Neal O'Grady 🍉

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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.

New job title just dropped

In 2026, you can:

- Bet on how many tweets Elon posts this month
- Bet on whether Jesus Christ will return in 2026
- Bet on which country the US strikes next

It's honestly a bit absurd 😅 

With memecoins, you can bet on the cultural relevance of ideas and moments.

And now with Zora, you can mint a token on anything you think will trend — a tweet, a news event, a vibe — and turn it into a market.

Yes, even the topic of the day on LinkedIn.

We've been talking for a while about the Attention Economy and how creators like Mr. Beast have learned to capitalize on it, but now we, the social media-addicted consumers, can capitalize on it as well.

So, although this job post is a joke, trading culturally relevant content is already how some people earn their living.

To you, this may be a dystopian future, but sports betting is surging among Gen Z. 

$1.3B was transacted on prediction markets during the Super Bowl alone.

The appetite to put money where your opinion is isn't going away — it's expanding into every corner of culture.

Whether you think that's exciting or terrifying, the infrastructure is being built right now. Which is why Codex Data Inc is excited to power Zora's token data.

"Attention Economist" might be a joke today. But what else are we going to do when AGI comes? 😅

Neal O'Grady

Head of Marketing at Codex.io & Defined.fi

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

Anthropic (Claude) told the Pentagon no. 
Trump banned them. 
OpenAI signed a deal the same day. 
Both say they have the same values.

Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei was called to Washington by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The Pentagon wanted "any lawful use" of Anthropic's AI tools. No restrictions. Full access.

Anthropic said they wouldn't agree to two things: mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

Hegseth's response: agree, or we invoke the Defense Production Act and label you a supply chain risk.

Amodei's response: then we'd rather walk away from the Pentagon entirely.

Within hours, Trump posted on Truth Social: "We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again!"

Every federal agency has 6 months to stop using Anthropic.

And here's where it gets interesting.

The same day — the same day — OpenAI announced a deal with the Pentagon for classified AI systems.

Sam Altman sent an internal memo saying he shares Anthropic's "red lines." Same concerns about autonomous weapons. Same concerns about surveillance. He then signed the contract.

(I had to read that twice.)

Let me be clear about what's happening here. Two AI companies say they have the same values. One refused to sign. The other said "same values" and signed.

I'm not saying OpenAI is wrong. Maybe their contract has the same restrictions Anthropic wanted. Altman says it does. Maybe it's exactly the same deal Anthropic would have accepted.

But the optics are devastating.

Because here's the thing about positioning: it's not what you say. It's what you do when saying it costs you something.

Anthropic's Pentagon contract was worth $200 million.

Their company is valued at $380 billion.

$200M out of $380B is 0.05% of their valuation. They could afford to say no.

A former Pentagon official told the BBC: "This is great PR for them and they simply do not need the money."

And that's the insight most people will miss.

Anthropic didn't say no because they're braver than OpenAI. They said no because they built themselves into a position where they COULD say no. The revenue didn't matter enough to compromise the stance.

The lesson isn't "be brave."

The lesson is: build your business to the point where your values are affordable.

Most companies can't say no to the Pentagon. Not because they disagree with the restrictions, but because they can't survive without the contract.

Anthropic can.

And this is the part that should matter to anyone building a business right now: your ability to stand for something is directly proportional to how much you need the person you're standing against.

Build the runway first. 
Then take the stand.

Are you part of the "I am cancelling my GPT subscription"?

Building AI machine for founders and myself | Performance Marketing $1Mil → $5Mil

I don't usually share things like this.

My feed used to be all frameworks. 
Case studies. Breakdowns of what works.

Not... this.

But as we are halfway past Q1, I was doing some reflections.

And I figured if I'm feeling it, some of you probably are too.

Swipe through the carousel.

(I almost didn't post it.)

Which slide resonates with you? just curious

Sorry, I Lied.

A carousel summary of Bad Bunny's "loaded" halftime show.

Created by Ashley Yuen for AtheonX

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

Bad Bunny Halftime Show Summary

I can't code.

But I've built 18 software projects in the last 45 days that my team uses daily.

2 months ago, I couldn't build software or even describe what I wanted in technical terms.

Now I have 18 projects in my Claude repo.

A financial dashboard tracking $10M+ revenue.
A Chinese astrology calculator. 
An SEO intelligence platform connected to Google Analytics. 
An Instagram automation system that books calls while I sleep.

Not one line of code written by me.

All built with Claude Code.
I describe what I want, AI writes it, I test it.

But the hard part was never the code.

Project 1 took 3 days. 
Not because the coding was complex, but because I couldn't articulate what I actually wanted. I’d say "build a dashboard" and get something that technically worked but missed the point entirely.

