Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter about influence and persuasion in a chaotic world. After 1,000+ first dates across 20 years, here’s what I’ve learned about finding connection without losing yourself. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. How To Date I’m happily engaged. I think we might get married next month? But I sat down with a friend recently who is dating – and in San Francisco, no less. Our meeting was...
10 days ago • 11 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter about influence and persuasion in a chaotic world. Today’s essay comes from a sold-out session I led this week with senior leaders on how to sell yourself without pressure. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. How to Sell Yourself – A Workshop I taught a 100+ person workshop this week for Sidebar, a community of senior leaders in tech. Today, I thought I’d share the session – along...
18 days ago • 6 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter about influence and persuasion in a chaotic world. Things are unstable, overwhelming, and unlikely to calm down soon. This essay makes the case for a different kind of optimism — a stubborn, practiced refusal to give up. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. The Case for Relentless Optimism Things are pretty dark right now. It is easy to feel sad or overwhelmed. Personally, I'm finding...
24 days ago • 5 min read
Welcome to Snafu. Good ideas aren't enough - modern work runs on influence. When everything competes for your attention, resilience is a daily practice. These are some notes to myself on how to stay focused on priorities when things start to fall apart. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. How to Build Amidst Chaos I’ve spent too much time on Twitter/X this past week. Just this morning, instead of sitting down to...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter for reluctant salespeople. The world feels unstable right now. AI, the job market, politics — it’s hard to know what’s coming next. This essay is about the one skill I keep returning to when uncertainty is the only constant. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. AI ate my business… except it didn’t A year ago, I was convinced AI was about to come for my business. About 70% of Zander...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter for reluctant salespeople. Most people fail at fitness - and other goals -because they define success too far away. Today's essay argues for a simpler approach: measure progress by what you did today. When the bar for winning is low enough, consistency becomes inevitable. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. A Guide to Getting Fit There are plenty of areas in my life where I struggle...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter for reluctant salespeople. We don’t avoid selling because we’re bad at it—we avoid it because we’ve been taught the wrong rules. This is a teardown of the ten myths that make selling feel gross, and how to do it better. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. Most of us don’t hate selling because we’re bad at it. We hate selling because we believe a handful of myths that make selling into...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter for reluctant salespeople. At the end of the year, I reviewed some of the books that helped me make sense of a chaotic moment – history, politics, persuasion, health, habits, and fiction. This isn't so much a “best of” list as a map of my curiosity and a guide to staying sane. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. At the end of the year, I thought it would be fun to review some of my...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
Welcome to Snafu, a newsletter for reluctant salespeople. Most people don’t need to be convinced - they need permission. Today's article is about why persuading the unpersuadable is a waste of energy, and what to do instead. If you're enjoying Snafu, it would mean the world to me if you would share it! Was it sent to you? Subscribe here. The Danger of Persuading the Unpersuadable Years ago, when I was working alongside the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford, BJ Fogg told me not to try to...
2 months ago • 4 min read