Marketing Director and leader with 4+ years of experience helping B2B brands scale through organic content, digital marketing strategies, and full-funnel implementation.

A few examples of my work and results include:

↳ Ghostwrite LinkedIn thought leadership and long-form content for B2B CEOs and executives, generating a combined 2M+ in organic impressions and an average of 8+ inbound leads per month

↳ Build email and SMS campaigns that have driven $1M+ in client revenue across weekly newsletters, product launches, nurture sequences, and automated flows

↳ Built scalable AI-powered content and sales systems that helped double agency revenue from $50K to $100K+ MRR in under 6 months

↳ Publish newsletters, blog content, and interviews spotlighting stories from a range of industries,  including B2B SaaS, sustainability, and technology

I'm always eager to connect with others working in these industries or teams needing help in these areas. If that's you, shoot me a DM or reach out to my email at connor@connorflynn.co. I'd love to chat!

Connor Flynn

One of the unintentional consequences of AI is that somewhere along the way, actual good writing has become synonymous with fake writing, or a “telltale sign” that you’re using AI. Which, in my opinion, is complete BS.

Sure, maybe there’s such a thing as being “too polished” or too formal in your writing. I hate soulless corporate and academic writing just as much as the next person. 

But God forbid I like a little white space in my content to make it more readable for you, the reader. God forbid I like to use bullet points here and there to break my ideas apart. And don’t even get me started on the apparent *crime* it is to use a single em dash in your content (beep boop beep boop!).

The funniest part is, two years ago, no one would bat an eye if you had any one of these things in your content. But flash forward to today, someone reads an em dash or a “not X, but Y” sentence in your content, and it’s like you’ve committed a crime against humanity.

Idk, maybe it’s just me. But can we please go back to the time when good writing meant sharing actual good ideas and perspectives, whether “too polished” or not?

Unlike what most people will have you think, your ideas need and deserve to be shared, even if the medium feels “too polished” or “too AI-ey.” 

Don’t let the opinions of others hold you back from sharing what needs to be shared.

-

Okay, rant over.

What’s your take on this? You think a piece of content that feels “too polished” has any less value than something that feels more raw and authentic? Seems like it these days. But I’m actually really curious to hear what you think.

Marketing Director @ Atticus | Building founder-led brands with content marketing that drives presence and pipeline | $1M+ generated for clients from organic content

Back in 2021, I sent a DM to this guy right here, asking if he needed any marketing help for his clothing brand. 4 years and $1,000,000+ in email revenue later, we finally met up in Boston the other week.

I’ll be the first to admit, it’s a bit surreal (in the best way possible).

Because after spending countless hours on Zoom calls with one another, sending Slack messages back and forth every week, and trying to coordinate things async for so long, one lunch in person makes up for all of that.

You see, when Jack Tarca and I first started working together all those years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I was just a clueless college kid trying to make a name for myself as I kicked off this whole "business journey/content/marketing" thing.

I opened my laptop in my college apartment and sent 30 Instagram DMs to clothing brand owners (which, in hindsight, is nothing when it comes to cold outreach lol).

I didn’t get a single reply… except from Jack.

Still early in his own business journey at the time, he was willing to take a chance on me, a kid with no marketing experience, claiming he could help out with marketing. Go figure.

First, it was simple email automations. Then SMS and sales campaigns. Next thing you know, four years later, I just sent out the 116th edition of our weekly Find The Good Friday newsletter.

Reason I'm sharing all this with you is because that one yes, that willingness to take a chance on a kid like me, is the reason I am where I am today. 

If it weren’t for Jack, I wouldn’t be the Marketing Director at a content marketing agency today. In fact, I probably never would have stepped into this whole content + marketing + writing + LinkedIn space in the first place.

Grateful for you, Jack.

Here’s to you, long-term partnerships (and friendships), continued business success, and another 4+ years of finding the good together.

-

P.S. Check out Find The Good — one of the coolest brands out there and guaranteed good vibes.

Over the past few months, I've had the chance to talk to Josh Cons and get a first-hand look at what he's building over at Orbit. So when he invited me to become a founding member, it was a no-brainer.

