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How do you launch an airline with no aviation experience and nowhere near enough money?

I credit by dyslexic thinking skills to the launch of Virgin Atlantic. To minimise financial risks, I decided the fastest way to get the airline off the ground would be to lease a single aircraft and take it from there.

We got rejected a few times, and several people thought I was crazy to even suggest it, but eventually I convinced Boeing to lease us a Boeing 747. To me, it didn’t seem like such a wild idea, but no-one had thought to do it before.

This is the beauty of dyslexic thinking. Your mind works in wonderful ways, without you even realising it.

Made By Dyslexia

The journey may be over, but what a journey it has been.

Switzerland's World Cup campaign came to an end after an incredible battle against Argentina that went all the way to extra time.

This team made a nation believe, dream and celebrate together. ❤️

Thank you, Nati, for an unforgettable tournament. We're proud of you. 🇨🇭

Seeing the world for the first time isn’t just vision ,it’s a miracle of hope.

When a baby who was born with a rare vision condition, opens their eyes and meets the world for the first time, it reminds us:

✨ Technology can restore more than sight it restores possibility. ✨ Compassion turns innovation into impact. ✨ Every breakthrough carries a human story.

Progress isn’t just about what we build , it’s about who we help see again.

Video Source:- Social media

The people who grow fastest.

They're just more willing to learn

The most dangerous phrase in business:

"I already know that."

It sounds harmless.

But it's where growth goes to die.

The moment you decide you've learned enough...

You stop asking questions.

You stop listening.

You stop noticing what's changed.

And the world doesn't wait.

The best people I've worked with share one trait.

They never act like the smartest in the room.

Even when they are.

Here's what staying a learner actually looks like:

1. Ask more than you answer

↳ Questions open doors that opinions slam shut.

2. Stay close to beginners

↳ They notice what experience taught you to ignore.

3. Get comfortable being wrong

↳ You can't learn while defending what you think.

4. Read outside your lane

↳ The best ideas come from fields that aren't yours.

5. Treat feedback as a gift

↳ Few people tell you the truth. Keep the ones who do.

The ones who stop learning don't fall behind overnight, they fall behind quietly.

Curiosity compounds.

So does complacency.

What did you learn this week?

Repost ♻ to inspire your network.

And follow Tom Pestridge for more posts like this.

 Image Credit Alec Rickard

Maybe the goal is not to become someone new.

Maybe it is to see yourself differently.

As someone capable of improving.

As someone who can understand their patterns instead of judging them.

As someone who can turn stress into strength.

As someone who can build confidence, step by step.

As someone allowed to have more than one dream.

Because we are the stories we tell ourselves.

And these 6 TED Talks are a great place to start.

Pro tip: Don't binge these.

Watch one a day and note one small change you can try right away.

The videos are linked in the comments.

When you look at the long sweep of human history, America is still young! 250 and still growing, still becoming. 🇺🇸

As we celebrate this milestone today, I reflect in deep gratitude on the magnitude of what this country has built, overcome, and accomplished in such a short time.

Everyday people doing extraordinary things. That’s America to me.

People from every background, EVERY struggle, every corner of this earth. Facing hardship, injustice and challenge, refusing to let it be the end of the story.

Generation after generation after generation...

Bruce Springsteen once painted a picture of our country as a land of hope and dreams. A train with room for everyone. All of us together, moving forward.

We're certainly not perfect, and what I admire most is our courage to keep going, to face the challenges, and come back stronger every time.

WE BELIEVE, even when it's tough, that liberty and justice for ALL is worth fighting for.

The grit. The moxie. The unshakeable love of FREEDOM. That is truly our American spirit. ✨

Happy 250th, may God bless you and God bless the UNITED States of America. 🇺🇸

عشر سنين!

دي المدة اللي فضلت أحاول فيها ألاقي أول شغلانة ليا بدوام كامل في مجال تقني!

