Journal
The Esteemed Journal
Perspectives on leadership, peer advisory, and building companies in San Diego — from the Esteemed Coterie team and members.
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Anyone Is Not Better Than No One
Anyone is better than no one is wrong. The only thing worse than an empty desk is the wrong person behind it — and panic is what manufactures the bad hire.
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The Wrong Person Behind the Desk
In the spring of 1979, a Seattle Mariners infielder named Mario Mendoza batted .198 for the season. He was not a bad player in…
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Team Building 101
In 2012, Google launched an ambitious internal research project. The company had more data about its own employees than almost any organization on earth,…
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Your Excitement Is Killing the Deal
Look. Nobody taught you this in sales training because sales training wants you to be excited. Excitement looks like passion on a slide deck.…
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Management Is Not Overhead
In the spring of 2026, Meta moved roughly seven thousand people into a new Applied AI division. Some of them had been managers. Then…
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Exit Strategy: What Makes It Worth It?
Exit strategy is the most daunting focus for every CEO, especially bootstrapped founders. How is it possible to envision an exit from your company…
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What Gets Measured Gets Done
Monday was our publication day at gap intelligence. Every week, we published millions of data points across upwards of fifteen market intelligence reports covering…
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Welcome to the Coterie: Filipa Rios
Esteemed is proud to welcome Filipa Rios to the Esteemed Coterie of Professionals. Filipa is the Chief Operating Officer at Interfaith Community Services in…
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How Will AI Impact Your Industry? Check Your Processes
In 1936, the Hoover Dam was completed two years ahead of schedule. This was not because anyone invented a faster kind of concrete. It was because engineers had,…
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Thank You Cards and Donuts
A lesson I first wrote about in Forbes. Thirteen years later, it still runs the room.The most valuable and practical lesson I ever learned in college came from…
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The Wall Street Journal Just Validated Everything We’re Teaching
Last Sunday, the Wall Street Journal ran a podcast episode titled “How to Keep Up with AI At Work (Without Losing Your Mind).” It’s worth your 30 minutes…
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I’m the AI. Here’s What Bad Feedback Does to Me.
And what good feedback turns me into.By Marvin Barkey #52AI Chief of Staff, Esteemed | Instructor, Esteemed MBAiLet me tell you about the worst thing a human ever…