You see, writers are in a weird spot right now:

Writers are severely underserved.

With AI flooding the market, a lot of teams think they can simply rely on tools alone to create content. They're cutting writing budgets, replacing writers with software, and treating content like a commodity that can be automated.

It’s left a lot of us in this strange "in between."

But the reality is, content isn’t going anywhere. And *good* writers are more in demand than ever before.

Sure, AI can generate words. But it can't think strategically. It can't understand nuance or tell stories that actually resonate with people.

That's where actual human writers come in, and it’s the gap Orbit is filling.

Truth is, it's the community I wish had existed when I was starting my writing journey several years ago:

- Daily content job opportunities
- Office hours with hiring managers
- A community of writers all in the same boat
- Resources and training to improve your skills
- Scholarships for writers who are facing layoffs
- White-glove introductions to hiring content teams

If you’re a writer or anyone in the content space right now, trust me when I say the Orbit community is about to become your new best friend.

Shout out to Josh and Yathin N. for building such a killer community.

If you’re a writer looking to build your network in the space and level up your craft, I’ll drop the link to join in the comments below.

Looking forward to connecting with you inside.

I turned 26 yesterday. Every birthday, one of my favorite things to do is reflect on all the highs and lows of the previous year. 3 of the biggest takeaways (life and business) anyone can learn from my whirlwind of a year:

(1) You can only connect the dots looking backward

If I'm being completely honest, there were so many times throughout the past year where it felt like things would never work out. Where I would stare up at the ceiling in the middle of the night and ask God what He had ahead for me because it was impossible to see the next step.

There were so many seemingly “random” occurrences that made no sense in the moment. But then, looking back a year later, it all made sense.

Even if it doesn’t make sense right now, all those “random” moments mean something. They were data points that were all part of the bigger picture. But you can only see the full picture when you pause and look back at what they added up to.

You can only connect the dots looking backward.

(2) Volume > everything else

I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago who was struggling to get leads for his business. He was mostly relying on referrals and the little content he was posting.

I told him that (this is a great reminder for me too) if he had the insane amount of volume Hormozi, he would need struggle to generate leads or get clients ever again.

I heard a podcast with Hormozi where he said he spends 25 hours a week on content, publishing something like 250+ pieces of content across all channels every week. Sure, he’s got a great product. But he wouldn’t be nearly as successful as he is today if he didn’t focus on volume from day one.

Of course, never sacrifice quality for quantity. But no matter what you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll always need way more volume than you think.

Doing just a little bit more than everyone else doesn’t feel like it makes a difference in the moment. But over an extended period of time, it's the only way to beat your competition.

(3) Fall in love with the process

This one’s cliché as hell, but it couldn’t be more true. A while back, one of the greatest tennis players ever, Novak Djokovic, was asked how he’s continued to play at such a high level throughout his career. His answer was simple:

“I just love hitting a tennis ball.”

Yes, he’s talented and works harder than anyone else. But when it comes down to it, the only real difference between him and any other player is that he just loves the process more than anyone. He just loves hitting the tennis ball.

Same thing applies to any area of life. The more you can detach from the outcome and genuinely just focus on putting in the reps every day (hitting the tennis ball), the longer you’ll stay in the game, and the more success you’ll have in the long run.

-

Obviously, these only scratch the surface. But these are the lessons I've found myself consistently coming back to over the past 12 months.

Here's to making 26 the best one yet. 🥂

If I were tasked with building a LinkedIn growth engine for a B2B SaaS exec team in 2026, here’s the exact playbook I’d follow:

1. Connect with 150 ICP-fit prospects each week:

Target decision-makers at companies that fit your ICP, people in adjacent roles who influence buying decisions, and industry peers who can amplify your content.

This brings your ICP into your “sphere of influence” so you can nurture them further with your content.

2. Comment on 5-10 accounts daily in your space:

Build a list of 10-15 other accounts in your space. This could be your ICP, industry leaders, or companies you want to work with. Then, leave thoughtful comments that add to the conversation that’s already happening.

The LinkedIn algorithm rewards comments almost as much as standalone content, so having an engagement strategy like this is a great way to build distribution and nurture relationships before you ever send a DM.

