Author: Usman Gondal

Sam Loves Kebab and Rice

Sam loves eating Kebab and Rice, his first memory of eating Kebab is when he was 1, his mom feeding him a piece of Kebab while he played with rice in his dad’s lap.

This is one of the happiest memories of Sam’s life. 

Sam is 21 today, and everytime he feels a bit down, he orders Kebab and Rice because it makes him feel good. 

You’re an e-commerce business owner, you’re sell sneakers and Sam is your ideal customer. You’re running your ad 24×7. The Ad is shown to Sam at 3pm when he just got out of a meeting, he’s exhausted and needs a break. 

Here for your ad to convert, your ad will have to 1. undo the cognitive fatigue Sam is in right now 2. make him consider your offer. 99% chance, Sam clicks away from your offer. 

Your competitor on the other hand, knows Sam loves to eat Kebab and Rice and he eat’s it for dinner. They run their ad on dinner time. And guess what, Sam is having Rice and Kebab for dinner, he’s feeling the best he’s felt all day. Sam is at his highest point of Serotonin in the entire day. He watches the sneaker ad and impulse buys it. 

Your competitor’s CPA = $15

youre thinking its the copy, you’re thinking its the creative and on and on… What you don’t know is, Sam, loves to eat Kebab and Rice for dinner.  

While Sam is unique there’s 1 thing we all share, Dinner. This is why Super Bowl Ads work so well and this is why prime time TV ads are the most expensive. 

And Youtube and Facebook are next.

The question is, Is your Store and Funnel ready for this?

come to think of it people, the biggest businesses on the internet are all info businesses. 

Instagram is an info business, you pay with your dopamine to know what’s going on in other people’s lives 

Linkedin is an info businsses, you pay with your serotonin to lift and see who’s lifting who’s 

Twitter is an info businesses, one of the few net positive ones

Expedia, is an info business 

Match.com is an info business 

and the list goes on and on and on 

You wanna know what’s even more amazing?

Collage Education is an info business  

Medicine is an info business

Mckinsey BCG & Bain are also info businesses. 

And guess what?

Google is in the info business, ChatGPT is, in the info business. 

So, if you’re selling an info product, know you’re in good company.

Wealth is nothing more than stored energy. The more net positives you create with your wealth, the more it will come back to you. 

Even when you’re spending on yourself. 

This example of feeding the hungry nails this, because the next day they go out and use the energy from the food and create wealth for their families, and in turn, and the exact same amount of wealth will end up on your plate, at least 10 times over.

Then, you either repeat the process and become wealthier, or become stingy, create MORE net negatives THAN net positives and your wealth will decrease.

Do you think the world will work as it does if net positives didn’t reinforce? 

This is why when you see a stagnant wealth situation, you will find the wealth is being used to create net negatives, and not net positives 

Hence, the lesson is simple, make sure you create more net positives than you do net negatives.

Some of the huge net positives when spending on yourself are.

Eating more Meat is a proven net positive (Every mega successful person does this. Look at what they’re doing, not what they’re saying)

Wearing Good Clothes is a proven net positive, they put everyone who looks at you in a net positive state. 

Perfumery (get a Creed Aventus if you haven’t already)

Riding (common thing in mega successful people and community, go watch a YouTube of video of a horse in full gallop, fell what it to your body, now you know why RL Polo sells, why Ferrari sells even though it sucks)

Sailing/Flying

Travel To and live in places where there are more net positives than net negatives. (there’s a reason travel is associated with status, it is a huge net positive)

and finally, be nice to everyone you meet, have the mission to positively impact everyone you meet, and create net positives for others.

They will come back to you for sure.

So, the next time you create a cold loom, make it a net positive experience for you and for the reader. 

the next time you write copy, yes when you write copy, make it a net positive for the prospect. 

the next time you go media buying, make it a net positive for the platform. 

all natural systems only reinforce net positives. 

all digital systems are modelled off natural systems, as long as they’re reinforcing positives, they’re growing. As soon as they start reinforcing negatives, they stop growing. Same goes for your personal brand, your apparel company (remember what happened to balenciaga when it reinforced net negatives?) your funnel landing page, your shopify store and the list goes on.  

THAT is how the world, really works.

