Quick note after a long silence

It’s been long enough that some of you probably forgot you were even subscribed to this Substack.

Totally fair!

The last time I was writing here (2024), I was sending daily emails about AI.

And at the time I was genuinely excited about it (still am).

But behind the scenes, things were chaotic.

Over the past few years I was doing a lot of different things at once (consulting work, writing about AI, trying to figure out where I fit in that whole ecosystem).

Then in early 2025 I joined an AI startup full-time.

From the outside, it probably looked like momentum. There were lots of congratulations and “happy for you!” messages.

Inside my own head, it felt like the opposite.

I was constantly busy, but not moving in a direction that felt coherent.

In October 2025 I left that company.

And for the first time in awhile I gave myself space to slow down and actually think.

Since then I’ve mostly been in what I’d call “the lab” doing a look back at the work I loved doing the most that solved the hardest problems.

A pretty clear pattern started to emerge…positioning.

So that’s what I’ve decided to focus on…completely.

I relaunched my consulting website entirely around that work and what I’m building going forward.

If that’s interesting to you, I’m glad you’re here.

If not, completely fair. Feel free to unsubscribe.

Either way, I appreciate you being on this list.

From here, I’ll be writing about how B2B and AI startups are making positioning decisions as AI reshapes their markets, categories get more crowded, and competitors become harder to tell apart.

Let’s see where this goes!!!

Brooks