Hard stop
Ah So Insights is changing
You might have noticed the absence of posts over the last few weeks. What started out as a brief hiatus and respite from the constant pressure of churning out content on a frequent and regular basis morphed into the recognition that this newsletter is unsustainable in its current form. Then came a few weeks of denial as this endeavor has been such an incredible joy and challenge. Now comes acceptance and the formal announcement that Ah So Insights is changing.
Here’s what that means:
Paying subscribers will be refunded for the subscription time they paid for but won’t receive. Funds should be in your accounts within the next two weeks. If that doesn't happen, or if there are any other issues, please contact me (scott@ahsoinsights.com). My goal is to make everyone who supported Ah So Insights whole and feeling like they received greater value than it cost them. I've also paused subscriptions so that you're not billed for another cycle while I make arrangements.
A number of industry folks will be delighted by the absence of my perpetual commentary and analysis, particularly my advocacy for salespeople and middle managers.
The archive will go free. Again, this might take a week or two as I work out things on the backend.
Posts will continue, albeit at an irregular rate. I imagine publishing about one newsletter a month.
Ah So Insights will continue to live on in the form of career coaching, one-on-one tutoring, and wine and spirit teaching. If interested, contact me for details (scott@ahsoinsights.com).
Thank you all for your support and interest.
I leave you with some thoughts that have been rolling over in my mind over the past few weeks.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the now-defunct Theranos, was recently found guilty on four of eleven counts of fraud. Sara Ashley O’Brien of CNN is, perhaps, the most recent writer to note that Holmes was “once hailed as the next Steve Jobs.”1
Of course, Steve Jobs never faced a “dozen federal fraud charges.” In this way, the mythology of the Apple founder is conspicuously associated with other failed businesses despite his legacy of success. From the collapse of Ample Hills Creamery, whose one co-founder thought of himself as “the Steve Jobs of ice cream” to the downfall of MedMen, whose Adam Beirman has been described as “the Steve Jobs of the ‘green rush,’” every industry (and its associated media) seems obsessed with identifying the next “great” innovator. What does it say when so much promise gets ahead of itself? Vision minus humility equals delusion.
The wine and spirit industry doesn't need the next Steve Jobs.
No one should try to be the next Steve Jobs. They should strive to make their customers and colleagues happy, their businesses profitable, and the world safer and greener. That would be enough of a revolution.
What I’m reading and watching
“How To Appreciate Wine” - How To with John Wilson (HBO/HBO Max)
Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use to Outperform (Farnam Street)
Craft Spirits Data Project (Park Street)
Americans Are Flush With Cash and Jobs. They Also Think the Economy Is Awful. (The New York Times)
Here are 15 Common Data Fallacies to Avoid (Visual Capitalist)
Holmes welcomed the comparison going so far as to imitate Jobs in several different ways.