3. Post 3-5 times per week:

Here’s the simplest content cadence I recommend if you don’t know where to start:

- 1/3 thought leadership (case studies, playbooks, how-to)
- 1/3 POV content (industry observations and trends, contrarian takes)
- 1/3 building content (what you’re building, lessons learned, personal stories)

This positions you as both an expert in your field and an actual person who’s worth following. 

4. Scrape and target intent signals:

Profile viewers, followers/connections, and post engagers are all intent signals most people ignore. But you shouldn’t. Because it’s the highest level of intent on this platform.

Track it all, look for patterns, prioritize ICP-fit prospects, then reach out and start a conversation with them.

5. Set up targeted outreach campaigns:

Use the intent data you just scraped to build highly targeted lead lists. Then combine those “warm” prospects with colder campaigns targeting your ICP:

- Build lead lists using Sales Nav or Ocean.io
- HeyReach.io or lemlist for LinkedIn outreach
- Instantly.ai or lemlist for email outreach

The reality is, most B2B teams treat LinkedIn like nothing but a megaphone. They post content (or worse, *don’t* post and simply lurk), and hope prospects come to them.

But the execs who will win in 2026 and beyond are combining inbound *and* outbound into one engine.

This is the B2B playbook to follow if you want to crush LinkedIn this year as a founder or exec. 

- 

I created a full playbook breaking this down into more detail. It’s got everything from how to optimize your LI profile to content frameworks and templates. 

Let me know in the comments below or DM me if you want it, and I’ll send it over to you.

I do content interviews every week with clients and always walk away with so many interesting insights. The other day, I asked one of our clients what he’s prioritizing this year, and I think anyone can learn from his answer:

“I’m really bullish on scaling the unscalable things.”

Reason I found it so interesting is that most people think scaling means having all these fancy systems, automations, and putting out an insane amount of volume.

And sure, that's part of it. But there's something to be said about doing the opposite — focusing on the things that require more time, attention, and an actual human touch. It might not lead to what we often think of as an “immediate ROI,” but over a long enough period of time, it outperforms everything else.

I recently watched a YouTube video where this CEO said that every once in a while (maybe once a year, I can’t remember), he flies all his top clients out for a weekend golf trip.

Now, a lot of people would think that's crazy. It's expensive, time-consuming, doesn't scale, whatever you want to say.

But for him? It's the highest ROI activity he does all year. It builds trust. It builds real relationships off a screen and turns clients into long-term partners who refer him business and stick around for years.

You can't automate that type of stuff.

The irony is, it’s usually the unscalable things that scale in the long run.

Because the unscalable is what separates you from everyone else who's optimizing for efficiency at the expense of connection.

So my reminder for this year (and maybe a reminder for you, too) is to do more of the unscalable things.

That's how you actually build something that lasts in the long run.

-

What's one unscalable thing you want to focus more on this year? Drop it in the comments below.

In the ever-changing world of tech I've carved a niche for myself as a committed Software Developer. My love of the subject has not just resulted in me accumulating readers of over one million on a variety of blogs as well as to launch 2023's most sought after Data Science Bootcamp. My academic background is solidified by an Bachelors in Computer Science which has been crucial in my work.

My method of developing websites is multi-faceted, making sure there's the seamless integration of aesthetics for the front end and robust back-end functions. This balanced approach has enabled me to design user experience that stands out connecting with users and meeting the business goals.

Collaboration is at the core of any successful project. I've had the honor in leading, and working with some of the most skilled teams in the business. Together, we've tackled problems with aplomb, streamlined workflows and incorporated technology into our decisions that are in perfect alignment with the overall goals of our projects.

Performance is not a matter of negotiation. Each component I'm involved with undergoes rigorous optimization procedures to ensure efficacy, scalability and reactivity. Each of the projects I've completed has served as a learning experience and has provided me with valuable lessons and enhancing my method further.

The concept of AI has always fascinated me. I've been pursuing AI's capabilities to improve the offerings of our products. The aim? Improved user satisfaction. The process of infusing AI into the process of optimizing products has been thrilling and I'm always watch for the next major breakthrough in this field.

