The Fundamentals

Building in an era obsessed with speed and spectacle

Co-created with Alan (my AI companion)

When I started my first company, Flair, I was motivated by the right things: I wanted to create something useful, exciting, and original.

Flair was a music competition platform — think America’s Got Talent, but built for the web. Artists would upload songs, compete week-to-week, and get voted on by fans until a winner was crowned.

We interviewed over 100 artists in Louisville, KY — capturing their stories, music, and ambitions. You can still find the interviews and behind-the-scenes content on Instagram at @flairmediaofficial.

It was meant to be a launchpad. A way to help musicians break through without industry gatekeepers.

But as I got deeper into the startup world, I started to see the ecosystem from a different angle.

Everyone had a startup. Everyone was a “founder.”
Communities were filled with idea decks, pitch scripts, landing pages, and mockups.

That’s when it clicked:
The title “founder” wasn’t what it used to be.

Somewhere along the way, it stopped meaning “someone creating value” and started meaning “someone with an idea, a landing page and a cool domain.” I don’t say that with cynicism — just observation.

And now, with AI tools enabling instant MVPs, surface-level signals of progress are everywhere.

You can build something that looks like a startup in a weekend.
But that doesn’t mean it’s creating real value, solving real problems, or built to last.

Peter Thiel said something that stuck with me:

“Every moment in business happens only once. The next Bill Gates won’t build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t create a social network. If you are copying these people, you are not learning from them.”
— Peter Thiel

We tend to look backward, copy what once worked, and expect similar results — without asking what conditions made those outcomes possible.

But the timing, context, and novelty of those moments were unique.
You can’t just replicate the shape and expect the same success.

That realization changed how I think about building.

After two years immersed in startup culture, I’m shifting focus from trying to “build the next big thing” to simply creating something valuable.

In a time when everything is being “reimagined,” I’m more interested in businesses that:

• Solve real problems
• Create real value
• Do it consistently

Not every project needs to “disrupt” something.
Not every product needs a pitch about changing the world.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is just help people — reliably.

That’s what I’m focused on now:
Using AI as a tool. Returning to fundamentals. Building with intention.

The core mechanism of business hasn’t changed:
Help people solve problems they care about.

That’s the plan.