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Peter Jansen's avatar

This is less of an 'Operating Week Ahead' and more of a 'Corporate Strategy Decade Ahead.' 😉

Brilliant map of the terrain (Energy, Governance, Micro-Firms). The point on 'Energy as the new Moat' is something 99% of digital operators are sleeping on.

Dennis Hedenskog's avatar

I appreciate the energy angle. To that, I'd add control of shovels and diggers. Lining up projects is one thing, having ENOUGH physical labor might be another story

Daniel Hartweg's avatar

This topic of the AI bubble is really interesting — the comparison to the dot-com bubble and the emphasis on infrastructure and governance makes the risks and opportunities in AI very clear.

Chris Tottman's avatar

I'm after my slice of that extra $250 billion coming to creators by 2030 😁🍰

Sam Illingworth's avatar

Thanks, John. Another incredibly deep dive and well-researched article. As I continue my Substack journey, this is really useful for me to read, because even though I'm not quite an influencer yet, it's really important that I start to maybe think of myself as a firm rather than as an individual. Thanks as ever for the research-backed inquiry into this work.

John Brewton's avatar

Glad it helped, Sam, operating seriously changes how you build.

Dennis Berry's avatar

The split isn’t tech vs non-tech, or big vs small. It’s operators who embed adaptability into systems versus those still treating change as a recurring project

John Brewton's avatar

Dennis, where do you see organizations still stuck in project thinking?

Michael Meneghini, MD's avatar

This analysis is a wake-up call: adaptive systems, AI-native operations, and governance, not scale or talent, define who thrives in 2026’s bifurcating economy

John Brewton's avatar

Appreciate this, Michael, the separation is happening faster than most expect.