من وقت ما دخلت الكلية واكتشفت شغفي للبرمجة وأنا بحاول أشتغل في صناعة البرمجيات، لكن أنا كنت في قسم ميكانيكا، وده كان عاملي حاجز نفسي كبير وتخوف ملاقيش فرصة

وفعلا ملقتش فرصة اما تخرجت، فاشتغلت في حاجات كتير جدا، اشتغلت مهندس تطوير أعمال، واشتغلت في صيانة الروبوتات البحرية، واشتغلت معيد في الجامعة، واشتغلت مدير منتجات!

وطول الفترة كنت بحاول أذاكر الحاجة اللي بحبها، وأحاول ألاقي فرصة لكن بلا جدوي

لكن مع الوقت بتوفيق ربنا بدأت أشتغل فريلانسات وبعدين بدأت أشتغل بدوام جزئي جمب شغلي في مجالات تانية، وعملت مشاريع في دول كتير

وبعد عشر سنوات من المحاولات يمين وشمال وفوق وتحت، دعوات وسؤال لربنا يفتحلي باب وأبقى بشتغل على الحاجة اللي بحبها، ربنا أراد وأذن

سعيد أشارك مع حضراتكم إني من خمس شهور انضميت ل FPT Software كمهندس ذكاء اصطناعي عشان أكون أول مهندس ذكاء اصطناعي عربي في وسط آلاف المهندسين في الشركة بفضل الله

ختاما، ماشاء الله كان وما لم يشأ لم يكن، فاستعن بالله ولا تعجز، الحمدلله

Start before you feel ready.

Scared is fine.

Messy is normal.

You don't need to be prepared.

You need to be willing.

Two truths about starting:

1. Messy action beats perfect planning.

Your first attempt won't be polished.

It won't be impressive.

It might even fail.

But it will teach you what no amount of preparation can.

Start with what you have right now.

Take one small step today, not tomorrow.

Let imperfection teach you.

2. Exhaustion isn't a stop sign.

You're tired because you're carrying too much, 

not because you lack capacity.

Starting doesn't require full energy reserves.

It requires one decision.

Choose the smallest possible next move.

Build momentum before you build the plan.

Movement creates the energy for rest.

I led my first National Geographic expedition 

after losing my husband.

No financial security.

No experience leading at that scale.

Just a commitment to begin.

I was terrified.

I was unprepared.

But I started anyway.

That expedition taught me

what years of planning never could have.

The people who move forward aren't smarter 

or more prepared. They just decided to start 

before they felt ready.

What's one messy step you can take?

Repost to remin

You hit the big goal.

Now what?

That's the question that very few people think about in their entrepreneurial journey.

I've spent the last (nearly) two decades of my life waking up with:

A sales team to train.

A revenue goal at a startup.

A business to grow from zero.

Every single morning had a specific purpose that required problem-solving.

And I was pretty good at it.

It sort of became my "whole thing."

Then I figured a lot of it out...

Trained the team.

Hit the revenue targets.

Grew the business to my goals.

That sounds awesome (and it can be, for sure).

But when you start solving problems, you don't just lose the problem itself.

You start to lose purpose.

What do I do today?

What should I spend my time on?

What's next in this journey of life?

And that's a weird place to be in.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me one question over dinner that got me thinking about that question.

Tomorrow's newsletter is about that conversation and what it made me realize about this weird, wonderful journey.

If you've ever hit a goal and felt a little more lost than before you started, this issue will likely resonate.

Sign up to get it here: https://buff.ly/fpKsukt

It goes out

Hard truth. Working hard rarely doubles your salary. Knowing your worth does.

Early in his career, my friend Sharan was an analyst. Making four and a half lakhs a year.

He found out a colleague on the exact same team, doing the exact same job, was making eight lakhs.

He did not complain about it. He got curious about it. What did this person know that he did not?

He studied the people around him. Got sharper. Got noticed. When a recruiter from a rival firm eventually called, he did not hesitate. He moved. His income jumped in that one decision more than years of raises inside the same company ever had.

But knowing your worth is only half of it. The other half is having the nerve to actually ask for it.

He told me something else that stuck. The people on his own team who solve problems nobody assigned them, the ones who quietly become impossible to replace, can walk in and ask for a 20, 30 even 40 percent hike. And they get it. Not because he is generous. Because losing them would cost him more.

