Neal O'Grady 🍉

Demand Curve | 93,000 founders get 3 startup growth tactics in their inbox each week. Join the Growth Newsletter below.

I have an extremely strange mix of skills/experience:

- Mechanical engineer
- Full-stack developer
- Serial entrepreneur ($25M+ in total revenue)
- Content creator/marketer (100k+ newsletter subs and millions of page views)
- Growth marketer (ran marketing companies for 9 years)
- Crypto nerd (20k+ defi transactions)

Which is why I run marketing at a scrappy and highly technical crypto company—I can do a bit of everything.

Co-Founder

Demand Curve (YC S19) creates courses, content, and events to teach founders and marketers how to grow companies. Our weekly newsletter goes out to over 60,000 founders and marketers.

Pink Cow Brand Builder | 🚀 7-fig Branding & Conversion Agency & 8-fig Automation SaaS | 🚀 Make More Money Online with AI

I help founder-led B2B figure out why their CAC keeps climbing.

Usually it's one of four things.

How you're positioned 
How people find you
How leads convert
Why customers leave

Most founders I talk to are stuck on one or two of these. 
Fix the right one and the others get easier.

I spent 10 years behind the scenes for giants and category kings, building the systems that made growth predictable (LTV).

Built and exited my own B2B SaaS company along the way.
(Among other products and companies that I've launched)

If you're leading a B2B company at $1M–$5M ARR and you're tired of guessing, happy to do a free audit.

No pitch.

→ Send me a message "AUDIT" to apply

Jackson Yew

Just a reminder of why good #design is important:

Helping Founder-led B2B reduce CAC & increase LTV | Performance Marketing $1Mil → $5Mil

I almost didn't watch this interview.

Let's just say I was almost very, very wrong.

I summarized Alex Hormozi's podcast with Tony Robbins so you don't have to.

69 minutes saved for you.

TLDR: Alex Hormozi x Tony Robbins

I stopped posting for a year.

Not because I ran out of ideas.
(...or maybe just a little bit 🤏)

I stopped because I wasn't sure what game I was playing.

Was I building an audience to sell consultancy? 
To get agency clients? 
To look credible? 

...Or just to feel important?

All of those felt like the wrong reason.

So I went quiet.

Built more funnels. 
Invested in some offline businesses. 

Putting money where my mouth is.
Watched the market change.

And honestly...
Part of me wondered if anyone would notice I was gone.

They didn't. 
And that was clarifying.

Here's what I came back to:
The game I want to play is simple.

Share how I actually think about business growth.

What do you prioritize when everything feels urgent? 
When do you double down vs. cut your losses?

That's what I'll be sharing here.

Thinking out loud, from inside real businesses.

Basically documenting my point of view.

If that's useful to you, give me a follow.

---

P.S.

Just me working while Olivia is documenting how I build marketing systems for my own businesses.

SaaS, Agency, and some other things.

If you like business & marketing, follow along.

I'll see you in the next one.

I am Jackson Yew

Your first positioning will be wrong.

That's not a problem. Here's what is → 

Most founders freeze because they want perfect positioning.

The right words. 
The perfect niche. 
A pitch that lands every time.

So they wait.

They tweak.
They second-guess.
And they never actually pick something.

Here's the truth:
Everyone's first positioning is off.

Mine was.

When I started, I positioned as "website designer." 
Then "funnel designer."
Then "landing page designer."
Then "direct response design for experts."
Then "performance marketing for founder-led B2B."

It took multiple iterations before any conversations really clicked.

Every client I've worked with had the same story.

You can't think your way to clarity. 
You have to test.

Say something. 
See how the market responds. 
Adjust.

Iterate > Hesitate.

The real danger isn't being wrong.

The real danger is waiting too long to pick anything.

Analysis paralysis kills more businesses than bad positioning.

Because bad positioning can be fixed.

No positioning is just invisible.

Pick a direction. 
Test it. 
Adjust.

The founders & companies who win aren't better at positioning.

They're just faster at iterating.

This one mistake is MAKING millions.

Yes. Mistake. Millions.

Here’s what happened:
- A Chinese factory made a plush horse for Lunar New Year.
- Meant to smile → ended up SUPER SAD (mouth sewn upside down).
- One buyer posted it online.
- Internet went crazy.
- Demand skyrocketed.
- Factory switch to producing the “mistake” version.
- Crying horse outsold the smiling version by a mile.

