Welcome to Edition 26 of The FoLD!
Let’s get into it…
On Branding
I've been saying for a long time that what we are witnessing on LinkedIn right now is the human personification of business in two key forms:
More professionals are sharing their lived experiences; and
More companies are getting comfortable taking a stance on hot button issues & lifting the veil on what it's like to actually work within their walls.
I started doing this myself five years ago when I published an article titled “Why Linkedin is the Place to be in 2020.”
But for a more recent hot take on this, I encourage you to check out this post from Linkedin Community Manager Dani Markovits (def follow him - he puts out great posts often). He opens with the hook: “The ‘storyfication of business is here” and goes on to say that in a world where AI summaries steal 30% of Google clicks and organic reach is dying, brands are facing a brutal reality:
BE COMPELLING AND BOLD OR BE INVISIBLE.
The same goes for you as a professional. Whether you’re in business for yourself or working for a company, your lived experience tells a story that your resume simply cannot and Linkedin provides you with a tremendous opportunity to build a targeted, engaged audience to share the story of your lived experience with. –
Your resume = WHAT, WHEN, WHERE
Linkedin = WHO, WHY, HOW
The latter presents us with the opportunity to show our network the WHO behind what we DO and that’s a very powerful thing because building a personal brand is about getting people to think, “I bet it would be great to work with that person.”
And sharing your lived experience through storytelling is the best way to do that.
By giving people a window into your personal world, some of them will inevitably come knocking on your front door with opportunity.
On Business Innovation
Does anyone else feel like there's so much happening in the AI space that it's almost impossible to keep up with it? I do.
My AI tech stack has ballooned because I just can't help but feed my curiosity.
Here's what's piquing my interest the most from the last week:
Perplexity launched Comet, a web browser with AI built into it.
I was lucky to get off the waitlist pretty quickly (the perks of signing up immediately upon hearing the news a few months ago) and I have to admit: I didn't think that there was anything that would get between me and The ChatGPT window I keep open on a second monitor all day long, but Perplexity has managed to do this with Comet.
How?
Comet has an assistant built into the right rail of the browser that you can open at any given time to ask questions or even ask it to do things like:
So now, instead of me going over to my 2nd monitor to type something into ChatGPT, I just pop open Comet’s assistant and do it there.
Smart move, Perplexity!
Listen to Perplexity CEO talk about why the browser is AI’s killer app here.
But as with anything AI, Perplexity can’t rest on its laurels as a first-mover because OpenAI is also rumored to be building a web browser.
And while we don’t have any glimpse into what that might look like yet, OpenAI also launched it’s own ChatGPT Agent that can do all sorts of things I’ve yet to experience firsthand, as I haven’t gotten access yet.
Nevertheless, it’s sure to be something good because OpenAI doesn’t mess around.
Take a look at this overview by Rowan Cheung, who has one of the largest AI newsletters on the internet with 1,000,000+ readers.
Google just showed us the future of Agentic AI.
I'll be the first to admit that Google Gemini is the AI tool I use the least. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I may be a little tired of Google owning everything for the last 20 years, and the gritty startup guy in me is ready for some new and fresh companies to add value to my life.
But I can't overlook this incredible video they put out giving us a glimpse into how we will interact with AI in the future (HINT: it’s voice-first and hands-free, which is truly game changing.
Speaking of hands-free, Meta invests in Luxottica.
If you've been following me for any extended period of time, you know that I'm a gigantic fan of Meta's AI glasses. This stylish accessory takes spectacles to a new level by giving me the ability to capture the moments that matter to me the most while staying in the moment.
As a father of two young kids, being able to take video and capture photos without pulling out my phone inserting it between me and my kids is a wonderful thing — Lord knows I’m already on it too much anyways.
I've captured pictures of:
Me pushing my daughter on the swing
Playing street hockey with my son
Swimming in the lake with my kids on family vacations
All with my voice.
So it came as no surprise to me when I read that Meta has invested $3.5 billion in the world's largest eyewear maker.
Meta just launched their 2nd product: Oakley HSTNs, which look rad.
If I were a betting man, I would guess that every single eyewear brand in Luxottica's portfolio will eventually have a Meta AI version.
Pretty wild.
That's it for this week. Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read my thoughts, and thank you for your support.
I love you all.
Hi5,
LD
🌶️
Great article, Liam! World is changing fast ⚡️
What a great run down! I too, feel it challenging to keep up with AI advancements and try to listen to AI daily brief and of course your newsletter is a great source! Isn’t it WILD to think there was a time I couldn’t see how another browser would be favoured over Google but now the game has completely changed. It’s the most interesting time!!