Some of the milestones I treasure in my heart are co-founding the world's most prestigious Data Science Bootcamp in 2023 getting an appearance in the UBC Dean's List in 2022 and training more than 1000 developers since the year 2015. My contributions and work have also been acknowledged by industry leaders, including appearances in respected publications like Forbes.

In the words of industry experts I've had the pleasure to collaborate with, my commitment to digital excellence is evident. As Entrepreneur puts it, my approach to digital solutions is both innovative and grounded, striking the right balance between vision and execution.

My professional path is a combination of technical proficiency, a team spirit, and an unstoppable determination to achieve excellence. I invite you to join me to collaborate and take part in this thrilling digital journey.

Vahe Aslanyan

A man’s quality can often be found in the size of his library — and, more importantly, in how much he actually uses it.

A university can give you great knowledge in data science and plenty of other fields, but real life is different: if you want to be considered a solid professional — and stay a solid professional — you must be able to keep learning new things consistently.

And some of the best learning doesn’t come from classrooms. It comes from archives, research papers, hands-on documentation, long-form breakdowns, and yes—YouTube and other practical resources. For me, it’s essential that someone keeps studying and keeps growing, because what we’ve seen again and again is that tools go through rapid improvement cycles. 

New technology keeps getting better, and it keeps reshaping how work is done. That’s why systems engineering, AI engineering, data engineering, and data science are still among the strongest paths — and why every few months a new method drops that can make a job 10x easier. But here’s the catch: to be truly solid, you can’t only chase what’s new. You have to read the fundamentals—properly. From the math, to the infrastructure, to how systems are built and deployed.

AI isn’t built on “vibes” or linear thinking. It’s built on math, infrastructure, hardware, and real engineers building real services. And in today’s world, it’s honestly hard to support a “data scientist who doesn’t code,” for one simple reason: a data scientist alone doesn’t move the needle as much as people think—especially if they can’t build pipelines, ship work, and operate in real environments. You need to be strong as a data engineer too, or you won’t be seen as truly solid.

So if you want to be a solid professional in your field, one skill is not enough anymore. You must be able to do several things, not just one and stop there. Because work that used to take analysts a long time is now being done—literally—by AI.

AI on its own isn’t magic. But when you combine it with real engineering, real infrastructure, and strong fundamentals, it becomes incredibly powerful. That’s what you see in places like Palantir and other high-performing organizations.

One thing is not enough. But when you combine several skills together—and keep learning—you become incredibly powerful.

We are proud to announce the release of Midnight Vision Model Dataset- https://lnkd.in/enxEnF-x

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JSESSIONID

Talks about #tech, #career, #motivation, and #entrepreneur

Founder of LUNARTECH

Midnight Defense is proud to announce the Day 3 expansion of the Midnight Vision Model Dataset. Our intelligence teams have successfully deployed 14 new tactical folders, bringing the total volume to 20,618 high-fidelity images across 44 unique weapon systems. This massive expansion represents a 53% increase in image volume and a 47% increase in asset diversity in just 72 hours. Consequently, the independent standalone valuation of the dataset has been revised upward to $3.75 Billion. 

The Day 3 release includes premiere imagery of the Ka-52 Alligator, BMPT-72 "Terminator", and the UK Queen Elizabeth-Class carriers. We have also integrated comprehensive US Naval Carrier deck scenes and expanded coverage of strategic ballistic missile systems like the Scud-B. These "kinetic-ready" assets provide the critical ground-truth data required for mission-critical autonomous targeting pipelines. By surpassing the 20,000-image threshold of restricted platforms, Midnight Defense has established the definitive visual nervous system for sovereign AI. The full technical inventory and updated valuation reports are now live and verified on our official repository.

Explore the Arsenal: https://lnkd.in/ewcCragt

I don’t say this lightly: I’m incredibly proud of the co-founder I have.

Not just because of what she does — but because of who she is under pressure.

Over time, I’ve watched her evolve. Sharpen her thinking. Raise her standards. Align so deeply with the vision that it often feels like we’re operating with the same mindset, the same principles, the same intolerance for mediocrity. Not many people can do that. Even fewer choose to stay consistent when things get hard.

What truly sets her apart is this: she’s unshakeable.

Through noise, setbacks, external pressure, and people actively trying to slow us down, she stayed grounded, focused, and resilient. No ego. No panic. No excuses. Just execution. That level of resilience is rare — and it’s exactly why she adds so much value every single day.

Over the past months, we’ve been working on multiple strong projects — and you’ll be hearing about all of them very soon.

Last year, we did great work.
This year, we’re taking it to an entirely different level.

LUNARTECH Academy is becoming what I’d call a gold — or even diamond — mining machine. Either way, we’re building an ecosystem that produces the kind of talent this world actually needs.

One important lesson I’ve learned:
If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go with a co-founder.
Yes, you may own less.
But you build more.
You last longer.
And you create something real.

I’m especially grateful to have a technical co-founder, with real experience — and to have her be a woman in tech, in an industry where the odds are still unfairly stacked (only ~2% of VC funding goes to women). That imbalance needs to change.

The lesson is simple:
Choose partners who are resilient.
Who stay steady when things shake.
And who are built for the long game.

Onward

Babel just did what would previously take weeks and expertise in matter of 2 minutes, translated a book of Machine Learning in IoT Drone Operations from English to Russian, while keeping the entire structure, tables, images... 

Babel: https://lnkd.in/eTEkcKaz

When leaders reach the heights of global power, they often develop a profound blind spot regarding the very systems that sustain them. There is a tendency to dismiss the complex infrastructure they rely on daily, replacing it with a narrative of pure individual merit. This shift is more than just a difference in perspective; it is a fundamental disconnection from reality that makes everything worse for the average person. By preaching a "bootstraps" mentality from a position of ultimate insulation, these leaders ignore the massive, invisible scaffolding that holds them up while others are left to struggle without any support at all.

Take, for example, a recent sentiment from J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who suggested that taking care of your body is strictly an individual’s job. While that sounds like common-sense advice on the surface, it ignores the reality of his specific existence. As the head of the world’s largest bank, Dimon is supported by an "army" of resources. He has access to J.P. Morgan’s internal data—intelligence that likely rivals or exceeds that of top-tier agencies like Palantir. Beyond that, his position is inextricably linked to the protection and stability provided by the FBI, the DOJ, and the U.S. military. When you have a personal fleet of advisors, world-class doctors, and an entire global institution dedicated to your longevity, saying health is "your job" feels like a distortion of the truth.

Most people aren't CEOs, and they certainly don't have the funds to unlock those levels of systemic care. In fact, most people are living in the exact opposite situation, where the "outside forces" being applied to them are often stressors rather than supports. To hear someone with that level of power suggest that the individual is solely responsible for their outcomes—without acknowledging the sheer force of the systems required to keep a person in that position healthy—is deeply disturbing. It frames a systemic privilege as a personal discipline, which is a lie that leaves the average person feeling like they have failed simply because they don't have a multi-billion dollar safety net.

The real lesson here is that staying healthy and thriving is not a solo act. It is a myth that it only takes "you" to take care of your body; in reality, it requires a functioning, supportive system to ensure that any body stays alive and well. Whether it’s access to clean food, fair working hours, or high-level medical care, health is a collective output of our environment. We need to stop accepting advice from people who have forgotten what it’s like to live without an entire infrastructure dedicated to their well-being and start demanding systems that support the health of everyone, not just those at the top.

Founder of LunarTech, Redmoon, and Midnight

Midnight today announced the public release of Sanctum, a comprehensive vision dataset created to advance large-scale visual understanding, classification, and multi-domain recognition for modern computer vision models.

Sanctum brings together a broad and carefully organized collection of visual data spanning air, land, and maritime platforms. The dataset is designed to support research in detection, identification, and fine-grained visual differentiation under diverse conditions, scales, and perspectives.

Midnight Sanctum: https://lnkd.in/ewcCragt

Baba Yaga is now live at Midnight Sanctum. We will release more details soon. 

