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.

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

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.

Alright LinkedIn, let's be real for a second.

I know you're terrified... You see everyone else using AI and you either think:

A) "This is the end of human connection.... Soooo I'm going to write everything by hand in a candle-lit room!"

B) "I must prompt everything! I will become a GPT-powered content machine!"

Black and white thinking is just as lazy as the AI slop ur favorite influencer just posted. 

100% human get's u left behind.
100% AI get's u sounding like a robot.

The winning strategy is to be both human & AI. 

It's not that deep.

Use AI to handle the boring back end stuff.
Use your humanity to connect with your audience.

Easy peasy... 

Personally I've always enjoyed writing unhinged AND automating the back end like a nerd.

No need to pick a side.. 

Use AI AND be so human it stands out.

👊

𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?

Join me on Substack for daily unhinged writing + bi-weekly newsletters for rebels.. https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

I got 99 problems and a LinkedIn ain’t one.

The 2026 LinkedIn algorithm favors written content.

But NOT AI slop... You must write SO human it hurts..... 

These writing staples used to work:

-Short sentences like this.
-Ridiculous post hooks.
-The rule of three.
-[this] vs [that] + [philosophical power statement'
-Open loops.
-Listicles...

But AI is good enough that you can feed it the above principles and it will do a decent job writing words and FEEL LIKE CHATGPT WROTE IT AND YOU WILL GET NO CLIENTS.........

Sorry folks but you got to write for yourself.

Writing in 2026 still requires you to learn techniques. 

But now it demands a secondary layer to feel human.... 

You need to add these to your skillset: 

-Chunky paragraphs. 
-Written technical knowledge of your industry.
-Humorous and cultural pieces. 
-The art of writing to specific pain points.
-Spelling mistakes n choppy sentences..
-The courage to say what others wont with some spice...

You don't need hot selfies.

But look ur words can't be mid any longer....

PS Yes I made this infographic with AI. Did it trigger u?

(I'm all for creating media with AI just no words lol)

How to create an elite infographic with AI.

Step 1: Turn the ON Switch on in your brain...

(yes you still need your wits to create with AI)

Step 2: Use the Artlist All-in-One AI Toolkit.
Step 3: Select Nano-Banana 2 (now on Artlist)
Step 4: Use my prompt.... 

Comment ELITE to get it and you can stop reading.

OR....

Read on and follow my actual 4-step framework for commanding the AI to work some magic because you know that AI s an illiterate artist that struggles with detail UNLESS you tell it exactly what to do and use the right model. 

That's why Nano Banana 2 is elite.

I used it to create this infographic within my work sandbox.

It's an elite text-to-image and image-to-image model where outputs are more accurate, detailed, and repeatable across generations. It keeps the speed the Nano Banana family is known for but improves the quality. Ideal for ad variations, social content, and video frames at scale. 

I mostly use it for infographics and ads. 

Anywhoodles....... here's the real 4 step guide: 

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲.

Don’t say “make an infographic.” Say “make a professional infographic in a clean, magazine editorial style with a warm cream paper background and a sage green color palette.” Define the entire visual language from the start.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁.

Don’t let the AI guess the structure. Tell it exactly what you want. “Create a 4:5 aspect ratio image with a main title at the top, two cards in the middle, and a four-column feature section below.” You are the architect.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗗𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁.

Never let the AI write your copy. It’s an image generator, not a copywriter. Put every single word you want it to render in quotes. Titles. Body text. Labels. Everything.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰: 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀.

Be ruthlessly specific. Specify the fonts. List the exact color hex codes. Describe the icon style (“simple, hand-drawn doodle line art”). The more details you lock in, the fewer mistakes the AI can make.

Once again if you want my prompt comment ELITE but don't just copy me. 

Study it. See how it works.
Then, make it your own.

PS Who read the whole post? Your the best if you did.

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁?

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/ejKNGHgQ

The gurus took over LinkedIn. 

If you detest “how to get rich” posts.
If you detest “I made 50k MRR” posts..
If you detest “I have 500k followers” posts…

Do what I do...

Be ruthless. Mute, unfollow & block these grifting gurus.

And go where you are treated best...

I've been banned over 10x and have found battling the AI slop, endless grifting and platform indifference tiring..

So I post 1 or 2x a week and run ads.

I speak my mind on Substack and find my tribe of rebels there.

LinkedIn may be 69% dead... 

But the thinkers, builders & genuine souls are still building and fighting for their corner of the internet...

It's just not here.

🤷

3 years ago I booked a one way ticket to Canada.

I’d never been, didn’t speak Canadian, didn’t know anyone……………..

Blah blah blah..... BLAH!

Every story like this now follows the same script. 

<Insert hero’s journey back story here>

<Insert relatable sob story struggles here>

<Insert comeback arc here>

<Insert generic encouragement here>

<Insert call to action to my program to teach u too>

Marketers and influencers somehow have ruined good storytelling too and the modern internet really is unbearable.....

But also... I... did... actually do this. 

I eat $500 steak for breakfast.

It changed EVERYTHING SO BUY MY COURSE OK......

<insert pattern interrupt here>

Ha ha ha ha....

I just can’t follow the script… 

Aight im done.

PS Who misses stories with no sell at the end?

--

So.. This is the perfect time to sell!!!

<insert not so surprising double plot twist here>

Yes. You've been had and I know you aren't mad about it.

So look.. Join my free community of rebels over on Substack. I rant about the creator economy and share daily icebreaker questions to help you meet humans....

Join us here: https://lnkd.in/dB96mKfP

I don't write with AI. But I do create media.

With Artlist I get access to the leading models like Kling 2.6 Pro, Sora 2 and new models like Seedance 2.0....

