📔 Jeff’s Diary (yes, I’ll let you read it)

What if you could do it again? I’ve been thinking about it a lot. All the mistakes I’ve made, things I wish I had done differently. Moments where my mind sometimes wanders to late at night or while the rumbling of the road soothes me into a daydream. If I could just pop into the Delorean with Doc; I’d dial up 2014 and 2022… and run a few things back.

My father was my best friend and hero. Unlike all the other dads who were missing at baseball practice, his retirement from the NYPD gave him the flexibility to be at every one; and he was always there for me.

When I went to the doctor with him many years later, to hear why he had coughed up blood suddenly…. I never could have imagined the doctor giving him only weeks left to live.

At the time I was working two jobs; finishing up at Adobe while just starting to build up MALKA. I remember I went back to my house and called him to see how he was doing, and a man I had admired with such reverence now faltered as he waited for the inevitable. I hung up and told my wife I should be there with him, as he had always been for me, but it was late, an hours drive away, and I thought I could finish up some work at home and be there in the morning. So I stayed.

A few hours later, that night…. he passed, and I never got to say goodbye.

A decade later I was on vacation with my family and my phone rang at 2am. I leaned over, half asleep to see what idiot was calling at this hour, and it was my best friend trying to tell me he ran into a buddy of mine at a random comedy club. He even sent a photo of their love infused hug which popped up on my screen, but it was so late…. and my wife fast sleep, so I said fuck it, I’ll call him back tomorrow.

In a freak accident, he died that next morning. And I never got to call him back.

I share these stores because their shocking endings remind me that inconvenience can hold you back from doing something you may regret not doing in the moment.

That friction of any sort, be it sleep or a long drive, or that email you keep pushing off writing because others are just easier to respond to, may seem inconsequential at the time, but unfortunately could have a lasting impact on your life.

So look at friction in life and in business as an opportunity to decide… what if you didn’t get another chance. Would you take the drive? Would you pick up the phone?

I know I would.

So send the email. If not now, then when?

→ Every Founder Must Know: Kim Kardashian didn't endorse an energy drink. She redesigned the product, killed the "tech bro" branding, and became co-founder.

→ The CPG Turning Point: PepsiCo just let Madison Beer, iShowSpeed, and Dude Perfect co-create chip flavors that debuted on TikTok Shop before retail shelves.

→ Required Reading: A new 60-page report surveyed 1,000 US creators and found the number we've been waiting for: 45.6% earn $10K to $100K.

Kim Kardashian just became co-founder of UPDATE, a paraxanthine-based energy drink rolling into 4,000+ Walmart stores on March 1.

But here's the detail that matters more than the distribution deal: she didn't just show up for a photo shoot. According to Fast Company, Kim started as a customer. Then a bulk buyer. Then she started sending unsolicited product feedback to the founding team. She told them the branding was "too masculine, too tech bro" and needed to be rebuilt for mass-market appeal. She's been hands-on since 2023, reformulating, repackaging, and repositioning the entire brand identity.

The old playbook: Pay a celebrity $2M. Get a photo holding the can. Pray it moves units.

Kim's playbook: Use the product → fall in love with it → fix what's broken → take equity → own the upside.

Why This Matters:

This is the Alix Earle / Poppi model scaled to the most famous woman in the world. When Alix partnered with Poppi, it wasn't a sponsorship. It was conviction-driven distribution that helped fuel a brand trajectory toward a reported $1.8B acquisition by PepsiCo. Kim is running the same operating system, just with a bigger audience and a heavier hammer.

The critical distinction: Kim isn't lending her face. She's redesigning the product. That's the difference between a spokesperson and a co-founder. A spokesperson's value depreciates after the campaign ends. A co-founder's value compounds with every unit sold.

The Lesson for Founders:

Stop sending creators an "influencer brief." Start sending them a product sample and a cap table summary.

The creators who will move the needle for your business aren't the ones who want a flat fee and a swipe-up link. They're the ones who try your product and immediately start telling you what's wrong with it. That unsolicited feedback is the strongest signal of conviction you'll ever get.

Kim didn't need UPDATE's money. She needed to believe in the product. Once she did, the distribution was automatic.

If you're still paying creators to pretend they like your product, you're competing against founders who are partnering with creators who actually use it.

We help founders find creators who already have conviction in their category, not just reach in their niche. The best partnerships start with product truth, not media kits.

PepsiCo's "Flavor Swap" is a first on three fronts. And every one of them matters.

The News:

PepsiCo launched a new product line where Madison Beer, iShowSpeed, and Dude Perfect each co-created their own chip flavor. Not endorsed. Co-created. From inception through formulation to packaging. And here's the kicker: the products debuted on TikTok Shop before hitting retail shelves in March.

This is the first time PepsiCo has let creators drive product innovation from day one. It's the first time they launched a social-first campaign to debut new flavors. And it's the first time they used TikTok Shop as the primary distribution channel for a product drop.

Why It Matters:

The biggest CPG company on earth just told you everything you need to know about where product development is heading. Creators aren't in the ad department anymore. They're in the product lab.

And the data backs the bet: 68% of Gen Z have purchased directly from social platforms. PepsiCo isn't experimenting. They're following the revenue.

Think about the traditional CPG launch cycle: 18 months of R&D → focus groups → retail negotiations → a Super Bowl ad. PepsiCo just compressed that into creators co-designing a product → dropping it on TikTok Shop → letting the audience vote with their wallets in real time → then rolling to retail.

The Operator Take:

If PepsiCo, a company with a $230B+ market cap and a century of brand equity, is admitting that creators belong at the product design table, you have no excuse for still treating them like media placements.

The creators who co-created these flavors aren't getting a one-time sponsorship fee. They're getting a product with their name on it that lives on shelves. That's a fundamentally different incentive structure. Their audiences don't just see an ad. They see something their favorite creator built.

For founders: The next time you brief a creator, don't hand them a script. Hand them the product roadmap. Ask them what they'd change. Ask them what their audience actually wants. The ones who engage with the product itself, not just the check, are the partners worth betting on.

The Influencer Marketing Factory just dropped a 60+ page report based on a survey of 1,000 US creators. The numbers confirm what we've been telling you for months.

The Big Numbers:

Why This Matters:

For years, the creator economy story was bifurcated: mega-influencers at the top making millions, hobbyists at the bottom making nothing. The "middle" was a theory.

It's not a theory anymore. Nearly half of all creators are earning a viable living. That's not gig work. That's a career. And the fact that 44.9% prioritize stability over one-off paydays tells you exactly where the market is headed: long-term partnerships, recurring revenue, and real alignment.

This is the cohort we've been telling you to bet on. These aren't creators chasing virality. They're operators building sustainable businesses. They have niche, high-intent audiences. They convert better than mega-influencers. And most importantly, they're available. They're not fielding calls from Pepsi and Nike. They're waiting for a founder to offer them something better than a $500 flat fee.

The Operator Take:

The report validates the math we've been preaching:

Forget the 0.01%. The creator with 40K followers in your exact vertical who posts three times a week and has a 6% engagement rate will outperform a million-follower celebrity post every single time. The middle class converts. The top tier just costs money.

And here's the compounding effect: as this middle class matures, they're looking for exactly what founders can offer. Equity, co-creation, and long-term brand alignment. They don't want a campaign. They want a seat at the table. The 44.9% who said they prioritize stability? Those are your future co-founders.

The "Creator Middle Class" is the most underpriced asset class in marketing. Stop overpaying for reach. Start investing in trust.

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