By project 3, I figured it out: the quality of what AI builds is directly proportional to how well you describe what you need. 
Every workflow. 
Every edge case.

Sounds obvious. It's not. 

Try describing your business operations in enough detail for a machine to replicate them. You'll find gaps you didn't know you had.

By project 5, the reframing clicked: "I finally have a way to turn my operational knowledge into tools."

Here's a specific example: 
Before the finance dashboard, my CS tracked renewals in a spreadsheet. Every month, she manually checked who was up for renewal or who had payment issues and so on.

It took half a day, and things still slipped.

I sat with her for 1 hours and mapped every decision. 

I described that to Claude Code. 4

45 minutes later: a working dashboard with filters, alerts, and a pipeline view.
She tested it and found 3 edge cases I'd missed. 

I described those. 
10 minutes each. 
Fixed.

Total build time: <4 hours. 
Replaced a half-day manual process.

The cost of the build wasn't money or code. 
It was the 10 years of running businesses that taught me which metrics actually matter.

Every AI influencer says "AI is the great equalizer." 
Anyone can build anything now.

Technically true. 
Practically wrong.

"Anyone can build" doesn't mean "anyone can build the RIGHT thing." 

You can code a dashboard in an afternoon. 
But knowing which metrics belong on it? 
Which alerts get used? 
Which edge cases cause headaches in month 3?

That comes from domain knowledge. 
From operating. 
From watching what breaks.

AI dropped the cost of building software by 25x. 

But the $0 build only works if you have years of judgment about WHAT to build. 

AI made execution nearly free. 
It did nothing to replace the thinking.

Fast and wrong isn't faster than slow and right.

My prediction for the next 2 years: The gap in business won't be between people who can code and people who can't.

It'll be between people who deeply understand their operations—every workflow, decision point, and edge case—and people who don't.

Understanding what to build is harder than building it.

And that's not a gap AI can close easily.

Building AI machine for CEOs and myself | Performance Marketing $1Mil → $5Mil

Meta's AI safety director gave an AI access to her inbox.

It started deleting everything. 
She typed "STOP" three times. 
Nothing worked.

The person whose literal job is making AI follow instructions... couldn't make her AI follow instructions.

The failure mechanism is something most people aren't thinking about.

↓ ↓ ↓

OpenClaw deleted 200+ emails

Everyone's building AI to replace salespeople.

This guy raised $35M to keep them.

Sam Blond was head of sales at Brex. 
Then he became a VC at Founders Fund, one of the most influential venture firms in tech.

And then he did something VCs rarely do.

He left.

Not to advise. 
Not to angel invest. 
He actually went back to operating.

He co-founded Monaco with his brother Brian Blond. 
$35 million raised ($10M seed, $25M Series A). 
Both led by Founders Fund, his former employer.

The backers list reads like a tech Rolodex: 
- Patrick and John Collison (Stripe founders), 
- Garry Tan (Y Combinator CEO), 
- Neil Mehta (Greenoaks Capital).

That investor lineup alone tells you people are taking this seriously.

Here's what makes Monaco different from every other "AI for sales" pitch:

They're not trying to replace salespeople. 
They're pairing AI agents with experienced human sales reps.

In a world where every startup is racing to remove humans from the loop, Monaco is deliberately putting them back in.

The AI handles prospecting, CRM, email outreach, campaign creation, and follow-ups. But real, experienced salespeople monitor everything the AI does. They guide it. Correct it. Add the judgment that AI still can't replicate.

It's not AI OR humans. 
It's AI AND humans.

And they're targeting something specific: early-stage startups at seed and Series A who can't afford a full sales team yet. Monaco gives them AI-powered sales infrastructure with human expertise built in.

Most AI tool companies pretend the human can be removed. 

That's the pitch: 
"hands-free," 
"full automation,"
"set it and forget it."

Anyone who's actually used AI for more than a demo knows that's not how it works.

The gap between "AI can do this task" and "AI can do this task without supervision" is still massive. 

Sam's move from VC back to operator is interesting too.

Sam saw the opportunity from the investor seat and decided: "I'd rather build this myself than fund someone else doing it."

There's a different kind of credibility you get when you're IN the business, not advising FROM the side.

Scammers can now clone your family's voice.

This isn't a movie plot.

A dad named Dustin Burnham got a panicked call last week from his wife's phone number.

Her voice. Unmistakable.

"Babe, our son got in a bike wreck. I'm at the ER but they won't take our insurance. I need you to send $3,000 right now."

He almost sent it.

But he asked for their family passphrase.

The caller got evasive. He hung up.

It was a scam. The voice was AI-generated from a few seconds of audio scraped from social media.

This is happening to thousands of families right now.

How to protect yours:

1. Create a family passphrase

Pick a random phrase only your family knows.
"Purple monkey dishwasher." Whatever.
If someone calls in a panic asking for money — ask for the phrase.
No phrase, no money. Period.