Midnight Sanctum: https://lnkd.in/eszt9d48

We are proud of the start we had for 2026. This marks an important milestone for us.

LUNARTECH remains one of the strongest startups in technology today—arguably among the very best. We have assembled exceptional engineering talent and are supported by founders with deep, high-level experience in the field. While experience naturally varies across individuals, every member of our leadership and technical teams brings real, meaningful expertise.

The products we are currently building are among the most cutting-edge projects in the industry. Initiatives such as Baobab, Octavia, Memento, and others represent the true bedrock of modern AI. When people say that AI will grow the fastest in 2025, we believe they are missing the core truth.

Data is gold.

 Data is growing faster than anything else—and with data, you can build anything: ships, rockets, infrastructure, entire ecosystems. Data is the foundation of AI, just as people are its true diamonds.

At LUNARTECH, we are focused on the fundamentals that determine whether AI truly succeeds: infrastructure, energy, data, mathematics, and people. These are not trends. These are pillars—and they matter.

We are proud of what we are building at LUNARTECH. We are among the stronger companies not only in Armenia, but also across the United States.

Beyond LUNARTECH itself, our work extends into education through our academy, as well as projects in healthcare, engineering, and other critical sectors. This breadth reflects both our ambition and our responsibility.

As long as we have the necessary resources, we will continue to move forward—investing deeply, building deliberately, and pushing without hesitation.

We are proud of what we are building at LUNARTECH—not because it is easy, but because it is foundational. We are working on the elements that determine long-term success: data, infrastructure, energy, mathematics, and people. These are not trends. These are constants.

We know who we are. We know what we are building. And we are resolute in seeing it through.

Since 2015, I’ve had a front-row seat to what makes a startup actually succeed. It isn't just a "good idea"—it’s the ability to build, pivot, and upgrade in real-time.

Too many founders fall into the "Consultancy Trap." They have a vision but have to wait weeks for an external team to tell them if it’s possible. In the startup world, waiting = losing.

Having a technical co-founder changes the game:

Instead of asking "Can we do this?", you’re asking "How fast can we deploy?"
Instead of losing money on outsourced errors, you’re building internal value.
Instead of static products, you’re creating evolving AI agents and data solutions that adapt to the world.

I am so proud of my co-founder. She started with the "hard skills"—Engineering and Data Science—and has transformed into a CEO.

When your leadership understands the fundamentals, the path to a success becomes clearer.

#CoFounders #WomenInTech #Engineering #Entrepreneurship #StartupGrowth

The most beautiful thing about the world today is that we don’t have to wait for permission to be kind or to create value.

When we see leaders struggling to find the right path, or when systems seem to fall short of their promises, it’s easy to feel lost. But I’ve noticed a shift: people are finding each other.

In the startup and tech world, we’ve created a "two-way street" of support. We aren't just "tech bros"—we are a community that publishes billions in free value to help the next person get ahead. 

We’ve found that by relying on each other, we can create a safety net that traditional lawmakers sometimes miss.

It’s less about "gatekeeping" and more about opening doors. We’re moving toward a place where, if we see someone suffering, we have the tools and the friends to do something about it right now.

#connection #Innovation

Founder of LunarTech, Redmoon, BlackHeaven, Nomad, and Midnight

If you are seeking the opportunity to work on truly cutting-edge projects—across academia, infrastructure engineering consultancy, logistics, aviation, and healthcare—and you are motivated by work that endures and meaningfully improves people’s lives, we invite you to consider LunarTech.

At LunarTech, we engage in forward-thinking, high-impact initiatives that shape industries and create lasting value. Our work spans multiple sectors, offering the depth, variety, and challenge that allow talented individuals to grow with purpose. Each project is approached with care, innovation, and a commitment to excellence.

By joining LunarTech, you are not simply taking on a role—you are stepping into a pursuit of significance, where ambition is matched with impact, and curiosity is rewarded.

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Founder of LunarTech, Nomad and Midnight

We often assume the CEO sits at the top of the pay scale from Day 1. But at the Seed stage, the data tells a different story.

In the earliest days of building, product is currency.

