This AI band just hit 1 million Spotify listeners.

No real members, shows, or past.
Everything about them—music, photos, branding—is AI-generated.

But they are topping Spotify's Viral 50 charts in the UK, Sweden, & Norway. The band? Velvet Sundown.

They sound like a dreamy blend of indie pop and synth rock.

But here’s what’s wild:
Their bio, photos, and music are all AI-generated.

Yet they’re Spotify Verified—like any other “real” band.

It feels legit... until you start digging.

He didn’t start Microsoft.
He didn’t invent Windows.

But he scaled it to $3.5T—and held $130B in stock.

On the Acquired podcast only 2 weeks ago, Steve Ballmer finally revealed how he did it.

And what most founders still miss:🧵 Ballmer joined Microsoft late—and built its core:

- Enterprise muscle
- Windows dominance
- Developer obsession
- Office, NT, Azure roots

His regret? Losing the consumer game.
Great companies need both hands.

Drop one, leave markets open. Keep both? Build empires.

Jony Ive built the iPhone, iMac, iPod, iPad, Apple Watch…
But that is not his legacy.

In a rare chat with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, he reveals what's really behind his $2B+ net worth:

→ Building with soul
→ Leading with care
→ Designing like it’s a moral act

Here's why it matters to founders of today: 🧵 Ive’s biggest belief?

What we make reflects who we are.
It’s not just form. It’s values.

Your product tells the world:

What you care about
Who you serve
How much you respect them

That’s the real design system.

Google’s CEO just dropped the most important tech interview of 2025.

What’s behind the $2T empire?
AGI? AI replacing Search? Android XR? Robots?

Founders, here are 10 reveals from the Sundar x Lex Podcast you simply cannot ignore: 🧵 @sundarpichai @Google Sundar believes:

“AI is more profound than fire or electricity.”

It’s not ‘recency’ bias. AI is the first tech that can:

- Self-improve
- Build tools
- Conduct research
- Accelerate creation itself

This may be the last invention we’ll ever need to invent.

Tesla. SpaceX. Neuralink. X. xAI. The Boring Company.
And a net worth of $330B+

If you think Elon Musk is just “built different”
You’re right. Just not in the way you think.

His biographer Walter Isaacson shadowed him for a year. What he found is pure savage 🧵
Elon Musk doesn’t multitask.

He’s what Isaacson calls a “serial tasker”

That means: Total focus on one domain. Ruthless mental exclusion of everything else. Then a full switch to the next mission.

This is 'cognitive context isolation' at the highest level.

Zuckerberg is building something INSANE.

A $1.4 TRILLION AI machine that touches every part of your digital life.

No launch event. No press release.

Just Zuck, vibing on a couch, on comedian Theo Von’s podcast, casually outlining Meta’s masterplan 🧵 The most important AI podcast of 2024 wasn’t on Lex, MKBHD or a dev summit.

It was Theo Von asking Zuck dumb questions—and getting genius answers.

In 2 hours, Zuckerberg revealed how Meta is:

• Rebuilding itself around AI
• Going full-stack
• Betting the house on it

Codie Sanchez makes $4.1 million/month talking about Garlic Butter Startups.

But it's not just what she says—It's how she says it.

Her real secret?
Mastering the first 3 seconds.

I broke down her viral hook formula so you can master it too.

🧵 In 2025, we’re drowning in content—and attention spans are shorter than ever.

If you can't hook someone in the first 3 seconds, you’ve already lost.

Codie figured out how to do this with a 3-part formula:
- Context
- Scroll-stopper
- Contrarian twist

Here's how it works...

Apple wasn’t the first computer.
McDonald’s wasn’t the first burger.
Tesla wasn’t the first EV.

But they’re the first in your mind. Why?

Positioning.

If your brand isn’t the top choice, you’re already losing.
Here’s how to fix that: Every day, our brains are bombarded with so many ads.

These are brands screaming for attention—and getting ignored.

The solution? Positioning.

McDonald’s makes more money from real estate than burgers.

The fast-food giant owns some of the most valuable properties in the world.

This strategy, called “The Landlord Model,” generates billions annually.

Here’s how McDonald’s turned locations into its secret weapon:🧵 McDonald's generates $25 billion in annual revenue.

A whopping 40% comes from real estate rent.

While most people think it’s just a burger chain, McDonald’s is actually one of the largest commercial real estate owners in the world.

Rolex doesn’t sell watches—it sells time itself.

No flashy ads. No discount codes. Just quiet dominance.

From Wimbledon to the Oscars, Rolex owns the moments that matter.

Here’s how they turned cultural prestige into a $10B empire: Unlike most brands, Rolex doesn’t rely on flashy ads or catchy jingles.

Instead, they focus on presence, not promotion.

You won’t see Rolex commercials flooding your screen. But you will see their logo at the Olympics, in Formula 1, or on James Bond’s wrist.