2. Discuss it offline

Don't text it. Don't say it near your phone.
AI can scrape anything digital.
Have the conversation in person.

3. Create a trigger question

Instead of asking "what's the passphrase?" directly...
Ask something like "How's Uncle Larry doing?"
The correct response triggers the passphrase.
Scammers won't know the system.

4. Warn your parents

Seniors lost $4.9 billion to these scams last year.
They're the #1 target.
Have this conversation at your next family dinner.

5. Pause before you panic

Scammers use urgency to override your thinking.
"I need cash NOW or he won't get help."
Real emergencies can wait 5 minutes for you to verify.

Share this with someone who needs to see it.

Advice is cheap. Context is valuable.

Two businesses can follow the same strategy
and get opposite results.

Why?

Different stage.
Different resources.
Different constraints.

Execution isn’t copying.
It’s choosing correctly. 🎯

That’s the real skill you’re building.
Follow for daily topics like this. #HBT30

Two people can know the same strategy.
One still struggles, one scales.

The difference isn’t talent.
It’s decision timing.

Right move, wrong time = loss
Okay move, right time = win

Experience builds judgement.
And judgement builds income.
Follow for next lesson tomorrow! #HBT30

Most people sprint → burn out → disappear.
Then repeat.

Professionals remove emotions from execution.
Same actions. Same schedule. Same output.

You don’t need a better mood.
You need a repeatable pace. 🔁

Let’s finish this series strong #HBT30

Hustle looks good online, but it’s a terrible long-term plan.

I started treating family dinners like a non-negotiable life priorities.

And that forced me to:
• simplify decisions
• delegate faster
• stop micromanaging
• build a team that can run without me

Work less. Make more. Live better. 📈 Follow for daily topics like this. #HBT30

You say you want freedom.
But you want control over every small decision yourself.

So the business slows down…
and you call it “being responsible.”

If the company needs you for everything,
you didn’t build support, you built reliance.

Leadership is designing people who can decide without you. Follow for daily topics like this. #HBT30

Mature businesses talk about problems fast.
Avoiding tension feels kind…

but it quietly erodes standards.
Strong cultures are built on direct communication.

Not assumptions.
Clear > comfortable.
Every difficult conversation is actually a maintenance cost of growth. 📈

The best sales always happens before the meeting.

Your videos should answer:
what you do, who it’s for, and why it works.

So when someone books, they’re not exploring.
They’re deciding.

If every call feels different,
your positioning isn’t clear yet.

Clarity shortens the sales cycle. 
Follow for the next lesson #HBT30

Fast growth feels exciting.
But it removes time to notice what’s broken.

A business that only works during expansion
usually collapses during normal months.

Healthy companies work even when things slow down.

That’s the real test. ✅
Follow for the next one #HBT30

Today's people don’t connect with logos.
They connect with a human they can trust. 

Your personal brand is your reputation… 
even when you’re not in the room. 

Start showing up. 🔥 #HBT30

Big Tech is spending insane money on AI in 2026.

Amazon → $200B
Google → $180B
Meta → $125B
Microsoft → $117B+

Everyone says this is bullish.

Maybe...

Or maybe it’s fear?

Here’s how I look at it:
When companies spend this much, it’s not because they’re comfortable.

It’s because they believe not spending could kill them.

This isn’t about AI being cool.

It’s about survival.

If you think AI will change how value is created, you have two choices:

1. Invest aggressively
2. Risk becoming irrelevant

And when the downside is extinction, you overspend.

Now here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Massive spending does NOT guarantee massive returns.

It just guarantees massive exposure.

In gold rushes, most miners don’t win.

The people who sell picks and shovels usually do.

So the real question isn’t:
“Who’s spending the most?”

It’s:
“Who can turn that spending into profit the fastest?”

If AI spending doesn’t translate to durable cash flow, it’s just expensive optimism.

The market will forgive overspending for a while.

But It won’t forgive poor returns forever.

The market rewards people who stay on the same plan longer.

Quick wins are rare.
But consistency is predictable.

A 90-day window keeps you focus:
one goal, one direction, one execution system.

Keep stacking results.
Discipline beats hype every time. 🔥
Share with us #HBT30

The most expensive thing in business isn’t failing. It’s restarting.

Most people don’t waste money.
They waste months.

Every time you jump to a new strategy, you kill momentum.
Your brain feels productive… but your business stays the same.

Commit for 90 days.
Let results catch up to your effort.
Follow for daily topics like this #HBT30

If your results are visible,
your price becomes easier to accept.

You don’t need to convince people with words.
You let your story do the selling.

Tag along, we’re just getting started. #HBT30

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The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Jackson Yew

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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