October 10, 2026 | Read online​

Fair warning, this week's newsletter is a lot heavier than usual, so if you're looking for a feel-good read you might want to save this one for later. My hope is that it gives someone out there a reason to do something.

I've sat down to write this newsletter a bunch of times over the past two weeks, and every time I started on something about sales it felt hollow. Cold call openers, AI agents, how to book more meetings. All stuff I care about and all stuff I normally have no problem writing about.

But I'm the father of a 16 year old girl, and I haven't been able to get the Cornell7 out of my head. Writing about pipeline while that's sitting in my chest felt fake, and fake is the one thing I've never wanted to be on here.

Whenever someone asks me whether they should post on social, start a podcast, or write a newsletter, I tell them the same thing. Share your story and speak up, because you never know who is listening or the impact your words can have on someone. I've seen that play out in ways I never expected. So this week I'm taking my own advice.

As someone with a relatively large social following, I've always struggled with speaking up on certain topics because that's not what people follow me for.

I'm horrified with what's going on with our country, politics, climate, race relations, gender equality, the economy, and overall human decency, but I don't feel like me speaking up on any of that does anything more than further divide us.

This Cornell7 thing is different, and I'm hoping I can reach one person and make a difference.

I've debated how to deliver this message for two weeks. At first, I was outraged and took to Instagram to rant about how deplorable those 7 kids were and how the dozens of other kids on that text thread should all be thrown in jail along with their parents being publicly shamed. I went off about Cornell University and how it's a nepobaby factory that protects these boys and how they should be shut down. It was full-on Boston-John, filled with rage and F-bombs.

As good as it felt to rant and get that off my chest, I took it down because it wasn't constructive and didn't help the situation in any way. My rage wasn't helping Jane Doe or anyone like her.

Then I watched my IG feed fill with women sharing their own Jane Doe stories. As disheartening as those stories were, what was even more troubling was the amount of videos and comments I saw from people (mostly young men) trying to defend, justify, and even celebrate what these boys did.

I know we're supposed to live in a country where you're innocent until proven guilty, but no rational person could look at that text thread and see anything other than horrible human beings doing obviously horrible things to that poor woman and bragging about it.

The layers of outrage grew. First it was the 7 boys who did it, then it was the dozens who were on the thread and didn't say a fucking word or try to stop it, and then it was the pieces of shit online trying to justify it.

So I sit here, still struggling with what to say and how to make a positive impact. I still don't know the best way to talk about this without coming across as privileged or overly emotional, even though I'm definitely both.

Which is why I want to talk about privilege, and hope it resonates with some people enough to do something with it.

WHAT MY DAD LEFT ON HIS DESK

When my Dad passed away, I was cleaning up his desk and came across a quote he had written on a small piece of paper: "When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."

Before I ultimately got it tattooed on my arm, I had to sit with it for a while to figure out what it really meant. Privilege isn't about growing up with a silver spoon in your mouth. It's the fact that as a male, I don't even think about what clothes I put on in the morning so I don't get sexually harassed throughout the day, when almost every woman I know does. It's the fact that as a white male, when I get pulled over by the police, I can roll down my window and give the cop an attitude without worrying about getting shot, like almost every Black person I know does.

One of the best examples of the impact of privilege is an experiment by Adam Donyes designed to show how unearned advantages create unequal starting lines in life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vR3Oovhi1Q​

He lines a group of kids up in a field and tells them whoever wins the race gets $100. But before the race starts, he asks a bunch of questions. If your parents are still married, take two steps forward. If you've never had to worry about where your next meal was coming from, take two steps forward. If your parents paid for college, take two steps forward.

By the end, there were mostly white males up front close to the finish line and mostly people of color and women in the back. He then asks the group who they think will win the race if it started now.

This is not to say that all white males have the same privilege or haven't had to struggle. The point is that we all have privilege in some way, some have way more than others, and those of us who have it need to recognize it and use it to help others instead of reacting negatively when "equality feels like oppression."

It's a privilege to walk alone at night and not worry about getting abducted. It's a privilege to go to a fraternity party and get hammered without worrying about getting taken advantage of. It's a privilege to sit back and watch bad shit happen to people and think that just because you're not the one actively doing it, you're one of the good ones.

It's no longer ok to sit back and think that way in my opinion. If you're not speaking up for those who aren't as privileged as you, or stepping in when you know something is wrong, you're part of the problem.

We need to find a way to get young men to realize their privilege and do something with it, especially in how they treat and support women.

GIRLDADS AND BOYDADS

As a GirlDad, I have to teach my daughter to always walk with a friend, carry her keys in her hand as a weapon, never go anywhere alone with a guy, keep her head up instead of looking down at her phone when she's walking around, avoid boys who are overly aggressive in sports and other areas of their lives, and so much more.

I know plenty of BoyDads and Moms who teach their boys to be good kids, but we need to teach them to be more than that at this point and have the hard conversations. We need to teach them that being a real man is about standing up for others who can't stand up for themselves. That their "friends" who do and say bad shit shouldn't be their friends, and they need to say something about it in the group chat.

This Alpha male shit needs to stop being the place where young men go to feel a sense of belonging, and it's not even portrayed correctly. The alpha concept came from studies of wolves, where researchers believed one dominant male led the pack. That research has since been debunked. Later studies showed wolf packs function more like a family unit, with cooperation and shared roles. (Source: Calm.com, "What is an alpha male, and what's it like to date one?")

A true alpha protects the pack and their family. They care for others who are less fortunate and do what they can to lift others up.

Let's redefine what alpha means for our young men and give them examples to look up to instead of the douchebags like the Andrew Tates of the world.

SO HERE'S WHAT I'M DOING

My Instagram rant didn't help anyone. And writing a newsletter about how men need to stop staying silent, then doing nothing myself, would be the same as saying I'm not one of the bad guys because I didn't do the bad thing.

My daughter and I built the Future Founder Project to support future entrepreneurs, ideally underprivileged kids. Starting today, $100 of every $500 sponsorship goes directly to the Boys & Girls Club of Woburn, right down the street from my house.

Why there? Because that's where boys in my own town are figuring out what kind of men they want to be, before some guy on the internet with a rented Bugatti decides for them.

I'm also going to walk in, meet the people doing the work, and find out how I can help beyond writing a check. I'll report back on what I learn.

Here's what I'm asking you to do. Pick one:

1. If you have a son, nephew, grandson, or a young guy you coach or manage, have the group chat conversation this week. Ask him, "What would you do if someone in your group chat said or shared something like that about a girl?" Then shut up and listen to his answer.
2. If you're a man with a few hours a month, show up for a kid who doesn't have a man in his life. Try the Boys & Girls Club in your town, Big Brothers Big Sisters, or a team that needs a coach. Boys wait the longest for mentors because not enough men raise their hand.
3. If you want to back the Future Founder Project, sponsor here. $100 of every sponsorship goes to the Boys & Girls Club of Woburn.

One last thing. While I was writing this, I went down a rabbit hole on how wolf packs actually travel. Do you know who leads from the front? The parents. Mom and dad share the lead, breaking trail through the snow so the rest of the pack can follow.

That's what alpha really looks like. A leader and a partner. We need that more than ever right now, and we need the people who have been sitting on the sidelines to get in the game and speak up.

Like I said at the top, you never know who's listening. Maybe it's a kid sitting in a group chat right now, deciding whether to say something. Maybe it's his dad reading this.

My hope is that one person hears this and decides to do or say something about it. Please.

#MakeItHappen

How did I do with this edition? Amazing - can't wait till next week It was okay Needs work