In a world defined by rapid technological shifts and economic resets, staying ahead requires more than just hard work—it requires a strategic blueprint.
This 52nd edition brings together six world-class experts to show you how to master everything from human-centric leadership, to viral storytelling, and the high-stakes fine wine markets.
Stay tuned until the end of this newsletter to catch our last week’s poll result about which Martin Luther King Jr. inspired-value guides the majority of our Linkies with their leadership roles!
Leadership is a high-stakes balancing act between hitting mission goals and supporting the people who make those goals possible.
Drawing on experiences ranging from the USS Archerfish in Puerto Rico to managing a major Verizon data center outage in Richardson, Texas, Tim Dickey decodes the art of resilience.
Tim reflects:
"Oftentimes we're horse trading to get the results we want. And it's really for the benefit of everybody involved, not just one side or the other.”
Tim explains:
"Timely communication is so important... even though the information may not be perfect... at least there is some information flowing.”
Tim notes:
"Ultimately, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is people, especially when we're talking about people's lives and their livelihoods.”
According to Routledge research about the soft skills of leadership, 75% of high-performing organizations rank "soft skills" like negotiation as a top priority.
Furthermore, the Uptime Institute reports that nearly one-third of data center outages cost over $250,000.
📺 Watch these Life Lesson Learned series in YouTube:
Catch next week’s Life Lessons Learned in Tim Unscripted!
📬 Get most of the insights from Tim!
→ Personal Website
→ Company Website: Improving
→ YouTube Channel: Tim Unscripted
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Many independent consultants hit a revenue wall because their business depends entirely on them being "in the room.”
Host Michael Lopez and Mike Koziol suggest a shift toward productizing expertise.
Mike notes:
"Those who make more money and can scale faster are those who are looking at their business from a systems perspective... and looking at their IP as something that they're selling.”
Michael observes:
"The independent consultant economy is booming in ways that we've never seen. And a lot of that is also enabled by artificial intelligence.”
The "Expert Economy" has grown to over 72 million independent professionals in the U.S. (Beeline)
However, 95% of course buyers never log in, highlighting the need for accountability. (Boss Project)
📺 Watch the Full Episode of “Why Most Independent Consultants Get Stuck — and How the Best Break Through”
Join the next episode of Top Voice Tuesday with Matthew Rosenquist on January 27 at 12:00 PM EST on LinkedIn Live. Register here!
📬 Get the most of the insights from our featured Top Voices in this episode!
→ Personal Website
→ Newsletter: $100k Consulting
→ Personal Website
→ Newsletter: Friday Focus
→ YouTube Channel: Michael J. Lopez
→ Purchase his book “CHANGE” on Amazon!
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The global fine wine market has endured a harsh 36-month system reset.
Experts Sophia Gilmour (Liv-ex Market Analyst and author of the Power 100) and Robbie Stevens (Liv-ex Head of Broking) in Andy Wang’s Tuesday session of Inspired Money analyze how the market is moving into a phase of "predatory curiosity."
Sophia explains:
"The brands that have done especially well... are those that have adopted more structured, less reactive pricing.”
Robbie notes:
"We saw pretty much all US buying exposure removed overnight... and that has an onward effect on the ability for Italian producers to sell their goods.”
Investors are finding value in the £2,000 "sweet spot" for wines meant for consumption rather than just speculation. (Vint)
📺 Watch the full episode of this Inspired Money episode:
Join the next episode of Inspired Money on LinkedIn and YouTube Live! Stay tuned.
🔎 Explore more from our Inspired Money host and panel of experts in this episode!
→ Company Website: Liv-ex
→ Company Website: Runnymede Capital Management
→ YouTube Channel: Subscribe here!
→ Free 3-minute Financial Plan: Calculate your Retirement Income
→ LinkedIn Newsletter: Inspired Money
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(Jay Neo and the Silicon Zombies team on stage at the Park James Hotel in Menlo Park)
Virality is a calculation, not luck.
Hooman Khalili, the veteran Bay Area broadcaster, and Nick Larson, the Founder of Silicon Zombies, sat down with Jay Neo, who helped engineer MrBeast’s most liked video, and shared the blueprint for capturing attention in the Menlo Park community.
