Last week I posted something crappy and, of course, it went viral. I wanted to both apologize and offer an explanation.
1) The point I was trying to make was: paying for a Time Square billboard is not equivalent to earning a spot.
2) As written, it was easy to read as: your earned Time Square billboard is not worth anything because you can just buy one for $500.
Who am I to decide that there is a right or wrong way to be on a billboard? That’s dumb. I am embarrassed and I apologize.
Here's a bit more context:
I am worried about the continued destruction of authenticity, which social media beat the crap out of and generative AI appears to be finishing off at a terrifying pace.
Honesty feels very GenX these days. How long until the response to "that isn't real" is "okay, boomer."
I've been a startup guy for more than 30 years. It's a core part of my life. Entrepreneurs are my people. This is my community. And that community is under attack. The engine of nearly all recent stock market growth relies on the premise that fake is no different from real.
* A comment written by software is equal to a comment written yourself.
* A song written by software is equal to a song written by someone who experienced heartbreak and poured their grief out in music.
* A term paper written by software is the same as learning.
I think Bryan Leach is correct. Paying attention to someone else's behavior is already losing the game.
I also think that we should push back when important values are at risk. It’s important to fight against the diminishment of authenticity in the same way that we should fight against racism and the rise of anti-science thinking.
I chose the wrong thing to get butthurt about, unfortunately. Billboards are not the place to wage a war for honesty and authenticity.
Being authentic means owning your mistakes. So here I am owning mine.