I use an isolated work sandbox when accessing Artlist to create infographics, PDFs and elite videos. 

(to keep my data as secure as possible) 

Cheers to Artlist for sponsoring this post.

They keep adding great AI models to the Artlist all in one AI Toolkit and Seedance 2.0 is coming soon....

You'll get features like:

𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱: Tag anything to build via 1 prompt.

𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄: Generate seamless, one-take sequences with perfect cinematic continuity.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗽: Combine up to 12 assets like text, images, video, and audio all at once.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝘁𝘀: Auto-generate sound effects and music that sync perfectly to the on-screen action.

𝗣𝗿𝗼-𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹: Swap characters, delete clips, or extend your footage from any frame.

Learn more about Seedance 2.0 here..
↳ https://lnkd.in/d5V-_QmV

Wild what can be done now with AI as a solo creator...

--

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁?

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/eFgDmM6u

PS Is it just me or does anyone feel the struggle to keep up with AI right now..... lol

This video was made using Seedance 2.0, coming soon to Artlist.

Brand partnership • I got 99 problems and a LinkedIn ain’t one.

I am tired of greedy SaaS tools. 

So I use AI to build and exit the subscription economy....

I was fueled (as always) by hate. 

HATRED of these 7 things SaaS tools do.....

1. Requires my payment info for a free trial. 
2. Charges via token based subscriptions. 
3. Sells my data to third-party tools.
4. Has NO option to delete the account in dashboard.
5. Has NO option to request data deletion in dashboard. 
6. Has NO sign of a support email anywhere.
7. The chat support AI is awful & poorly programmed. 

Last summer I cut my $500 tool stack down to $25 and left Google, Meta, OpenAI and quit a billion AI tool subscriptions. 

Data privacy was my driver. 
AI innovation means I can build any tool myself.
Being a nerd makes it all a bit easier.

The process though?

Time consuming, annoying and frustrating. 

Anyone else HATE the data collection, surveillance state we have to deal with?

PS I write about this on Substack.

Join me if you like rants, local AI and data privacy.

Sub here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

I'm a Canadian who grew up playing hockey and I couldn't be more pleased that team USA won the gold........

Hockey players are the toughest of all sports. 

Hockey players fight, throw big hits and take pucks to the teeth, get up keep playing and score the game winning goal like Jack Hughes...

Aaaaand then go celly with the prez & handle the media with class....

But you know behind closed doors they are laughing.

#goats

PS What's your favorite sport? 

Oh and yes... I left Canada ages ago. No regrets... :)

Vibe coding is great for shipping apps.

But shipping a product people want to buy is the hard part....  

(you need an audience to sell too)

Vibe coding used to be a grifters dream. 

Sell the hope of making a product easy and making money fast BUT that's not the reality. It takes time to build a product and a business. 

The good news is.... AI can now help make technical part easy.

Replit lets me build the tool I wish existed when I was cleaning up my own digital life.

The tool I used to clean my digital footprint was great for a deep clean. But there was no simple, free way to just 𝘴𝘦𝘦 how much of my data I was exposing. I wanted a tool that made people aware of what the current risk was for their social media accounts and let them start cleaning up slowly.

So I built Privacy Guard using Replit which helps make building a mobile app and getting into the App Stores simple.

The traditional barriers of mobile development are handled by the AI.

This is how easy it is:

1. Start with a prompt of your tool/app idea.
2. Describe how the mobile app works.
3. Wait for AI to build a version 1.0.
4. Test and refine with reprompts.
5. Publish to the app store.

Yes, yes this is indeed a sponsored post by Replit.

But I actually did build my own mobile app.

Check out version 1.0 of "Privacy Guard" a social media privacy audit to help you see exactly what sensitive information you're exposing publicly. 

The tool only analyzes publicly visible content.
It processes your data and discards it. 
Nothing is stored on servers. 

Want a free privacy audit of your social media accounts? 

Comment "𝗔𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗧" and I'll send you the link. 

--

Build your own mobile app on Replit here:
>> https://lnkd.in/dATV8HUV

Social media is dying cz u get offended too easily.

The smart marketing play is rage bait OR.... 

Writing vanilla niche content about your business. 

I struggle to simply do this. 

But on LinkedIn?

No big account like mine gets away with real thoughts on trending topics.... You'd have to go to X to speak freely. Soooo that is why LinkedIn is run by robots, virtual assistants and paid ads. 

Sometimes I get sloppy and leak a rant and remember why I got banned 10+ times on this platform.

People love to shoot the messenger here. 

So long live soulless vanilla AI slop!!

Is social media cooked chat?

--

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀? 

Join me on Substack where we can all rant freely and laugh at AI slop....

Join here: https://lnkd.in/eagxG_7k

I teach the art of raw writing & the science of private AI.

Today I resubscribed to ChatGPT Pro.

Sam Altman's brave vision for a greater future is worth aligning with... and lets be honest... you just have to pay attention to the greatest country on earth choosing OpenAI as it's AI tool of choice.

I can't wait to build more tools with Codex!!

So that's why....

........................................................

Well.... 

So the truth is.... 

I didn't resubscribe today. 

I deleted my ChatGPT a long time ago.

I don't use Claude or Google Gemini either..

All the companies steal your data, sell it to third parties and yes build mass surveillance networks. 

Tℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑏𝑜𝑥 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡..

Or....

Learn local AI. 

Think Open Claw without the poor security and AI bro hype...

Why local?

Local AI runs on ur device.
It is cheaper and more private. 

ORRRRR you know forget all that.. 

Just cancel ChatGPT... 
Virtue signal. 
Be a hero. 

Use Claude and keep handing over your data and trust that they'll keep it safe for you... 

(oops)

taplio

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