Neal O'Grady 🍉

Demand Curve

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 97,000 founders and marketers.

Co-Founder

GrowthPair

We've partnered up to help startups hire top-tier growth talent that fits into their budget.

Advisor

Bell Curve

Bell Curve is a paid marketing agency explicitly built for startups. 

We've worked with companies like Invoice2Go, Pilot, Segment, Microsoft, Framer, Perfect Keto, Feedly, Stacker, Techcrunch, 1build, and Ancestry.

UNIGNORABLE

People wanna buy from people—not faceless brands. Un-ignorable is a 4-week group challenge designed to help you build an audience of future buyers.

Founder + Instructor

Segment

Demand Curve and Segment had a deep partnership. We collaborated on projects where our intersection of growth and tracking expertise can help companies grow revenue.

Growth Advisor

Webflow, Inc.

- Ideated blog post topics on topics most relevant and interesting to web designers 
- Produced high-quality blog posts each week that were engaging, educational, and got people excited about web design and Webflow 
- Sourced images and supplementary material and references - Work with the founders, CMO, designer, and editor

Copywriter/Content Marketer

Lighthouse Labs

The job of a TA at a early-stage web development bootcamp was 3 main things:

1. Developing curriculum.
2. Helping students with their coding challenges.
3. Providing emotional support to extremely stressed students wondering if they've made a horrible decision dropping $10k on a career change.

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

I'm 34 years old. I've never had a full-time job.

Not once.

No, I did not grow up rich without needing to.

My dad passed when I was 13, my mom made $26,000 CAD, and he left her with an invalid life insurance policy. He had changed it to void unless he was 65 years old or older

He did that 2 days before local laws changed where your spouse needed to approve life insurance policy changes. 

He also left her with tons of debt on credit cards she didn't know about.

So she was forced to file for bankruptcy.

We were real poor.

I managed to go to university only because she moved to Vancouver with me.

And I paid for it by aggressively applying for scholarships. 75% of it was covered.

Yet, I've never used that degree.

Since then I've:

- Taught myself programming
- Worked as a freelance developer
- Worked as a freelance copywriter
- Lived out of a backpack for 3.5 years as a digital nomad
- Started two 7-figure revenue businesses in the marketing industry

At no point was I hungry, broke, or homeless.

People think that forging your own path is risky.

What I think is risky is taking out a mortgage based on a full-time job that can be taken away from you at any moment

As a freelancer, you have numerous income streams—losing one isn't existential.

As a business owner, your job can't be taken from you. You make more if you find a way to provide more value to people at scale.

This is why I've dedicated my life to helping people start, build, and grow companies. 

My ads agency, Bell Curve (www.bellcurve.com), helps startups grow through ads—the most scalable channel there is.

Demand Curve (www.demandcurve.com) teaches founders and marketers to grow their companies and passion projects. We were accepted into Y Combinator's summer of 2019 batch.

My goal is to make entrepreneurship easier and more approachable. Because we all benefit when we each build the future we want.

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.

Hart & Co.

Founder | Creative Director

R&G Stategic

Creative Director

Headspace Design

Website Designer

Norex Web

Designer

Build a brand that stands out | Personal branding design | ☞ Follow to learn how top brands use design to outgrow the competition | #ceasefirenow #freepalestine 🇵🇸

Leading brands aren’t just polished-
they’re designed to be a glitch you can't ignore

Because attention in 2025 is currency.
And the ones breaking patterns are the ones cashing in.

So, if you want to be remembered as the leader,
you’ve got to show up differently.

That’s where I come in.
I design psychology‑driven visual identities
that break patterns and stick in people’s minds—
so your brand leads the industry instead of fading into it.

1. Work with me 1:1
I take on a handful of new branding clients each year.
👉 learn more here: https://hartcocreative.com/visual-signature/

2. Brand You: The Visual Sales Funnel System
Course launching soon.
👉 Join the waitlist here: https://hartcocreative.com/vsf/

✤

"Sarah’s a strategic partner who knows how to create gorgeous brands that drive leads and sales.”
–  Katelyn Bourgoin

Sarah Hart ✤

there’s a sneaky science behind the Zohran campaign visuals that no one’s really talking about…

those vintage style graphics are basically hitting your brain’s reward button.

studies on nostalgia show that it triggers the neural pathways that create comfort, motivation, and trust.

and i’m unpacking how it works (and how to use it in your brand visuals) tomorrow.

Subscribe for the full breakdown: https://lnkd.in/eji8_rHj

Sarah Hart ✤ 

Visual Brand for Industry Leaders | Follow to learn how top brands use visual psychology to outgrow the competition

The human brain hoards the strange stuff…

it’s the von restorff effect in action - the bias that pushes something different to the front of your audience’s mind when they’re making a decision.

and that’s why one instantly recognizable visual cue will take your brand further than the most polished guidelines ever will.

