JamesSampson

The most expensive line item in the AI buildout isn't chips. It's payroll. Microsoft is offering 25%+ of its employees a buyout. This is not a distressed company cutting to survive. Revenue is up. Profit is up. Microsoft is reallocating capital - and payroll - toward the AI arms race.

Leave some room between a feeling and a verdict. “I feel like a failure” describes a painful moment; it does not settle the question of who you are.

And so it begins…

I've spent a lot of time on factory floors. And one thing I've learned is that some of the best ideas in a company don't come from the conference room. They come from the people doing the work. Click below and read more in today’s One Minute Insight:

Farmers are getting an $8 billion bailout to pay for harvest fuel costs. Maybe the bailouts are why they keep voting for him despite his failing economic programs. Where’s your bailout? Where’s your protection from the inflation you’ve been facing?

ICE's effective annual spending authority reaches $22B to $35B+ per year. To put those numbers into perspective, annual DOJ law enforcement budgets break down as follows: FBI: ~$11.4 billion  U.S. Marshals Service: ~$4.1 billion  DEA: ~$3.2 billion  ATF: ~$1.7 billion  $20.4 billion per year

Americans have been absorbing higher prices, stretching household budgets, putting off purchases, and finding ways to make things work. And for a long while, they have. But how long can that continue?

There’s a limit to how much financial pressure people can absorb before something gives. Many Americans are getting close to that point. With little relief in sight, I fear things will get worse before they get better. The economic numbers don’t always tell the whole story. How are you holding up?

"Can you imagine you're a parent and your son leaves the house and you say, 'Jimmy, I love you so much. Go have a good day in school.' And your son comes back with a brutal operation," Trump claimed at a campaign rally Saturday in Wisconsin. Seriously? Does anyone really believe any of this?

Affordability is squeezing Americans hard. Producer prices just posted their biggest jump in 4.5 years, led by energy and gasoline. As midterms approach, the kitchen-table question is simple: can families afford this?

Sometimes it's worth slowing down for just a moment. Not to think longer. To think differently. Grab a cup of coffee and take a moment to read my latest “My Two Cents” on LinkedIn. Wishing you a great Sunday. Be great in it.

At its peak in late 2021, Nike was valued at over $280 billion. Today, its enterprise value has plummeted toward $55 billion - that’s a massive ~$225B wipeout that stands as one of the steepest market cap contractions in modern corporate history. Click below to read more:

It’s easy to have a great company culture when margins are fat, EBITDA is climbing, and everyone is hitting their bonuses. When values disappear the moment the pressure turns up, you never had a culture. You just had good weather. Click to read more in my One Minute Insight on LinkedIn:

Strip away the noise and headlines for a moment: high energy prices are a math problem, not a political debate. When 16 trucking and logistics companies file for bankruptcy in 30 days, it isn't just an industry statistic…it’s a stress test of our economic foundation.  Check out my LinkedIn post:

Your car is no longer just a vehicle. It’s a data vacuum on wheels. A new Consumer Reports study reveals modern cars are quietly transmitting driver data, including precise location history, VINs, and unique identifiers, directly to Big Tech companies.  Click below to read my LinkedIn post:

Trump: "We're gonna be signing a document today renaming artificial intelligence, because it's not artificial. We're gonna be naming it Super Intelligence. Officially renaming it." Here’s his official signature on that document:

Here’s an idea… Instead of wasting time and energy renaming gulfs, lakes, airports, technologies and every other damn thing… Maybe focus on stopping the war in Iran (and Ukraine), and helping all Americans deal with crushing inflation and rising costs of all essential items. Just a thought…

When you walk into a troubled company, there is rarely any shortage of opinions about what the problem is. In fact, there are typically too many. Today’s One Minute Insight post on LinkedIn explains why.

How much do we REALLY know? What is “life crafting”? A word (and an idea) I’ve come to love: oughtabiography. Those are the topics in today’s My Two Cents post on LinkedIn. Give it a read if you get the chance:

For years and years I’ve jotted down random thoughts I wanted to remember as they came to me. Occasionally, I publish them in a Random Thoughts post on LinkedIn. This latest collection is pretty much all about business. Give it a read and let me know what you think:

The Red Sox went from a team that looked headed nowhere to a team that has earned a wild card spot in the upcoming Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs. That wasn’t a small course correction. That’s a full-blown turnaround. And it happened remarkably quickly.

We sometimes mistakenly think everything matters. Until we run into something that really does. Then the scale changes. That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. That’s what I wrote about in today’s My Two Cents. Give a click below and give it a look. Make it a great day!

We can become so occupied with understanding the world that we forget to experience our own lives. Regardless of who or what you worry about (probably too often and too much), remember: Take care of YOURSELF

Bad loss for the New England Patriots last night. Drake Maye in last 2 games vs. Seahawks: 5 INTs 9 sacks 0-2 record The Drake Maye bandwagon is much less crowded today.

