OK, I will admit that I did not want to like this post. Lulu Cheng Meservey is big on X, and seems to be at rubbing-shoulders distance to many big tech bros. But I did like the post. She conveys her message well, and convincingly. You may not like social media, or media these days period, so be it - the rules are rigged. But not playing the game may be less and less of an option. Sadly, the playbook is all over the place. It is what Sam Altman does, and it is what Elon Musk does. It works fabulously for Trump too (check this video from the times of his election campaign). And yes, pharma is going direct too. You may not be interested in The Discourse, but it is interested in you. And if you bow out, you are forfeiting your license to build a movement and thus build a company. The good news is that going direct and building a movement, while not easy, are skills that can be developed with discipline and time. The bad news is that, unlike with engineering or management, communications failures are immediately public and personally humiliating. It’s not surprising that many are loath to take on this responsibility. At the same time, founders willing to pick up that gauntlet will find that it gives them a massive edge in recruiting, fundraising, selling, and shaping the information environment needed for their companies to thrive.