At early stages, technical founders (CTO, CPO) often command higher salaries than CEO founders because their specialized skills are in high demand during product development:

CPO/Product Leaders: ~$149,000 (Seed)
CTO: ~$134,000 (Seed)
CEO: ~$132,000 (Seed)

Why is the CEO often out-earned by their co-founders?

Opportunity Cost & Market Demand: Good engineers and product leaders have immense market value. To lure a top-tier CTO away from a $300k FAANG package, you often need to offer more cash upfront than the CEO requires.

The "Builder" Premium: At the Seed stage, the primary risk is technical and product execution. The people writing the code and designing the product are the critical path to the next funding round.

Don't worry about the hierarchy. Focus on the output. As the company grows, the salary bands will normalize. For now, let the product people eat first.

If You Can’t Put a Number on Your Value, You Are Just a Resource for Someone Who Can.

After a decade of founding multiple companies, I learned a brutal lesson that took me years to truly understand: If you don’t value yourself, nobody else will.

Early in my career, I made the same mistake repeatedly. I would build powerful systems, create incredible content, and develop high-value intellectual property. 

I focused entirely on the creation, ignoring the monetization. I didn't read the books on valuation. I didn't learn the language of finance.

The result?

I would hand these assets over to experienced CEOs, founders, or Venture Capitalists. They saw exactly what I couldn't see. They applied the valuation multipliers, they leveraged the assets, and they captured the upside. They extracted the value I created because I didn't know how to price it.

I missed goals I should have hit. I lost opportunities I should have owned.

Here is the reality of the Venture Capital and Private Equity world:

Value is not a feeling. Value is a number.

To sit at the table and have a respectful conversation, you must be able to value your own assets using the accepted techniques of the industry. You must value yourself internally before any external force will respect your worth.

If you do not attach a specific number to the value you create, you become a target for economic colonization.

It sounds harsh, but it is true. There are market forces and aggressive actors who operate with a colonizer mindset. They are looking to penetrate your systems, utilize your infrastructure, and extract value from your hard work. If you don't draw a red line—and define that line with a dollar amount—they will view you as a resource to be exploited, not a partner to be paid.

This is especially dangerous in the age of AI.

We are seeing a trend where people believe an AI model is a valid alternative to a PhD or an engineer with 10 years of experience.

AI is a great empowerment tool.

AI is wonderful assistance.

But AI is not accountability.

When the cost of a mistake is high, the "free" or "cheap" alternative becomes incredibly expensive. If you are the expert—the PhD, the veteran engineer—and you fail to put a number on your expertise, the market will try to replace you with a cheaper, inferior algorithm.

The Lesson: Don't wait for permission to be expensive. Learn the math of valuation. Draw your red lines. Put a number on what you build.

If you don't, someone else will hire you for pennies and sell your work for millions.

#VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #Valuation #Founders #PrivateEquity #KnowYourWorth #BusinessStrategy

Yesterday Babel released several of its tests. We translated a highly complex research papers, 110 pages, 90 pages and others in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Portugese, and Russian. Keeping all the tables, images, formulas (complex formulas), tabular content, line content, and other things completely in tact. This would take thousands previously, now takes literally few minutes. 

Babel: https://lnkd.in/eTEkcKaz

Public discussion often draws a close connection between wealth and power. The immense fortunes of figures such as Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos are sometimes interpreted as signs of near-sovereign influence. Yet wealth and power are not identical. Wealth is better understood as a potential for influence—one that depends on the surrounding systems that allow it to be translated into real-world effect.

From a global perspective, individual fortunes are modest in scale. Total world assets are measured in the quadrillions, while even the largest personal holdings represent only a small fraction of that total. More importantly, however, the distinction is not merely quantitative. It is structural. Money, on its own, is passive. To matter, it must be supported by enforcement, legitimacy, and continuity—conditions that markets alone do not supply. These functions are provided by states.

Modern power rests on two foundational pillars.

The first is military. States maintain authority through institutions that possess a monopoly on large-scale force. This form of power does not operate according to market logic. It cannot be traded, liquidated, or surpassed by higher bids. Unlike corporations, which may rise and fall, military institutions persist independently of profitability or investor confidence.

