The top reason businesses fail is cash flow problems: they run out of money. For years, entrepreneurs have heard the warning “90% of startups fail”.
Failure rates of new businesses by age, 2025 (United States):
20% of new businesses fail within the first two years.
45% of new business startups don’t survive the fifth year.
65% of new startups fail during the first ten years.
75% of American startups go out of business during the first 15 years.
-Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Startup Failure Rate Statistics (2025)
If cash flow is one of the top reasons businesses fail, it would follow that success comes from better use of levers.
In essence, leverage in business is about strategically utilizing resources—financial, operational, technological, or human—to achieve greater outputs and outcomes with the same or less effort.
Naval Ravikant’s four business levers are famous, especially in the startup world. I wrote more about the levers in my last post. This post is focused on Media (lever #4) and tying in two recent culture moments that broke the internet this summer.
TL;DR: Media (which encompasses marketing and much more) offers the greatest leverage in business today due to human nature, psychology, attention and technology, and the power of brand. However, as AI evolves, media as a lever will be uniquely valuable and a moat.
Permissionless Levers to Grow a Business
When we say that media and code are “permissionless” levers in business, it means that they can be used to create and distribute value without requiring traditional gatekeepers or approvals. Here’s what that implies:
Media as Permissionless:
- Anyone can create and distribute content through platforms like social media, blogs, podcasts, or YouTube without needing approval from traditional media companies or publishers.
- This democratization of content creation allows individuals and small businesses to reach large audiences at relatively low costs, leveraging their influence and creativity directly.
Code as Permissionless:
- Code refers to software development and programming, which allows for the creation of scalable solutions and automation.
- Developers can build apps, websites, and other digital products without needing approval from or reliance on traditional infrastructure or capital-heavy resources.
- Open-source tools and platforms facilitate innovation and enable entrepreneurs to build and deploy solutions quickly and efficiently.
Both media and code empower individuals to operate and innovate independently, disrupting traditional models and enabling rapid scaling with minimal financial investment.
4 types of leverage in business, from low to high:
— Emily Binder (@emilybinder) May 15, 2025
1) Labor - hire people
2) Capital - deploy others' money or your money
3) Code (software) - 1 time build, infinite users
4) Media - 1 time content, potential millions of impressions, build brand, build SME, build audience to…
Most businesses invest in the permission-based and therefore more expensive levers: Labor and Capital. That might be holding you back today. By 2030 that WILL be holding you back.
Let’s go deeper on the fourth lever, Media. Here are two recent examples of Media’s leverage on a company.
Media Lever Example 1: AE “Good Jeans” Ad with Sydney Sweeney
Last week you heard about the American Eagle-Sydney Sweeney “great jeans” controversy.
An actress moved a stock.
“American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE:AEO) shares have climbed 16.26% since launching its Sydney Sweeney advertising campaign on July 23, despite new data showing accelerating declines in foot traffic to physical stores.”
-Yahoo Finance, 8/12/2025
“There are two major problems with the (overblown) Sydney Sweeney American Eagle denim ad campaign controversy, which has detractors saying it promotes pro-eugenics messaging and Donald Trump saying Sweeney is a babe and a half: One is that society can’t seem to find a shred of chill about Sweeney herself, and the other is that the ad is just, well, a goofy mess.” –Vanity Fair, 8/6/2025
Media Lever Example 2: Coldplay Kiss Cam
The Kiss Cam incident involving Astronomer’s CEO and HR Head at a Coldplay concert had a significant impact on the company, particularly in terms of its public image and perception, but the long-term impact on its valuation and business future remains to be seen.
The increased brand awareness gained through the viral incident, coupled with a potentially effective PR response, could ultimately benefit the company, according to Business Insider. The BBC reported a possible 15,000% spike in website visits following the viral video.
Here’s a breakdown of the incident’s impact:
Negative initial publicity and resignations:
- The viral video of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR head Kristin Cabot’s awkward encounter on the Kiss Cam sparked widespread negative reactions online and in the media.
- This controversy led to Byron’s resignation.
Unforeseen positive publicity and brand awareness:
- Despite the negative nature of the initial attention, the scandal undeniably thrust Astronomer into the spotlight, making it a household name.
- Some public relations experts described it as a potential “blessing in disguise,” suggesting that the increased visibility could benefit the firm.
- The company capitalized on the viral moment with a light-hearted commercial featuring Gwyneth Paltrow (Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s ex-wife), garnering positive media attention and further extending its reach.
Conclusion: Media as a Business Lever
Harnessing Influence in the Modern World
Media figures with audience and influence can move markets and create billions of dollars of inflows into economies (see Taylor Swift). Influence isn’t new but the scale and speed IS unprecedented because of technology.
