

Let me explain...

I built my social media on my terms. Sharing the most unhinged content you will ever see. I streamed drunk from the Scottish highlands, given away 1000s of dollars of pizza, hosted live meme competitions and battled other influencers LIVE... 

It was a blast BUT..... I started trying too hard to optimize my "personal brand" and I lost my way. 

10 bans on this platform didn't help and I decided to disappear into the shadows and leave the social media game behind. I was tired of being the rebel that got punished for playing a different game.

So I spent 2025 focusing on biohacking and figuring out how to enjoy my life again after years of hustling and obsession with work... 

It was a great year but truth be told I missed the banter. So I started questioning my choice to disappear...

It was during this journey that I learned a ton about private AI, cybersecurity as well as alternative tools that felt cool to use again. I tapped into my driving force....

Being a rebel without a cause. 

I like building things my way, on my time and saying whatever the heck I want. That's my roots. 

That's the way of the rebel, it's playing a different game with different goalposts and embracing it 1000% without any shame. 

AI and big tech want to put us into a cage. 
But we can use them to build our own kingdoms. 
We CAN build our own freedom.

So if that resonated with you, and you want to learn the "Rebel's Guide to the Creator Economy" and find a lane that serves you best...

I hope you'll follow me in 2026.

Cheers and lets crush it!

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝘆? 

Follow me and subscribe to my email list. You can subscribe by clicking any link in my profile as they all go to my newsletter on Substack. 

--

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁?

Email me at luke@wizardofoddmarketing.com

Founder - Lead Wizard & Ghostwriter

Linkedin & Twitter Ghostwriting Services for CEOs, Influencers, and Tech companies. 
Reach your audience with a sprinkle of magic, the power of explosive copywriting, and let the WIZARD OF odd MARKETING help make your biz a LOT  less boring.

LinkedIn doesn't have enough real humans.

Here's what we can do about it....

Howdy folks, it's been a whiiiiiile.

I spent 2025 mostly offline working on my health and myself and some cool projects.

Truth is though, I missed the banter... 

Scrolling this feed this past week I can see that most of you miss the good ol days when people kinda read your content, commented back...

AND actually connected human-to-human. 

I know I know...

It's easy to feel lost and upset about what has changed.

(guilty as charged over here hehehe)

But truth is it's harder to show up
AND work towards a solution. 

So look if you are a rebel, an outcast and feel lost on this platform I hope we can connect.

I believe it's still possible to build a business here...

n also have fun doing it!

PS Join me. Lets make our corner of LinkedIn great again.

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹?

Join 14k+ others and sub here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

LinkedIn is boring. I am not. Follow for memes, anti-guru hate speech, practical AI tool workflows and to join my movement of rebel creators.

I became what I hated.

A guru with a 6-figure course launch...

Actually.. I fell just short of a 6-fig launch. 

But see that's how this silly game works...

(nobody cares what's true anymore) 

Anyways... the product was "AI Writing Made Easy" and it was the best LinkedIn writing course about AI in early 2024.

But I was a terrible guru. 

I refused to promise buyers platform growth OR an increase in revenue because I couldn't honestly assure that. 

Not only that... 

But I didn't leverage buyers into...

→ Selling a "special" paid community.
→ Upselling more courses, secrets, workshops.

Because I had realized a dark truth...

Selling on LinkedIn is easier if you have no soul because all you have to do is SELL THE DREAM. 

(with 0 care if ur product delivers)

I can't freaking do that.

So eventually I had to just accept it.

So I....

Shut down a second course launch.
Killed an attempt at a paid community.
Nuked all my LinkedIn coaching offers.
Deleted everything, including the course...
AND ghosted 100k+ followers! 

I spent most of 2025 offline, and for a while I was pretty frustrated with myself; that I couldn't sell out and go all in. 

But as I had time to reflect... 

I realized. 

I built my business by being myself. 

I didn't need to quit building business online.

I just had to do it my way

(n play my own game)

See I believe...

You dont have to become what you hate to build a life of freedom..  

You just gotta sell something you believe in.

👊

PS Am I smiling or cringing here?

(I'm not sure either)

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹?

I write for rebels here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

It's unfortunate what happened to this guy. I mean I get it.

70% of new fathers report higher stress levels.

It's hard to raise a kid and post on LinkedIn.

But enough is enough.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Sooo I'm helping Tasleem show up on LinkedIn regularly in 2026.

I've seen him go from perfect hair to a frazzled beard thanks to becoming a new father.

Hey the real world is stressful!!

But you know what's more stressful than kids?

The kind of carnage we see on LinkedIn these days.

LinkedIn's lost it's soul.

I'm not even sure there are any real people here anymore?

It's mostly just AI slop and the same self absorbed nonsense.

I've had enough of it.

Tas has had enough of it.

That's why we've agreed to meet every week and keep each other accountable for showing up on LinkedIn and making this place more fun for all.

Tas was there for me in hard times.

I want to return the favor.

So look LinkedIn, we're gonna make this a better place in 2026.

P.S. What's the worst thing about LinkedIn you'd want changed this year?

Gary Vs $1.80 commenting strategy STILL WORKS!!

If u are broke this is how to win in 2026... 

Are you hot? Don't read further u still fine babe.

(the rest of you read on)

Have a budget? Pay for ads or you lose. 
Don't have a budget? Hustle or you lose.

Last year LinkedIn introduced thought leader ads and I called the end of organic reach.

Creators do NOT matter here. That is fact.

The platform cares about money. The money is in paid ads. 

BUT not all is lost, u still have a shot my fellow peasant...