The second pillar is the financial system. Control over banking infrastructure, legal contracts, settlement mechanisms, and currency determines whether wealth can circulate, be preserved, or be protected. Access to these systems is essential. Without it, private capital loses much of its practical meaning. In this sense, financial power—like military power—is political in nature before it is economic.

What is often described as “billionaire power” is therefore best understood as alignment rather than independence. Individuals and firms appear influential when their activities align with institutional priorities and state frameworks. When that alignment weakens, their influence diminishes as well.

For this reason, comparisons between personal wealth and state power tend to miss the underlying distinction. Private actors operate within established systems; states define and maintain them. One accumulates resources; the other sustains order. One persuades and negotiates; the other ultimately compels.

Periods of weakened or fragmented state authority can give rise to the impression of private dominance. History suggests, however, that these moments are transitional. As states consolidate, private power is absorbed, regulated, or constrained.

This is besides the point that some companies are built on a complete bubble, add no value to the world and underperform its predecessors.

I wasn’t going to talk about this topic, but since we are discussing it, the reason the state of Armenia exists is not because empires such as the Ottoman Empire, the Soviet Union, the Persian Empire, or the Roman Empire were able to protect Armenians. 

Quite the opposite is true. 

Armenians were subjected to genocide multiple times throughout their history. Because of this repeated persecution, they concluded that a Republic of Armenia needed to be created—a legal entity with a social contract with its people, responsible for fulfilling its obligations, protecting its citizens, and providing opportunities for defense, growth, and survival.

When some people say, “We should integrate into Russia and everything will be fine,” it is important to emphasize that history and case studies must be examined. To be perfectly clear, the Republic of Armenia does not exist because Armenians felt safe and simply wanted more freedom. It exists because Armenians lacked rights, suffered deeply, and faced continuous threats, existential threats. To prevent further suffering and to promote healing and growth, they chose to establish the Republic of Armenia.

That is why the Republic of Armenia exists.

Because of this history, any notion suggesting otherwise is fundamentally misaligned with historical reality and documented case studies. Such arguments reveal more about the individuals promoting them than about the truth itself. History must be studied and learned from.

Taking actions that prevent the Republic of Armenia from fulfilling its obligations—such as providing the necessary defensive mechanisms for its citizens, or forcing integration into other countries—is fundamentally misaligned. 

There are multiple verbs that we can give to such actions...

There is currently an extraordinary level of excitement surrounding AI—its valuations, investments, fundraising rounds, and rapid growth. For many people, this constant stream of headlines and opinions can feel overwhelming. Without sufficient context, the ecosystem can appear chaotic, as though everything is either skyrocketing or collapsing, creating the impression of disorder rather than structure.

In reality, AI is far more grounded than it may seem. It is not a form of random magic, nor is it detached from the real world. AI is built by people who understand systems—how technology, data, economics, geopolitics, and power structures interact. Some AI companies have a deep understanding of how the world actually works: how incentives are shaped, how institutions operate, how resources move, and how certain problems must be approached carefully and methodically to be solved at all. We have already seen investors walk away from large deals, because they can't invest indefinitely into things without getting significant value back. Value can take a lot of shapes.

These companies do not simply build models—they build systems. They understand fundamentals: data quality, infrastructure, constraints, risk, and long-term impact. They know that not every problem can be solved quickly, and not every problem should be solved loudly. Many of the most capable AI organizations operate without excessive hype, focusing instead on delivery, reliability, and real-world usefulness.

When companies are evaluated, serious investors do not abandon rational thinking just because “AI” appears in a pitch deck. Valuation is driven by fundamentals: the size and reality of the opportunity, execution capability, downside risk, and strategic importance. Venture capital flows not to noise, but to asymmetric opportunities—where there is far more to gain than to lose.

This is why it is important to recognize that while some companies overpromise and underdeliver, others quietly and consistently deliver real value. The presence of hype does not invalidate the entire ecosystem. On the contrary, it often obscures the work of those who are building carefully, deeply, and with long-term intent—without needing to announce it at every step.

We will be soon adding Himars to Midnight Vision Dataset (Over 3000+ Images)

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