Why the "Sad Horse" went viral

▋ 1. Pattern Interrupt
- Chinese New Year is about luck, joy, fortune.
- Everything is red, smiling and auspicious.
- But this horse looked tired. Worn out. DONE.
- That’s why it STOOD OUT.

▋ 2. Relatability
- People don’t connect with perfect smiles.
- They connect with honest pain.
- This toy looked like how people felt at work.
- It became a physical meme.
 
Do you like the sad or happy horse?

1 screenshot leaked.
1 employee fired. 
2 executives lost their bonuses. 
1 CEO went live to apologize.

Here's what really happened at Xiaomi last week...
...and the marketing pattern that made it inevitable.
↓

Xiaomi's 2026 Branding Lesson

Your sales problem isn't a sales problem.

It's a positioning problem wearing a sales mask.

Here's how to tell:

Positioning audit. Founder edition.

The whole world is talking about Alex Honnold right now.

He just free-soloed Taipei 101 - 1,600 feet, no ropes. 2 million people watched it live on Netflix.

But I keep coming back to what his wife Sanni said before the climb.

"You really got to protect his mental space. Have to be neutral."

Too down - "Are you sure? Are you feeling okay?" - and you plant seeds of doubt.

Too high - "You can do this!" - you don't want that adrenaline either.

You just got to be "tranquilo".

---

Everyone's breaking down Alex's technique and fearless brain.

That quote from Sanni though is what stuck with me. 
Not for climbing, but for how we show up for people.

I always thought support meant encouragement.
"You've got this!"
"You're going to crush it!"

And there's a time for that. 
During preparation. 
The weeks and months before.

But Sanni was talking about the moment "right before".

When someone's about to do the hard thing, they've already prepared. Already visualized. Already dealt with their fear. They're in the zone.

In that moment, both worry AND hype are disruptions.

"Are you sure?" plants doubt.
"You've got this!" spikes adrenaline.

Both pull them out of their zone.

---

Sanni admitted she was "basically having a panic attack the entire time."

But she understood something: her feelings were hers to carry. Not his.

So right before he climbed, she didn't voice her fear. 
Didn't pump him up either.

She just stayed. Present. Neutral.

And he climbed.

---

Made me think about the times I got this wrong.

A friend about to pitch investors - and I'm hyping them up at the door.
Someone about to have a hard conversation - and I'm giving them a pep talk.

I thought I was being supportive. Maybe I was just adding noise.

Encouragement has its time - during the build-up.
Celebration has its time - after.

But right before someone does the hard thing? Protect the space. Just presence.

---

Picture Sanni watching her husband climb that building. 

1,600 feet.
No ropes.
One mistake and he's gone.

She stayed still. Not because she felt calm - but because she knew what her worry would do to him.

That's a different kind of love. 
The love that says nothing. 
Just stays. 
Trusts.

---

I have people like that in my life too.

My wife - who watched me fail my ship-salvaging business, pick myself up, start an agency, go through the feast and famine cycle.

My brother - who started the agency with me, and many businesses after.

My parents - who I know were worried shitless but tried not to voice it.

They trusted me when I didn't trust myself. Held their own fear so I could move.

So this is me saying thank you.

And a reminder to myself: I want to learn to be that for others.

The guy who built Claude Code shipped 259 works in 30 days .

But 97% of people have never even tried it.

In this Claude Code master-carousel, I breakdown for you

1/ Who’s Boris Cherny, and why should you care
2/ What’s Claude Code, and why should you care
3/ Boris’s 7.4M viral tips on how he uses Claude Code
4/ How to get started with Claude Code (in 5 minutes)
5/ How I use Claude Code as my 2nd brain

TL;DR
6 summarize tips from Boris
+ my beginner & creator-friendly workflow
+ your 5-minute quick start to building your 2nd brain

Enjoy.

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Thanks for reaching out! Here you go!

https://jacksonyew.com/2023giveaway

Are you looking to launch something new in 2024? Who's taking care of your landing page design & tech stuff?

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Claude Code Masterclass (For Beginners)

He built a better Calendly.

No one cared.

Years ago, when I was still a solopreneur designing websites, one of my clients was building a scheduling app.

As I was designing the pages, my wife looked over and asked:

"Isn't this just Calendly?"

I smiled and said nothing.

Because I knew.

A scheduling tool without a brand & marketing...
Even if it works better than Calendly...
will be ignored.

I told him. Gently. 
But he was convinced the product would speak for itself.