→ 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 $𝟭.𝟴𝟬 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆.

It = leaving real comments on 90 posts a day.

But most creators get it wrong.
It’s not about the volume.

You ACTUALLY HAVE TO READ the post, be interested in the person and want to genuinely get to know them and their brain and their business.

You can’t automate this.
You can’t outsource this.
You can’t shortcut this.

Starting from 0 with $0 budget means putting in the work, and networking with people’s content that you actually find interesting and are your target audience.

Automating this method is spammy, you are too broke too outsource this work to an underpaid virtual assistant.

Want to build a business online without a budget?

You have to outwork those with money to burn.
You have to outTHINK those outsourcing their brand.

Otherwise yes.. it's time to go work at McDonalds peasant. 

Sorry but this is the brutal truth.

Adapt or lose.

Splash cash or work hard.

👊

Substack is built for creators. LinkedIn is not. 

I got treated better in 6 days on Substack than I did in 6 years of building here... 

David Paykin runs the tech, AI and biz partnerships at Substack and found me after my first post on the platform ranting about ChatGPT...

He fired off a helpful intro email to me and....
Got me verified in LESS THAN 24 HOURS!!!

This blows my mind.

We jumped on a call. He shared what Substack is doin in 2026. 

Substack pushes good content weeks after you post.
Substack has actual silos of fresh creative content.
Substack is a writing FIRST platform (phew)...

AND....

They have live streaming that alerts your entire email list... 

David is a champ and asked for nothing from me.

Pretty darn rare on the internet these days.

So thanks my dude and well....

I for one am excited to build my newsletter on a platform where every follower gets a chance to become an email subscriber, where the team gives back to it's users and.....

Where I actually have someone to email if I get banned.

(lol)

PS Have you tried Substack yet?

--

Join me on Substack and check out my newsletter.

(I post 5 days a week)

The Rebels Guide to the Creator Economy.

Read the first article here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

Chatting about Substack as the place to be for creators in 2026

I’m excited to announce that Im starting a new position as Co-Owner at the MEME team

I am officially a 50% investor/owner and responsible for bringing fun back to your feed, one meme at a time.

♻️ Repost for others bored of this corporate AI slop!!!

PS Say hello in the comments and I'll meme you!

(PG don't worry and SFW)

I help rebel creators build online without selling their soul. 50% investor/owner of the “MEME team” and responsible for bringing fun back to LinkedIn, one meme at a time.

No alternative text description for this image

I deleted Instagram, Facebook, cut a billion AI tools, changed my profile pic to a cartoon and ghosted LinkedIn for 6 months. . .

Now the rebuild has begun on my terms.

Shoutout to anyone else showing up and trying again.

Lets get it stranger....

PS Don't repost this for others!

Pretty sure they'll be ok without this post.

I'm old. 

But my 8 hour morning routine keeps my young... 

3:00am → Wake up
3:01am → Smile
3:05am → Cold shower
3:09am → Make 3 CUPPA coffees
3:15am → 100 Pushups and 15k steps
3:31am → Write five elite LinkedIn posts
3:57am → Comment "WOO" on 1000 posts
4:22am → Eat a cheap $500 steak for breakfast
9:69am → 650 pushups, 3 more coffees & tanning
4:33am → Post on linkedin. Get rich. Be hot. Win. 

Now I know this might seem extreme.

But this routine is the key to my rugged good looks and well... my incredible LinkedIn profile. 

Let me break it down for you:

Struggling with lead gen?
↳ Drink more coffee.

Nobody reading your posts? 
↳ Do 750 pushups and lose some weight u fatty.

Everyone but Bryan Johnson says you can't live forever.
But they are wrong (he is too)

You don't need to spend thousands on peptides. 

All you really need is. 

My incredible, elite morning routine.

PS I lied; I hate smiling.

(comment ETERNAL for the guide)

Making $1000 an hour is simple. 

Step 1: Make your LinkedIn profile a landing page.
Step 2..... 

Just kidding, this isn't one of THOSE posts...

𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁: if you make $$ on LinkedIn, you are winning. 
𝗙𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: everyone makes money on LinkedIn.

It's easy to feel down, scrolling the feed.

10k months.
100k MRR AI tools. 
1000 dollar coaching calls.

It's all in our face all of the freaking time on every flippin scroll. 

But we only see the wins. 
Trust me, we all lose.

(and many people inflate their numbers) 

So the next time you feel down, just stop for a second and walk over to a mirror..

Look at yourself and scream WOOOO. 
↳ celebrate a small win and encourage yourself. 

Then, get back to work.

Let's GO!

✌️

LinkedIn blocked me from commenting for 24 hours.... 

So Imma go hang out on Substack today...

If you wanna join me and check out my newsletter there come say hello.

It's called: "A Rebel's Guide to the Creator Economy"

Oh...... you didn't know?

Yeah so if you comment too much LinkedIn thinks you are a robot. 

(I used to do this every day back in 2020-2021)

Guess I gotta take it a bit easier huh...

PS Have you ever been blocked or restricted on LinkedIn?

Cz I sure have ha ha ha ha....

Open article: Rebels and non-conformists are the pioneers of change... by substack.com

Rebels and non-conformists are the pioneers of change...

This is my 3rd post of the week. 
I have hit my weekly target. 
Good job Luke. I am king.
I've also decided that.
This post will be so.
Formatted like dis.
That it doesn't.
Make much.
Sense.
woo
!!

taplio

The Battle

Alex McCann

Luke Matthews

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The Battle

Alex McCann

Luke Matthews

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Alex McCann's LinkedIn Performance

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