Jay notes:
"The less information on the screen visually is, the better.”
Hooman emphasizes:
"I care about community, and I want people to come out and become friends and get to know one another.”
Jay’s team analyzed every second of every MrBeast video, producing shorts that averaged 500 million views each.
📺 Watch the Full Episode of “SZ 207: The Alchemy of Virality”
Join the Silicon Zombies team in their next Crypto Zombies series on February 4th during Super Bowl week for a session with poker legend Phil Hellmuth!
Check the Luma link or visit the Park James Hotel’s website calendar to grab your spot!
🤝 Connect with our Silicon Zombies guest speaker and hosts!
→ Company Website: Palo Inc.
→ Personal Website: Hooman.tv
→ Company Website: Park James Hotel
→ YouTube Channel: subscribe here!
→ Company Website: Silicon Zombies
→ YouTube Channel: subscribe here!
→ Need Advice? Book a 1:1 with Nick in Hubble!
→ Subscribe to Nick’s LinkedIn Newsletter: Brain Food
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With AI roles growing 15-fold, you must move from being an employee to becoming the architect of your work life.
In this week’s Wednesday session of Inspired Money, Andy Wang sat down with three top experts to map out this new world: Pamela Slim, author of Body of Work and CEO of the Pamela Slim Agency; Charlene Li, tech analyst and author of Winning with Generative AI; and Elaine Pofeldt, journalist and author of The Million Dollar One Person Business.
Pamela advises keeping a strategic thread:
"What is that main thing that you're trying to build? How do you need to get there in terms of skills…”
Charlene suggests:
"If you treat AI as the thought partner it completely changes the game.”
Elaine observes:
"I find that they're very less is more, and they really pare down what they need to do, and they outsource the rest.”
Surveys consistently show that roughly 80% of workers expect AI to significantly change how they perform their daily tasks. (ADP Research)
📺 Watch the full episode of this Inspired Money episode:
Join the next episode of Inspired Money on LinkedIn and YouTube Live! Stay tuned.
🔎 Explore more from our Inspired Money host and panel of experts in this episode!
→ Linktree
→ Company Website: Pamela Slim Agency
→ LinkedIn Newsletter: Smart IP
→ Personal Website
→ Get updates of Charlene’s upcoming book release, “Winning with AI: The 90-Day Blueprint for Success”
→ Personal Website
→ Portfolio
→ Blogs: Forbes
→ Purchase Elaine’s book “The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business” on Amazon!
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(Bobby Umar, Darren Gibb, and Mitchell Tan in a virtual livestream discussion)
Avoiding DMs leaves revenue on the table. Host Bobby Umar (Founder of TLB Club and five-time TEDx speaker), Darren Gibb (LinkedIn Strategist), and Mitchell Tan (Co-founder of Kondo) reveal how to turn connections into partnerships.
Darren emphasizes:
"Authority is built... through having conversations like a human being.”
Mitchell notes:
"LinkedIn makes it hard to... stay organized... And so we built Kondo.”
Bobby summarizes:
"The sales and the transactions happen when you build a relationship with them in the end.”
Personalized social selling can lead to a 45% increase in sales opportunities. (Typing Post by Kevin)
📺 Watch the Full Episode of “The Art and Tech of sending LinkedIn DMs”
Catch more upcoming events brought to you by TLB Club!
🤝 Connect with our expert guest speakers and host!
→ Personal Website
→ Company Website: Kondo
→ YouTube Channel: subscribe here!
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→ YouTube Channel: subscribe here!
→ Subscribe to Bobby’s Newsletters in the following platforms:
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. as we celebrate him and his living legacy every 3rd Monday of January, we asked our Linkies:
“Which Martin Luther King-inspired value guides your leadership most?”
The results are in—and our community spoke loudly:
📊 Poll Results:
A special thanks to these Voices who voted and engaged:
This is what a community looks like. When you engage—whether through voting, commenting, or sharing—you're part of a movement of leaders committed to growth, accountability, and lifting each other up.
See the full conversation on LinkedIn
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