"Once people try it, they'll see the difference," he said. 
He had a list of 47 features Calendly didn't have.

My job was to build the site, not to force a strategy he didn't want. 
So I did my job well and hoped I was wrong.

I wasn't.

The product launched a month later. 
Fewer than 10 signups.

I never got a request to update the site. 
The project quietly died.

And that was before AI.

Today, anyone with a bit of money and skill can build something decent and usable. Your "advantage" can be copied tomorrow by someone just like you... or someone stronger.

"Good product" is the baseline.

Branding is what makes users remember you and advocate for you.
The ability to market the product is what pays the bill.

Will you buy a "better" Calendly?

Ever crushed it at work but still felt like you didn't belong?

That was me for years.

Here's what I realized.

When I started building my personal brand, I looked at the people already doing it.

The thought leaders.
The content creators.
The "real" online business people.

And I felt like I didn't belong.
Not because I couldn't do the work. 

I had the results. 
I just didn't feel like one of them.

I remember sitting in a group call with other founders. 
Someone asked me what I did.
I stumbled through my answer. 

After the call, I felt like a fraud despite having more real business experience than anyone there.

Here’s what I later come to believe:
Imposter syndrome isn't about skills. 
It's about identity.

You can have all the proof in the world. If you don't feel like you "belong" in a room, your brain will convince you that you don't.

The fix wasn't getting better.
The fix was finding my actual lane.

I stopped trying to fit the "online business guru" mold.

I started showing up as what I actually am:
A practitioner who builds businesses with marketing.

That shift changed everything.

If you're feeling imposter syndrome despite clear results, ask yourself:

Is this a skills gap? 
Or an identity gap?

That will help you move forward.
At least for me.

---

I am Jackson Yew

I'm documenting how I build marketing systems for my own businesses.
SaaS, Agency, and some other things.

If you like business & marketing, follow along.

I'll see you in the next one.

He made $1M online.

Then opened a restaurant and almost lost it all.

I caught up with an old client over the new year.

Five years ago, I launched an online course for him. 
It blew up.

$1M in revenue from a single launch.

Most would ride the momentum,
launched more courses, 
or even build a brand.

But he.. decided to go the other way.

For two years after that success, he was completely lost. 
Not because he lacked ideas... He had too many. 

He explored everything: 
startup communities, venture capital, even crypto.

Until one day, he thought he found the answer.

"I decided to open a restaurant."

I was stunned.

But his logic made sense:
"Most restaurants are terrible at marketing. With everything I know about online marketing, I'd beat everyone without even trying."

He thought it would be easy mode.
He almost lost it all.

Five years later, he laughed about how naive he was.

"You know what's funny? I spent $15,000 on a neon sign because I thought it would 'go viral.' Nobody took a photo. Not one.”

"The offline world is a completely different game."

He started telling me all the things 
he thought would be his unfair advantage, 
but ended up backfiring, or straight up didn’t work at all.

Here's me summarizing what he learned works online but fails miserably offline:

Not everyone can make a $200 feels like $2000.

Want to learn selling? This is it.

Product Launch Masterclass

I used to think posting more = more business.

Then I stopped for a year.

What happened next surprised me.

Swipe to see the 3 things I'd tell any founders stuck on the content treadmill.

---

I am Jackson Yew

I'm documenting how I build marketing systems for my own businesses.
SaaS, Agency, and some other things.

If you like business & marketing, follow along.

I'll see you in the next one.

I stopped posting. What happened next surprised me.

320 interviews with hundreds of experts...
...and the #1 skill in AI era is not tech-related.

It's the ability to look at something and say: 
"This is good" or 
"This isn't good enough."

Wowza.

Lenny Rachitsky (host of one of the tech world's most influential product podcasts) recently used AI to synthesize insights from over 320 of his expert interviews. 

The result is this breakdown of the top 10 skills needed to survive and thrive in the AI era.

Here are the 4 skills I'd bet on... 
and why they get MORE valuable as AI gets better.

4 Skills That Compound in the AI Era

The inevitable has come.

ChatGPT just introduced Go plan for $8.

While announcing that ads is coming.

SEO becomes the basis to GEO.

But the businesses who can pay for ads within LLMs?

They will still win the scaling game.

Consistency is what makes "impossible" look calm.
When your moment comes, will you be ready?

Are you feeling the same way?
Comment below.

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The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Jackson Yew

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The Battle

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Jackson Yew

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Likes

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