Obituary: Rest in Peace, Biryanchi بریانچی

I founded you to hit a certain number in profits each day 

to carve a niche from KFC and Savour at the same time

I was wrong 

you were premium Biryani 

but I came to know, commodities are never premium 

CAC for 1 user via fb ads was Rs 1,500

and LTV spread over a year was Rs 5,000

and to service a single delivery the cost was Rs 120

and margins were in teens 

every time I will eat Biryani or Biryani will be mentioned 

I shall remember you as the case which taught me that alchemy doesn’t work in the food commodity business

perhaps it does in cosmetics for Maybelline Cosmetics

perhaps it does in apparel for Supreme

perhaps it does for Ogilvy in advertising 

it doesn’t work, in food commodities 

rest in peace for you a business as good as Uber and Airlift 

folks, pay your respects here https://lnkd.in/dG_2FaBZ

and remember, don’t hang on to lukewarm business cases 

Study the precedence... it is as if I could hear David Ogilvy say these words as I’ve made a habit of frequenting only the most eloquent, interesting and fruitful conversations on YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, I think YouTube will go down in history as an event as significant as the invention of the printing press.

Coming back to the point, as I sat designing the 1 page iOS app for Biryanchi I was reminded of all the successful Ads from Ogilvy.

And what is an iOS app if an advert?

And suddenly the thought came to my mind, why don’t I take the golden spiral and overlay it on the phone screen and design thenceforth? So I took the golden spiral and overlaid in the Ogilvy Dove Ad which contains more suggestion than coherent prose.

The result, speaks for itself.

Designers of yore were good, damn good.

Writing helps, instrumentally.

And inspiration comes at times and places you initially did not foresee.

Especially at the very end of deep work sprints, the time when you feel exhausted, the time when you’ve been literally dreaming every night the same thing—inspiration comes.

As I created a newspaper to launch my latest brand, Biryanchi, the best chicken rice and spice on the earth putting your happiness first.

I wrote about the common themes in all innovative products and services and distilled them down to 9 Principles—writing them down in Biryanchi Times filling the foundation for the book with the same title.

The 9 Principles of Innovation by Usman Gondal which you can use to Innovate and build your business.

1. It’s All In The Name <
2. Discovering the Market
3. Creating A Category
4. Becoming Self Advertising
5. Flowing Downhill—Water Doesn’t Flow Up The Mountain
6. Loving Your Customer
7. Creating A Net Positive Experience
8. Employeeing happiness first
9. Investing In The Vital Few

Mom! Watch the scooter! the scooter’s gonna fall over!—said the little girl looking the scooter in the cafe.

No, no it won’t… its fastened up there… with something… replied the mother probably wondering the same thing.

This is how I felt when I first saw the iMac—It felt like it’s going to fall over or fall down sideways.

I think there’s a reason deep within the human preception for this phenomena and it’s got everything to do with space & proportion.

Observe.

the human brain absolutely detests uncertainty—anything and everything which is not firmly grounded, stable or unable to keep its ground in the face of change alarms us—because it’s an environmental hazard.

The little girl instinctively understood this and announced for everybody to listen and I agree with her.

If you put the scooter down and make it stand on firm ground, the girl would probably like to have a picture taken with the scooter—win win for the cafe and the the little one.

In the same way, if you extend the base of the iMac so the base is 0.618 times as wide as the screen. Instead of startling the onlooker, you will inspire them.

Watch the Aluminum Apple—it’ll keep you firmly grounded. Like the bottom line is keeping the top line firmly grounded.

In an outrageous move, Meta could choose to admit this and make the biggest pivot in the history of electronic business by announcing, they will now connect the world physically.

What happens to the brilliant advertising experts at Meta? They ‘get real’—the world needs a new social network, not an electronic social network, a ‘real’ one.

A social network which understands pheromones play the decisive role in connecting the world—(by the way it’s called Starbucks.) In an outrageous move, Meta could choose to admit this and make the biggest pivot in the history of electronic business by announcing, they will now connect the world physically. If Mark Zuckerberg does this, he will go out as one of the most even-headed entrepreneurs in the history of electronic business.

Disclaimer: this post is not nutritional advice—consult a licensed professional before you go on a diet

some context, below is a subheading from the Biryanchi Post, breaking the news of a supermom she lost weight because she ate rice for 5 days straight i.e she cut gluten from her diet

now read the following subheadings

This is easier than keto—and my mood improves so much “it turns me into a butterfly“

This is easier than keto—and my mood improves so much

the former has more story appeal than the latter—the former inspires you to think—and what is value creation if not inspiration

Analogies are to normal sentences, what pictures with story appeal are to pictures without

all brand building is starting revolutions

Apple was a revolution because it amplified the identity of creative people—Apple saw in them, genius. Apple enabled these people to achieve great things and make the world a better place

Nike, a revolution to stay fit.

All great brands are, revolutions.