- like Clay's clay graphics
- Stripe's gradient
- Katelyn Bourgoin's burn-your-eyes-out yellow
- Zohran Mamdani campaign's vintage aesthetic

You don’t get remembered by being “professional”… 
you get remembered by being 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩.

The B2B buying journey has changed… and so has the job of your visual brand.

There was a time when most buyers came through a referral, had one high-trust moment, and jumped straight in after seeing your deck or website…

and your visuals just had to look polished enough not to embarrass anyone 😅

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐁2𝐁 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 = 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲.
Calm, curated, neutral… designed to reassure, not to stand out.

But buyers don’t follow that playbook anymore.

They self-educate across multiple channels… form opinions long before sales… and remember the brands that stick in their mind.

Which is why the new landscape looks more like this:

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐁2𝐁 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 = 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐟.
Crowded, noisy, cutthroat.

Every product fighting to get noticed, recognized, and remembered.

Shelf designers don’t make packaging pretty… they make it impossible to ignore in the most competitive brand environment on earth.

like..
the colour that doesn’t belong (Liquid Death’s black can)
the shape that breaks the lineup (One trick pony’s upside-down jar)
the illustrated style that shouts from the shelf (Oatly’s hand-drawn type vibes)
the pattern you can spot from ten feet away (LaCroix wild brushstrokes)

they know they need to grab attention and then hit you with a visual cues you can’t forget.

That’s the new job of your B2B visual brand too.

The purpose of your visuals used to be “look polished enough not to ruin the sale.”

Now its to stick in their head and own their attention, so you’re the first name they think of when they’re ready to buy.

𝐒𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡…. 
not the forgettable hotel art no one notices on the way to the elevator 🥱

your brain’s kinda a traitor sometimes

I was listening to an interview on the science of attention yesterday, and i absolutely loved this quote: "the brain synchronizes better with complexity than simplicity."

everyone says “keep it simple,” but in design that advice backfires fast. if your visuals are too stripped down, too minimal, too tidy… the brain gets bored and wanders off. it 

that’s why infographics and visual analogies stick so well.

and why having a distinctive visual brand is so important.l

ok, i think i’ve got a good analogy for designing for the feed…

you know those buddy cop movies where one guy plays by the book and the other breaks every rule?

that wild card cop is basically one mistake away from getting fired…
but somehow, he’s the one who cracks the case every single time 😎

that’s pretty much what designing for social is like... you want the rebel cop driving and the rule-keeper in the back seat.

so, save your strict brand guidelines for your website,
the feed needs a little bit of chaos 😈

If a rebrand or visual upgrade is on your radar for 2026, i’m hosting something that’ll help you get ahead of it instead of scrambling in january.

The game changed a lot in the last few years… B2B brands are fighting for attention in a way we’ve never really seen before, and the whole “sleek and polished = good brand” era doesn’t hold up anymore. 

Brands need to be distinctive, memorable, and visually built to lead, not just blend in.

So i put together a free workshop where i’ll walk through:

1. How to use visual psychology principles to get more attention in the feed, stay memorable at the moment of purchase, and increase buyer intent.

2. The 3 visual mistakes that will quietly sink your brand in 2026

3. Live brand reviews - where I’ll give you specific feedback and small, high-impact tweaks that position you as an industry leader.

If you’re planning to scale, launch something new, or step into new markets next year, this will help you make way smarter design decisions before you spend a dollar.

Grab your spot here: https://luma.com/0mgisof3

Rebrand 2026 kicks off in less than 10 minutes… 

we’ve got 248 people signed up 🥳 🥳🥳

i’m excited to dive in, this one’s gonna be fuun!

https://luma.com/0mgisof3

engaging ≠ loud.
and a unique brand ≠ loud either

👏👏👏

B2B marketing…but make it ✨fun✨ | Social Strategist + Content Creator 👩🏻‍💻

Your B2B brand doesn’t have to use humour to be memorable 🙅🏻‍♀️

I talk a lot about how important it is for brands to stand out in B2B and create engaging content, and I think some people misunderstand what I mean by that.

Engaging doesn’t have to mean loud or funny or unhinged.

(In fact, for most B2B brands that’s definitely the wrong move)

Instead, I see “engaging” as a spectrum - there are brands that are playful (and sometimes unhinged), and there are brands that are more “serious”. And no matter where you land on that spectrum, you can still create content that demands attention.

Here’s how you can stand out without having to use humour 👇

—

1️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀

Before you do another webinar on the same topic that you and everyone else has already done multiple times, look for a different angle.

Instead of your typical “We are excited to announce...” post, try focusing on the impact the news will have on your audience.

A simple shift from “this is how it’s done” to “this is what will speak to our audience” can make a huge difference.

𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Blink - Employee Experience Platform do a great job of this

2️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿

Standing out in more traditional B2B industries can sometimes be as simple as choosing different visuals.

Look at brands in the finance, legal or healthcare space and you’ll find a sea of blue, navy and slate gray.

Want to stand out? Do literally anything else.

𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: I loved this recent campaign from Rippling

𝗣𝗦𝗔: Sarah Hart ✤ shares excellent content about this very topic, so make sure to go and follow if you’re not already!

3️⃣ 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 

Being “professional” doesn’t mean having to talk in circles or hide behind buzzwords. Be clear and direct, and speak to real challenges.

And, most importantly, stop treating content like a soapbox. Audiences don’t want to be talked at, they want to be spoken to.

Answer their questions, respond to feedback, bring your internal team’s voices into the mix.

𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲: Deel’s recent video series does this very well

—

Marketers in “serious” industries, how are you trying to stand out? Let us know in the comments 💬

Memorable ≠ funny 🙅🏻‍♀️

A little while ago i put this post out thinking it was gonna totally flop: https://lnkd.in/e_72-hz6

and when it blew up i remember sitting there like, wait… okay wow… there’s definitely something here 🤔

and since then i’ve had people hit me up nonstop saying how much they love this idea, which honestly just shows the power of content… you get to test ideas in real time and see what actually sticks. 

PS. my secret mat leave dream is to turn "be the glitch" into a book…  a deep dive into using visual psychology to build a brand that sticks in people’s brains and positions you as an industry leader..... even when everyone’s scrolling a million miles a minute. 

Moms, do you think I can do in between newborn naps or am I just delulu? lol

The Buyer Psychologist | Sell more using science (not guru B.S.) | 63,000+ marketing geeks read my free newsletter

My friend Sarah Hart ✤ casually dropped “Be the Glitch” in a LinkedIn post. She had no idea what she’d just said...

I DM’d her immediately: “THAT’S IT. That’s your ownable idea. Repeat that, again and again.”

An ownable idea isn’t just a catchy phrase. It’s your entire strategic positioning compressed into something so sticky that people repeat it, remember it, and refer you because of it.

Most people confuse a tagline with an ownable idea. They’re not the same.

Want to know if YOUR idea is actually ownable?

Run it through this 6-point checklist:

—
REVELATORY
Does it spark an “aha!” moment that reframes how people see the world?

DIRECTIVE
Does it direct people to DO something, BELIEVE something, or BECOME something?

STICKY
Is it simple, repeatable, and easy to spread?

ASPIRATIONAL
Does it offer a future identity people want to step into?

CREDIBLE
Can you defend it with proof, results, or lived expertise?

BUYABLE
Does it tie directly to your business and create revenue opportunities?

—
“Be the Glitch” checks every box.

✅ It speaks to her rebel POV and challenges the idea that brands should follow design trends (revelatory).

✅ It’s a clear directive—you know exactly what to do.

✅ It’s three memorable words (sticky).

✅ It makes you feel like a rebel. (Think: Apple’s aspirational “Think Different”—the ownable idea behind a $4T brand.)

✅ Sarah can defend her argument with behavioral science (credible).

✅ And it makes Sarah’s brilliance buyable—it elevates her services from decorative to strategic, something every designer wants but few ever accomplish.

That’s what a strong ownable idea looks like.

But here’s what made it work:

Sarah had designed her personal brand strategy through the Unignorable Challenge first. She'd done the deep positioning work. She’d clarified who she served, what problems she solved, and what made her different.

Her content was connecting and clients started chasing her.

“Be the Glitch” crystallized her strategic positioning into three words—giving everything she’d built a memorable anchor point.

—
That's the difference between a slogan and an ownable idea.

You can't just manufacture one in a brainstorming session. It emerges from doing the in-depth strategic work first—then testing different phrasing to see what sticks.

So if you're stuck? Stop brainstorming phrases. Start with positioning.

The words will come.

—
Who else do you know that has a banger ownable idea? I may feature them next…


P.S. Want help finding your first ownable idea? It all starts with building the right strategic foundation. We're currently accepting applicants for the beta of Unignorable 2.0. Hop on the waitlist to get first dibs: beunignorable.com

when your friend tells you to 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 copy and paste your post into a carousel 😂🤣🥲

ok wait… my last workshop was over a year and a half ago and next week’s might be the last one i run for a while…

so if you’ve been wanting the real behind-the-scenes on how i design memorable, credibility-boosting visual brands…you’re going to want to be in this one.

(170+ people are already in and i’m bringing all my best stuff!)

Join here: https://luma.com/0mgisof3

taplio

The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Sarah Hart ✤

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taplio

The Battle

Neal O'Grady 🍉

Sarah Hart ✤

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreSarah Hart ✤'s LinkedIn Performance