Welcome to Edition Nº 07 of Max’s Musings.

Every two weeks I share my learnings building a $100 billion company in public (in <2 minutes).

Today’s word count: 587

Read time: 1 mins 29 sec.

Musings

“Choke you with Gold” — Jensen on paying for top talent

Talent is exponentially distributed, so it’s hard to overpay for the best. Take Sam Altman with $6.5 billion for Jony Ive. Or Softbank paying Nikesh Arora $135 million per year.

2025 shift: distribution first, product second

The traditional startup playbook is dead, and a new way is emerging.

Old way: build product → find product-market fit → scale marketing.

New way: build distribution → raise money → hire top talent → build product.

We saw this with Cluely, Bryan Johnson, Function Health, as well as today’s fastest-growing unicorns – Cursor, Cognition, and Mercor – who focused on storytelling & investor hype before product.

Distribution unlocks capital which unlocks talent which unlocks product.

‘Perfect’ matters more than ever

In a world of AI slop, it’s easier than ever to create 7/10. As a result, there are no longer returns from 7/10; instead you need to be 8/10 or above to stand out. This means that now, sometimes great beats fast. There are convex returns going from good to great.

Health Protocol Update

I’m still convinced that one of my best health hacks is the daily smoothie I make – 60g protein, 20g fiber, lots of nutrients, only 400 calories but fills me up like 800.

Last week, I updated the recipe with two new ingredients:

• Colostrum (w/ lactoferrin and beta glucan) — for gut health, immunity, and more

• Taurine (w/ glycine) — for longevity, energy, cardiovascular health, metabolic health

You can find the full smoothie at maxmarchione.com/protocol

Top Finds

Brand of the Week

Roy has, in just two weeks, completely changed the game for startup marketing.

21 years old, smoking cigars in a launch video, hiring 50 interns. posting photos with a stripper, raising $15 million from a16z in a week.

At face value, people might think it’s all hype. But look deeper, and this is a masterclass in culture, subversion, and attention.

Space of the Week

It is truly marvellous how this Spanish architect converted an old cement factor into his home.

The two photos below capture maybe 5% of the overall space. I’ll share more in future weeks.

Article of the Week

I wrote about how we built a 150k waitlist in 6 months at Superpower. I believe this is a repeatable playbook most consumer startups can (and should) follow.

Quote of the Week

I could not agree more:

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Until next time,

Max Marchione

(P.S. Reply to let me know what you think! I read all replies.)