Most people wait to be offered what they are worth. The ones who actually get it are the ones who ask.

What are you worth right now that you have never actually asked for?

Today I was notified that I was laid off from Bethesda Game Studios. My hands are shaking as I'm typing this, as I had just gotten notified of a raise on Friday, providing a false sense of security.

I don't really know what my next steps are, I have to find out how to make rent/student loan/401k loan/credit card payments, but I don't intend to leave the industry I just newly entered (2 years).

You'll see my resume coming into your application pools, I hope the work I did at BGS comes to mind as you see my name.

Now I have to brush up on my UE knowledge 😅

Happy Fathers Day to my dad, Zac Poonen. Grateful for all that I have learned from him. 3 key lessons:

1. Live life by ETERNAL VALUES

2. Be a SERVANT LEADER

3. Choose CONVICTION over compromise

All 4 of us sons -- have deep gratitude to God for the enormous impact he has had on our lives. Santosh Poonen, Sandeep Poonen, Sunil Poonen.

Life is too short to spend time with people
who drain your energy and dim your light.

I spent years thinking success meant working harder.
More discipline. More willpower.

Then I noticed something:

When I spent time with a negative friend,
self-doubt would creep in.

When I had coffee with an optimistic one,
I left energized.

Here's what I realized:

Transformation isn't just about pushing harder.

It's also surrounding yourself with people 
who genuinely want you to win.

This isn't just feelings - science confirms what I experienced.

Researchers placed one "bad apple" in teams of high performers.

In just 45 minutes:

→ Morale plummeted 40%
→ Team performance dropped 30-40%
→ Creativity and problem-solving fell by 50%

Then, the negativity spread.

Other team members started mirroring the bad behavior.
Even the talented, hardworking ones.

That negativity took root in 45 minutes.

Imagine months.
Years.
Decades.

Jim Rohn said it best:
"You are the average of the five people 
you spend the most time with."

Your environment shapes your mindset.
Your mindset shapes your results.

The five types of people I keep close:

→ The inspired - they spark new ideas
→ The passionate -

God is a restorer.

Even the years that felt lost, delayed, or broken can be redeemed by Him. Hold on to this promise today.

#GodRestores #Faith #BibleVerse #TrustGod

Spent a few hours inside OpenAI & Anthropic yesterday and today. One interesting thing:

I asked several people (both engineers and non-engineers) about what they think of the future of software engineering.

The “closer” to shipping production code folks are, the less they believe software engineering will be “solved” fully by AI. And the more removed / less hands on, the more they believed that it is either pretty much already solved or will be solved eventually, as models improve.

I would think this is a kind of bias when you overestimate model capability for areas you know very little of. (I could be wrong, but then so are hands-on software engineers inside the labs!)

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Show up for others before they show up for you.

For LinkedIn beginners, this is THE rule. ❤️

2022:

I'd spend 5-8 hours DAILY in the main feed.

I know how cray-cray that must sound but this is well-documented. I was just commenting. Supporting others. Sharing my insights. Showing up as an "expert".

(and it worked, big time)

Clients came from my comments.
Followers came from my comments.
New business ideas, in the comments.

2026:

Consistently 1,000+ supporters per post.
Clients (still) come from the comments.
And the best community in the world.

Never expect for yourself what you're not willing to give to others. And that means time. And support.

Trust isn't "given". It's earned.

So please...

Scroll your LinkedIn feed today. Leave some comments on strangers' posts. Like really GOOD comments. Then do it daily. In 6 months, you'll be thanking me.

Cheers! - Coach J ❤️

P.S. Am I crazy for still spending 1-2 hours on every single post I publish, just engaging with my readers?

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I am very excited to share that I have been promoted to Senior Producer at The Diary Of A CEO.

The last 2.5 years have been nothing short of incredible. I've been in rooms I never could have imagined, travelled to places I never could have imagined, and had the opportunity to work on a show I care so deeply about. Across 250+ episodes, we've made conversations happen that have helped make sense of this complex, overwhelming world for millions of people.

I remember the first episode I'd worked on hitting 1 million views. Last week we hit that number in under 10 hours. The magnitude of what we do and how many people we reach will never stop humbling me, but I'm so inspired by the impact we can have.