Wanna go Viral?

The answer is in the Data.

Netflix gambled $100 million on Data-driven content.

Critics called it a reckless experiment until House of Cards changed everything.

Today they are a $300 billion empire

Here’s how Netflix started out with borrowed content.

Studios owned the rights; Netflix paid to stream.

But as competitors like Hulu entered the market, studios pulled their content to build their own platforms.

Netflix faced a shrinking library with no control over their future.

This is Heinz
They are:

-> No. 1 Ketchup brand in the US with a market share of 60%
-> 5th largest food company globally.
-> Widely popular for their creative campaigns

Here are 3 key marketing lessons we can learn from the Food Giant. 1/ Social Listening

Heinz pays close attention to online buzz and trends.

When they noticed customers mixing mayonnaise and ketchup in 2018, they released a poll and after over 500,000 votes, they launched the Mayochup.

It sold over 1 million bottles in just a month!

What if I told you Red Bull spent $30M on a stunt and earned $6B in media exposure?

That's how they redefined marketing.

Red Bull doesn't sell energy drinks. They sell adventure and the thrill of pushing limits.

And here's why this strategy works - every, single, time.🧵 While everyone else was touting product features, Red Bull was selling the feeling of adrenaline.

They positioned themselves as the drink for the daring, the adventurous, and those who refuse to be average. They sold energy, not just drinks.

This empty chair is the most important employee at Amazon.

At every meeting, one seat stays vacant—reserved for the customer's voice.

But its meaning runs deeper than you think.

Here's how this symbolic chair transformed Amazon into the most customer-obsessed company ever: 1. Making customer empathy real

Jeff Bezos is legendary for his customer obsession.

Amazon's success stems from one simple truth: every decision starts and ends with the customer.

True customer centricity starts with genuinely caring about your customer's experience.

IKEA made billions by making you do the work.

But they didn’t just sell furniture—they sold pride.

This strategy, known as the “IKEA Effect,” is a psychological hack every brand needs to understand.

Here’s how it turned IKEA into a $50B flat-pack empire 🧵👇 In the 1950s, IKEA introduced flat-pack/ready-to-assemble furniture.

Why?

To save money on shipping and storage.

But here’s what they didn’t expect…

In the 80s, Absolut Vodka was overshadowed by competitors.

Their solution?
Forget the vodka—make the bottle the star.

What followed was the longest, most creative ad campaign in history. 🧵 Instead of focusing on vodka quality (everyone was doing that), Absolut made their bottle the star.

Their bottle's silhouette was simple yet distinct, becoming the foundation of one of the longest and most successful campaigns ever.

In 1887, Coca-Cola was new, no one noticed them.

During this time, people didn't even know what carbonated drinks were.

So, Coke pulled a shocking move to get attention. And it worked.

This is the story of the stunt that turned Coca-Cola into a household name: 🧵👇 The problem? Coca-Cola was new, and no one really knew what it tasted like.

At the time, carbonated drinks weren’t a big deal, so Coke needed a way to get people curious—and hooked.

The challenge was clear: How do you make a completely unknown product irresistible?

Why do some ideas go viral while others flop?

Jonah Berger cracked the code.

His STEPPS framework explains it. Why campaigns like "Dumb Ways to Die" and "Share a Coke" are everywhere.

Want to make your brand unforgettable? Here's how 🧵👇 Jonah Berger isn’t just a marketing professor. He’s the King of virality.

He spent years studying why certain ideas, ads, and products take off while others fade.

His book “Contagious: Why Things Catch On,” outlines a framework for viral success...

STEPPS

Let’s break it down.

In 2009, Audi released a Billboard ad designed to attack BMW.

BMW could have ignored it, but they didn't.

Instead, they went head to head in the biggest Billboard War.

Here's the full story: It all started in Santa Monica, California, when Audi unveiled a stunning billboard advertising their A4 vehicle.

The message;
"Your move, BMW."

This wasn't just a car advert; it was a jab and public challenge to their old rival.

Amazon's rise from a simple bookstore to a $2.3 Trillion empire is still shocking.

So I took the time to analyze their journey.

Here is the simple strategy Jeff Bezos used: In the early days, Amazon’s growth was slow.

Selling books alone wasn’t cutting it. They needed to expand, stand out, and build customer loyalty.

But after many failed attempts, the team finally cracked the code with Amazon Prime membership program.

A century ago, this company released their mouthwash. But It didn't sell, no one cared about bad breath.

One genius move later, they had $350 Million in sales.

Here's the simple trick they used: In the 1920s, bad breath wasn’t a huge concern—it was common and didn’t seem to need “fixing”

Listerine was the perfect mouthwash.

Yet it was seen as a medical antiseptic, mostly used in operating rooms.

But Gerard Lambert, the company's president, had a vision to change that.