The Creativ Brief: How Gratitude Builds Grit
Grit, resolve or perseverance in the face of obstacles, has proven to be the most vital skill I’ve developed as a founder.
It’s not as if everything goes wrong; it’s that things go wrong constantly. As the company leader, you have to resolve every nuisance, issue, dispute, problem, situation, ask, or meltdown all while managing a team. The cumulative stress wears on you. Something I took for granted when I was an employee.
Gratitude provides a potent salve for stressors and building grit.
A study from UC Berkeley found that expressing gratitude was linked to better sleep, increased heart health, physical well-being, less inflammation, decreased burnout, lower depression and anxiety, and overall happiness.
The magic of expressing gratitude allows one to reframe negative life aspects by filtering or distancing yourself from them. That perspective permits you to understand that, yes, this particular thing is challenging, but overall life is pretty good.
These past two weeks I lost business, transitioned clients, caught a cold, and watched a friend wither and die from cancer.
I went surfing. Floating off the Pacific coast, a storm grew on the horizon, opening up overhead and showering our group in a cool rain. I thought of my house by the beach, my beautiful girlfriend, my friends, my health, my parents, and meditated while the sky and ocean thundered around me.
How small one feels when immersed in the grand vistas of the earth.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines
Sam Altman is Returning to OpenAI with a New Group of Board Members just 5 days after he was sent out of one of AI’s most valuable startups.
Why it Matters: After 770 employees signed a letter to the board saying they would quit if Sam wasn’t brought back, OpenAI publicly announced that they reached an agreement to bring Altman back as CEO and introduce a new board including Bret Taylor (Chair), Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo.
Major Advertisers have pulled out of X, which could spark a bigger shift away from the app.
Major advertisers such as Apple and IBM have halted their X ad campaigns after concerns related to the spread of disinformation, Musk’s amplification of an anti-semetic talking point, and X’s placement of ads next to pro-Nazi material.
Why it matters: X’s ad revenue is already down 50% on the year. Their new subscriber programs haven't gained much traction either. When it comes to Social media ad campaigns, advertisers have massively shifted their focus towards less turbulent platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Spotify Unveiled a new Streaming Royalty Policy that claims it will drive an estimated additional $1billion dollars to artists over 5 years.
The Changes include:
Efforts to cut down on fraudulent streams
Increase the minimum payable track length for “noise” content (“rainfall” or white noise”)
Eliminating payment for songs with less than 1000 streams.
Why it Matters: Time will tell whether Spotify’s changes to the payable track requirements will actually generate additional measurable streaming revenue for artists going forward.
Client Spotlight - MOCEAN trailer music nominated for a Grammy!
MOCEAN’s trailer for “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 Awesome Mix, Vol.3” features the song “Since You Been Gone” by Rainbow from the film’s soundtrack which was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Check it out here: Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | New Trailer - YouTube
Stat of the Week - Top Concerns of C Level Executives
Chart by Miles Mahoney
The top concerns on the radar of C-Level Executives for 2024 include advancements in AI tech (55%), followed by security breaches (49%), and shifts in consumer behavior (47%).
Executives are aware of the rapidly changing tech around AI. To stay ahead of the curve in 2024, executives are aiming to use AI to maximize efficiency, increase safety, and lower costs.
One Fun Thing - Hollywood Strikes are Over!
Here are the key takeaways from the Hollywood Strike:
Hollywood used to spend freely on made-for-streaming TV shows due to low interest rates on debt, which made it easy to make high quality content with borrowed money.
With an estimated annual increase of $600 million in additional costs going to studios, money spent on production will slim out.
Rather than “multi million dollar development deals”, spending will be more project-to-project focused on things such as script sales and short term talent holding deals.
Studios are expected to use less A-list talent, greenlight less filming on location and use more soundstages and green screens
Read all about it in a Variety editorial exclusive.