Some media figures create mascara or tequila brands, some sell out global tours, and some sway elections. Those are macro, trad definitions of celebrity, and they are traditionally platformed involving things like broadcast, live events, PR, and advertising.
According to Bloomberg Economics, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour contributed $4.3 billion to the US GDP product (GDP) of the United States (2023). Another stat: “We believe that the total economic impact likely exceeded $10 billion.” –US Travel Association, 9/2023.
Harnessing Influence in the Modern World
But micro influence happens constantly. It’s less visible in headlines, but has even greater economic impact (thus business opportunity):
- The global creator economy is estimated to be worth $250 billion as of late 2024 (Mavely).
- It’s projected to reach $525 billion by 2027 (Goldman Sachs).
- TikTok alone fuels billions in affiliate marketing e-commerce.
- Then there’s the sale of digital products (e.g. courses or community access sold by YouTubers and creators): billions more.
Here’s the thing: Many of these creators making 6-7 figures per month are single person businesses, or quite lean using distributed resources rather than full-time employees.
They don’t need Labor, Capital, or Code. They just need Media.
We are talking about the greatest leverage.
Media is the Permissionless Lever in Business
In today’s business world, media plays a crucial role, offering both unique challenges and new opportunities. The American Eagle ‘Good Jeans’ ad and the Coldplay Kiss Cam incident show how media can stir up controversy while increasing brand awareness and influence. These cases highlight media’s ability to quickly shape public perception and market dynamics.
Notice these incidents hinge around people and personal brands. Not corporate brands. Human behavior, good or bad, and human insights (POVs), will always be interesting like gossip and thus have leverage and attention due to our tribal nature.
Technology barrels down the algorithm-driven path we’ve seen since early Facebook c. 2010. The path is one where users’ attention is the product and advertisers are the customer. Media’s impact on business expands as social media commands more hours of the day and YouTube has become the number one streaming platform, surpassing Netflix and other streaming services, as well as traditional television in terms of viewership. In May 2025, Nielsen reported that YouTube accounted for 12.5% of all TV viewing, while Netflix accounted for 7.5%.
This means YouTube now commands more of the overall TV viewing time than any other streaming service, including Netflix, and even more than most traditional media companies.
Video is the Best Way to Harness the Media Lever – Start with YouTube
On that note, you need to be doing video marketing, on YouTube, yesterday. If you want a done-for-you video service, Beetle Moment Marketing designed the UnPodcast Package just for busy professionals and business owners. It includes remote recording, expertly guided production prompting you to sound your best, and editing and posting. 4 hours total time investment nets you 4 straight months of content.
Aside from your personal use of social media, from a business perspective, since we’re talking about levers, here’s the takeaway. By effectively using media—through social platforms, strong branding, and meaningful community connections—businesses can achieve growth without heavily relying on traditional resources like labor, capital, or code. Media is not just a tool; it’s a practical way to drive modern entrepreneurship.
Your POV and Personal Brand: Staying Relevant in the AI Era
Leveraging media helps businesses flourish in a competitive environment. But the word MEDIA in the sense of leverage is so very broad. Considering it’s 25% of your four choices in levers, and the other ones cover money, people, and digital product (code), media is essentially EVERYTHING ELSE left that creates awareness and drives sales.
Media encompasses:
- Marketing, especially:
- Organic content strategy including social media, blogs and webites, SEO and GEO
- Video (especially YouTube as I’ve explained is the priority, as well as TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.)
- Advertising
- Public relations
- Branding: for companies and for people
As AI slop propagates and fades into noise, your proper use of media becomes signal. Those who embrace the media lever will find new avenues for success and innovation. People who have an informed opinion, a philosophy, a viewpoint — will be magnetic and watched. Continue to learn and think and write and create — we need your human POV because remember, AI is not creative: is an LLM and it is math. It literally works off what’s already been written and already been done. You (human) can connect dots and do something greater and more resonant. AI has no brand.
Strategy Session: Marketing and Media
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TL;DR and how this ties back to your personal brand:
AI slop makes brand matter more.
Media platforms brand, especially through social media.
Brand and community/human connection are becoming the moat.
Smart companies harness Media (i.e. brand, marketing, and content).
For more insights on each leverage type for your business and how you can use Media for less expensive, less bloated, stickier growth, see my last post below.
Related post:
Taste is the Moat: What AI Can’t Replace in Marketing (2028 Reaction)
The apps on your home screen — the ones you open out of habit — become irrelevant when an AI agent just picks the most efficient option. No brand loyalty. No human decision. So where does brand live in that world? Here’s my answer: taste and POV. Because AI is an LLM. It’s math. It’s predictive. It is not intelligent — and the people who stay valuable are the ones who can look at any output and know when it’s wrong.