What are you tolerating? Think about that word for a moment. To tolerate something isn't necessarily to accept it, right? So maybe it's worth asking ourselves every now and then: What are you tolerating today that you would never have consciously chosen for your life? Click and read more here 👇

When I first saw this statement scrolling through my Bluesky feed, I honestly didn't think it could be true. I assumed it was just another sensationalized, clickbait headline designed to farm outrage. So I fact-checked it. It is entirely real. And it’s the subject of my LinkedIn post today👇

How can the President of the United States of America have so much free time that he spend hours every day posting nonsense and AI slop on Truth Social? Doesn’t our country have enough urgent problems that deserve his attention?

I just want to wish everyone a very Happy Labor Day! I hope you’re enjoying the day, spending some time with people you care about, and maybe taking a well-deserved break. Enjoy the holiday!

The jobs report looks pretty good. Maybe that’s the problem. 162,000 jobs added. Unemployment at 4.1%. But look beneath the headline, and the story gets a lot more interesting. I took a closer look.

My Two Cents: The Slow Death of Accountability America is increasingly suffering from Truth Decay - the diminishing role of facts and evidence in public discourse, and the growing inability to distinguish fact from opinion. Click 👇 and read My Two Cents:

In operations, high inventory hides broken processes. In daily life, mental inventory leads to burnout. If you feel exhausted at 5:00 PM without finishing your main task, this operational framework is for you:

Some executives gain experience one year at a time. Turnaround and interim executives gain it in dog years.

We all know what Dolly Parton accomplished. But perhaps her greatest legacy wasn't what she did - it was how she lived. What if the best way to honor Dolly is to become a little more like her? ❤️ [Click below to read my latest “My Two Cents”]

Tariffs were designed as a scalpel for specific leverage or infant industries, not a catch-all strategy. Using them as a sole economic fix turns a targeted tool into a sledgehammer, ignoring root causes like productivity, capital flows, and workforce development. Just my two cents…

Posting on Bluesky is an awful lot like talking to yourself.

Inflation and shrinkflation have forced consumers to ask a fundamental question: Is brand loyalty actually worth the price tag? You can only shrink a package so many times. You can only raise prices so high before default loyalty snaps and consumers stop buying entirely.

What if the goal isn’t to figure out who’s right? What if more than one thing can be true – and the answer is found by putting all the pieces together? Click and read my One Minute Insight on LinkedIn:

Wishing you a beautiful and blessed week ahead. Make it a great one. Be great in it.

Ranchers: smaller herds, lower costs, record margins. Consumers: $7/lb ground beef and no relief in sight. So who's actually going to fix this – and why would they? Read my take here 👇

I’ve spent a lot of time lately writing about what’s wrong with our economy, our workplaces and our society. This Sunday’s My Two Cents is different. There are still plenty of things to worry about—but I’ve been thinking about something else: maybe we have more reasons to be hopeful than we realize.

Buy. Borrow. Die. It’s how the very rich stay very rich. The person earning a paycheck and the person accumulating millions and billions in appreciating assets aren't really playing the same game when it comes to taxes. Read more about Buy, Borrow, Die here:

The person who keeps raising problems in an organization is often labeled “negative.” Maybe they are. But maybe they're simply paying attention. Before labeling someone negative, ask yourself: What are they seeing that I might be missing? Click and read a bit more:

How many people are doing okay because they're financially secure — and how many are doing okay only because nothing has gone wrong yet? Here’s My Two Cents:

Nobody argues anymore. Sounds like a good thing, doesn't it? But healthy organizations and relationships don't eliminate disagreement. They make it safe enough for people to disagree – and still walk out of the room together. Click and read:

Grace doesn’t announce itself. It just shows up, does its work, and asks nothing back. Wishing you a day full of it.

A gentle reminder that everyone we interact with is someone's child just trying their best. A little patience and kindness goes a long way, both behind the counter and in front of it.

Last Sunday, I lost a very dear friend, Raymond Fillpot. He was a fine man in every sense of the word, and these words on this infographic are truly the way he lived his entire life. Rest in peace, my friend. You made a beautiful life, and you will be deeply missed.

One Minute Insight: Nobody is complaining. That sounds like good news, right? Maybe it is. Or maybe…..

Happy National Book Lover’s Day (August 9) Which makes this a great day to decide what book you’ll read next. Or maybe find your way back to reading again. Hint: there are many terrific authors right here on Bluesky. Look and see!

Sometimes the most interesting stories aren't the ones making the biggest headlines. They're the ones that make you stop and wonder what might be happening underneath them. Here are three that caught my attention this week. Click below to read My Two Cents: