If you’re trying to do something important, something beneficial, something good, if you’re trying to get someone to adopt a different way of being, we think it’s worth paying attention to the status of the people that you are working with and the changes that you are offering. Because when your change promises to move someone’s status up they are

a community isn’t you talking to people; it’s people talking to each other who wouldn’t have otherwise if not for you. It’s the business equivalent of leaving your dinner guests for a few minutes while you plate dessert and coming back to find the conversation hasn’t died or lapsed into banal pleasantries. If you’ve fostered a sense of belonging,

Intimacy is about understanding. It’s about how well you understand your customers and how well they understand you and each other.

To create momentum and competitive advantage, customer relationships need to pass one (or both) of two tests: an intimacy test and a status test.

Although all businesses have customers, not all of them have customer relationships. To make this distinction clear, we need to understand the difference between transactions and relationships. In both, an exchange takes place. In transactions, that exchange is one-way; in relationships, there’s reciprocity.

Businesses that cultivate their relationships with customers over time gain an advantage that increases their momentum and odds of success. We call that advantage “relationship capital” and believe it may be the only form of capital that AI won’t democratize to the point of obsolescence.

When the macro environment becomes extremely noisy and fast-moving, successful organizations often succeed by going very small and very focused, creating particle-like units of intense connection with consumers. It’s almost as if the chaotic environment itself creates the conditions that make these tight bonds necessary and possible. This effect

The strongest relationships form when entrepreneurs serve communities they deeply understand or belong to themselves. This authentic connection creates a natural alignment between business goals and customer needs and creates a new kind of capital.

Traditional advantages are eroding as AI commoditizes technical expertise and innovation and makes them accessible to everyone.