I've spent countless hours researching, pitching, writing, solving problems and flying across the world, and I'm so grateful to this team and to be surrounded by people who simply don't believe in limits.

Here's to more 🫡

[Year], I made my first LinkedIn post on a broken device.

[Year] + [Year+1], we hit [number] followers 💜.

This growth started from a half-dead device :

The screen was flickering.

The battery barely lasted.

The phone overheated after 15 minutes.

But I still posted.

Believe me… I had no idea what I was doing,

I was just a [age]-year-old without a job, trying to build something I could call mine.

And oh yes! My parents saw the VISION and encouraged me with words, prayers.. and (some cash).

[Time marker] months and [number] posts later,

- That same broken device started a brand,

- And transitioned to an iPhone 11,

- Built a $4-figure per/mo buiz

- Built a global audience

- Built the FREEDOM I’ve always wanted

I learned sales working at my dad's travel agency.

I was 12. 😊

While the 2008 recession forced my dad to close up shop practically "overnight", I still picked up lessons from that job that I carry to this day.

1. Make decision fast, and call people faster.

Just yesterday, someone commented on my post about joining my Link Up community. A quick message "when do you have 5-10 minutes?" Bam. Call booked.

2. Never waste time explaining the competition.

Say what needs to be said about YOUR offer. And be confident in what YOU have to offer. If they wanted someone else, they'd be talking to them instead.

3. Always spend time making them feel good.

At my dad's agency, this meant coffee and a snack before the meeting started. For me, this means giving free advice in the comments. Or in the DMs.

To my dad, thank you. For timeless lessons. ❤️

To you reading this, I hope you value this.

Cheers! - Coach J

P.S. Yes, I was really 12 on my first job. When did you have yours? Share some interesting stories.

Last year, growing on LinkedIn felt harder than ever.

I feared for entrepreneurs; nothing seemed to work...

Storytelling posts? Flop. Infographics? Flop

During calls with our clients, I'd hear them say this too.

But then, there was Alan. Tuning in from home.
Kids in the background (saying hi sometimes).

Alan is a mortgaging advisor, posting on LinkedIn.
Small niche right? Would be hard to grow... right?

But so far, since 2025...

He's signed £10,000 deals.
He's gotten 100k impressions.
He's gone viral using storytelling.

I saw it happen. And I stopped fearing about the future for business owners and entrepreneurs on the plarform.

Because he kept on showing up.

To our calls with his kids in the background.
To LinkedIn while he's busy growing his business.

Reminds me of my dad and (little) me. Makes me smile

And why I felt like writing this today.

Often there's no hack, just a willingness to try.

A willingness to make time. A willingness to invest.

So this post is a thank you to Alan.

For showing up for me. For taking my advice seriously. For implementing it. For winning and helping others.

That is a winner. And I'm rooting for people like him.

PS: Give me a "Bra

Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man with the Biggest Heart

Lightning doesn’t just strike once, it shows up with a smile, a dance, and respect for everyone on the track.

Usain Bolt didn’t just rewrite the record books. He showed the world that true greatness isn’t measured only by how fast you run, but by how you carry yourself when the whole planet is watching.

No matter your field, business, sports, art, or life, channel your inner Bolt:

Run your race with everything you’ve got.

Stay humble in victory.

Stay kind in every moment.

And never forget to enjoy the journey.

The world needs more people who are not just fast… but who leave the track (and the world) better than they found it.

Be legendary. Be humble. Be you, at full speed.

86K followers

Okay okay okayyyyyy 😂

We’re growing. 🥹

Most times, I sit down and wonder:

What if I had stopped last year?

What if I stopped when things were difficult?

What if I stopped when I had every genuine reason to take a step back?

Honestly, there were many reasons to stop.

But the stubbornness in me and my big head refused to cooperate. 😂

So I kept showing up.

Kept believing something good would come out of it.

And today, here we are🥹

Thank you for journeying with me this far.

We’re still moving forward.

We’re still growing.

And we’re still marching towards the promised land 😍

Cheers to us, pals 🥂